Spanish romantic crooner Julio Iglesias is set to present Russians with his performance at the Olympiisky Sports Complex in Moscow on October 1.
Iglesias shares his thoughts with RIA Novosti correspondent Yevgeny Ionov on his upcoming concert in Moscow.
Mr. Iglesias you will be performing in Moscow on October 1, could you tell us about the forthcoming performance, whether you have prepared some surprises or some visual effects.
After so many years the only surprise is that I am alive. I’ve been playing in your country for the last 35 years and for me Russia is part of my life. I have a lot of professional relations with Russia and a lot of emotional relations. I love Russia and I love to play there. And now they have invited me to play at the Olimpiisky.
Mr. Iglesias what do you think about the Russian audience, do you like the Russian audience?
I love Russians! I love to play whenever they invite me. They invite me to play Russia and I played Russia for the last 28 maybe 30 years for 20 times.
Many famous foreign singers say after playing in Russia that the Russian women are the most beautiful in the world. Do you agree with this?
You know for me women do not have a nationality. I love people, I love human beings. I believe that the Russians in general are beautiful. But the Chinese are also beautiful and the French, and the Germans, and the Mexicans, and the Argentineans and the South Africans. The world is full of beautiful human beings and full of passion.
Going back to the concert, are you planning anything new in the program?
What I am doing in the next concerts technically are much [more] metal in there because fortunately for me I adapt to the new situation… Of course it’s a live concert. But we use more now the newer systems, the new secrets of computers, and the new sound, but everything is live.
You will be celebrating your birthday in September, how are you planning to celebrate it? Planning to give a concert or spend it with your family away from everyone?
Unfortunately, on the 23rd [of September] I don’t have a concert. I would like to have a concert, but I’d be playing many times. And this time I am in Europe and they invite me to do five concerts… in Nevada in Las Vegas in the Hilton [hotel] and I said “no” because I have Milan and I have Moscow. But I will celebrate the 23rd on the plane or wherever. I don’t care about that, I don’t have birthdays, you know. I had to close my life when I was 40 years old. That was the top of my life when I used to drink a bottle of champagne at 6 o’clock in the morning and at 10 o’clock I was singing, you know? Now if I drink a bottle of champagne at 6 in the morning, I cannot sing for a week.
The most important thing is to be back in the countries. When you get back to a country it means a lot of love. When I get back to Moscow I get back to a place that I know in my heart. I just land at the airport and you put me with my blind eyes and I can go to the center of Moscow, which is different everyday, by the same roads using the same access to the roads, so I feel like I’m at home. Like when I play… I’ve been playing for the world for the last 40 years and when they invite me to get back I have to be grateful to the people. And I am grateful to the Russian people… I played in various parts of Russia. I think the Russian country is physically so beautiful.
Is there any particular place in Moscow that you like especially?
I like the local area around the Kremlin, you know like Red Square, because it’s beautiful. But I like very much what Luzhkov did in the last 10-12 years with the city. He makes an incredible city, contemporary with the disappearance of that beautiful boastful old Moscow. I’ve been playing in Leningrad and St. Petersburg or whatever, and the city’s amazing, when you go to the old site, Peter the Great, you know the place is beautiful, it’s a beautiful country.
Your sons are also singers and what do you think and how do you feel about that?
It is very difficult for a tennis player to have kids who play tennis or a journalist who have kids as journalists. It is not so easy sometimes. And it is not easy for my kids. So they really have to get in front of the people and give a communication, excitement and talent. So I have a great admiration for Enrique and Julio because both of them are fighters. It’s amazing when your kids follow your footsteps. I love them. And they love the Russian girls by the way.
A couple of quick blitz questions. What is your favorite book?
I like Dostoevsky, War and Peace, but you asked me about my favorite book. My favorite one is Don Quixote by Miguel Cervantes. Because Quixote is me, you know? Quixote is a fantasy of the guy fighting with the Moors and he wins and he is very romantic.
What is your favorite movie?
The movie which really kept my brains is Casablanca.
What is your favorite dish, what do you like to eat?
Seafood. I really like seafood.
What would you tell the Russian audience before your concert in October?
Thank you! Thank you very much for so many years. Thank you very much for being so faithful. Thank you very much for making me feel so alive. Thank you very much for inviting me to be back in the country and to make me feel like a survivor. To come back to play in the same country is the biggest success an artist can have.
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