In today's Hong Kong, the underdog no longer wins the day

I cried when Paul Potts won the first contest in 2007. There he was, the archetypal Mr Average: crooked teeth, shapeless clothes, stuck in a dead-end job. But when he opened his mouth, this glorious voice immediately made an impact. In the opening bars of , to the untrained ear, he sounded like Pavarotti. It was very moving.

But the competition was fierce: how could an opera singer stand a chance?

He stuck to his talent, this Welshman singing in Italian, beat the lot of them in nationwide voting, and went on to make records and perform in concerts around the world.

He showed that, however humble your beginnings, you could make it if you worked very hard and had a bit of luck along the way. In effect, though he was a long way away, he lived the Hong Kong dream.

In 2009, the same contest produced a woman who looked even less like a potential star: Susan Boyle, nearly 50 and never been kissed. But when she sang , it gave you goose bumps. She, too, went on to success.

Without wishing to stretch the analogy too far, our own chief executive election in 2012 had a whiff of the same character. Henry Tang Ying-yen, wealthy background, series of important positions secured seemingly effortlessly, against the police constable's son from a humble background, Leung Chun-ying.

On a personal level, Henry comes across as a pretty nice guy: likes a drop of wine, has an eye for the ladies - what could be more normal than that?