The heavenly voices of Blake band

MANILA, Philippines - If angels could fall down from heaven and sing, they’d exactly look like members of Blake.

Screaming Filipino fans greeted the members of UK’s famous classical-pop quartet Blake during their performances at the Gallery in Greenbelt 5, Alabang Town Center Activity and Ayala Center in Cebu last weekend.

Fans swooned as gorgeous members Humprey Berney, Ollie Baines, Jules Knight and Stephen Bowman serenaded the lovestruck crowd with their hit song All of Me and classical covers of With or Without You and Chasing Cars, among others.

The operatic boy band breezed into town upon the invitation of Ayala Malls as part of their efforts to showcase the best live entertainment featuring international musical acts.

At an earlier presscon, the group expressed its excitement over performing for Filipinos.

“It’s our first time here and we are definitely grateful for having been invited to the Philippines. We know that the Philippines has a tradition of singing and we’re all about singing. We look forward to test the karaoke here in Manila and Cebu. We are massive karaoke fans and we plan to test the karaoke bars in Manila and Cebu,” Humprey and Jules gushed at the presscon.

Blake, named after the romantic poet William Blake, was formed in 2007 by four friends who reunited on Facebook.

Blake’s music borders on a mix of eclectic, classical pop songs combined with the members’ rich harmonious vocals.

Their debut album topped the UK Classical Album Chart and sold over 100,000 copies in just three weeks, earning them their first Golden Disc and hit No. 18 in the UK Pop Album Chart.

Their second album And So It Goes, which features alternative cover versions of songs by Snow Patrol and Katie Melua, went straight to No. 12 in the UK pop charts and No. 1 in the Australian classical charts for four weeks and No. 1 in the South Africa classical charts during the World Cup.

Their version of Swing Low was chosen as the Official Anthem of the 2007 Rugby World Cup.

During the opening ceremony at Wimbledon, the band performed a rousing rendition of the 1492 Conquest of Paradise.

You have probably seen them perform All of Me at the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. The wedding was viewed by a billion people worldwide and All of Me became the No. 1 in line dancing across the world.

Jules explained the connection to the royal couple, saying he and Ollie are friends with Prince William and Kate.

“I went to St. Andrews University where I got to know (Prince William) and Kate very well, we are lucky people to be in their circle of friends,” Jules said.

Ollie said he met Kate a long time ago.

The group has also performed on three occasions at Wembley Stadium for major national and international football matches. Its original track, Beautiful Earth, was selected by the World Wildlife Fund as its Earth Hour anthem. Blake was also invited to turn off the lights across London from Trafalgar Square, to support the campaign to stop energy wastage.

At the presscon, Blake also said they were glad to bring their brand of music to Filipinos.

“It’s so nice to bring our music to a musical country like the Philippines. We’re very fortunate indeed to perform for our Filipino friends,” said Stephen who noted that Blake receives a lot of Filipino friend requests on Facebook. “We love to perform live; Blake is all about live performance.”

Asked about their initial impression of the Philippines, the members commented that they’re glad to be in the country with a lot of pretty girls. “The Philippines has one of the most beautiful women in the world,” said Ollie, making lady reporters blush.

They are also aware that some of the best singers in the world come from the Philippines. Blake said they’re a fan of Lea Salonga who made a mark in the international scene via Miss Saigon.

“Lea Salonga is a bit of a legend in the UK. We’d love to collaborate with her,” they said.

Another Filipino that they want to meet and make their fifth member is none other than boxing champ Manny Pacquiao.

“We’d love to sing with him, we love to make him our fifth member. We want to compose a song for him,” they said.

But are they single?

“Some of us are, some of us are not. At Blake, you’ll never know what you’re gonna get,” they said.