Paul Potts stars in dazzling Côr Curiad 20th anniversary celebration concert

Côr Curiad Llanelli 20th anniversary celebration concert with Paul Potts, Jordan Williams and Burry Port Town Band at the Selwyn Samuel Centre, Llanelli.

For such a shy and retiring guy, Paul Potts knows how to make big statements on the stage.
His guest appearance for Côr Curiad’s anniversary took off like a jet-fighter on afterburn as he launched himself into Lara’s classic Granada.
It was a ‘full-on’ rendition which left the full house at Llanelli’s Selwyn Samuel Centre gasping for breath.
The Paul Potts engine was working on full throttle and he served up a first-half set which included no less than seven different songs.
The magnificent seven, which kicked off with Granada, included Nino Rota’s love theme from the film Romeo and Juliet, Non ti scoradar di mi by Ernesto de Curtis, What A Wonderful World, Vesti La Guibba by Ruggeriero Leoncavallo and Caruso by Lucio Dalla.
The surprise item was a cover of Home by the Foo Fighters, a song which features on the new album of the same name by Paul Potts.
Obviously on a mission to give the Llanelli audience full value for money, the winner of the first Britain’s Got Talent competition returned in the second half of the programme to serve up another six numbers from his repertoire.
They included something of an experiment in the debut public performances of three items from Tosti - Lascia Ch’io Respiri, Parted and Perrot’s Lament.
As experiments go, it will be judged a success based on the reception from a very enthusiastic Llanelli audience.
Potts managed to fit in Paria Piu Piano (The Godfather theme by Rota), Time to say Goodbye and the classic Nessum Dorma, the Puccini classic which played such a big part in launching his career.
Two standing ovations and a finale of The Impossible Dream featuring Côr Curiad rounded off the vocal pyrotechnics from Mr Potts.
It was a powerhouse performance, but the evening wasn’t a one-man show.
The ladies of Côr Curiad demonstrated their full range and repertoire under the baton of Alex Esney and with accomplished accompanist Jane Jewell.
May It Be, Bohemian Rapsody, Don’t rain on my parade, Something Inside So Strong, Fields of Gold and a cover of Snow Patrol’s Run were among the many highlights.
Up-and-coming tenor Jordan Williams also showed why he is a name to be noted for the future. His Anfonaf Angel, with the choir, was dedicated to the memory of Monro Walters.
Jordan displays a maturity well beyond his 17 years in his singing. He demonstrated his range with Handel’s Where’er you walk, The Civil War musical classic Tell My Father and Robat Arwyn’s Dy Garu O Bell.
In between, Burry Port Brass Band demonstrated why they are regarded as the No1 brass outfit in Wales.
Under the baton of conductor Nigel Seaman, they tugged at the heartstrings with Rodrigo’s Concerto de Aranjuez and Ar Lan Y Mor and threw in some surprise packages in the cover of Earth Wind and Fire’s In the Stone and Jan Forbes’s Kongolela.
Compere Kev Johns kept the evening rolling along with his unique blend of charm and humour and even led the singers and the audience in a swing-along version of The Beatles classic All You Need Is Love.
The concert was in aid of Calon Plus, the Cardiac rehabilitation support service at Prince Philip Hospital. Côr Curiad members expect to raise £10,000 for the charity this year.

ROBERT LLOYD

Photos, from top -

Kev Johns, Jordan Williams and Paul Potts.

Paul Potts and Kev Johns.

Paul Potts and members of Côr Curiad.