This guy has to be the biggest surprise yet to walk out onto the stage of Britain’s Got Talent.
A very nervous young Welshman, Greg Pritchard, presented an image of ‘indie rock’ – something very modern and rebellious – and then…
He opened his mouth and out came the most divine counter-tenor voice and totally stunned the judges and audience. He sang Nessun Dorma - an aria for tenor voice – and even got that ‘high C’ at the end!
There is a very rich repertoire for counter-tenor and I would like to see this young man find a good teacher (if he does not already have one…) and explore this completely – what a find!
The counter-tenor is a unique part of the male vocal range; mostly associated with baroque and medieval music, it is a developed falsetto voice – a male soprano – and has enjoyed a great revival of recognition in the past twenty years.
Famous counter-tenors today include Australian Graham Pushee and Christophe Dumaux.
Related: Farinelli, Il Castrato
Update Semi-final:
I felt it was totally unfair, and unprofessional of the judges, to place a contestant into the final who required two attempts at their performance. Greg Pritchard gave a unique and thrilling performance but was up against Hollie Steel who broke down in the middle of her performance. She was given a second chance which should have gone no further than to give her a go at finishing what she started. To have chosen Hollie over Greg was blatant favouritism – he got his performance right the first time.
It was unfair to all the contestants.
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I agree with you. His voice sure is unique! What a talented bunch these Britons are. Let him have a good teacher and make a breakthrough.
With some intensive coaching he could find himself a whole new career – I wonder why he has not already enrolled at a music institute?
I would like to see a scholarship offered to him.
well maybe it’s a money issue. That kind of thing must be costly. Maybe there was no way anyone in the family coukd have afforded it and last time i worked the waiter’s salary isn’t that good either. I don’t know much about the working of buisness but hope he is noticed via the program and maye someone will offer to help him, otherwise what’s the use of a talent show?
Money does come into it – I know from personal experience how much it costs to study music at a recognised institution. However counter-tenors are not found on every corner and maybe the Royal Acadamy of Music can do something for this young guy – he would have to work very hard but he has a distinctive voice even for a counter-tenor!
he does now, doesn’t he. Let’s hope for the best, he has the talent…which is different from what we have had so far. A lot of beautiful, strong, nagelic voices but this one here is really different. And he seems to be pleasant as a person, with a nice sense of humour.
I would hope he’d have the determination to achieve the dream of becoming that renowed performer he talked about.
Ah, by the way, interesting blog, I’ve taken a look around. I’m sold. Bookmarked to return it at leisure, thanks for your cultured views.
I would like to see Greg perform a piece from the counter-tenor repertoire in the semi finals but maybe he has not gone as far to explore it yet. I was also very impressed with young Shaun Smith – he has such style for a 17 year old – you could tell Simon was impressed!
Yeah but Shaun is something of a typical starlet-celeb, and this image has put me off him, to behonest. Though it goes without saying-his voice is pretty strong.
Personally I was more impressd with the saxophonist, Julian, the music teacher. Now I am not trained in music but he seemed to put his everything into that instrument. It was very touching.
I like to think that this will give them a chance for a breakthrough.
That’s a good point; I would certainly like to see an instrumentalist come out and win for a change – but I was not at all impressed with that female violinist just recently. Her type are a dime a dozen – a gimmick does help but the ‘short skirt/sexy approach’ one has been done to death.
I agree, I didn’t like her at all. I always try to look for natural behaviour. Greg was fairly natural. Susan eemed to have put on an act, I think-but it had some spunk (will make the audience rock, she said, I believe) and I liked it. And besides I was surprosed that she walked off the stagee after finishing singing. What was it? Forgetfulness? Stress Unassuming nature? Still, in this respect, Shaun made a good change in the program-just a boy next door who’s just a typical boy. I may not like him but i don’t think it’s bad he appeared there.
I think it comes down to this- a lot of people can do things well enough to achieve some kind of success- which I hope they will. But there are few exceptional talents. The most original things I’ve seen to date were our good man Greg here and Terry Fator on American edition-i think he’s the right man in the right place at the moment.
Apart from that there is nothing really ooutstanding but there is a good solid material to work with and show off.
Just wanted to say that because of Greg, a lot of people have been finding out about male sopranos and learnt a bit of the history of Castrati which has come up because of it, and they are listening to singers they’ve never heard the like of before. He has opened up a whole new world for a lot of people. I hope Greg gets some kind of offer of training. Apparantly all the singers on BGT are getting some training on the run up to the finals, but I don’t think that would be enough for him. I personally have got stuck on a Russian male soprano who sings pop and opera, named Vitas and if it wasn’t for Greg my musical library would have been greatly lacking.
Hi Sharon and thanks for your comments. I remember when Graham Pushee stunned audiences back in the 90′s at the Sydney Opera House and made headlines – he took the counter-tenor role and made people sit up and take notice. There are a range of young counter-tenors on the scene today, I have named some here, and they really are worth a listen. Some have the sex appeal as well to appeal to younger audiences – if that is what it takes!…
Opera has never been more accessible to the general public and I would love to see younger people discover this exciting world. I also hope that Greg is offered a scholarship – maybe the Royal College of Music can come to the party
i hope we hear a lot more of greg pritchard it would be good to hear rhydian and greg in the same show what talent both young men have
I total agree Sarah, Greg did not get the chance he deserved in BGT – especially so as he was up against a ten year old girl whose expertise is turning on the waterworks…
I have to be honest as say I really have not heard too much of Rhydian, I only watched X Factor up to a certain point when he was in it but he seems to have done very well seeing he is often making appearances.
Well i can tell you now wendy greg has a music teacher and he is at college in cardiff taking his music studies and piano exams he is so much better now than he was on BGT and he does do a mean ave maria ,ombr mi fu,caro mia ben and so many more now and it is a pleasure to work with him as ruth and i do.He is also just a very nice guy trying to make it in the music business and he is doing it by himself with our help he will become famous here if people would give him a chance.
I knew when I saw him on BGT that he was a unique counter-tenor and that with the right training he could really go places. Possibly if he wants to pursue that avenue and break into opera he could go to Europe, Germany for example, where such talent is really appreciated and the opportunities for him in that area would be far more. I am just so pleased he is doing so well and hope that the rest of the world gets to discover what a wonderful talent he is.
Hi Wendy,
Yes we do agree with you on the germany front that is why he is having singing/piano lessons on the advice of people in opera,as his voice will not mature till he is in his thirties greg feels he has the time to get things right,he is somewhat of a perfectionist,and he just loves to sing,its getting him out there and we have been busy with tv and radio so he is getting the recognition he deserves.
There’s a good wide repertoire from the baroque period that Greg can explore when he is ready to tackle the challenge of opera – in Europe, especially the Munich and Bavarian State Opera, counter-tenors are highly prized and Greg has the added advantage of being a good looking guy as well as obviously a very nice person. I wish him all the best:)