Il Divo
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| Il Divo | |
|---|---|
| Image:JaySingapore.jpg | |
| Background information | |
| Genre(s) | Operatic Pop |
| Years active | 2004 – present |
| Label(s) | Sony BMG |
| Associated acts | Barbra Streisand Céline Dion Teatro Toni Braxton |
| Website | Official Website |
| Members | |
| Urs Bühler Sébastien Izambard David Miller Carlos Marín | |
Il Divo, Italian for "divine male performer", is an international operatic pop vocal group created by pop impresario Simon Cowell, and signed to the Sony BMG music label. Il Divo is formed by singers Carlos Marín, Urs Bühler, David Miller, and Sébastien Izambard.
Contents |
[edit] 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) that tried to sound like The Three Tenors and looked like Armani models. [1]
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 zarzuela 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. A star located in the Ursa Major constellation located at RA11h39m35.62s DEC+37.27479 MAG11.02. has been named "Il Divo" after this musical quartet.
[edit] As Barbra Streisand's guests
Having just completed a six-month world tour (USA, Australia and Europe), Il Divo then participated in all 20 of the concerts in the North American tour (which ended on November 20, 2006) of Barbra Streisand 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.
[edit] 2006 World Cup
Il Divo performed the 2006 FIFA World Cup official song "Time Of Our Lives" with R&B singer Toni Braxton live at half time during the 9th June kickoff match and again at the 9th July closing ceremony, preceding Shakira.[2][3] The song is available exclusively on both Voices and Toni Braxton's album Libra.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Il Divo (2004)
Recording started in the first half of 2004 in Sweden, with the producers Quiz & Larossi 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 La Misión 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 breakout career-defining appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show on April 5, 2005, where the quartet performed "Regresa a Mi".
In the United Kingdom, the Il Divo album topped Robbie Williams as number 1 in the UK charts (allegedly Williams said to them during the Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason film premiere)[citation needed]. 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.
| Country | Status | Chart Position |
| UK | Quadruple Platinum | #1 |
| Canada | Triple Platinum | #1 |
| Netherlands | Triple Platinum | #1 |
| Spain | Triple Platinum | #2 |
| USA | Double Platinum | #4 |
| Argentina | Double Platinum | #1 |
| Australia | Double Platinum | #1 |
| Portugal | Double Platinum | |
| New Zealand | Double Platinum | |
| Mexico | Double Platinum | #1 |
| Sweden | Platinum | #1 |
| Belgium | Platinum | |
| South Africa | Platinum | |
| Finland | Platinum | #1 |
| France | Gold | #4 |
| Switzerland | Gold | #2 |
| Austria | #2 | |
| Venezuela | Gold |
[edit] Ancora (2005)
This was recorded in both Sweden and London with Per Magnusson and David Kreuger, and was produced by producer Steve Mac, who was also the producer of their first album. Released on November 7, 2005 in the UK, it hit number one both in the UK and Australia within one week. Ancora was released in the US on January 24, 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 Celine Dion's "All by Myself". Two of the tracks on the UK and Australia release of this CD, "O Holy Night" and a version of Schubert's "Ave Maria", appear on the 2005 US-only release, The Christmas Collection.
| Country | Status | Chart Position |
| Australia | Triple Platinum | #1 |
| Spain | Triple Platinum | #1 |
| UK | Triple Platinum | #1 |
| Portugal | Double Platinum | #1 |
| Finland | Platinum | #1 |
| South Africa | Platinum | |
| Venezuela | Platinum | |
| USA | Gold | #1 |
| Canada | #1 | |
| Finland | #1 | |
| Germany | #18 | |
| Switzerland | #4 | |
| Sweden | Platinum | #1 |
| Hong Kong | #1 | |
| Taiwan | #1 | |
| New Zealand | #1 | |
| Colombia | #1 | |
| Slovenia | #1 | |
| Mexico | Gold | |
| Netherlands | #1 | |
| Argentina | Gold |
[edit] The Christmas Collection (2005)
| Country | Status | Chart Position |
| USA | Platinum | #14 |
| Canada | Double Platinum[4] | #1 |
| Austria | #18 | |
| Finland | #11 | |
| Netherlands | #4 | |
| Sweden | #4 | |
| Slovenia | #3 |
[edit] Voices (2006)
| Country | Status | Chart Position |
| Germany | #1 |
[edit] Siempre (2006)
Released on November 21, 2006 in the United States and one week later in the rest of the world. Three weeks after its release, it was number one in the United World Chart, above the Beatles, Eminem and U2, having sold 472,000 copies worldwide, the largest sales increase in the week previous to the Christmas Holidays of 2006.[5]
| Country | Status | Chart Position |
| Australia | Double Platinum | #2 |
| Canada (Classical Crossover) | #1 | |
| Canada | #2 | |
| Mexico | Platinum | #2 |
| USA (Classical Crossover) | #1 | |
| USA | Platinum | #6 |
| Spain | Triple Platinum | #1 |
| UK | Double Platinum | #2 |
| Sweden | #4 | |
| Netherlands | #1 | |
| New Zealand | Gold | #3 |
| France | #10 | |
| Switzerland | #1 | |
| Germany | #22 | |
| Austria | #9 | |
| Ireland | #3 | |
| Italy | #58 | |
| Finland | #2 | |
| Portugal | Platinum | #3 |
| Belgium | Gold | #1 |
| Norway | #2 | |
| Taiwan | #2 | |
| Japan (Foreign Artist) | #8 | |
| Slovenia | Platinum | #1 |
| Thailand | #1 | |
| Singapore | #1 | |
| South Korea | #1 | |
| Hong Kong | #1 | |
| Venezuela | #2 | |
| Argentina | Gold | #8 |
| Colombia | #10 | |
| Denmark | #5 |
[edit] Music Videos
- "Unbreak My Heart (Regresa a mi)", filmed in Slovenia, 2004 (directed by Sharon Maguire) mov
- "Mama", filmed in Italy, 2005.
- "Time of our Lives", with Toni Braxton for the FIFA World Cup, 2006 (directed by Nigel Dick).
[edit] DVDs
[edit] 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.
[edit] Encore
An open air "live" concert (it is debatable as to whether they are singing or miming) filmed at the Teatro Clásico in Mérida, Spain, 2005 and was released as DVD on January 24, 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)
- Regresa A Mi (Unbreak My Heart) (Music video)
- Mama (Music video)
ENCORE captures the quartet on film with a special live performance recorded at Spain's Teatro Romano de Mérida, featuring their signature songs from their second album, Ancora, including "Si Tú Me Amas", "Isabel", and "Solo Otra Vez (All By Myself)". The program also features exclusive interviews with all four members, commentary by Cowell, behind-the-scenes footage, and music videos for "Mama" and "Regresa A Mi" ("Unbreak My Heart").
[edit] Live at the Greek Theater
The second official DVD release of Il Divo, this contains the full Live concert performed on June 27, 2006 at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles, California as part of their World Tour 2006. This recording encapsulates all the songs that have established the group's popularity, such as their breakthrough hit "Regresa A Mi" through to their much loved 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.
This setlist includes performances of (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," and "My Way (A Mi Manera)".
Extras included on the DVD include The Time of our Lives videoclip, which Il Divo performed with Toni Braxton as the Official 2006 FIFA World Cup song, held in Germany. There are three versions of the videoclip included: English, German, and the International one. There is also a short interview included called "Up Close and Personal" which focuses on the band's reflections of their success so far.
[edit] Books
[edit] Romancing The World (2005)
Rossi, Allegra. Romancing The World. Orion, 2005. ISBN 0-7528-7519-1.
[edit] Notes
- ^ http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0611/25/lkl.01.html
- ^ http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/060214/1/625n.html
- ^ http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=16862049&method=full&siteid=94762&headline=fiona--divo--name_page.html
- ^ CRIA Gold & Platinum certifications for December 2006. Retrieved July 25, 2007.
- ^ [1]. United World Chart (Accessed: December 16, 2006)
[edit] External links
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