Engelbert Humperdinck live in Manila

MANILA, Philippines - Local music enthusiasts will get an early Christmas treat through an awesome array of classic love songs and romantic ballads from one of the world’s greatest singers and performers when Engelbert Humperdinck comes for a live concert on Dec. 4 at the Newport Performing Arts Theater at Resorts World Manila in Pasay City.

Billed as Engelbert Humperdinck Live In Manila!, the two-night concert series to be mounted by Ovation Productions will also take the singer to the south for a second and final show on Dec. 5 at the SMX Convention Center in Davao City.

The pre-Christmas musical event marks the fourth local performance in the past eight years of the crooner dubbed as King of Romance, who has captivated millions with his rich repertoire that encompasses a broad range of genres.

It will take the audience to an enchanting time of love and romance as it showcases the musical brilliance of an ultra-smooth balladeer whose sensitive interpretation of lyrics and excellent vocal technique with his third-and-a-half octave range have earned him a permanent niche as a stalwart in pop music.

Among the hits popularized by Engelbert in his sweet, powerful voice are Release Me, Quando, Quando, Quando, The Way It Used To Be, Strangers In The Night, After The Loving, Dance The Night Away, Spanish Eyes, There Goes My Everything and Am I That Easy To Forget.

The musical success of Engelbert had its foundation in a life lived with a love for music at an early age when, as Arnold George Dorsey in Leicester, England, he started studying music and playing the saxophone at the age of 11 and discovered his vocal talent for impersonation at 17.

Under the outrageously memorable name of Engelbert Humperdinck (after the Austrian composer of the 19th century opera, Hansel and Gretel), and with his deep voice and thick sideburns, he burst into the music scene in the ‘60s with The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Tom Jones, during which the erstwhile shy and handsome boy was catapulted almost instantly to the status of world icon.

His debut single, Release Me, became an instant hit when it went into the Guinness Book of Records for staying 56 weeks in the charts and became No. 1 in 11 countries.

Engelbert was subsequently acclaimed by The London Times as “the premier voice of the 20th century” for his inimitable three-and-a-half octave range and ultra-smooth onstage charisma that captivated fans of every generation in every corner of the world.

In the ‘70s, he scored a steady stream of hits, including the Grammy-nominated After The Lovin’, Winter World Of Love, Am I That Easy To Forget?, The Last Waltz, There Goes My Everything, Les Bicyclettes des Belsize, This Moment In Time and A Man Without Love.

During the next four decades, Engelbert has generated record sales in excess of 150 million records, including 64 gold albums and 24 platinum albums, and won four Grammy Awards, a Golden Globe award and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Aside from touring the world before sell-out crowds in Great Britain, the US, Australia, Germany, Belgium, Canada and Southeast Asia, he has performed for Queen Elizabeth II, several US presidents and many other heads of states.

In 2007, he marked four successful decades in the music industry with his critically-acclaimed 40th anniversary tour, a 100-city worldwide celebration that coincided with the release of The Winding Road, his album which featured “contemporary British classics” by such illustrious composers as John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Elton John, Sting, Eric Clapton, Christine McVie and James Blunt.

Two years later, he released A Taste of Country, an album that paid tribute to the musical genre that launched his early career, followed in 2010 by Legacy Of Love, where he revisited many of his memorable hits and which included two never-before-recorded songs, the classic Over The Rainbow and the incomparable My Way.

In 2012, he represented the UK in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest in Baku, Azerbaijan, where he came in 25th place out of 26 with a score of 12 points with his song, Love Will Set You Free. He also set a record by being the oldest singer to participate in the competition at the age of 76.

Engelbert has received numerous accolades for his musical achievements, including the 1967 Royal Variety Club award; the 1978 Georgia Award for Entertainer of the Year from the American Guild of Variety Artists; and the 2001 Spirit of Entertainer Award from the John Wayne Cancer Institute.

Other honors conferred on him were Patron for the County Air Ambulance Foundation from Leicester (2004); Doctor of Music degree from the University of Leicester (2006); Freedom of City honor from Leicester (2009); highest honors from UK Variety Club (2009); and Walk of Stars in Las Vegas (2009).

Now on his 46th year in music and show business, Engelbert remains a formidable force in pop music, a true icon of entertainment whose honeyed, mellow voice has transcended time and continues to reach out to and inspire people of the present age who exalt him as an extraordinary performer and a quintessential romantic balladeer.

(Engelbert Humperdinck Live In Manila! is presented by Ovation Productions. Ticket prices are P9,700, P8,200, P6,900, P5,800 and P4,900. For details, call 908-8000 loc. 7700/891-9999 or log on to www.ticketworld.com.ph; call 911-5555 or log on to www.ticketnet.com. Ticket prices for the show on Dec. 5 at SMX Convention Center in Davao City are P3,000, P2,000, P1,000 and P600. For details, call 0932-6376185, 0917-7007088 or log on to www.smtickets.com.)