{"id":430972,"date":"2011-05-26T21:40:55","date_gmt":"2011-05-26T21:40:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/05\/26\/we-may-be-cowells-muppets-but-weve-conquered-the-world-il-divo-on-selling-25-million-albums-worldwide\/"},"modified":"2011-05-26T21:40:55","modified_gmt":"2011-05-26T21:40:55","slug":"we-may-be-cowells-muppets-but-weve-conquered-the-world-il-divo-on-selling-25-million-albums-worldwide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/26\/we-may-be-cowells-muppets-but-weve-conquered-the-world-il-divo-on-selling-25-million-albums-worldwide\/","title":{"rendered":"We may be Cowell’s muppets – but we’ve conquered the world! Il Divo on selling 25 million albums worldwide"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

By Richard Barber<\/a><\/p>\n

Last updated at 10:40 PM on 26th May 2011<\/p>\n

Regarded as too posh to be played on Radio 2 but not upmarket enough for Classic FM, Il Divo\u2019s music \u2014 often classified as \u2018popera\u2019 \u2014 was witheringly dismissed by one serious critic as being akin to \u2018putting a mini-skirt on the Mona Lisa\u2019.<\/p>\n

But they must be doing something right. They\u2019ve had No.1 albums around the world, with sales of more than 25\u2009million. The night before we meet they picked up the first ever Artist of the Decade award at the Classic Brits at London\u2019s Royal Albert Hall \u2014 which will be shown on ITV this Sunday.<\/p>\n

Frenchman Sebastien Izambard, 38, says: \u2018This is where Il Divo was born, so to get an award like this in England means a very great deal.\u2019<\/p>\n

I first met them six years ago and the atmosphere on that occasion could best be described as jumpy.<\/p>\n

\"Il<\/p>\n

In tune: Il Divo say their fifth album, due out in November, will be ‘huge’<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Two classically trained tenors, a baritone and a pop star, from four different countries, their second album was topping the charts and they\u2019d just completed a sell-out tour of the world.<\/p>\n

But what struck me then was that here were four big voices (with personalities to match) who had yet to find harmony away from the spotlight. Their smiles rarely seemed to reach their eyes.<\/p>\n

Now there has been a subtle but significant change. There are still detectable tensions but the band that plays together clearly stays together and they are now able to talk through their disagreements like the grown-ups they have become.<\/p>\n

\"Mastermind:<\/p>\n

Mastermind: Simon Cowell is said to still be a mighty influence in the careers of Il Divo<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The other three are united, for example, in their appraisal of Carlos Marin, the twinkly-eyed 42-year-old baritone.<\/p>\n

\u2018I wrote in our book,\u2019 says Urs Buhler, 39, the sober Swiss lyric tenor, \u2018that Carlos is not always easy to be around.\u2019 A slow smile. \u2018And I still think it. Carlos is Spanish and, in general, Spaniards are louder than Swiss people. I\u2019m a very private person. I like to be on my own. I like to have peace and quiet. And Carlos is a big, noisy fellow.\u2019<\/p>\n

Had he been paid the most glowing compliment, Carlos could not look more delighted.
\u2018That\u2019s fair,\u2019 he says, cheerfully. \u2018I know it about myself. I\u2019m passionate. I\u2019m loud. We\u2019re all together in a car and I\u2019m on the phone and they\u2019re all telling me to shut up. But I just can\u2019t stop myself. It\u2019s how I am.\u2019<\/p>\n

Four years ago Carlos was asked to nominate his favourite singer. \u2018I said Tom Jones but that I wasn\u2019t sure whether it was because he had such a great voice or because women chuck their knickers at him when he\u2019s performing.\u2019 (The eyes of\u00a0 American tenor David Miller, 38, are by now rolling in their sockets.) From that moment, apparently, Il Divo have been awash in a more or less perpetual tsunami of multi-coloured pants.<\/p>\n

\u2018Our crew gathers them all up at the end of the show,\u2019 continues Carlos, \u2018and they keep them all \u2014 small, medium, large, and many of them covered in phone numbers \u2014 in a big cupboard.\u2019 Urs, ever the pragmatist, says it depends very much on the occasion when the knickers are thrown as to whether he minds or not.<\/p>\n

\u2018It would be quite inappropriate at a charity show like Children In Need,\u2019 he announces. Much nodding of heads.<\/p>\n

\u2018There was also the time when we were singing White Christmas on a TV special and a large pair of panties landed on my face.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

In spite of himself, Carlos\u2019s shoulders begin to heave as he chuckles at the memory. Urs does not.<\/p>\n

He is, quite clearly, at the other end of the personality spectrum to his exuberant bandmate. According to Sebastien, \u2018Urs likes everything to run on time.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Oh, I do, very much,\u2019 he says. \u2018I\u2019m Swiss! It irritates the hell out of me when people are late. It\u2019s disrespectful. It\u2019s as though the person is saying: \u201cI don\u2019t care that you\u2019re going to be kept waiting ten or 15 minutes for me to arrive\u201d.\u2019<\/p>\n

\"Household<\/p>\n

Household names: The group, seen here performing at the Olympci Torch handover party in 2008 at Buckingham Palace, have sold 25 million albums<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

So who\u2019s the worst offender of the four of them? \u2018We\u2019re all pretty good these days.\u2019 Pause. \u2018Although Spaniards have a slightly different concept of time.\u2019<\/p>\n

All are agreed, however, on their determination to ignore their critics. Sebastien gives a Gallic shrug. \u2018It won\u2019t ever go away,\u2019 he says. \u2018Simon Cowell chose us, he put us together and we\u2019ll always be seen as his muppets by some people. But we have fans who\u2019ve followed us from the start \u2014 and that speaks for itself.\u2019<\/p>\n

David admits: \u2018If you\u2019d asked me eight years ago whether I\u2019d end up singing so-called popera, I was one of those snobs who would have sneered at the suggestion.\u2019<\/p>\n

Cowell is still a mighty influence on his \u2018man-band\u2019 but they see him infrequently. \u2018He\u2019s always very heavily involved in the material we\u2019re going to record,\u2019 says Urs, \u2018although he listens to all our suggestions. It gets more and more difficult because we\u2019re always trying to step up our game with each new album.\u2019 A fifth is due out in November.<\/p>\n

After six years alternating recording new albums with touring them around the world, Il Divo took 2010 at a more leisurely pace. \u2018And that made me question the band\u2019s future,\u2019 reveals Sebastien.<\/p>\n

\"Popular:<\/p>\n

Popular: The group were unleashed by Simon Cowell in 2004 and are now on their fifth album<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u2018When you\u2019re recording and touring, you don\u2019t have the luxury of stepping back and looking at the direction in which the group is heading. Personally, I found it very stimulating to consider how \u2014 even if \u2014 we could move forward.\u2019<\/p>\n

David adds: \u2018Not since the first album in 2004 have we been biting our nails waiting to see if it was going to be a success. Until now.<\/p>\n

\u2018But Simon is the judge. He\u2019s always been that. It\u2019s his role. And, nine times out of ten, he hits it on the head. He\u2019s signed off the tracks on the new album. Now let\u2019s see if it does well.\u2019<\/p>\n

Sebastien is in no doubt. \u2018It\u2019s going to be huge,\u2019 he says.<\/p>\n

Sebastien is regarded by the others as the sensitive one. \u2018He takes things very personally,\u2019 says David. Nor does Sebastien demur. \u2018I\u2019m sensitive. Absolutely. One hundred per cent.<\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019ve worked with therapists for many years in an attempt to understand my emotions. Now I feel really balanced although I still go to therapy sessions once a week. I regard that as a very healthy thing to do.\u2019<\/p>\n

For now, Il Divo look set fair to stay together. That\u2019s not something any of them could have predicted when they were first thrown together \u2014 total strangers without even a common language \u2014 by Simon Cowell.<\/p>\n

\u25cf highlights of the Classic Brit Awards will be shown on ITV1 on Sunday at 10.15pm<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Continue reading here:
\nWe may be Cowell’s muppets – but we’ve conquered the world! Il Divo on selling 25 million albums worldwide<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Richard Barber Last updated at 10:40 PM on 26th May 2011 Regarded as too posh to be played on Radio 2 but not upmarket enough for Classic FM, Il Divo\u2019s music \u2014 often classified as \u2018popera\u2019 \u2014 was witheringly dismissed by one serious critic as being akin to \u2018putting a mini-skirt on the Mona Lisa\u2019. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-430972","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\nWe may be Cowell's muppets - but we've conquered the world! 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