Il Divo Live, KL Convention Centre

Czar and I went to KL Convention Centre last night to watch Il Divo in concert. For those who have been stranded on an island/consider music a sin/been too preoccupied with food rather than music, this is Il Divo (pic from http://www.ildivo.com). Read more about Simon Cowell's brainchild HERE.

From top left, clockwise : David Miller (USA), Carlos Marin (Spain), Urs Bühler (Switzerland) and Sebastien Izambard (France)

Arriving there around 7.30 pm (an hour before show is suppose to start), we decided to grab a quick bite downstairs, planning for something more filling later after the show, Ngau Kee Beef Noodles! Ha ha ha...By the time we came back up to make our way to the hall, the entrance was filled with rich and famous people(and some famous but not so rich, hee hee...), video cameras were rolling and cameras flashing. We tried to figure out who's who but I could only recognize a few faces whereas Czar being the "Datin" as she is knew most of the faces.

Well, we settled down to our seats (uh...quite a distance from the stage, ha ha ha...) and waited for the concert to begin. It was 8.30 and we were still waiting. Anyway, I had the pleasant experience of having Zabrina of The Amazing Race Asia sitting next to me for a short while before her friend asked her to move to another area. Czar and I chatted with her for awhile and Czar wanted to find out who the winner was and I told Czar that Zabrina couldn't possibly tell us as she has been sworn to secrecy! Zabrina was glad that we understood as she said that she is constantly asked about it. I asked whether Andy and Laura were really such villains in real life. I will not write down what she said but I personally told her that I was happy that they were eliminated and that it could be that their English accent that made them seem more villainous than they really were (you know, just like in the movies, most villians speak with an English accent!). Ha ha ha.....Oh well, I'm still rooting for Joe Jer and Zabrina or Andrew and Syeon, our two Malaysian teams who are still in the running. It was almost 9 p.m., when the lights dimmed, signalling the start of the concert. The audience gasped in excitement and the show began. Apparently, a lot of us were taking photos of them and no one stopped us. I must have taken about 100 shots of them! Since I was so far away, the pics aren't that clear and sharp (taken without flash). I don't think the audience around me would have been thrilled to be blinded by my camera flashes 100 over times! Ha ha ha...
The acoustic was very good and I could feel the delivery of emotion through Il Divo's renditions. Czar was moved to tears by their music. Well, she is definitely a bigger Il Divo fan than me ;o) Carlos's baritone voice boomed through and sent the notes soaring, whereas David and Urs' tenor voices were slightly softer. My fave, Sebastien seems to be the more playful one as he danced cheekily now and then to the more upbeat numbers.
Accompanied by 4 musicians and a small scale orchestra, Il Divo delivered the goods and made lots of Il Divo's fans happy. No slick dance moves or special effects were needed, just their four heavenly voices belting out song after song, serenading the audience. My favourite tunes were Mama, Nelle Fantasia and Passera. They came out for an encore with another two more of my favourites, Regresa A Mi (Unbreak My Heart) and Somewhere. After being "sophisticatedly" (meaning more gentle, not like by some usual teen crazed fans) mobbed by the VVIPs in front (the ladies gave them garlands, flowers, gifts and posed for photos with them), they bade farewell after 1 hour 20 minutes and left the stage, giving the audience a memorable night indeed. I bet sales for Il Divo's albums, especially their most recent release, Siempre, will increase significantly in the coming weeks.

As we made our way out of the building, we were surrounded by local celebrities and the who's who again. Czar took a photo with Chef Wan who was friendly and chatted with us for awhile. As luxury cars pulled up one by one; picking up the elite of the crowd, Czar and I walked to the modest automobile that was in the nearby car park. LOL! We then made our way to Ngau Kee's stall for that perfect ending to the perfect night! ;p

Music, when soft voices die
Vibrates in the memory -
~ Percy Bysshe Shelley

Update : So far I have had thousand over hits on this post, coming from the Il Divo forum. A note to say Hi to all you DIVOted fans and Divas. And yes, I will try to gather more pics that I took and load them up in another link. I will inform the forum when that's done. Till then, hope you enjoyed reading the article and staring at the photos! ;o) Viva Il Divo!