Il Divo’s two tenors, David Miller and Urs Buhler, ditch their dress code and divulge their dastardly deeds
Here’s the deal. I’ve always had a slight operatic bent and, needless to say, I also appreciate a well-cut suit on a man. Put the two together, and all the teasing in the world – mainly from my colleagues – won’t stop me from admitting that I like Il Divo. I see neither “opera” nor “pop” as dirty words, so I am accepting of Il Divo’s brand of “popera” – catchy tunes translated into harmonious vibratos that ricochet off your spine. And call me a sucker, but it doesn’t hurt that David Miller, Urs Buhler, Carlos Marin and Sebastien Izambard are such charmers, either.Which was why I was more than happy to spend 20 minutes in a Hong Kong hotel bedroom with Miller and Buhler. Mums love Il Divo – reallyBut I wasn’t quite prepared for Miller’s slightly self-deprecating, ironic response to my humbly expressed appreciation for the band.
“You’re a fan? Not your mum?” he queried. According to the 38-year-old, “my mum loves you” is the phrase the group hears most often.
“(They say) ‘Are you from Il Divo? Can I take a picture for my mum?’” elaborated Buhler.
And how do they usually respond?
“Absolutely,” said Miller.
“No, thank you,” deadpanned Buhler.
But, hey, mums have a lot of clout. Appealing to one particular mum was a trump card that worked very well for Il Divo when they recorded the title track for their latest album, Wicked Game. Miller said that the song’s composer, Chris Isaak, had initially been unwilling to allow Il Divo to rework his classic song.
“But we’re not very good at taking no for an answer,” the tenor explained. “Turns out that his mum is a fan of Il Divo. She convinced him to give us a shot at the song … But the provision was, she’s Italian and he wanted to hear the song in Italian.”
Despite the fact that Il Divo’s creator, Simon Cowell, “hated the idea” of doing the song, when they finally heard the finished track, Miller said it “was like the moment that we had when we first heard (our first hit) Unbreak My Heart – (everything) just fell into place”.
“We really haven’t felt that way since the first album,” added Miller.
“I am thrilled by this album,” Buhler asserted. “I think it’s the best album we’ve ever done. Every single track is fun to sing. It’s dramatic.” He pumped his fist. “It’s – uhhh! – physical! It’s got fwoar!”
This, of course, is coming from the guy who is known for being “the quiet one” in the group. (Funnily, the 40-year-old Swiss tenor was in a hyper mood that day. Maybe he was hopped up on … whatever operatic singers get hopped up on to keep their larynxes lubricated.)
Looking at the album cover though, one burning question immediately springs to mind: What’s happened to the suits – or rather the lack of suits? Is that – gasp – a pair of … jeans?
“Looks are important for Il Divo,” he conceded, after letting rip a loud and melodious guffaw. “You know, the way we’re dressed now (points to his shirt), I think we’re still well dressed. But not in black and white with a tie, because it’s not always necessary. It feels a bit liberating as well.”
“I think there’s been a certain amount of hiding behind the suits,” Miller mused thoughtfully. “Obviously, suits look good; we look pretty good in suits – it’s kind of a no-brainer. (But) if you’re in a tux all the time, that’s not special. If you do spend the day wearing nice clothes, but relaxed, then when you show up in a tux, that’s high class – super special. People go, ‘Oh, yeah, tuxedo time.’ If you wear a suit all day long, at the end of the day, you’re kind of in a crumpled suit!”
Being oh so wicked – or not
But did those dapper, clean-cut, straight-laced suits actually have a seedy underbelly? Could there possibly be some garden-variety bad boys hiding behind the facades of statuesque double-breasted gods? For instance, what was the most wicked thing these guys have ever done?
“If I think of ‘wicked’ in terms of, like, evil … I had a long-term girlfriend back in the day and I was highly unfaithful over the course of that relationship, and it’s something I terribly regret, because it was very hurtful and very, just, wicked – like not in a good way,” said Miller. “I don’t suppose I’ll go to jail for that …”
“You should!” interjected Buhler, before adding that he couldn’t elaborate on his own misdeeds. Furrowing his brow, he mused, “I’ve never done anything bad. Really, can’t give you anything.”
“You could! You just won’t. ‘Cos you’re a p**sy,” Miller accused. “You ever stab anybody’s tires or keyed a car?”
“No, of course not. Oh, we are so bloody boringly well-behaved, I tell you,” Buhler said.
“And the type of singing that we do requires a very fine edge of production of sound and a very, very subtle level of finesse that if you’re on something, you can’t achieve,” Miller said. “Even though it looks like we’re rock stars, and we’re kind of living the schedule of a rock star, but we don’t lead the lifestyle of a rock star.”
So no thrashing of hotel rooms, sex, drugs and Turandot? Fine. But who’s the biggest diva of Il Divo?
“I am, definitely,” said Miller immediately.
“Yeah, Dave is,” Buhler confirmed. “(Turns to Miller) You want your hotel bed facing in a certain direction!”
“When I went to college, I wasn’t sleeping well. And a friend told me, ‘What direction does your bed point? It should be pointing north.’ So I changed the position of my bed,” explained Miller.
“Immediately, I was sleeping better. And then I came to find out later on, it’s got something to do with the magnetics of the earth – the current goes in a certain direction from north to south, and the patterning of the brain actually goes through the … I don’t remember what it is, but it’s basically like swimming upstream or swimming downstream – which one’s easier? So if you’re pointing north, you’re swimming downstream.”
Buhler and I stared at him in silence.
“I don’t have to!” Miller protested. “I don’t change hotel rooms because it’s …”
Buhler interrupted, gesturing at the large double bed. “In a bed like this, you can lie any way you want, anyway!”
True, but isn’t that what got him into wicked trouble in the first place?
Il Divo’s Wicked Game is in stores now.
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David Miller fala à entrevistadora Elisabeth King sobre sua educação musical, do incentivo familiar, das escolhas que fez e do que aprendeu a respeito delas, da importância da motivação, da técnica vocal, das barreiras que enfrentou e faz críticas ao sistema educacional, entre outros assuntos. Uma entrevista para refletir. Destaquei, em vermelho, alguns pontos que considerei interessantes. Esta entrevista foi traduzida por mim para o português na página principal deste blogue, cujo link é : https://luribeiro01.wordpress.com/2010/11/07/david-miller-fala-sobre-sua-educacao-musical-e-os-desafios-que-enfrentou/
David Miller, born in California in 1973 and raised in Colorado, graduated from Oberlin Conservatory with degrees in Vocal Performance and Opera Theatre. While best known for his current work as the American member of the international quartet Il Divo, created by Simon Cowell, David also sang the role of Rodolfo in Baz Luhrmann’s 2002 version of Puccini’s “La Boheme” on Broadway. He has sung in the most renowned opera houses in the world, including the legendary La Scala, and is internationally regarded as one of the brightest and most talented young American opera singers. We’re thrilled to have him share his thoughts about growing as a young artist and arts education here at Stay Out Of School.
Can you start by giving us a description of the work that you do?
Well, I am a singer. I was trained for five years as a classical singer and two years apprenticing as a Young Artist at the Pittsburgh Opera Program. I then spent ten years as an opera singer singing just opera. For the last six years I’ve been with the group Il Divo; we’re four singers from different musical backgrounds. What we do is we bring our different backgrounds together, blending the way the four of us sing all into a single song that we try to give a cross section of techniques. We may start a song is a very pop, raw, emotional way and end with a big operatic finale.
How much of your early music education happened at home and how much happened at school? What was it like being a young musician in a household like yours?
My first experience with music at home was, well, I guess, in the womb. My mom used to play classical music and put the speakers next to her belly! (laughs) But in real life, my first musical experience was the piano— my parents had a piano and they got me a couple piano lessons and I didn’t take to that very well. So they said, “Ok, if you don’t like this, what do you like? Do you like any musical instruments?”
And I said I wanted to play trombone.
So they found a teacher who was willing to teach a nine year old how to play trombone. My teacher eventually found me a youth orchestra to play with and I excelled very rapidly under my parents’ guidance and discipline… not that they played any instruments, but applying the ideal that if you put your heart and your head to something, you can do anything you want to do. So they said, “if this is what you want to do, fine, but you have to learn the basics and you have to learn the theory and you have to learn what music is so that you can function in it.” That’s what this youth orchestra provided every Saturday and my parents kind of required of me… they said “if you’re going to do this, you have to practice at home at least an hour a day”—whether that was working on music theory work books or actually practicing the trombone.
I did that up until about thirteen and then I decided band was entirely too geeky, so I joined choir instead.
That’s like a one-level upgrade from band to chorus…. Like one step up.
Yeah, it’s funny considering everyone’s current opinion about glee club from Glee, which I think is a funny show. I don’t really care for the montages, but I think it’s a fun show and I like that it encourages thinking about how music can function in school. I’ve always been a big purport-er that music is just about music—music is a mindset, a search for deeper understanding that might not be tangible, it might be temporary. But it’s learning how to harmonize, learning how to express yourself, learning so many deep, intangible levels of thinking and feeling that are absolutely applicable to any other discipline.
Ok, so can we talk a little bit more about discipline? You were talking about it earlier but did this discipline fuel your passion? Did you wrestle with being disciplined?
For me, I believe that discipline comes in many different forms. Everyone has a different style of learning. Some people, like myself, are audio learners. I can listen to a conversation and repeat it back almost verbatim when I’m really in the moment and paying attention. Other people can’t do that— other people are visceral learners, for example, if they’re learning language. If I’m learning a language, I just have to listen to it over and over and it’s easy for me to repeat back— I’m very parrot-like in that way. Some people need to speak it over and over so as to get it into their muscle memory into the body. Others need to sit down and write it; it really depends on what your predisposition is in your brain.
I think that’s a really important thing to understand about yourself when looking at any type of discipline. If you’re following a passion and you’ve been given a set of instructions on how to be disciplined that don’t function with your style of learning, you’re just going to feel like you’re butting your head up against the wall.
So in a lot of ways, your own discipline can actually fuel your understanding of yourself and your understanding of the work provided that it’s the language you sort of inherently speak as a learner and a thinker.
I think “discipline” is really another word for “dedication.” It comes from an internal place: either you want to do something or you don’t want to do it. If you do want to do it, there are certain constructs that you need to be able to integrate into who into you are. Like, if you want to learn mathematics, if you like math, you’re going to figure out a way that you can do mathematics. You can study it from an esoteric standpoint, you can write the equations over and over, whatever is going to work for you, but you have to figure out what’s going to work with your style of learning so you end up putting in the hours.
You can’t learn anything without putting in the time. You have to have the desire to absorb something in order to actually go after it and then absorb it. I think that’s an encapsulation of what discipline really is.=
I’m very interested in uncovering those moments where your identity as an artist really got its foothold or moments when you felt empowered to take what felt like “big steps” at the time for your own artistic development. Are there key influential people or events that come to mind? Or maybe these might even be moments where you begin to identify yourself as “an artist” rather than just another kid that sings?
Um, I don’t think I’ve found that yet. (Laughs) I don’t look at it in terms of categories, like “this is art” and “this is science,” because I think there’s a science behind the art and there’s an art behind the science. For me, I’m very left-brained, I’m very scientific about my approach to music. For example, learning about the voice, learning about the physical structure of the voice, learning about how breath pressure interacts with your vocal chords that comes to occlusion at a certain weight that provides you with a balance of not-too-breathy, which can create nodes on your throat and not too much pressure, which can also cause polyps, which is the other side of the coin. It’s about finding your balance in between that.
I’m very physically oriented, interested in understanding the physicality—from an imaginary standpoint because I obviously can’t be looking at my chords all the time. But, I study the charts, I know the anatomy, I understand where all the bones are, all the muscles, all the ligaments, all the cartilage in the entire throat, lung, diagram system…. Even the displaced organs when you take the breath: that all is my mindset about the art. It’s very very rare for me to drop into this place of feeling like, “Oh, this is pure creation! I’m expressing emotion through song!”
I never really get to that point.
I say “OK, here’s the high C coming up, I need to approach it from the E natural, which means I’m going to need a certain amount of openness in the throat so that I can flip it up on the passaggio, which needs some breath pressure and openness and release and my jaw needs to be this far open.”
It’s kind of freaky, actually. (Laughs)
At this stage in my career, it’s all very scientific and a bit pedantic. It’s really been my crutch for such a long time— it’s been my foundation of understanding that when I get sick I know what the muscles are doing, when I’m too dry from being on a plane, I know what the muscles are doing and how to compensate for it.
That being said, like I said before, I don’t really get to that place where I just let it go and just emote… and that’s not something you can just quantify or break down, or if you can, I haven’t figured it out yet. It’s something that I’m learning to uncover through my scientific understanding. “Yeah, I’ve got that, that’s my foundation. Now I need to uncover the yin of the yan of singing. Singing is a very output, outmode, “doing” kind of activity. But you have to find a yin from which the yan springs.
That’s where I am right now. Would I call myself an artist? Mmmmmmm, maybe? (More laughter)
Oh, that’s funny! I totally identify with that— I’m so self-aware whenever I’m making any kind of work, as well. I’m so calculating in the same ways that you are; I really identify with that. I’m never going to let go (or maybe bite the bullet) and say “I’m having a creative moment!” because I’m constantly aware of the technicalities of whatever it is I’m working on. That’s so interesting to me.
That’s what Baz Luhrmann used to call my “Inner Stage Manager.” He said everybody who is a performer has an inner artist and an inner stage manager and they need to find the balance between both. You can’t so far into your art that you forget where all your prompts are and what your staging is. You can’t go so far as the technician, as the Inner Stage Manager, that you don’t connect with the audience through the art.
There’s balance to be had.
For him it’s 70/30: seventy percent artist, thirty percent stage management and he used to say that I had it the other way around. That was one of the things that he was trying to help me uncover.
Have you had any moments in your career path where you thought, “Forget this; I’m doing what I want to do. In fact, I have to do this….” (e.g. Going against the suggestion of a teacher/parent/mentor/etc)?
Oh yes! Basically my entire life!
Oh great! Well, what I’m really interested in, as you talk about one or two of those, is what it is that empowered you to be the person that was able, at the end of the day, to bite the bullet and do what you felt like you were led to do.
As I said before, my parents gave me an understanding early on that if you put your mind to it, you can achieve anything… and I find that to be true for all inventors, all artists, all quantum physicists, or Greenpeace! Anything that you want to do, that you put your mind to, that you feel yourself drawn to, is the thing that you’re going to create circumstances by which you find yourself.
For me, I spent a lot of time letting the universe guide me— like for example, I did the trombone for a while, I felt drawn towards that, but when I didn’t feel drawn towards it anymore I put it down. And then I found choir in high school and I was very drawn to that and so I followed it. I just sort of let myself be led by the nose, like “what do I feel like doing? Well, I feel like doing this. OK! The go ahead and do it. How far can you go with it?”
In the middle of all that, my choir teacher took an interest in me and started introducing me to opera and listening with me to different tenors that he thought I would sound like if I were to apply myself. I found that quite exciting to listen to those tenor voices.
It’s an interesting mix of, well, screaming and… you know, Pavarotti used to say that singing opera was like controlled screaming. There’s something about the way in which the tenor approaches things is very visceral, it’s very energized—and I’m a very energetic person [and] …in opera you really have to get in there and it has to come from your balls.
Being an Aries, being a fire sign, and having a joie-de-vivre, opera just became something that I was personally really drawn to. I got encouragement from my parents and from my choir teacher; I went and found a voice teacher and she said, “Definitely! You’re doing the thing that seems to suit you because you’re really making quick progress with this.”
So I went to Oberlin Conservatory and got in with a teacher and that teacher was a little bit more old school, kind of “nobody knows what they’re going to do as a professional singer at age eighteen” and “you can’t know that you’re going to be an opera singer” and “let’s just focus on the exercises, let’s just take it down a notch, you’re getting ahead of yourself.”
And I just said “well, that’s all well and good, the technique is well and good. I know what I’m going to do once this is over, so whatever you think is most appropriate for me to learn right now, but if you happen to be able to gear that towards opera, give me some tips and hints some direction, because the direction I’m pretty sure I want to go…”
He and I butted heads for a while about that. Until Junior Year. When I got the lead in the opera.
And he said “OK. Soooooo, you were right…. let’s continue.”
Really I think the was the only obstacle that reared its ugly head. I really more attribute it the whole “testing of the faith” kind of thing. Like, I feel like the universe puts these “mini tests” in your way, like “you really want to do this? You’re sure you want to do this? OK, you’re sure, right?”
And any time anything came up like that it was always “yes, this is what I want to do!” ….and any time I got a response, be it external or internal, like “yes, you’re on the right path,” then it always gave me space to dig in even deeper.
Again, that I have to attribute to learning how to be disciplined. You can’t really “learn discipline.” You can learn what discipline is, but until you embrace being disciplined, you’re not going to have discipline. Whatever that means for you—it’s that thing that’s going to get you to put in the hours.
Right, right, right! Discipline isn’t something that happens to you, it’s something that you become.
It’s a desire to embrace the fullest expression of whatever it is that is your passion.
Finally, I want to talk about this internal cycle that I think constantly revolves inside the creative brain—I think it’s the part that’s most mysterious and foreign, the part that makes art seem mystical and magical to those on the outside.
For me, I think there is a starting point, and the starting point is desire, and it goes in an infinite cycle, but I do believe that the starting point on any adventure is the desire to go on that adventure. Once you find that desire, whatever that may be, from building rocket ships to taking out the garbage, whatever it is, that’s the fuel for making any change of any kind.
I was thinking about my high school experience— the content that’s expressed in systematized education is sort of arbitrary. It’s like a general cross section of things one might come across. You know? You expose a child to all these different categories, math, science, french, PE, and at some point in the development of a human being you latch on to one of those areas. Sometimes it’s just wanting to be the pretty kid; we have whole industries devoted to being the pretty kid.
We throw all this under the umbrella of “education.” But I think that real education stems from a desire to be educated, to have a working knowledge and understanding of whatever it is you’re attracted to. I think school does a good job of laying the framework, but I don’t think there’s enough encouragement [or emphasis on] “Does this interest you? Do you enjoy being in English class?
[It’s most important to] foster desire in children to want to learn this or that and then, when that desire kicks in, empowering those children to follow that desire.
It sounds like desire is most central to your own internal experience as an artist. Would you say you at this point in your life you are the chief caretaker of your own desire? Are there people who are strategically placed who cultivate it?
I don’t know that I would say that desire is fueled, per se. I think it’s discovered.
Look, you don’t know you’re going to want to play the trombone. But when you see it and you hear and go ‘WOAH!’—and it’s that feeling of “WOAH!”—you kind of stumble on it. Once it’s there, you know, [desire] is all a matter of attitude at that point. If you find [the work] enjoyable, then, easy enough.
If it stops being enjoyable, it’s your duty to ask, “Why?” What’s stopped being fun? Has it changed? Have I changed? Have I simply gotten what I needed from this experience and it’s time for a new experience? Is the practice getting to hard? Am I lazy?
Why aren’t these things energetically easy enough for this to be fun anymore?
[Desire] is something you can go searching for—people spend their whole lives searching for it. It’s like marriages: when the spark leaves the marriage, that doesn’t mean the marriage is over. It just means a new paradigm has occurred and people get to decide….well, this may be controversial, but I believe people get to decide how they feel about things. People have reactions, emotions come up, but you don’t have to compulsively react to those emotions. You get to live with them for a while and decide if you like having that emotion.
Do I like being angry? I don’t really like being angry. Well, if I don’t really like being angry then it is kind of my responsibility to figure out why I’m angry so I can release that. It’s the thing with anything: I enjoy this, so let’s figure out how to continue to make this an enjoyable thing by identifying why it’s enjoyable.
If you tap into why something is enjoyable, it makes it easier to stay within a framework [of working in ways that bring you joy]. If you like roller coasters because of the adrenaline rush and you stop getting the adrenaline rush when you ride them, you’re going to stop riding roller coasters.
That’s something teachers and other educators might really be able to tap into by understanding what gets young artists of any discipline really excited about their work. It sounds like, since so much of teaching is about helping students discover themselves, that much of this is about helping students discover their own paradigm of learning and desire.
Is there anything else you can think of that I may not have touched on regarding cultivating young artists?
I think science and art are the yin and the yan of existence: science, the attention to discovering structures and the art, the attention on stepping back from those structures to see a wider picture. It’s tough to enjoy the smile on the Mona Lisa when you’re examining the flesh-colored paint. But! The paint is still necessary–Bernoulli, the Divine Proportion–it takes study of structures in order to be able to put it together through your heart-center and turn structure intro art.
There’s a jumping off point where structure is so delicately put together it becomes art, and when you can recognize the beauty in a structure you can see the art in everything.
http://stayoutofschool.com/2010/10/the-artist-interviews-david-miller-tenor/
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woman & home 11 (UK) 2006.10
What I love in a woman – by Il Divo
Il Divo’s last album Ancora sold over five million copies and hit the number one spot in 26 countries, including the UK. Their new album Siempre is out in November. The four talk to Victoria Young about glamour, seduction � and dating older women
Click on all thumbnails to see the large image.
I started to sing, so I could seduce women
Sebastien Izambard, 33, is French, lives in Paris and has been with his girlfriend for eight months.
About women: I love them. I fall in love with women so easily, though I don’t get attached easily. French men love seducing, but I’m scared of relationships because they put you in a cage. I’ve been seeing someone who lives in Australia. It’s a big risk for us but she’s wonderful.
What is glamour? It looks delicious, fashionable, aesthetic. I like soft, natural beauty; I don’t like make-up. You can tell at a glance if someone is glamorous. Glamour is gracious and has an emotional element to it, but I don’t like people who try too hard.
Favourite screen icons: Natalie Portman and Brigitte Bardot.
Off-stage life: We spend 340 days a year working. I’m constantly on the road and it can be lonely. I do get homesick � it’s strange to wake up and wonder where you are all the time. Of course, it’s worth it, but I miss doing ordinary things like going to the supermarket.
Perfect date: For a date I’d go to Rome. But if it was the person I wanted to marry, I’d pick Venice for dinner by the canal. And I would sing to her. That is why I started to sing � so I could seduce women.
Worst date: When I was younger in Paris, I played my guitar in the street to serenade a girl upstairs. She loved it, but it was two in the morning and the man in the flat below hers threw water over me.
Marriage: I believe in marriage and I believe in family; it’s important to me. But I hate pressure. I have to be with someone who is not jealous.
Dating an older woman was amazing
Urs Buhler, 35, from Switzerland lives in Lille, France, with his girlfriend of three years.
What is glamour? For me, the archetype of glamour is the cocktail dress look from the Frank Sinatra era. It’s hard to define, but some people just have a certain presence that can be seductive.
Favourite screen icon: Catherine Zeta-Jones is absolutely gorgeous.
Dating code: A date is when you get someone’s number and call them to go out the next weekend, but I don’t really do that. I’ve always dated women I’ve got to know gradually.
Dating older women: My ex-girlfriend was ten years older than me, and the one before her was 11 years older. The good thing about dating a more mature woman was that she knew who she was, where she stood on things and where she was going � and that confidence in herself gave me a certain direction in my own life.
A perfect date, New York for romance
David Miller, 33, from the US, lives in New York and has been with his girlfriend for three years.
What is glamour? The human form in its natural state is innately glamorous. The minute it becomes too plastic and artificial, it loses it.
Favourite screen icons: Angelina Jolie and Audrey Hepburn.
Perfect date: For moonlit walks, I’d choose Paris. But there is a lot to be said for New York, which offers romance with an edge. It has a restaurant called Balthazar which is intimate, though it is always packed.
Worst date: My high-school prom was pretty bad. My girlfriend of six months broke up with me the week before, but we decided to go as friends. Then we had a massive fight and I decided to sabotage the evening. I wore shorts and red trainers. She was mortified.
Off-stage life: I don’t ever want to say �I wish I had…� so I like outdoorsy stuff like hiking, biking, rock-climbing and scuba diving.
Glamour is all about confidence
Carlos Marin, 38, from Spain, lives in Madrid and is married to Geraldine, his partner for 13 years.
What is glamour? It is more the way that a woman wears something than what she is wearing. It is the way she acts and moves.
Favourite screen icons: Monica Bellucci. But Katharine Hepburn and Rita Hayworth had so much charm. And then of course, there was Marilyn Monroe; now that’s what I call real glamour.
Perfect date: Would be in Disneyland. I got married in Disneyland.
Worst date: I’ve never had one. Every date is special because I make it so.
Dating older women: I think it is fantastic. When I was 20, I had a girlfriend who was 35 and everything about it was brilliant, from sex to conversation. But I married someone younger than me; my wife is 29.
On female fans: It’s great seeing women throwing underwear at you on stage. We’ve built up quite a collection; it’s a Tom Jones thing.
Local de Nascimento:Londres
Nome Verdadeiro:Il Divo
A ideia nasceu em 2001 e consistia na criação de um grupo masculino capaz de interpretar (velhas e novas) canções populares. O resultado final de uma exaustiva busca pelo mercado internacional foi conhecido no final de 2003, quando o tenor norte-americano David Miller, o vocalista francês Sebastien Izambard, o tenor suíço Urs Buhler e o barítono espanhol Carlos Marin foram escolhidos para formarem os Il Divo.
De malas feitas para Londres, os quatro jovens passaram a primeira metade de 2004 a trabalhar. Os temas originais “Unbreak My Heart”, de Tony Braxton, e “My Way”, de Frank Sinatra, sofreram ligeiras mudanças, mas serviram de inspiração para os primeiros passos da carreira.
Assumidamente românticos e possuidores de poderosas vozes, os Il Divo são também conhecidos pela importância que dão ao visual. A imagem delicada e cuidada tem contribuído para somarem cada vez mais fãs em diversos países, como ficou provado na passagem por Portugal, em Junho de 2005. Na altura, o quarteto masculino actuou no Hotel da Lapa, num concerto exclusivo para ouvintes do Rádio Clube Português, onde apresentou o seu primeiro disco, de título homónimo.
“Ancora” é o título do segundo álbum do quarteto internacional de ópera, que chegou às lojas em Novembro de 2005. Neste trabalho, os Il Divo voltam a interpretar uma colecção de canções pop e de clássicos inesquecíveis, incluindo um dueto com a cantora Celine Dion, ‘I Believe In You (Je Crois En Toi)’, interpretado em inglês e francês. Outros dos temas que fazem a ponte entre a música clássica e a pop são ‘Unchained Melody’, dos Righteous Brothers, ‘All By Myself’ (Sola Otra Vez), de Eric Carmen, ou a adaptação de ‘Heroe’, de Mariah Carey.
A sua popularidade levou mesmo a que uma estrela da constelação Ursa Maior tenha sido chamada Il Divo.
Em 2006 são escolhidos por Barbra Streisand para fazer as primeiras partes da sua digressão nos EUA, périplo, que acaba por se tornar o segundo mais lucrativo do ano naquele pais. Em Junho de 2006, actuam no intervalo do jogo de abertura do Campeonato do Mundo de Futebol na Alemanha, onde interpretam juntamente com Tony Braxton, o hino da competição, ‘Time of Our Lives’, tema que nunca chegou a ser integrado numa edição exclusivamente sua mas apenas na compilação “Voices”. Segue-se o longa duração “Siempre”, que atinge o número um em países como a Espanha e o Reino Unido, e o segundo lugar nos EUA e em Portugal. Entre as versões presentes neste álbum destaque para temas dos Moody Blues e de Bryan Adams.
É preciso esperar pelo final de 2008, para chegar um novo álbum da banda. “The Promise” integra interpretações de originais de artistas tão díspares como Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Leonard Cohen e Abba. Tal como os seus antecessores, o disco faz boa figura nas vendas nos mercados internacionais e português.
Paulo Rico
Their natal Suns and Moons are scattered, but I notice a loose pattern in that each has either Sun and/or Moon in Cardinal signs (Aries, Cancer, Libra – Cardinal signs in general are energetic, dynamic, proactive).
Sebastien Izambard = Pisces/Aries
David Miller = Aries/Virgo
Urs Buhler = Cancer/Gemini
Carlos Marin = Libra/Cancer.
I’ve checked, and each Moon will stay within the sign shown at 12 noon in charts below. In the absence of times of birth, rising signs remain a mystery, which is a pity.
Left to right: Urs Buhler, Sebastien Izambard, Carlos Marin, David Miller
Four very different personalities. This is confirmed in a 2007 article by Rebecca Hardy. A few snippets give some ideas about the characters who make up Il Divo.
“An uneasy silence settles over Il Divo, following Urs Buhler’s emphatic statement: “We’re not best friends and we’re never going to be best friends.”
Urs (“very quiet, very reserved, into heavy metal and bikes and likes things on time”, according to the others)…………
David Miller, 34, the American who’s wearing a striped shirt and an astonishing number of wooden beads around his wrists (“talks a lot, easy to make contact with but difficult to go deeper”, according to the others)………….Carlos Marin, the Spaniard and, at 38, the oldest in the group (“very passionate, says what he thinks without thinking before he speaks”)………… “We each had a huge ego from our solo careers,” he says smoothly. It’s a difficult thing when somebody says: ‘These guys are going to be your friends for the next ten years.’…………….I’m Spanish and in my language you can swear a lot, but when you translate it into English it can sound very bad, so there was a lot of misunderstanding. But now the good thing is we’re like brothers – a family. We understand each other.” He smiles.
Urs stares back, not returning the smile…………..Sebastien Izambard, 34, the charismatic Frenchman with the come-to-bed eyes (“arrogant but also sensitive”) interjects: “You forget all of this – all of the being tired, being grumpy, having conflict with each other – when you’re on stage. That is a magical moment.”
Saturn lies opposite Neptune in 3 of the 4 charts, but quincunx in Marin’s case. Saturn and Neptune move slowly and because the lads’ birth years are quite close, each has this Saturn-Neptune aspect: career needs opposite creativity – a dynamic tension common to 3 singers, with the quincunx providing a rather different tension for Marin. Saturn IS opposite Sun and Mercury in Marin’s case though, so there’s still a Saturn opposition involved.
From the article linked above it’s quite clear that the guys’ success comes at a price. They get tired from the constant travel. Saturn’s discipline and restrictions opposite or qunincunx Neptune’s creativity connects to this. There’s proof, from their own comments:
“Carlos says: “We were at a press conference and they put up the names of every country we were No 1 in and there were 37. “We said: ‘My God, we’re bigger than we think we are.’ We hadn’t realised, because we were always on the road.”Urs, David and Sebastien nod. The boys are in agreement on this point.“The hardest thing for me is the travelling because we have such a lack of time,” says Sebastien. “Everybody’s scared to stop because you might become unfamous or earn less money. My best time is after the gig, when I go back to my room. I have to create my own space.”“Me too,” says Carlos, the only married member of the group.Urs cuts in: “I don’t spend any time with the group than what is work time.”David interrupts: “That’s not true.”
You could cut the atmosphere with a knife now.
“It is true,” insists Urs.”
Sun(self) is close to Venus (music) in the same 3 singers’ charts, with again Marin’s line-up a little different: Sun/Mercury together. Marin’s chart is configured in “funnel” pattern with Saturn as the funnel – his energies are totally focused on career. I’d guess he’s the most driven of the four. The other three charts have a wider, more varied spread.
A wild guess this, but based on Sun/Moon positions, the group splits into two factions. I think that Carlos Marin and David Miller will find it easy to relate to each other, and Buhler and Izambard likewise, any problems are more likely to arise in the crossover.
I enjoy the kind of crossover style (operatic/popular) which Il Divo does so well. Carlos Marin’s voice in particular gives me goosebumps, it’s reminiscent of my old favourite in this genre, Mario Lanza.
Penrith woman’s Il Divo dream comes true
By Pamela McGowan
Last updated at 10:00, Friday, 24 April 2009
Opera stars Il Divo brought tears to the eyes of Penrith motor neurone disease sufferer Chrissy O’Neil when they made her dreams come true.
The 46-year-old, who lives near Penrith, was diagnosed with the condition – which damages the nervous system, leaving muscles wasted and weak – three years ago.
The disease leaves people unable to walk, talk or feed themselves and most sufferers die within two to five years of being diagnosed.
In the past few years Chrissy has been supported by her best friend of 20 years Edwina Scott-Russell, 57, of Bothel. They share a love for international opera heartthrobs Il Divo and have seen them live several times.
For Chrissy, who lives near Penrith, her dream has long been to meet the foursome. That’s why best friend Edwina stepped in to help make their latest concert excursion all the more special.
She contacted the Motor Neurone Disease Association, who arranged for her to meet the group before they went on stage.
When the surprise was finally sprung, Chrissy struggled to control her emotions.
“It took me ages to try to compose myself for the meeting and I kept bursting into tears. Their music has always touched me deeply but I admit that it was particularly poignant for both myself and Edwina. We had no idea whether I would be around to see them again,” she explained.
Even now she is struggling to believe that the dream meeting actually happened.
“Who could possibly have known that I would get to meet them, and even experience Urs Buhler and Sebastian Stienizambard having their arms around me? What utter bliss. I am such a lucky girl. It just goes to show that anything is possible, especially with a friend like Edwina,” she added.
But it wasn’t just Chrissy who went weak at the knees when they came face to face with the stars.
Edwina said she also got quite emotional: “They were so sincere and nice. It was lovely.
“I was trying to hold back the emotion for Chrissy’s sake but when I tried to take a photo my hand was shaking and one of their assistants took it for me.”
First published at 05:12, Friday, 24 April 2009
Published by http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk
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Centre stage
Philippa Kennedy
- Last Updated: March 30. 2010
Unlike the other three members of the group, Urs Bühler, Carlos Marin and David Miller, Izambard was a pop singer and had never been classically trained. He wondered how he would fit into a group put together to bring classical music to a mass audience in a popular form.
All he really knew about Cowell was what he saw of him on television shows such as Pop Idol and American Idol as the acid-toned and often brutally honest judge whose opinion could make or break a young singer’s career. Izambard had no idea that, as a record producer and entrepreneur, Cowell had been conducting worldwide auditions for two years in order to find the right mix for his new supergroup.
Today, Izambard laughs with a certain amount of disbelief at his initial lack of faith. The group stormed the popular music charts with its debut album, called simply Il Divo, selling five million copies in under a year and knocking Robbie Williams from the number-one slot. Since then, their particular blend of soaring operatic power and romantic popular songs has resulted in sales of more than 22 million albums and earned them a devoted following of fans of all ages.
“At first I wasn’t very keen to join the group,” Izambard says from his home in London. “Coming from a solo career, I have always been used to singing the songs I composed myself and being in control of my own career.
“I was working on my second solo album when they told me they wanted to see me. Simon Cowell had a vision, when he heard the three tenors, of mixing songs in a pop opera kind of way. Then he looked for the right people who could physically do it. He considered singers from all over the world and it took him two years to put Il Divo together. The search covered 30 countries. When he finally decided upon the four of us, he was very truthful and said he hoped he could make it work. What he achieved was unbelievable. I have absolutely no regrets. I have to say that in general I made the right choice.”
The others were also sceptical at first. Bühler thought being in the group would pay the rent for a year. As one of the three operatic singers, he was used to being selected in much the same way as an opera company is put together.
Il Divo is scheduled to perform as part of the Abu Dhabi Festival at the Emirates Palace on Friday, and Izambard is looking forward to performing live again. “It’s my first time in Abu Dhabi,” he says. “We played in Dubai at a private party three years ago but I haven’t been to the UAE since then. Three of us live in England and David lives in the States. We hardly ever meet except during the run-up to concerts and when we are on tour. This concert is a one-off, so it will be wonderful to be back on stage with them again with a live audience. That kind of contact is so different from being in a studio. As singers, that is what we are built for.”
For those who are not familiar with the individual members of the group, Izambard is the devastatingly handsome French one, blue-eyed, messy-haired with dimpled chin and endearing gap between his front teeth. Marin is the dark-eyed Spaniard with matinee-idol looks and deep rich baritone. Bühler is the long-haired Swiss whose lyrically classical tenor falls somewhere in the middle of the range, and Miller is the younger looking, rather serious American who hits the high notes.
Izambard was chosen as much for his emotional delivery as his experience in the pop world. He believes that after seven years the group has at last left the “manufactured” tag behind. He shrugs off critics who deride them for being a bunch of pretty boys in Armani suits that Cowell put together in a studio.
“Simon wanted someone from the pop world,” Izambard says. “We are all there for a reason. Mine is not an operatic voice. I can’t sing opera but my voice blends with the others.
“As for the look, it’s very nice to be able to wear such beautiful clothes, and of course that helps with the image. But at home it’s very much jeans and a T-shirt and my hair is much shorter than when we’re on tour.
“I find it embarrassing to talk about how I look – or how we look – but we hear that a lot: that Simon put together a group of good-looking guys who could sing. I don’t believe that just being pretty is enough. There are a lot of good-looking guys out there. I am quite shy and I’m not used to compliments, so don’t really know what to say when people ask me about all that. I hate seeing myself in pictures. I can’t find a picture I like.”
Cowell experimented with several looks for the ensemble but rejected the scruffy jeans style for sharp-suited elegance. He also abandoned early attempts to make them dance on stage and opted for the backlit, dramatic but simple device of having them stand still in a row and just sing.
The other aspect of becoming a member of an ensemble was that the four men from different cultures and backgrounds were expected to become instant friends. That took time. While Marin and Izambard found a natural affinity and went clubbing together, it took some time for them to bond naturally as a group. “That’s why tours are so important,” he says. “We are together during that time and working very hard. The cultural differences give us an edge. We feel different things in a different way and we express them in a different way on records.
“But you have to keep reinventing yourself in order to move forward. I don’t know where we will end up but we must keep trying to make ourselves better and more interesting. Otherwise we will get bored. It’s really important to keep us all happy with what we are doing and how we are presenting ourselves.”
While Cowell was very hands-on to begin with and just asked the men to “trust him”, the situation gradually reversed itself as the group matured. They work with producers to find songs that suit their blend of operatic technique and popular singing, though that sometimes means their style is rather unflatteringly dubbed “popera”.
“It isn’t easy,” Izambard says. “We were meant to record a month ago, but we haven’t even started yet. I don’t think we have the right songs. In fact, we only have one song confirmed. We should be recording in May for release in October.”
Their first three albums, Il Divo, Ancora and Siempre, scored 36 number-one chart positions in 26 countries. Their next album, The Promise, released in November 2008, was another number-one hit in the UK.
Two sell-out world tours have taken them to 30 countries, performing for more than 1.5 million people. They appeared at the opening and closing ceremonies of the Fifa 2006 World Cup, singing the official theme song with Toni Braxton. And they were special guests of Barbra Streisand on her 2006 tour of North America.
To say that Izambard’s life has changed utterly since becoming part of Il Divo is something of an understatement. He has moved countries, married and become the father of twins. He met and married Renée Murphy, an Australian former Sony BMG publicist, on tour in Australia five years ago and their two-year-old children are called Luca and Rose.
“They keep us very busy,” he says. “They are wonderful and they keep me grounded. There is absolutely no such thing as being famous once you get into your own home. The children tell me that with their eyes. I might fly in after a long trip and as soon as I walk in there’s no such thing as being tired, either.
“When I am away from them it is tough, but I am a very proud father. I have been fortunate to travel the world but I love spending time with my family and long to get home to them. If the babies are sick all you want to do is get home to them. Sometimes it is really tough when you are away for three months at a time. I feel I need to help my wife with them.”
Now 37, Izambard is driven by a desire to become the best singer that he can be. “I have been taking singing lessons, as the only untrained classical opera voice in the group. You should never stop learning and I have never had lessons before. It was something that, for whatever reason, I wanted to do. I needed to reach the next level. I’m also taking acting lessons and am just trying to get better.”
He says he would dearly love to write a song that Il Divo could sing, but is hesitant to try to force one of his songs on the group.
“I have thought about writing for Il Divo but it might be awkward for the others. They might find it hard to sing something I wrote, and I don’t want to trigger any kind of awkwardness within the group. It’s very difficult for ego reasons, so maybe this is something for me in the future.”
Before he joined the group, he had already released a solo album called Libre in France, and his song Si Tu Savais reached number one in the French charts. He has written many songs for French artists, and he performed with Johnny Halliday in Paris in 2001. He has also performed in musicals and plays.
“I haven’t altogether given up what I used to do, and that is composing. I write a lot of music on the side and have been doing that for many years. I would like to try and compose something for Leona Lewis. She has a very modern sound. I like the songs she sings. I like to try to do things that I’m not used to doing.”
“When we first started six years ago, I was blown away when we went to number one in the UK. We didn’t even have a single and just released the album. This is something that hadn’t happened since the 1970s. We just came from nowhere and were embraced by the world. We worked so hard that we hardly had time to think.”
All four take time to talk to fans and sign autographs at concerts but Izambard says he never really gets used to being recognised.
“I still can’t get used to people staring at me. We all get it a lot. People sometimes can’t work out who I am when they see me without the other three. You can see by the expression on their faces that they think they know me but can’t work out from where. It happened a lot when I used to live in Notting Hill.
“The ability to be able to move about without being recognised everywhere is really important to me. I don’t think I could keep doing what I do otherwise. As a family and as a father I don’t think I would be able to have a proper life.”
The four took a year-long break in 2007 and when they got back together for the last album felt more of a team than before. “We have all matured and we are able to work closely together,” Izambard says. “We don’t want to just do the same thing. We are all professional musicians and although people think we were put together in a reality show, we feel very different now.
“Also we see a very different side of Simon. He isn’t like the person we see on television. He trusts us now and doesn’t interfere. And we trust and respect each other. Some people thought we wouldn’t last but here we are seven years later and the schedule is as crazy as ever.
“So many of my musician friends say they would love to do what we do, so I’m not going to complain about my life.”
* Il Divo is scheduled to perform as part of the Abu Dhabi Festival at the Emirates Palace at 7.30 on Friday. For details, visit www.abudhabifestival.ae.
http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100330/ART/703299978/1083
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ANO NOVO COM IL DIVO
New Year’s With Il Divo
— By Deanna Barnert
Soap Opera Weekly: Is it really possible to rent you guys out for a night, like Katherine does on New Year’s?
Carlos Marin: You can rent me whenever you want, my darling.
Sebastien Izambard (laughs): We’ll do it for very much money.
David Miller: With all of the opportunities that are coming now, we’re still in the middle of our first world tour, which we put on hold to do the third album and the Barbra Streisand tour, and then to promote that album. We pick the tour back up in January, in Asia, and it goes through April. We go to South America and South Africa, but occasionally in the middle of all of that, there are windows of time when people can say, “I just happen to be having a party. Are you guys free?” Most times, we say “No” because we’re just not free, but occasionally it happens.
Weekly: You’re performing the song “Somewhere.” Who makes that type of decision when you do a gig like this?
Izambard: We decide on the song and the length of the song. When you do a TV show now, you have very little time to sing, so we cut that part, put in that part.
Urs Bühler: Normally, the show gets a few options. We’ll give them two or three songs and say, “Which would you prefer?” Then they probably have their preference and we might still think, “We don’t want to do that. We want to do that.” It’s a bit of give and take between the management, us and the people who produce the shows that we were doing.
Weekly: Last summer, Victor “hired” you to perform for Nikki. How did this experience compare to that?
Marin: This time, we had all the audience and all the actors around. It was a beautiful experience.
Bühler: We had good fun.
Miller: The first time we were on, there was no audience, at all. We were hired to play the gazebo, but no one was there. We were singing and had to do our acting job [and pretend] that we were performing. Then they cut it all together. This time, we got to have the principals there. It was cool getting feedback from them and they seemed to enjoy it.
Weekly: Did any of the cast or crew give you any advice before you went on?
Marin: Yes. “This is the place you need to stay and this is the place you need to move.” The obvious things. (laughs) “That’s the light. That’s the camera. Don’t look to the camera. When you sing, open your mouth.”
Weekly: What was it like working with Jeanne Cooper? (they all laugh)
Miller: She’s a hoot.
Marin: She’s fabulous. She’s very fun. She said maybe she was too old for me.
Weekly: Can exposure on a show like Y&R make a difference for you?
Izambard: Yes, because it’s probably very much the demographic we’re reaching. It’s very much the people we want to address our music to — well, it’s [addressed] to everyone, but usually these are the people it touches the most. Y&R’s actually aired in France. It’s called “Les Feux de L’amour,” “The Fire of Love.”
Weekly: Do any of you watch the show or have fans in the family?
Miller: I have friends from high school and college who do, but my girlfriend’s family is absolutely nuts about it. Her grandmother has been watching since the first day of the show. [Of all we do,] this is the most exciting for them. “You’re on Oprah? Good, but when are you going to be on Y&R?!”
Izambard: We taped last year’s show in the end of June and it aired in August. I never watch TV, but I switched the TV on [for some reason] on a Saturday morning and it was [our last] episode! That’s the only one I’ve ever seen.
Weekly: Are you tempted to check the show out now?
Miller: If it’s on. Our time is very limited, because we spend so much time on airplanes, in airports and getting in cars to get to and from what we’re there to do. The amount of time we actually spend in a hotel room is generally the eight hours we have to sleep before we have to get ready the next day. So we don’t generally watch TV to begin with and then, we wouldn’t begin to know how to find the schedules for Greece or Malaysia. I can’t even read the TV Guide!
Weekly: If you could, would you like to catch this episode and critique yourself?
Marin: Oh, yeah. We criticize everything. Every single move. We’re very good at that.
Bühler: That’s probably the only way you can improve what you do in life, but no one can be perfect. That’s sometimes what I say to the other guys. I like imperfection sometimes.
Weekly: Are any of you interested in an acting career?
Miller: The four of us.
Bühler: It is funny, because when we do a video clip or film shoot and stand there in the studio all day, very often it is so boring. You are sitting around waiting the whole day. But if you see all those big movies and what those actors do, that is a tempting career.
Weekly: Does Simon Cowell, who put you together almost three years ago, still play an integral part in what’s happening with the group?
Izambard: We don’t see him at all, recently. We see him [about] once a year and discuss the future album, the things we can improve and things like that, but it’s more like a team. He’s very trustful and just leaves us to do our work. He’s very busy, as well. He’s got his career and we’ve got ours.
Miller: That’s part of the reason he hired people who already had careers going into it. He knew he’d be able to trust us and say, “I’m not going to be able to be there. Once you guys get going, fly. Be free.”
Weekly: So as part of this close-knit team, what do you four argue about?
Izambard: Everything. Imagine four different cultures and personalities. We have to make choices, and it’s the four of us. When you’re a solo artist, it’s easier. You stick to your own choice and that’s it. There, we have to find compromise. At times, when you’re tired, having a bad day or you just believe in something and you disagree with the other person…. It does happen a lot.
Miller: We try to be democratic as much as possible [and] everyone has an opinion, so it’s something we have to deal with.
Weekly: Do you ever miss your separate careers?
Bühler: Yes, of course, but I miss it mostly because of the music. We’re doing this crossover thing and it’s a completely different thing from being a classical tenor. I miss singing that repertoire. But in the classical business, we’re all very young. We don’t know where Il Divo is going to take us. We can always see it to find a step back to classical music again.
Weekly: What music do you each listen to?
IN UNISON: The new album.
Marin: I like Tom Jones. He’s my hero.
Bühler: I listen to opera and heavy metal.
Izambard: Lots of different things. At the moment, John Mayer.
Miller: I listen to techno, dance club music.
Weekly: What surprises you most since your international fame?
Izambard: The biggest artists are the artists that have nothing to prove. At the moment, we are touring with Barbra Streisand and she’s very down-to-earth. She doesn’t care. She does whatever she believes and I find that beautiful, to see an artist that sticks to her personality. She doesn’t have to prove anything to anyone.
Weekly: Do you actually get to talk to her?
Miller: She talks to us, we talk to the feet. (laughs) No, she’s fantastic. We had very limited time with the rehearsal process, a couple of weeks in L.A. and then a week in New Jersey. It’s her show and she has so much on her plate. We’re the guests, so we didn’t have much time where she wasn’t dealing with the lights, the cameras or the set list, which is still changing, because she’s a perfectionist.
Weekly: You have such an international fan base. Are there places were it’s out of control?
Marin: Spain is unbelievable. It was an amazing experience when we went there. We did a show in Barcelona and Madrid. It was 18,000 people. It was mostly 14- to 16-year-old girls and they were all screaming. The most amazing thing was that they were singing along with the songs.Weekly: So are you getting tired of wearing the suits?
Marin: No, it’s our pajamas!
ENTREVISTA DESCONTRAÍDA COM IL DIVO
lunes 16 de noviembre de 2009 Fonte : http://ildivopress.blogspot.com/2009/11/il-divo-cuenta-todo.html
¿Que habéis hecho esta noche?
David: Dormir. Nuestro vuelo llego a las 9 de la mañana y estábamos muy cansados.
¿Tenéis chándal?
Todos: Si
Urs: No, yo no tengo
David: El tiene….no me sale la palabra….estos pantalones que te pones para ir en bicicleta.
Carlos: Lleva tangas
¿Separáis la basura?
Todos: Si
¿Cual es el CD más “curioso” que tenéis?
David: No hay CD´s curiosos. Toda la música es preciosa. Bueno, esa es la mejor respuesta. Yo suelo escuchar Tecno o música Dance. Cuando mis amigos vienen a verme cambio la música y escucho: “David, ¿Qué es eso?”
Urs: Yo tengo unos cuantos CD´s de heavy metal. Normalmente, nadie quiere escucharlos, pero me gustan. Y no me avergüenzo por ello.
¿Que tenéis en la mesita de noche?
Carlos: Lámparas y bombillas…. y bueno, el resto depende del tipo de luces. Por ejemplo, cuando pongo luz romántica, hay, de acuerdo con ella, otras cosas en la mesita, como cigarros y agua.
Sebastien: Yo tengo velas y libros.
David: yo también.
Sebastien: Ah! Y condones.
¿Que hay en vuestra nevera?
Urs: Nada.
Seb: Probablemente algo que ya haya caducado.
David: Cuando llego a casa, me gusta cocinar, así que, depende.
Carlos: Yo prefiero ir a un restaurante, es más cómodo.
¿Cuando fue la ultima vez que dijisteis “mierda”?
David: Hace cinco minutos, ¿por que? Porque es divertido.
Urs: Esta mañana, cuando intentaba ponerme las lentillas…..No lo consigo de ninguna de las maneras.
¿Quien es la persona más importante en vuestras vidas?
Carlos: Para mi, es mi familia.
David: Si, la familia es definitivamente, lo mas importante.
Seb: Lo mismo para mi.
Urs: Todas las personas a las que amo.
Todos: Oh, que bonito… es tan tierno….
¿Cual es vuestra mayor virtud?
David: ¡La pasión! Cuando tú haces las cosas con pasión no hay nada que no puedas conseguir.
Seb: La música.
Urs: La disciplina….creo
¿Y vuestro mayor defecto?
Seb: La disciplina…no, estoy bromeando.
Urs: Soy muy sensible. Si hay, por ejemplo, una cosa que me molesta, y dura mucho tiempo, posiblemente acabe explotando. Supongo que ese es mi mayor defecto.
David: Siempre creo que tod@s y todo tienen mi mayor atención. Pero me pierdo detalles.
Seb: Carlos y yo nos levantamos de mal humor. Amamos la noche…como los vampiros…Madrugar es muy duro.
¿Cuando fue la última vez que visteis a alguien desnudo?
Carlos: Esta mañana, me ví desnudo…
Urs: Ayer por la mañana
Seb: Ayer en la piscina…
Carlos: Pero las chicas no estaban desnudas…
Seb: Bueno…no completamente, estaban en Top-less.
¿Cuál es el último Cd que habéis escuchado?
Carlos: Il Divo, si, la noche pasada.
Seb: Scissors Sisters
Urs: White Snake de 1987
David: Excursion into Trance Nr: 4.
¿Cuando fue la ultima vez que rompiste una promesa?
Carlos: Yo nunca rompo mis promesas.
David: Sin embargo, es algo que pertenece a nuestro trabajo. La confianza es muy importante, incluso si tú actúas para otras personas. Si alguien te da su palabra, esperas que la mantenga. Y eso es lo que hacemos.
¿Cuándo fue la última vez que hablasteis con alguien de cuando estuvisteis en el colegio?
David: ¿Sirve el e-mail? Tengo un viejo amigo del colegio con el que cantaba después del colegio juntos en un estudio. Pero el dejo por un tiempo de cantar y se dedico a ser guardaespaldas. Hace poco, me escribió otra vez un e-mail en el cual decía que se alegraba mucho de todo el éxito…y, además, me preguntaba si no usaba guardaespaldas….fue muy divertido.
¿Que es lo mas importante para vosotros en esta vida?
Carlos: Mi carrera, mi familia y mis amigos.
Urs: La salud
David: La pasión.
¿Cuando fue la ultima vez que prestasteis algo?
Urs: Creo…que fue mi cortaúñas…hace 2 semanas
¿Y os lo devolvieron?
Urs: Si, claro
Seb: Creo que me preste dinero…
David: No, tú te prestaste chicles…
Carlos: Dice “Oh, si” y lleva un año así…
Urs: ¿Y te los devolviste? Jaja
¿A que le teníais miedo antes?
Seb: La muerte. Creo que viene, y que tú puedes ver como se lleva a muchas personas, como a los niños. Mucha gente de mí alrededor ha muerto, de cáncer y de enfermedades similares.
David: La pena, no le tengo miedo a cosas como la muerte, pero si a tener que vivir con dolor….
Carlos: Mi voz
David: Jajaja, nosotros también tenemos miedo de nuestras voces….
Urs: Creo, que mi mayor miedo es despertarme y descubrir que he perdido toda mi vida o que hago algo completamente diferente. Creo, que por el momento estoy muy satisfecho con lo que hago.
¿Quién es la persona a la que mas admiráis?
Carlos: Tom Jones.
Seb: La Madre Teresa
David: Abraham Lincoln
¿Qué libro estáis leyendo?
Seb: “El diablo viste de Prada” Es muy divertido
David: “El salón de baile de los genios Wu Li (”The dance hall Wu Li masters “) “Este es un libro sobre física y metafísica
Carlos: No leo nada. Solo miro fotos, de mujeres desnudas…
Urs: No estoy leyendo nada.
¿Renunciaríais a un año sin sexo si así podríais asegurar la paz mundial?
Todos: No!!
Carlos: Yo no podría hacerlo en ningún caso
Seb: Eso no es así, realmente, ¿Por que no hay paz en el mundo? Porque no se practica suficiente sexo!!
Urs: Si realmente se asegurase la paz mundial así, yo lo haría.
David: Uno, ¿¿una semana??
Urs: Un año!
David: Un año?? Bueno, por lo menos, podría intentarlo…
¿A quien invitaríais para cenar?
Seb: A mi abuelo. Mi familia me hablo mucho sobre el. Fue como el héroe de nuestra familia, con mucho gusto le habría conocido.
David: Invitaría a dos personas: Jesús y Buda. Para ver como se manejan.
Carlos: Yo también invitaría a dos personas: Catherine Zeta-Jones y Mónica Belucci. Jajaja, solo seriamos tres.
Urs: Randy Rhoads. Era el guitarrista de Ozzy Osbourne. Falleció con 25 años en un accidente de avión.
¿Creen vuestros amigos que vuestra vida sexual es mejor ahora?
Seb: Ellos creen que somos más ricos de lo que realmente somos. En serio, cuando ellos llaman y me lo preguntan, es como si uno pudiese conseguir a todas las mujeres que desease.
¿Cuanto tiempo dedicáis al día en pensar en sexo?
David: Sobre unos cuatro minutos
Carlos: ¡¡24 horas!!
Urs: ¿Piensas en ello todo el día, Sebastien?
Seb: Estoy de acuerdo contigo en eso…
¿Cuando fue la ultima vez que llorasteis?
Seb: Cuando amig@ Y YO nos tenemos que separar.
Urs: Creo que fue con una película… pero no puedo recordar cual…
Carlos: Era Bambi
¿Cómo os describiríais?
Carlos: Muy marchoso, apasionado y un buen amigo de mis amigos.
Seb: Esa es una pregunta muy difícil…No tengo ni idea… creo que soy romántico, a veces también complicado o…o también que es sencillo relacionarse conmigo…
Urs: Contradictorio
David: Feliz.
Etiquetas: Il Divo
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Nesta entrevista a reportagem se refere ao grupo como 4 tenores!
He has sung in Opera Companies all over the world and recently appeared on Broadway in La Boheme.
SIMON COWELL is full of praise. He’s found a group who can
actually sing and they are as far from a boy band as you can
get. But with a new tv show set to be bigger that Pop Idol, he
proves to Moira Petty you’ve still got to be cruel to be Cowell.
Now we have people with real stories, people who hve really lived. There’s one woman who is in her 40’s. She has a great voice, when she was in her early 20’s, she was offered a recording contract, but her husband wouldn’t let her take it. Years later, she was offered another and gain he wouldn’t ler her. Now she’s left her husband and she sees this as her last chance. She walked into our audition room and proved something to herself. Even hard-bitten cameraman who thought they’d seen it all were fighting back their tears.
Until the X Factor and Il Divo launch next month, Simon is auditioning the latest recruits for American Idol. “I loathe it,” he grimaces. “It’s like undergoing dental treatment without anaesthetic. But we’ve sold millions of records in the US on the back of this.” Although he may be scathing about his fellow judges on the X Factor, few would have expected him to hve remained on the same panel as fellow American Idol judge, Paula Abdul, to whom he once said “if you strip naked in front of me, i’d be bored,”- “I hated her guts to start with. Then she got to trust me. I look after her. We do fancy each other,” he says. Had he thought of taking it further..? “I wouldn’t, I couldn’t bear the dialogue the following morning.”
IL Divo’s single will be released next month.
He has sung in Opera Companies all over the world and recently appeared on Broadway in La Boheme.
SIMON COWELL is full of praise. He’s found a group who can
actually sing and they are as far from a boy band as you can
get. But with a new tv show set to be bigger that Pop Idol, he
proves to Moira Petty you’ve still got to be cruel to be Cowell.
Now we have people with real stories, people who hve really lived. There’s one woman who is in her 40’s. She has a great voice, when she was in her early 20’s, she was offered a recording contract, but her husband wouldn’t let her take it. Years later, she was offered another and gain he wouldn’t ler her. Now she’s left her husband and she sees this as her last chance. She walked into our audition room and proved something to herself. Even hard-bitten cameraman who thought they’d seen it all were fighting back their tears.
Until the X Factor and Il Divo launch next month, Simon is auditioning the latest recruits for American Idol. “I loathe it,” he grimaces. “It’s like undergoing dental treatment without anaesthetic. But we’ve sold millions of records in the US on the back of this.” Although he may be scathing about his fellow judges on the X Factor, few would have expected him to hve remained on the same panel as fellow American Idol judge, Paula Abdul, to whom he once said “if you strip naked in front of me, i’d be bored,”- “I hated her guts to start with. Then she got to trust me. I look after her. We do fancy each other,” he says. Had he thought of taking it further..? “I wouldn’t, I couldn’t bear the dialogue the following morning.”
IL Divo’s single will be released next month.
He has sung in Opera Companies all over the world and recently appeared on Broadway in La Boheme.
SIMON COWELL is full of praise. He’s found a group who can
actually sing and they are as far from a boy band as you can
get. But with a new tv show set to be bigger that Pop Idol, he
proves to Moira Petty you’ve still got to be cruel to be Cowell.
Now we have people with real stories, people who hve really lived. There’s one woman who is in her 40’s. She has a great voice, when she was in her early 20’s, she was offered a recording contract, but her husband wouldn’t let her take it. Years later, she was offered another and gain he wouldn’t ler her. Now she’s left her husband and she sees this as her last chance. She walked into our audition room and proved something to herself. Even hard-bitten cameraman who thought they’d seen it all were fighting back their tears.
Until the X Factor and Il Divo launch next month, Simon is auditioning the latest recruits for American Idol. “I loathe it,” he grimaces. “It’s like undergoing dental treatment without anaesthetic. But we’ve sold millions of records in the US on the back of this.” Although he may be scathing about his fellow judges on the X Factor, few would have expected him to hve remained on the same panel as fellow American Idol judge, Paula Abdul, to whom he once said “if you strip naked in front of me, i’d be bored,”- “I hated her guts to start with. Then she got to trust me. I look after her. We do fancy each other,” he says. Had he thought of taking it further..? “I wouldn’t, I couldn’t bear the dialogue the following morning.”
IL Divo’s single will be released next month.
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Eles falam em elaborar composições próprias. Será que finalmente esta idéia se concretizará no próximo álbum?
‘Amamos al público mexicano’
Cautivan a casi 10 mil almas en el Telmex.
Para Il Divo, su experiencia en México ha sido inolvidable. Urs Bühler, integrante del grupo, confiesa que el público mexicano ha sido muy efusivo durante sus actuaciones en el País y anoche, en su primera presentación en la Perla Tapatía, lo comprobaron.
“El público mexicano es admirable, ellos gritan todo el tiempo. Es maravilloso cuando les envías besos y te sonríen; es muy fácil dar un concierto, porque es mucha energía la que se vive en la audiencia y los amamos”, contó Bühler, en entrevista previa al concierto que anoche sedujo a casi 10 mil personas en el Auditorio Telmex.
La cita con David, Sébastien, Carlos y Urs arrancó a las 21:15 horas con “Somewhere” y “Regresa a Mí”, quienes acompañados por una orquesta y una sencilla escenografía, conquistaron con sus voces a los tapatíos, en su mayoría mujeres, quienes los bañaron de gritos, piropos y aplausos.
“Muy buenas noches Guadalajara, la verdad es un placer venir aquí; ya teníamos dos años sin venir a México y me siento como en mi Patria”, expresó Carlos Marín, el originario de Madrid, España, quien caminó por una escalinata que se montó sobre el escenario semicircular.
Durante la velada incluyeron temas de The Promise, como “Angelina”, pero en cuanto entonaron su versión de “Bridge Over Troubled Water”, de Simon and Garfunkel, arrebataron una ovación entre la gente.
El cuarteto desgarró sus gargantas en éxitos como “Unchained Melody” y “My Way”, en las que hicieron vibrar a los asistentes por su interpretación y, aunque no los dejaban ir, los despidieron con una calurosa ovación con “Impossible Dream”.
Disfrutan México
A pesar la información acerca del virus A H1N1, el cuarteto no dudó en pisar suelo mexicano, y al contrario, han disfrutado de la Ciudad de México, donde visitaron Palacio Nacional y el Museo de Diego Rivera; además de probar platillos típicos.
“Nosotros conocemos lo que se ha dicho en los medios, no sabemos qué tanto es verdad y qué tanto no lo es. Lo que sé es que estoy completamente sano y la gente que está a nuestro lado también, y yo he disfrutado mi estadía por México”, platicó Urs.
“Nos encanta la comida mexicana, especialmente probarla en México, porque es comer la verdadera comida mexicana. A mí me gustan las quesadillas; de hecho hace dos noches, fuimos al Steak House y probé un filete, empanadas y puré de papas, también bebí vino tinto. Fue una cena grandiosa”.
Los intérpretes de “Sortilegio de Amor”, tema de la novela que produce Carla Estrada, convivieron con los protagonistas y hasta actuaron en uno de los capítulos de la historia.
“¡Fue fantástico! Conocimos a William Levy y a Jacqueline Bracamontes, una noche anterior a nuestra participación en la telenovela Sortilegio y al día siguiente fuimos a los estudios en Santa Fe, donde conocimos a los otros actores, a la productora y a la directora (de escena), Mónica Miguel.
“Nos divertimos muchísimo. Dijimos algunas líneas en español; yo sólo dije ‘el gusto es nuestro’ (risas) y fue un día que disfrutamos mucho. Para Carlos (Marín, el integrante español) fue un poco más sencillo, porque él habla español, pero a todos nos dio mucho gusto participar en la telenovela”.
Preparan nuevo disco
Después de su paso por México, Il Divo continurá su gira internacional por Asia y Australia, para presentar los temas de The Promise, su más reciente álbum, pero ya planean su siguiente disco, en el que podrían debutar como compositores.
“Escribía canciones cuando era adolescente y era parte de una banda de rock, pero para Il Divo no he compuesto nada. Ahorita estamos preparando nuestro siguiente disco y estamos pensando en lo que vamos a grabar”, compartió Urs Bühler.
“Los cuatro haremos el intento de escribir algo para (un material de) Il Divo, y aunque nunca lo hemos hecho, (creo) que sería una nueva experiencia y muy emocionante para nosotros”.
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Na matéria constante do link indicado Carlos Marin diz : É inacreditável o que conseguimos neste cinco anos. É inacreditável. Eu nunca pensei que pudéssemos chegar a tantas pessoas e vender tantos álbuns. Temos tantas mensagens no nosso site de pessoas que estavam doentes dizendo, “Wow guys. Você me trouxeram à vida novamente.” É inacreditável o que podemos fazer com nossa música.
http://blogs.salon.com/0002090/2005/08/16.html
http://www.livedaily.com/news/15664.html
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A matéria, datada de maio de 2009, conta a trajetória de sucesso do grupo e que o álbum The Promisse atingia, até aquele momento, a marca de 2,7 milhões de cópias vendidas, com vendas concentradas nos Estados Unidos, Holanda e Espanha. Segundo o artigo, o sucesso da banda foi contra as probabilidades, mesmo não tendo suas músicas executadas nas rádios e na MTV. E conclui : “O crítico de ópera não gosta dele, e o crítico pop acha que é pretensioso. ”
The opening chords are unmistakable. It’s one of the most iconic British pop songs of the ’80s, with some of the most peculiar lyrics (“Protect you from the hooded claw, keep the vampires from your door”). Rendered in Italian, however, Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s “The Power of Love” becomes a tender, operatic ballad, complete with four-part harmonies, classical guitar and full orchestral backing, coming to a close with a soft piano and tenor climax. Il Divo transforms the song on “The Promise,” the latest Syco/Columbia album from the classical-pop quartet. The concept that launched the group in 2005 seems improbable on paper. Take four singers from different countries (Switzerland, Spain, France and the United States), have them sing operatic versions of much-loved pop songs and give them an Italian name meaning “star”—although none of them is Italian. Il Divo’s Personal Playlists As Il Divo brings their tour to the United States, Billboard asked the foursome for a look at the diverse singles and albums on their personal playlists – including surprising choices like Kings of Leon and Dokken (Yes. Dokken). Listen to the tunes and read about their choices. Unlikely? Maybe. But successful? Definitely. So far, Il Divo has sold 25 million albums, according to the act’s label, and more than 1.8 million concert tickets, according to its management company. The act has had 50 No. 1 albums globally and received 160 gold and platinum awards for albums that include “Il Divo,” its 2005 debut; “The Christmas Collection,” released in December of the same year; “Ancora” and “Siempre” in 2006; and “The Promise,” released in November. “The Promise” has sold 2.7 million copies, according to the act’s label, and reached No. 1 in 12 countries, including the United States, Holland and Spain. The new album is a departure in that it features only one producer, Steve McCutcheon. It includes the aforementioned Frankie Goes to Hollywood track, a version of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” and ABBA’s “Winner Takes It All.” Its title derives from the Italian original “La Promessa,” written by the Swedish pop writer Jörgen Elofsson (Britney Spears, Celine Dion). Il Divo has performed in more than 30 countries on two previous sold-out world tours. The act has sung at the opening and closing ceremonies of the FIFA 2006 World Cup and—perhaps the ultimate accolade—it was the special guest of Barbra Streisand on her 2006 tour of North America, singing with her on three songs. The group’s current world tour reaches the United States May 8 at the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Va. Il Divo was conceived when the British music mogul Simon Cowell heard the Italian operatic tenor Andrea Bocelli singing on the soundtrack to the HBO series “The Sopranos” and realized the potential of the combination of classical music with gangster-chic imagery. Along with his record label, Syco, Cowell sought four matinee-idol singers. And he found them in American tenor David Miller, Spanish baritone Carlos Marín, Swiss tenor Urs Bühler and French tenor Sébastien Izambard. None of them was a struggling “American Idol”-style wannabe. In fact, Bühler had a successful career with the Netherlands Operaa Gezelschap, Marín was a sought-after star, and Miller had sung for President Bill Clinton and was fresh from appearing in the lead role of Rodolfo in Baz Luhrmann’s successful 2002 Broadway version of Puccini’s “La Bohème,” which received seven Tony Award nominations. This wasn’t Cowell’s usual plucking-a-star-from-obscurity story. In fact, not all the potential candidates were willing. “A couple of them took some persuading,” says Peter Rudge of Octagon Music, the band’s management company, based in London. “It was a great gamble at the time for everyone.” The band’s commercial success has also been against the odds. Rudge says, “We don’t really get radio play, which for years has been the promotional platform. We don’t get our videos played on MTV. The opera critic doesn’t like it, and the pop critic thinks it’s pretentious.” by Hazel Davis | Maio 14, 2009
Interview With Il Divo’s Urs Buhler
The male pop opera group, Il Divo has shook up the opera world and helped rid it of it’s stale reputation. With a busy schedule promoting their newest album The Promise and preparing for their next world tour, charismatic tenor Urs Buhler took some time to chat with Starpulse about what was currently going on with the talented quartet. 
Urs -I’m very proud of it. I think it’s by far the best album we’ve done so far. I think it’s got the most eclectic song choice. I think the vocals are the best there is and the most beautiful. It’s got sophistication about it in this album which the previous albums didn’t have. I’m very proud of it. What we kind of wanted to do with this album, after we finished last year’s world tour, we’ve been quite tired and taken a couple months off. Also the producing of the other albums was always done under a very strict time schedule and we just did not want to have on this one. So we’ve taken the liberty to have a lot of time. We went into the studio in October 2007 to start recording The Promise. We did do a couple songs to what would come out and we indeed threw all that stuff away at the time. We wanted to have that luxury that we could just take it easy in the studio, see what comes out if we were happy with it. If we weren’t, we’d just go in later, take all our songs rearranged so that we could end up with an album where each single track we were really convinced and proud of. I think really it’s well played off, we’re really happy about the album and by far I think it’s the best.
Technically this is the fifth album Il Divo has put out. Is it still nerve-wrecking and do you still face anxiety every time you put out a new album, even though it probably is a routine thing for all of you?
Urs – No it’s really never-wrecking especially now. We put out an album every year in a row for the first three. We didn’t release anything last year and finished a tour, then dropped off the face of the earth for about six months. Immediately papers were saying “they’ve disappeared as fast as they have come…” which is not true, we were just taking a break yet still working hard at what we wanted to achieve. But you do not know how the audience is going to be since you haven’t released an album in some time. Once the album is going out it is very exciting and you’re anxious about if the people are going to like it, if the people are going to buy it because that’s just something that exists when you’re a musician. Something like that isn’t something that you just get used to. It doesn’t become a routine, it just doesn’t exist.
With this album you’ve done covers such as Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s “Power of Love” and “Hallelujah” where you’ve gotten to do your own spin and have control over it. Is there any particular song or musician you personally or as a group wish to cover?
Urs – There’s a lot of songs. The sourcing for the material for an album start normally when we finish another album because then you start thinking “You know this would be great to but on the album” or “We can put this on the next one.” So there’s a lot of stuff there. There are so much, so many songs. We did a Bryan Adams song on the last album, a ballad. Anything that’s a great ballad or has strong romantic progression in the song. Maybe something from the Titanic soundtrack. I don’t know, there’s so many!
So what are you currently listening to? Obviously opera is something you love and it’s your job. Are there any current bands or artists that you love right now?
Urs -Well I do listen to a lot opera, not just because it’s my job but it’s my passion and my first love. But I do listen to hard rock and heavy metal. There are a lot of American bands that I like very much. Not so much contemporary artists but more from the 80s when I was a teenager. Bands like Stryper. I love good 80s melodic hard rock and heavy metal.
That’s what I kind of do as a hobby.
Now let’s talk about your Oprah appearance. You guys were actually on your way to vacation but instead traveled over night last minute. What were you guys thinking and what was going on through your heads, especially being so tired?
Urs -(Laughs) We we’re thinking that it was wonderful that Oprah was going to have us on her show. We’ve been there twice before and she’s so lovely and the team over at the studios is great. And of course when Oprah Winfrey asks you to perform on her show, you can’t say no. I remember very well getting picked up and David and Sebastian were already at the airport and already had their bags checked in. I was going on a later flight because I was going somewhere different. I was in the hotel lobby and just checked out actually. I was about to get into the car, we were in Mexico City at the time and someone said “Actually you may want to go back to your room for another hour. You’re taking a later flight and you’re flying out to Chicago.” And I remember I just burst out laughing. I couldn’t believe it. I mean you’re used to it when you’re doing promo like that and schedule appearances. Last minute you may have to meet with journalists or have to go to a TV studio. But one minute you in Mexico City on your way home, and now you’ve got to go to Chicago for a huge TV show. But it was brilliant and I enjoyed it.
That’s good. You have to be spontaneous once in a while.
Urs – Oh yeah! Absolutely! You have to take it day by day or minute by minute in this business sometimes.
What I enjoy about you guys is that you’ve brought a new attention to opera. You have this tie with Simon Cowell and the four of you have brought this young and modern twist, almost like a breath of fresh air. Now, people who may not have given opera a chance are exposed to it and enjoy it. How does it feel to bring back popularity to the genre?
Urs -One of the greatest things we could achieve with doing what we do with Il Divo. With me being a classically trained singer and I do know of a classically trained repertoire, it’s so large and beautiful and it mean so many things to me. But I’m sure for everyone that might have a different musical taste, I’m sure there is something they’d enjoy in a classical repertoire very much. But only few people are interested and it’s a shame. If we can bring the whole classical music scene out into the general audience and make people more aware of it and discover what there is to discover, then I think that’s the best thing we can achieve with out music.
You guys are extremely busy, what’s next for you all after things settle down with, appearances and touring?
Urs -Yes, we’re still promoting the album till Christmas indeed all around the world. We have a couple weeks of break and then we start rehearsing for next year’s world tour. We have a deal with Live Nation, a world wide tour that will take us about eighteen months. We’re going to be doing a whole new repertoire from The Promise and we have a whole team of set designers, choreographers, stage mangers, and directors. So we’re very busy at the moment but very excited. We will be starting in February in the U.K. and Europe, then the U.S. and Canada in May and June. Touring is the greatest thing you can do as musicians, even better than doing the album promo tour. When we’re actually touring, we have more control and you’re standing in front of at least 30,000 people out there who enjoy your music and give you immediate feedback. We’re looking very much forward to it because that’s who we enjoy doing it for.
When I see you guys perform, you all seem very calm, cool, and collected. Is Il Divo the same off stage? I’m pretty sure there are some antics going on off stage. You all are human, guys are guys.
Urs -Oh yeah, of course! (Laughs) But when we’re performing, we are very passionate and quite perfectionist about what we’re doing. We are very conscious of how we want to present ourselves to the audience inspired by the music we are doing. To me personally, are music has to be beautiful and enjoyable to the people. The whole image and look of the band kind of has to be the same thing, it has to be nice to look at and relaxing. But off stage, we are normal people. When the four of us are in the dressing room together, we talk about things four men our age would talk about. We’re just normal people. We have a performing life and we have our private life, which is good to have. You kind of need that if you constantly in the public eye, you need that balance. With the holidays coming up, is there anything in particular that you are looking forward to doing or that you want?
Urs -I do love Christmas time because I love the weather. I hope it’s going to snow, I love White Christmases, I think it’s so romantic when you’re walking in the street and you see all the Christmas lights and the snowflakes falling. That’s the most beautiful thing to me. And of course you do all the Christmas shopping and you wrap up the presents. I love doing that and for me it’s the best time of the year. I love all the homey things that go on during the holiday and I’m looking forward to that.
Interview by Angelica Castillo
SORTUDA ELA, NÈ?
Starpulse contributing writer
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Áudio, vídeo, efeitos especiais e iluminação do espetáculo em 2009
SUMMIT STEEL SUPPLIES IL DIVO
Award winning rigging specialist Summit Steel and PRG Lighting are supplying a complete rigging package to the current ll Divo UK and European tour.
The package, co-ordinated by Jon Bray for Summit and the tour’s production director Mark Ward, includes trussing, motors, rigging and control, which is being used to facilitate the hanging of audio, video, special effects and lighting.
During the pre-planning stage the tour’s production rigger Jim Allison, Jon Bray and PRG Lighting’s crew chief Ben Holdsworth collaborated very closely in planning the hoist control and cable routing alongside lighting.
The majority of the rig has to be linked by cable runs, which then requires a simultaneous lift of 37 hoists over a wide area. The Summit Steel 6-way rack mounted controllers were specified for this task for their reliability and for their linking facility, enabling a single ‘Go’ button to be used to lift all the hoists together. The complete control system is housed neatly in a single dolly combining several control units and power distribution. This is forked off the truck each day and positioned stage right, saving much set up time.
The show features an impressive count of 79 active points above an area measuring 30.8 metres wide by 32 deep, rigged each day by Allison who starts his mark-out at 7am.
Precision is the key. It’s almost a zero tolerance situation for the careful positioning of the overhead rig each day, with less than 20cm clearance between some elements to enable them to work harmoniously with the stage set below.
The Meyer MILO PA supplied by Capital Sound is self powered and configured as 3 hangs a side and a centre cluster, accounting for 26 points. Again careful advance planning by PA crew chief Al Woods and Jon Bray ensures a neat and quick-to-rig system.
Tour video is being supplied by XL Video UK. The set up includes a 70ft wide upstage projection screen with a set of tabs downstage, enabling the size and shape of the surface area to be altered.
The rigging package also supports two front-of-house projection trusses and 5 roll drop projection screens. These all cable via the main lighting trusses and form part of the complex lift.
Bryan Leitch and Nick Whitehouse’s lighting design includes an almost heart shaped ‘necklace’ ring of trussing sections that wrap around the whole performance area including the B stage, which are used for lighting positions, together with 7 finger trusses onstage. There are approximately 100 moving lights on the rig which is being operated by Dom Smith.
The show’s main gag – a large and spectacular scenic chandelier designed by Bryan Leitch, internally lit with i-Pix Satellite LED fixtures – flies in above the B Stage – also requires careful rigging! It’s initially concealed from view by two dead hung 5.5 metre diameter circles with a black drape stretched between them. The chandelier is lowered by 2 Prostar motors for the reveal.
Summit’s Jon Bray says, “Planning and inter-company and department communication are the crucial factors in helping make this tour work so smoothly. It’s also a great tribute to Jim’s skills and experience that one person can have that many points rigged in three and a half hours”.
Il Divo tours in Europe until the end of April before embarking on a major North American tour currently scheduled to run until the end of July, followed by Japan, Australia, New Zealand and south east Asia taking it up to October.
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QUEM DISSE QUE TENORES TEM QUE SER GORDOS?
Who says that all tenors need to be hefty fellas? Not Swiss tenor Urs Buhler of Il Divo.However, an argument could be made that most tenors like to eat.When you perform a show from 8 to 11, you’re hungry at night after working and you’ll go to a restaurant,” Buhler said. “In most of Europe, there are nice restaurants next to opera houses and after singing, the singer will go to eat
pasta. You do that for a few years, you’ll gain a lot of weight. Some of the great tenors were some of the biggest tenors, like Pavarotti.” The American tenor Mario Lanza’s battles with his weight, and how it affected the quality of his singing, have become opera folklore.”He died in the health clinic trying to lose weight, and from what I understand he did it quite radically,” Buhler said. “”It cost him a stroke.”As for Il Divo, members of the group all appear pretty fit in their Armani suits.”People say the fat around the the waist helps them support their breathing,” Buhler said. “I’m slim and I’ve always been slim so I feel there’s no difference.”Il Divo was formed in 2001 when “American Idol” creator Simon Cowell wanted to form a group of classically trained singers who would perform pop songs. At Buhler’s first audition in London, he heard cassette recordings of the pop songs “Feelings,” which would appear on Il Divo’s debut album, and “A Moment Like This.” Buhler, the vet of several European operas, was then asked to sing both songs.Even after the four members were selected, forging the sound of Il Divo was no simple matter.”The four of us had to create Il Divo,” said Buhler, who joined with members Sebastien Izambard of France, David Miller of the U.S., and Carlos Marin of Spain. “We were excited that it was Simon Cowell who was involved and impressed that he had a love of the classical voice and wanted to bring it to the pop song, but the four of us had to create a sound.”Like the great Lanza, Il Divo exists in its own world, creating a hybrid of pop and opera. “Popera” is one of the shorthand names.”When something appears in the public eye, people want to bring it home,” said Buhler of the “popera” moniker. “What Il Divo is doing is reinterpreting the pop song – we’re not singing classical music.”It was something new when it came out and the public needed to put it into a category, were we a boy band – I don’t know – (classical) crossover? I think by now we are established and people don’t have a problem anymore.”Il Divo, which has sold more than 22 million albums worldwide, hits the Izod Center in East Rutherford on Saturday, May 9, on its “An Evening with Il Divo” tour.We sing – we’re passionate about singing and whatever you want to call us doesn’t matter anymore,” Buhler said. “We just hope people want to enjoy it.
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OS REBELDES SEM CAUSA DA ÓPERA
ESTE É UM DO VÁRIOS ARTIGOS PUBLICADOS POR OCASIÃO DO LANÇAMENTO DO ÚLTIMO CD. DESTACA AS MÚSICAS POWER OF LOVE, HALLELUJAH, AMAZING GRACE E VA TODO AO GANADOR E O BOM RELACIONAMENTO QUE MANTÊM COM SIMON COWELL. EXPLICAM A RESPEITO DA DECISÃO DE ESCOLHER O ESPANHOL PARA CANTAR DETERMINADAS MÚSICAS. AO FINAL, UMA MENÇÃO À PROPOSTA PARA FAZEREM UM CALENDÁRIO DE NÚS A QUE SEB RESPONDE QUE FARIA UM ESPECIALMENTE E SOMENTE P SUA ESPOSA. QUE PENINHA, NÃO?
Opera rebels without a cause: Watch video footage of Il Divo singing their brilliant new single The Power Of Love
By Deborah Arthurs
Last updated at 6:16 PM on 14th November 2008
They’ve sold 22 million records all over the world. Their new album took two years to make – and Simon Cowell says it’s Il Divo’s best yet.
We talk to the operatic quartet breathing fresh air into classical music about bringing opera to the masses, working with Simon Cowell – and who they think will win the X Factor.
Best tracks:
Hallelujah: A brilliantly reworked version of Jeff Buckley and Leonard Cohen’s song – stripped right back, this is a haunting, beautiful sound.
Power of Love: The Frankie Goes To Hollywood classic is sung in Spanish and given an emotional crescendo of an ending.
Amazing Grace: Starts off with a wonderful a capella.
A Todo El Ganador: The Abba classic Winner Takes It All sung in Spanish, sounding more dramatic than you ever thought possible.
IL DIVO…
On taking two years off:
We took our time to make this album – we needed a bit of distance to get better. After two worldwide tours, promoting four albums, you have to step back to see things more clearly. We were burnt out, we needed a rest. But we wanted to come back with something challenging.
On their new sound:
We wanted to do something different, without all those big endings we’re known for. All songs are a little bit special – they sound different from rest and from each other. We’re very proud – we’ve achieved it. And we wanted all the songs to be great, so we recorded 16 to keep just 11.
On getting together:
It was like an arranged marriage – we didn’t know each other before. Simon Cowell looked in 17 countries and finally found three opera singers
I was in Paris working in the pop industry when Simon called to put us together in a studio. We didn’t want to do it at first – we all had careers, we were all happy.
Then when we heard the songs, we heard there was something potentially big there.
Simon Cowell, centre, with his opera protegés
On working with Simon Cowell:
He’s brilliant. Obviously, he discovered us, put us together, and now he is really involved with the album. It’s a good relationship. We all go into his office and discuss songs. This time, we suggested Hallelujah, he suggested Power of Love.
On changing the image of opera:
People like me who didn’t know about opera had a completely different vision of the genre. Our sound helps people get curious – we’re bringing opera to the masses.
Before people might have thought opera was too snobby, too expensive, too complicated to listen to. We’re changing that – we sing pop songs in an operatic way.
On singing in Spanish:
We sing some of the songs on the album in Spanish – Amazing Grace, for instance. It’s a very suitable language for opera. Though the Italian language of course suits the opera technique, it can sound a bit overcooked. In English, it works, but can sound a bit cheesy. Spanish is the perfect middle ground. It’s less cheesy, and the pronunciation works well with our voices.
On singing cover versions:
La Promesa, the title track, is our own. Most people thing we only sing covers, but that’s not true. It’s just that it’s really difficult to find songs that can be arranged for Il Divo.
From left to right: David Miller, Carlos Marvín, Sébastien Izambard, Urs Buhler
On who they want to win X Factor:
Ruth is very good, but it’s got to be Diana. She’s got colour, her voice is different.
On being called b*****ds by Robbie Williams:
It’s true! He did. Our first song – Regresame (unbreak my heart) got to number one. We met Robbie at a premiere and he said, ‘you bastards – you’re the ones who knocked me off number one!’ He was very nice though…
On following the Royal Opera House performers in doing a naked calendar:
(Sebastien): I’ll only make one especially for my wife!
Neste artigo (em inglês), publicado por ocasião do lançamento do último CD, os divos contam sobre sua infância, a vida dura que levavam antes de entrar para o grupo, da relação com o mentor Simon, do sucesso, do cuidado com o dinheiro, das fãs, das esposas e namoradas, de filhos e …de sexo!
From CAROLINE IGGULDEN
In BarcelonaPublished: 14 Nov 2008
THEIR street credibility is right up there with, er, SIR CLIFF RICHARD’s.
But that hasn’t stopped “popera” boyband Il Divo becoming one of the world’s biggest-selling groups.Over the past four years they have shifted an astonishing 22MILLION records – more than ARCTIC MONKEYS or GIRLS ALOUD. They have even managed to break America – which ROBBIE WILLIAMS and OASIS could not do.
Il Divo’s last three albums went to No1 in 26 countries and the group – put together by pop svengali SIMON COWELL – have already completed two sell-out world tours.
Latest album The Promise was No1 in the UK midweek charts, which means it will be at the top on Sunday.
But despite the their huge commercial successes, most of us would probably struggle to name a member of the awesome foursome.
“Even our own fans don’t recognise us!” says French Divo SEBASTIEN IZAMBARD, 35, with a laugh.
“I live in London and can go anywhere and not get recognised.
So who are the Armani-clad hunks who make up Il Divo? To find out I caught up with them in Barcelona at the launch of the new album.
Sebastien is the sensitive one. He was brought up in Paris by his mother after his dad walked out on them when he was just six.
Scar
He admits that money was so tight that as a child he once stole a melon from a shop because his mother desperately wanted it. “Far from thanking me, she marched me off and made me give it back,” he said. Although he and his mother are close now, when he was growing up he said she often hit him, which led to them not speaking for a while when he was a teenager.
He added: “Rough times leave a scar, but they also make you strong.”
Before Il Divo, Seb made a living as a pop star in France, although he admits he was on the breadline when he got his big break with X Factor chief Simon.
He wed Renee Murphy, who worked for the band’s record label Sony BMG, last year and the couple are now parents to seven-month-old twins, a boy and a girl.
Seb said: “We have a gruelling schedule with Il Divo but it is a piece of cake compared to looking after twins! When I go home I take over. I was not a big fan of changing nappies at the beginning but I have learned to get over it. “Becoming a father has changed me. Despite all the amazing experiences I’ve had with Il Divo, nothing has surpassed the moment my children were born.”
It is Sebastien who gets the most attention from Il Divo’s loyal fanbase, which is mainly made up of middle-aged women.
The group often get pelted with knickers during gigs and Sebastien said sometimes their adoring fans go even further.
He revealed: “A woman once asked me to sign her favourite sex toy. We were leaving a TV studios and she passed me something through the car window. It started vibrating. I didn’t realise what it was until after I had signed it.”
The knicker-throwing originally started when bandmate Carlos made a joke about wanting to emulate Welsh legend TOM JONES.
CARLOS MARIN is the perma-tanned Spanish Divo who sports a jet-black quiff and a brilliant smile.
The eldest member of the group at 40, he carved out a singing career in musicals before joining Il Divo.
He met wife Geraldine when they were both playing in Les Miserables.
Clearly not in the least bit bothered about being perceived as cheesy, in 2006 he organised a surprise wedding for Geraldine at Disneyland in California. Mickey and Minnie were guests, along with the other members of the group.
Geraldine arrived at the ceremony in Cinderella’s crystal coach and the couple’s wedding cake bore the words “they lived happily ever after”.
Carlos reckons he is the most prudent financially, although all the boys are careful with their new-found fortunes.
He said: “We are very down to earth with our money, especially in the current climate. I have never gone in for buying Ferraris or designer clothes. We all wear Armani but only because the group is sponsored by them.”
Hunks
Il Divo’s huge success was no happy accident. After coming up with a master-plan for an operatic supergroup, Simon Cowell started a worldwide search for classically trained hunks with cheekbones that stand out as much as their voices.
DAVID MILLER is the perfectionist of the group, making him the one most likely to clash with their formidable mentor.
Delivering a wicked Cowell impression, he recounts a recent run-in they had with the boss over the group’s latest video.
Hello boys … Sun’s Caroline with Simon and Divos
David, 35, who has just bought an apartment in New York with his opera singer girlfriend Sarah-Joy Kabanuck, said: “Simon sat us down and said, ‘Guys, this is amazing- just watch’.
“Afterwards he asked what we thought so I told him all the things that were wrong with it.
“He looked a bit shocked, I don’t think he is used to criticism.”Born in San Diego, David had to move to Denver when he was just eight because his family were close to bankruptcy. Despite the early difficulties, David’s parents nurtured his musical career and he went on to study at a top music college in Ohio.
He abandoned a promising career in opera to take a gamble on making it with Il Divo – and it turned out to be a wise one.
Work
Swiss-born URS BUHLER, 37, is the quietest member of the group. Like David, he is a classically trained tenor with an extensive background in opera.
So it is surprising to learn that his musical career began aged 17 as lead singer with a heavy metal band.
Urs still loves rock and is also a huge fan of Harley-Davidson motorbikes. Like Sebastien’s, Urs’s father also walked out when he was a child.
From an early age he was aware of the need to work hard to earn money and his first holiday job was in a supermarket when he was eight.
He said: “I worked in the school holidays in every job imaginable, from carpentry to bricklaying and driving. But I didn’t mind. I’ve always loved working.”
Urs’s past as a manual labourer has left him with a rather un-rock and roll hobby – DIY.
The singer, who is dating the band’s make-up artist Tania Rodney, said: “I love DIY and have been busy sorting out my new house in London.”
No surprise then that you won’t catch Il Divo posing on the red carpet or at showbiz parties too often.
“We never get invited!” David jokes.
But it is their clean-cut image that has earned them their lucrative status as a housewives’ favourite.
They drink little, don’t smoke and are faithful to their wives and girlfriends.
But Sebastien has a wicked glint in his eye when he tells me that people would be wrong to assume the Divos are total angels.
“We have our vices. Mine’s sex, I love sex,” he says, before adding hastily: “With my wife, of course.”
- IL Divo’s latest album The Promise is out now. Their next UK tour begins in February.
Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/music/article1929442.ece#ixzz0cvQJ6ktf
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TRADUÇÃO DO ARTIGO “Il Divo: ‘We’re so big, we tell Simon Cowell what to do'”
CONFISSÕES, DESABAFOS E SUPERAÇÕES – ELES MANDAM NO “CHEFE”!
Neste artigo os divos falam da dificuldade iniciais, da pausa antes do lançamento do CD The Promisse, da crescente integração do grupo e da autoconfiança e superação atingidas. Falam do que fizeram durante a pausa e da vida pessoal. A tradução foi feita por mim. Esclareço que não sou expert em traduções e tenho apenas um dominio básico da língua inglesa.
Il Divo: ‘Nós somos tão grandes, nós dizemos a Simon Cowell o que fazer ”
Por Adrian Thrills
28 de novembro de 2008
Adicionar a minhas histórias com maçãs do rosto esculpidas e ricas, voz retumbante, Il Divo foi colocado junto por Simon Cowell, numa tentativa de trazer o canto da ópera para as massas.
Impecavelmente vestidos em ternos Armani, o quarteto já tem 22 milhões de álbuns vendidos, liderou as paradas em 26 países e cantou nas cerimônias de abertura e fechamento da última Copa do Mundo.
Eles são, em suma, um supergrupo para disputar com o clássico Os Três Tenorese justamente orgulhosos de tudo o que foi alcançado.
Mas Il Divo – que vêm da França, Espanha, Suíça e Estados Unidos – também tomaram alguma coisa de seus quatro anos no topo.
Eles agora têm essa auto-confiança de que estão preparados para enfrentar Cowell, um mentor exigente que friamente humilha cantando Wannabe as estrelas de todos os sábados no The X Factor.
“No começo, Simon Cowell estava envolvido em tudo o que fizemos”, diz Carlos Marin, o barítono espanhol, animado. “Ele nos disse:” Confie em mim “- e nós fizemos. Agora é o inverso. Nós dizemos-lhe: “Confiem em nós” – e ele faz.
“Nós mostramos o que sabemos, o que estamos fazendo. Simon ainda tem a palavra final sobre certos aspectos do grupo, mas temos de sentar e discutir as coisas. Ele é famoso por ser duro com o povo em The X Factor, mas não é duro com a gente. ”
O francês Sebastien Izambard, o único membro do Il Divo sem formação clássica, balança a cabeça em concordância. ‘Simon interpreta um personagem quando ele está na TV “, diz ele.
“Mas ele é diferente conosco. Ele teve que trabalhar duro para encontrar os quatro de nós. Ele fez um teste cantores em 17 países. Mas, então, ao ter encontrado as pessoas certas, ele sabia que poderia confiar em nós.
‘Algumas pessoas ainda se confundem com Il Divo. Eles acham que nós viemos de um reality show, mas não o fizemos. Nós sempre fomos cantores profissionais. E, nesse sentido, temos um relacionamento muito diferente com Simon. Não é como The X Factor “. Para o grupo, cujo nome significa “intérprete masculino divino” no sucesso comercial italiano, a ascenção foi rápida.
O grupo está agora preparado para enfrentar a Simon Cowell.
As primeiras tentativas de moldá-los em uma boyband madura foram arquivadas por Cowell após terem lutado com as rotinas de dança nos ensaios.
E enquanto as suas canções foram orientadas para o pop e não para o estritamente operístico, eles também pareceram desconfortáveis quando lhe pediram para filmar um vídeo promocional em calças jeans e camisetas.
Quando o primeiro lote de ternos de alegamte designer italiano chegou, porém, a banda e Cowell perceberam que agora tinham que olhar para coincidir com a música.
“O que tentamos de outras coisas simplesmente não estava certo”, diz Carlos. “Mas os ternos Armani estavam perfeitamente adequados.
Enquanto o álbum de estréia do grupo, em 2004, Il Divo, liderou as paradas britânicas, suplantando Robbie Williams, as relações dentro do quarteto estavam frias.
Mesmo com seus dois álbuns seguintes, Ancora e Siempre fazendo grandes avanços na América, havia pouco da verdadeira camaradagem dentro das fileiras.
Recentemente como no ano passado, tenor suíço Urs Buhler confessou que “o grupo nunca ia ser de melhores amigos”.
Hoje, porém, como o quarteto (desta vez menos os fatos) bate-papo no café da manhã no London’s Soho Hotel, eles estão cantando uma música diferente. Tudo é – aparentemente – doçura e luz.
Urs, que é descrito como “um silêncio “, embora ele tenha uma paixão por motos e um passado como um roqueiro heavy metal, faz comentários do ano passado e as dificuldades iniciais provocadas por pressões externas.
«A nossa gravadora nos disse que tínhamos de fast-track nossa união”, diz ele, com a incredulidade em seu forte sotaque Inglês por demais evidente.
‘Eles falaram sobre nós nos tornarmos “amigos” como se estivessem nos dando um código de barra especiais em nossos cartões de embarque. Eles acreditavam que poderiam forçar-nos a tornar amigos durante a noite. ”
O tenor americano David Miller, de comportamento mais sério, intenso, concorda com Urs a respeito das tensões que surgiram principalmente quando os quatro estrangeiros – todos os quais tinham sido antes solistas – tentou demasiado duro para ser amigos.
“Nós não podiamos simplesmente ser nós mesmos”, diz ele. “Era natural. Estávamos tentando dar a impressão de que eram todos iguais em termos de nossas personalidades. Agora, estamos muito felizes em aceitar as nossas diferenças.
‘Em um ponto, nós decidimos que não éramos realmente amigos, nós éramos apenas colegas. Uma vez que desistimos da idéia de ser amigos, nós realmente nos tornamos amigos. Estamos vinculados sobre a música, e agora nós realmente somos amigos. ”
Outro fator, no sentido de propiciar ao Il Divo de unidade foi a longa pausa que levou em 2007 antes de voltar a fazer o seu quarto álbum, The Promise.
A licença permitiu-lhes concentrar em suas vidas longe do grupo e deu-lhes, como enfatiza Urs , “alguma coisa para falar quando finalmente voltamos juntos”.
Para Carlos, 40, um pausa para o casamento (em Los Angeles Disneyland!) .A namorada Geraldine Larrosa, foi a mulher que o convenceu a participar Il Divo depois de ter inicialmente rejeitado os avanços de Cowell.
“Ela chegou em uma carruagem com cavalos brancos, e foi um lindo casamento”, diz ele. “Realmente romântico, mas muito meloso!
Sebastien, 35 anos, que chegou ao topo das paradas pop francês há oito anos com seu primeiro single solo, Si Tu Savais, se tornou pai pela primeira vez quando sua esposa Renée australiana deu à luz gêmeos (um menino e uma menina) há oito meses.
“Eu sou agora um pai orgulhoso e um marido muito feliz”, diz ele.
“Com dois bebês, você nunca vai parar. Eles acordam em horários diferentes, mas são também descontraídos. Eles já pegaram alguns hábitos australianos de minha esposa. ”
Para David, 35, e Urs, 37, o break foi uma oportunidade de passar tempo em casa.
David voltou a Nova York para recuperar o atraso com a ópera-singing e namorada Sarah-Joy Kabanuck enquanto Urs, que está namorando a maquiadora Tania Rodney, está decorado sua nova casa – “minha primeira casa” real “- no oeste de Londres.
A renovada harmonia do grupo é refletida em A Promessa, em que interpretam Frankie Goes To Hollywood Power Of Love, The Abba Winner Takes It All e o anseio de Hallelujah, de Leonard Cohen, todas cantadas em espanhol, ao lado de peças mais tradicionais, como Amazing Grace, cantada em Inglês.
Alguns dos críticos mais exigentes, como sempre, inferiorizam o gênero. Mas, como A Promessa ainda está vendendo bem depois de entrar nas paradas em No. 1 na semana passada, o grupo pode dar ao luxo de ser magnânimo.
Eu entendo porque algumas pessoas disseram que Il Divo nunca teria passado”, diz Carlos. “Mas depois de quatro anos, nós estamos começando finalmente a ter algum respeito. Nós mostramos que nós podemos cantar ao vivo.
A crítica pode ser uma coisa boa, afinal, alega Sebastien. “Se as pessoas estão falando sobre nós, é porque nós somos bem sucedidos. Mas nós nunca faríamos algo apenas porque era moda.”
“Nós realmente apreciamos o que temos conseguido”, acrescenta Urs. “Estar um ano fora nos deu a chance de ter tudo nos conformes. O que nós fizemos nos últimos quatro anos tem sido absolutamente incrível.”
Leia mais: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1090095/Il-Divo-Were-big-tell-Simon-Cowell-do.html ixzz0cdsgqqZh #
Bringing operatic singing to the masses: Il Divo perform in front of Buckingham Palace for the 2012 Olympic torch hand-over party
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Tuesday, August 16, 2005 |
IL DIVO |
Il Divo - Carlos Marin, David Miller, Sébastien Izambard and Urs Bühler - by Lú Ribeiro; music, literature, poetry and arts. 
angelina is one of my favorite songs sung by Ildivo
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Angelina Jolie es realmente la mujer más bella del mundo
Jolie Angaline maravillosos cuadros aquí: http://topxx.wordpress.com/category/angelina-jolie-2/
“Angelina” é uma música e não tem relação com a famosa atriz! Cada uma!!!
Lu, estou adorando tudo
Lu…
O seu trabalho está simplesmente demais!
To viajando em tudo o que teme escrito.
Tudo muito maduro! Adorei!
Um beijo
Van