How Il Divo made my day

The quartet saved the best (as far as I was concerned) for last, so when they sang the Spanish version of Toni Braxton’s Unbreak My Heart as encore during their four-song showcase in Hong Kong two Saturdays ago, they really made my day – oops! my night.

And, I’m sure, also the day/night of those at the jampacked grand ballroom of the newly-opened Four Seasons Hotel, including Baby Arenas (who flew to Hong Kong purposely for the showcase); impressario Francis Lumen; GMA 7 executives Wilma Galvante (SVP for Entertainment TV) and Darling de Jesus (AVP for Entertainment TV); Miriam Quiambao (Mrs. Claudio Rondinelli); Tim Yap of Inquirer; and SonyBMG executives Rudy Tee (managing director), Narciso Chan (sales director) and Roslyn Reyes (marketing director).

Collectively known as Il Divo (literally meaning "male diva"), the quartet was in Hong Kong as special guest of the opening party of Four Seasons the night before and at the same time for rounds of interviews with journalists from the Asian region invited by SonyBMG for the occasion.

The four drop-dead gorgeous guys – Carlos Marin (from Spain), David Miller (USA), Sebastien Izambard (France) and Urs Buhler (Switzerland) – are classically-trained singers chosen during auditions around the world conducted two years ago by American Idol juror Simon Cowell. The guys blend opera with pop so beautifully that when they sing, it seems that, to quote Celine Dion describing Andrea Bocelli, you’re listening to a quartet of angels singing, whether they’re doing a Spanish song, a French song or an English song.

I first heard them sing the Spanish version of Unbreak My Heart during the Miss World contest in China last year and, like Wilma Galvante, I fell under their spell and became an instant fan. That’s why when Rudy Tee asked if I wanted to cover the quartet’s showcase in Hong Kong, I told him, "By all means!"

Dapper in their dark suits by Armani (their official designer), Carlos, David, Sebastien and Urs opened the showcase with a Spanish version of Unchained Melody (one of the selections in their second album, Ancora; their first, eponymous album was a best-seller), followed by three more songs that left the audience wanting for more.

"They don’t only sound good, they also look good," said Wilma. "It’s a combination you rarely find in a group. And that’s what makes Il Divo a class of its own."

Onstage, the guys were cool, hardly showing any effort even when hitting high notes and acknowledging the resounding applause that punctuated their every song with a polite bow and disarming smiles that have turned them into fantasy objects among women around the world (and not only in Britain where they are based).

And then, in answer to the standing ovation (more, more, more!), they reappeared onstage, still wearing those disarming smiles (look, Ma, no signs of jet lag!), and launched into a hypnotic rendition of Unbreak My Heart (no, you don’t have to understand Spanish to be moved by the song). Even only that song would have been enough (for me) to turn that drizzly Saturday night into an enchanted evening.

More, more, more?

Well, for more of Il Divo, I invite you to eavesdrop on our heart-to-heart Conversation (on Sunday, Nov. 13).

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