Il Divo
, (Italian for "star" or "celebrity") is a multinational operatic pop vocal group created by music manager, executive, and reality TV star Simon Cowell. They are also signed to Cowell's Record label, 'Syco music' [1]. Il Divo is composed of singers Carlos Marín, Urs Bühler, David Miller, and Sébastien Izambard.
|
IL DIVO TICKETS
|
Band history
The idea behind Il Divo's creation came to Cowell after listening to
Andrea Bocelli and
Sarah Brightman's rendition of
Con te partirò
. Aware of this new appreciation for lyrical voices and
classical music, he decided to form a multinational quartet (the members hail from
Spain,
Switzerland,
France, and the
United States, and the name being in
Italian) that tried to recreate the style of
The Three Tenors.
Simon Cowell conducted a worldwide search for young singers who were willing to embark on the Il Divo project, which lasted two years, from 2001 until December 2003, when the fourth member of Il Divo, American tenor
David Miller, was signed. The well-established formation of Il Divo comprises a renowned Spanish opera and
Spanish baritone,
Carlos Marín; two classically trained
tenors, Swiss
Urs Bühler and American
David Miller; and a French pop singer,
Sébastien Izambard.
Il Divo sings in
English,
Italian,
Spanish,
French, and
Latin. Il Divo was named the Most Multinational UK No.1 Album Group in the 2006 edition of the
Guinness Book of World Records.
On
25 April 2007, Il Divo performed on
American Idol in one of the "
Idol Gives Back" episodes, which raised money for children in the U.S. and Africa. For every vote cast during that show, Idol sponsors Coca-Cola, AT&T, and others donated money to Charity Projects Entertainment Fund (CPEF) and other groups such as Save the Children and America's Second Harvest.
[2]
On
december 12 2008, Il Divo performed their new song at the Swedish
Idol 2008 finale in the
Globen Arena in
Stockholm [3].
As Barbra Streisand's guests
Having just completed a six-month tour of
America,
Australia, and
Europe, Il Divo then participated in all 20 concerts by
Barbra Streisand in her
North American tour as her special guests. "Streisand: The Tour" with Il Divo was ranked second for all tours for 2006, generating $92.5 million in gross sales.
2006 World Cup
On 9 June 2006, Il Divo performed the
2006 FIFA World Cup official song, "
The Time of Our Lives," with
R&B singer
Toni Braxton live, at half-time, during the opening match between
Germany and
Costa Rica, and again a month later at the 9 July closing ceremony.
[4] [5] The song is available exclusively on the
Voices from the FIFA World Cup
compilation album, and on the European reissue of
Braxton's album
Libra
, but not on any Il Divo album.
Discography
Il Divo
(2004)
Recording started in the first half of 2004 in
Sweden, with producers
Quiz & Larossi,
Per Magnusson &
David Kreuger and in the UK with producer
Steve Mac. This self-titled album contained the Spanish renditions of
Toni Braxton's hit "
Unbreak My Heart" (
Regresa a mí
), which in turn was recorded by Braxton under the guidance of Il Divo; their second single and first original song "
Mama";
Sinatra's "
My Way" (
A mi manera
); an adaptation of
Ennio Morricone's "Gabriel's Oboe" from the movie "
The Mission (film)," titled "
Nella Fantasia," and 1994's
San Remo Festival winner "Passerà."
The album hit the #1 slot on both
Amazon.com and
BarnesandNoble.com after a career-defining appearance on
The Oprah Winfrey Show
on 5 April 2005, where they performed "Regresa a mi."
In the
United Kingdom, the
Il Divo
album knocked
Robbie Williams out of the number 1 spot in the UK charts, Williams allegedly said to them at the "
Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason" film premiere, “So you are the four idiots who have forced me off my number one spot!”
[6].
This multiplatinum-selling CD became number one in the charts in a total of 13 countries around the world, and achieved top 5 placing in 25 countries.
Ancora
(2005)
This was recorded in both
Sweden and
London with producers
Per Magnusson,
David Kreuger and
Steve Mac, who were also the producers of their first album. Released on 7 November 2005 in the UK, it hit number one both in the UK and
Australia within one week.
Ancora
was released in the US on 24 January 2006. It entered the
Billboard albums chart at number 1, selling more than 150,000 copies during its first week of sales.
Highlights include "Isabel," "
I Believe In You (Je crois en toi)," a duet with
Céline Dion, a Spanish version of
Secret Garden's "
You Raise Me Up" (Por ti seré), and a Spanish
cover of
Eric Carmen's "
All by Myself." Two of the tracks on the non-American release of this CD, "
O Holy Night" and a version of
Schubert's "
Ave Maria," also appear on 2005's
The Christmas Collection
.
The Christmas Collection
(2005)
Recorded in 2005, the album is a collection of Christmas and holiday-inspired songs.
Voices
(2006)
Is a collection of songs released at the time of the
2006 FIFA World Cup.
Siempre
(2006)
Released on November 21, 2006 in the United States and one week later in the rest of the world.
The Promise (2008)
The album was released globally on
November 10, except in the US and Canada, where it was scheduled to be released
November 18, Ireland where it was released on
November 7, and Japan, on
26 November.
[7] The album reached the No.1 spot in the UK on November 16. The album was produced by
Steve Mac.The Bagpiper is called Andy King and plays on 'Amazing Grace' on this album.
Andy also plays for Shirley Pipe Band In Birmingham,UK
Music Videos
- "Unbreak My Heart (Regresa a mi)," filmed in Slovenia, 2004 (directed by Sharon Maguire)
- "Mama," filmed in Italy, 2005.
- "Time of our Lives," with Toni Braxton for the FIFA World Cup, 2006 (directed by Nigel Dick).
- "The Power Of Love," filmed in Arena in Pula, Croatia, 2008.
DVDs
Mama
The Il Divo release "
Mama" – The Video, which includes exclusive footage of the "Making of the Video," a live recording of "Mama – Live In New York," plus a photo gallery.
Encore / Ancora
An open air "live" concert filmed at the
Teatro Romano (aka World Heritage site "Archaeological Ensemble of Mérida") in
Mérida, Spain, 2005 and was released as DVD on 24 January 2006. The DVD features 8 tracks, including:
Concert
- Si tu me amas
- Isabel
- O Holy Night
- Heroe
- All By Myself (Solo otra vez)
Extras
- Il Divo Revealed (documentary interspersed with concert songs)
- Regresa a mi (Unbreak My Heart) (Music video)
- Mama (Music video)
Live at the Greek Theater
The second official DVD release of Il Divo, this contains the full live concert performed on 27 June 2006 at the
Greek Theater in Los Angeles, California as part of their World Tour 2006. This recording captures all the songs that have established the group's popularity, such as their breakthrough hit "Regresa A Mi" through to their original songs such as "Mama," "Si tu me amas," and the festive "Rejoice." They also performed a previously unreleased rendition of the iconic hit "Somewhere" as featured in the movie
West Side Story. Most releases in the
United States of America do not have "Everytime I Look At You" on it as a major music distributor bought the rights to it and contain that song as a bonus track on their release of the DVD, despite the tracklisting on the back-covers still listing the track.
Setlist (in order)
- Regresa a mi
- All By Myself (Solo otra vez)
- Passerà
- Isabel
- Nella fantasia
- Rejoice
- Pour que tu m'aimes encore
- I Believe In You (Je crois en toi)
- Unchained Melody (Senza catene)
- Every Time I Look At You
- Si tú me amas
- Feelings
- Mama
- Somewhere
- Hero
- My Way (A mi manera)
Extras
- The Time of our Lives video - performed with Toni Braxton as the official 2006 FIFA World Cup song. It features three versions in English, German and the International one.
- Up-close and personal interview - focuses on the group's reflections of their success so far.
Live at the Coliseum (2008)
The DVD was released in the UK on 1st December 2008.
It features performances of -
- Amazing Grace
- The Power Of Love (La Fuerza Mayor)
- Hallelujah (Aleluya)
- The Winner Takes It All (Va Todo Al Ganador
- Adagio
With an in depth 30 minute interview entitled 'The Promise – Il Divo In Conversation.'
Bibliography
Romancing The World (2005)
Author: Allegra Rossi
Format: Hardback 256 pages
Date of publication: 10/11/2005
Publisher: Orion
ISBN 9780752875194
Our Music, Our Journey, Our Words (2007)
Author: Il Divo
Format: Hardback 192 pages
Date of publication: 06/09/2007
Publisher: Headline Book Publishing
ISBN 9780755316571
Notes
- http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20235354,00.html
- EBSCO Publishing Service Selection Page
- http://www.expressen.se/noje/1.1397916/il-divo-gastar-idolfinalen
- http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/060214/1/625n.html
- FIONA: DIVO - Mirror.co.uk
- http://www.star-ecentral.com/news/story.asp?file=/2005/7/25/music/11231575&sec=music Accessed 05Marc
- Jonathan Cohen. (5 August 2008). The album reached the No.1 spot in the UK on November 16.New Il Divo Album Set For November. ''Billboard.com''. Accessed 5 August 2008.