My blind date: An Evening with Il Divo

Last year my scrawny sister and I picked out a BIG tv at the store, and it was quite a feat of engineering getting it home and up 4 flights of stairs. It’s black, shiny, and looks as out of place in my living room as the obsidian monolith among the primates in 2001 A Space Odyssey.

It’s reproducing too, a little blu-ray player was delivered a few days ago with some blu-ray disks. One of the disks has taken up permanent residence and refuses to budge, so every evening has since become ‘An evening with Il Divo’. Scooch over Mr Armitage, make room for some operatic pop on the block.

Carlos Marín, David Miller, Sébastien Izambard and Urs Bühler

Now I understand why males went gaga for the Spice Girls. Ooh, it’s raining men, Armani men, men who can really SING! Their voices have become my comfort food and I don’t care if they look like catwalk models doing freelance vocal work. Well done Simon Cowell, all is forgiven.

In a way, my Richard Armitage obsession has prepared me well for this fling. The Thornton effect doesn’t look so bad next to realising I’ve skipped a generation and turned into my grandmother! Or at least have her taste in music. If they ever tour Australia again I’ll be there dancing the salsa in my Il Divo t-shirt, hat and underwear while my partner sits back with the other bored husbands. A lot of critics dismiss them as a manufactured boy band, but this is unfair. Mature women deserve eye candy too.

Do you live in a melting pot or salad bowl? Il Divo is one: Sébastien is French, Urs Swiss, Carlos Spanish and David American. Cultural stereotypes aside, meet the men behind the voices…

Séb

Sébastien is the self-taught French pop musician from an impoverished childhood. Despite the lack of formal lessons and classical training he still blends well. His lighter voice has more emotive flexibility compared to the rumbling engines of the others. Sébastien seems the most vulnerable, gentlemanly and humble. He ties a mean-looking scarf and gets the most undies thrown at him.

Dave

David the American has a powerful tenor voice with a Broadway and opera background. He’s the bouncy joker with a double gum grin, Tintin hairdo and Kevin Bacon looks. Most of the time his comic personality is tightly reined by the classy Il Divo style but occasionally the wild toothy giggle bursts the bubble.

Dave slam dunks those high notes with such force it can get on the non-operatic nerves if not controlled properly. He’s the only one I’d heard of before he joined Il Divo thanks to Baz Luhrmann’s version of La Bohème. Poor David is also the only non-polylingual of the group - Carlos and Sébastien speak three languages, Urs speaks five. FIVE?!? I should’ve been born somewhere land-locked with four national languages - English being the unofficial fifth one.

Carlos

Carlos the explosive Spanish baritone is the only guy who could carry the whole concert if the other three abruptly lost their voices. He’s like the rugged Tom Jones of opera and Spanish musical theatre with his rich rumbling sound. And what a flirt! He’s got a twinkle in his eye, a million dollar smile and dancing eyebrows. His voice will make your knees tremble; his hair will make you mentally button up his shirt.

Urs

Urs the Swiss tenor is the reason people think Il Divo were chosen for their cheekbones and physique. This guy looks like he’s stepped off a catwalk or perfume ad with that sculpted androgynous look. His sweet lyric voice reminds me of Gregorian chanting for some musical reason I don't know the technical term for. Urs’ passions are precision, order, motorbikes and heavy metal. This guy has great hair but has to tuck it behind the ears a lot. He should take tips from Carlos and cement it down with gel and spray.

Feasible isn't it

Some people have an issue with Il Divo’s cheesy romance music. Who cares? It's not in English anyway: anything sung in a foreign language is more exotic. I recommend watching their concert rather than just listening to the CD. The translation will never be as good as the poetry playing out in your head, and their live performance chops make their studio recordings sound bleached bland in comparison.

Each of the singers had established solo careers pre-Divo, why filter their individuality? I guess it’s because of the Il Divo brand, but I hope in the future they show more of themselves on the music videos. Emotionally of course! Maybe in cravats and stately houses? Someone tell their people STAT.

As for the format it came in, ‘An Evening with Il Divo’ looks fabulous on a big widescreen tv and high definition. With a small screen you’ll miss out on a lot of detail you never knew was there. I watched their ‘Live at the Greek Theatre’ on DVD and it was worlds apart in picture quality. It also shows how far they’ve come in dropping the faux Romeo and showing more of themselves.

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