Speaking of Christmas—Bethlehem's got talent.

A while ago I mentioned I was drafting a short tract based on the Paul Potts story. So I did, and the result is here.

Click through for the full text, and to order copies.

Bethlehem's got talent

I'm drafting a possible Christmas tract called 'Bethlehem's got talent'. Here's how it starts...

I can’t stand talent quests. They are embarrassing, mean, amateurish and weird by turns. The best you can hope will happen is that the person won’t be too excruciatingly bad, and that the judges will let them slip back to obscurity with an absolute minimum of psychological scarring and emotional abuse.

However, all that said, have you seen Paul Potts?

If not, don’t read past the end of this paragraph until you’ve got to a computer with a decent connection, fired up the internet and googled ‘You tube Paul Potts’. I don’t think I’m giving anything away when I tell you that this one is a shocker. But wait about half way through this You Tube video clip of just under five minutes, and you’ll discover a surprise that makes his humiliating experience worthwhile.

Those who have watched the clip or heard the story will know that Paul Potts is the man who worked for Carphone Warehouse and went on the UK talent quest Britain’s Got Talent, dressed in a bad suit, awful haircut, and carrying a facial expression that said louder than words ‘I’m about to get punched in the nose…again.’ Says the lady judge “Paul. What are you here for?” “To sing opera” says Paul, looking for all the world as if he is about to burst into tears, not song.

Can you guess the ending?

In fact, given that this is only a first draft, if your ending is better than mine, I may steal yours! ;-)

Britain's got talent

And here's Paul Potts in the semifinal.

He's got an entry in wikipedia here, and here's an article in the Melbourne Age.