Ready for Il Divo?

Yes, I had an exclusive "four-on-one" with the Il Divo – David Miller of the USA, Sebastian Izambard of France, Urs Buhler of Switzerland and Carlos Marin of Spain – in Nov. 2005 in Hong Kong where they did a showcase during the inauguration of the Four Seasons Hotel.

Yes, the four classically-trained guys are as drop-dead gorgeous in the flesh as they are on stage, mesmerizing the audience with good looks as well as enchanting voices which sometimes, maybe because they are all accomplished individually, sound as if they are competing with one another when, in fact, they are blending beautifully into one powerful sound especially, if I may say so again, when they’re doing O Holy Night, Ave Maria and their Spanish version of Unchained Melody to mention just three of the songs on their three albums (with Siempre as the latest, released by SonyBMG).

Yes, the guys, discovered in a worldwide search by Simon Cowell (of American Idol), were just as human as you and I, joking around when asked about their love lives (Marin is the only one married) and what type of women turn them on. The shiest and most soft-spoken among the four is Urs, a tenor (while Carlos is a baritone, David a tenor and Sebastian described as "the only self-taught singer" in quartet).

Among those who watched the Hong Kong showcase were GMA 7 exec Wilma Galvante (a big Il Divo fan), Tim Yap, Miriam Quiambao (who was then still with HK-based Italian restaurateur Claudio Rondinelli but already showing strains in their marriage) and concert-producer Francis Lumen who is with the group bringing Il Divo to Manila for a one-night concert at the PICC on Jan. 20 (a Saturday), fresh from a US tour with Barbra Streisand.

For an update on Il Divo, here are excerpts of an exclusive interview passed on to Funfare by SonyBMG:

How is Siempre different from your other albums?

Urs: Well, Il Divo has just grown over the last two and a half years. We started to know each other better and better. And we’ve been on tour for the last several months prior to recording the album. And I think that is definitely audible in the album because our voices just got much stronger and they blend even better together than on the previous two albums. And for the rest, actually we have tried on the previous albums already, but this time we succeeded in including a bit more up-tempo. We have a couple of songs that got a bit more rhythm to it. For the rest, it is power ballads, the thing we are kind of famous for and notorious for. And the whole flavor of the album is very Latin.

You guys have great rapport. How long did it take you to get used to each other?

David: Well, obviously it was kind of a pressure-cooker situation because we knew each other literally two days before we went to the studio. There was obviously a kind of a mutual chemistry as we get on...You know, you can’t build on something that’s not there. But there were language hurdles and there were culture hurdles and we still find those even today even though they’re minimized now because we do know each other so well. But just through the course of coming up with a new sound and going all around the world to promote that new sound and going all around the world to tour "live" together in a show that created ourselves as the producers, there’s been so many different bonding elements and the humor that we have together is the thing that just always pulled us through any kind of disagreement or argument.

What about choosing the songs for the Siempre album?

Carlos: It was teamwork. Honestly, we work together very tight with the record company, with Simon to choose the songs. We had maybe two inputs, Without You and Somewhere, because we did a version in our tour. So we just convinced Simon what we wanted to put in the album. And we got it. So we are very happy. But normally, we just have a meeting with Simon. And we just listen to the songs and we just choose the songs together.

What’s your favorite in the album, the song you won’t mind singing along in the shower?

Sebastian: Caruso. I love that song because that’s the song I performed for the audition of Il Divo. The melody and the lyrics are simply beautiful.

Carlos: Caruso, Nights in White Satin and Without You. Actually, all the songs in the album are just great!

David: Same as Carlos’ favorites

You’ve toured throughout Asia many times (but it’s your first in the Philippines). Any memorable experiences from those tours?

David: Our experience with Asia has only been kind of a promotional tour and the first time we’ll actually get to bring our concert to Asia is this January. We’re very excited about that. We’ve been to Tokyo, we’ve been to Hong Kong. We were in Sanya in Hainan, China, for the Miss World contest way back when we were just starting. That was tough, that was a hard one.

What can we expect from your concert this time?

Urs: Well, we’re staging basically the show we’ve been doing in America, Europe and Australia so far, with a few alterations though.

We now have a new album and we’re doing selections from it. The show is gonna be a bit bigger I think than the one that we’ve done so far. In short, we’re gonna create something new when we go to Asia.

(Note: The Philippine STAR is among the sponsors of the Il Divo – Live in Manila concert, along with SonyBMG, Philtown Properties, Montre Watch Shops, Tagaytay Highlands, McDonald’s, American Eye Center, The Philippine Tatler, Crossover 105.1 and 92.3 Joey. For ticket inquiries and reservations, call 891-9999 or 813-2617. You can also sign up with Smart Infinity Plan P5,000 and be awarded with a Nokia N73 and two VIP tickets. For inquiries, call the Smart Infinity Hotlines 848-8889 to 06, or visit a Smart Wireless Center near you.)

Carlene gets her crown

Funfare’s "beauty experts" Felix Manuel, Joey Cezeare, Gery Yumping and Francis Calubaquib report that Carlene Ang Aguilar finally got her crown as 2006 Miss Internet WWW, the title she won late last year via voting in the Internet, during the 2006 Miss Bikini of the World pageant held in Taiwan, also late last year. Carlene sat as one of the judges for the Miss Bikini contest won by Anita Horvath of Hungary.

The Philippine bet, Pauline Garrison, finished second runner-up. The other runners-up were Arantxa Amoedo of Spain, first; Rossangel Hernandez of Venezuela, third; and Ya Lin Lin of Taiwan, fourth.

Pauline was a semi-finalist during the 2005 Miss Philippines-Earth pageant.

Meanwhile, Mutya ng Pilipinas-Tourism Queen of the Year International, April Love Antolo Jordan, was a semi-finalist and Miss Secret Charm Awardee during the Tourism Queen of the Year pageant held in Malaysia last Dec. 30.

What’s up?

• Personal: My family condoles with the bereaved family and relatives of our town (Las Navas, Norther Samar’s) former judge, Maximino A. Cornejo who died at age 82 Friday, Jan. 5. His remains are at the Arlington Memorial Chapels on Araneta Ave., Quezon City. Interment will be on Wednesday, Jan. 10, at the Everest Memorial Park, Susana Heights, Muntinlupa City. The departed is survived by his wife, Amparo (Vargas); and children Celeste and Che, Lucille, Jhun and Jessa, Malou, Sylvia and Tony, Nona and Fiel, Gigi and Rudy and Albert and Maureen.

Christopher for vice gov.; Vilma for congressman?

Despite dire predictions that only 30 percent of showbiz personalities might win in this May elections, the stars are not undaunted. Funfare just learned that Christopher de Leon (right) is running under the UNO banner for vice governor of Batangas, with incumbent Vice Gov. Ricky Recto as running-mate. Initially, Christopher was rumored to be running for mayor in a town in the same province.

An UNO official said that Christopher’s being an American citizen is not a ground for his opponents to try to disqualify him because, the UNO official said, "Dual citizenship is now recognized by the Philippine government."

Meanwhile, Lipa City Mayor Vilma Santos (left), now on her third and last term, is being lured to run for congressman also in Batangas.

"It’s almost sure that Vilma will run," said the UNO official.

Reacting to a recent Funfare story, a reader said that incumbent Parañaque City Vice Mayor Anjo Yllana has joined the incumbent Mayor Florencio Bernabe Jr.’s Lakas Party so he (Anjo) can seek for reelection with him

In Manila, third and last-termer Councilor Cita Astals is intent on running for vice mayor.

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