Julio Iglesias to Stage 2 Concerts in Bulgaria

The popular Spanish singer Julio Iglesias will have two concerts in Bulgaria during his “Starry Night” tour, the organizers from ME Music have announced.

On October 11, Iglesias will sing in the Bulgarian Black Sea city of Varna. On October 12, he will have his concert in Sofia.

The two concerts in Bulgaria will be Iglesias' only performances on the Balkans as part of his tour, which will focus on his emblematic songs.

Julio Iglesias is one of the most popular Spanish singers. He has sold over 200 million records worldwide and released 77 albums, which makes him one of the top 10 best selling music artists.

During his 42-year-old career, Iglesias has performed duets with artists like Frank Sinatra, Stivie Wonder, Diana Ross, Dolly Parton, Paul Anka, Placido Domingo, Sting, Beach Boys and many others.

He is also the only foreign artist, awarded by the Chinese Ministry of Culture because of his albums' record-high sales in the country.

Tickets for the Bulgarian concerts will be available through the EVENTIM network, as well as at cash registers of the Palaces of Culture in Sofia and Varna and in the stores Piccadilly, Germanos, Technomarket, Office 1, Multirama and the music stores in the country.

(Source: http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=118575 )

Love is in the air as Julio Iglesias brings his tour to Morristown

Though he was born in Spain, Julio Iglesias could easily consider himself a citizen of the world.

In a career that started more than 40 years ago, Iglesias has sold more than 300 million albums in 14 languages; his American label, Sony Music Entertainment, claims this figure makes him one of the top 10 best-selling musicians in history. His official website, www.julioiglesias.com, can be viewed in 21 languages, including Japanese, Turkish and Hindi.


The singer's current "Starry Night World Tour" now takes him to Morristown. He will perform at the Community Theatre at Mayo Center for the Performing Arts Friday evening. The current tour is a retrospective in which Iglesias will perform some of the romantic ballads that have gained him a worldwide reputation.


Iglesias has been a star for so long that his career in music would seem preordained. In fact, as a young man he was a law student in Madrid, as well as a goaltender for the local soccer team.


On Sept. 22, 1963, the day before his 20th birthday, Iglesias was involved in a car accident that left him partially paralyzed for more than 18 months; for a time, doctors were unsure if he'd be able to walk again. To develop strength and dexterity in his arms and hands, he learned to play the guitar. Eventually, he completed his law studies in England, but by that time, he had begun writing his own songs.


His break as a musician came in 1968, when he performed his original song "La Vida Sigue Igual" in the annual Benindorm International Song Festival. He won first prize, which led to his signing with Discos Columbia, the Spanish branch of Columbia Records (later part of Sony).


During the 1970s, Iglesias toured Europe and Latin America, cementing his popularity. He expanded his fan base by learning to sing in Italian and French. Inevitably, he started to court the English-speaking market.


The 1981 compilation album "Julio" introduced him to a wider audience in America and England and included a top-selling version of Cole Porter's "Begin the Beguine." The peak of his popularity, though, was "1100 Bel Air Place," a collection of duets. His unlikely collaboration with Willie Nelson, "To All the Girls I've Loved Before," became a Top 10 single, despite some criticism for sexism in its lyrics. The same album featured "All of You," a duet with Diana Ross.


Along the way, Iglesias collected numerous honors, such as Grammy awards and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 1997, he became the first Latin performer to receive the Pied Piper Award from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP); previous winners have included Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald and Barbra Streisand.


In the past decade or so, Iglesias has concentrated less on English-language recordings. He continues to record in Spanish (as well as other languages, including French, German and Japanese). He also has seen his second son, Enrique Iglesias, become a star in his own right.


The "Starry Night World Tour" may seem like a victory lap or a farewell tour, but Iglesias has offered no signs of retiring. He remains a standard-bearer, an unabashed purveyor of love songs.

(Source: http://www.dailyrecord.com/article/20100713/ENT/100712094/-1/UPDATES01/Love-is-in-the-air-as-Julio-Iglesias-brings-his-tour-to-Morristown )

Philadelphia Review

Iglesias coolly seduces the crowd on a steamy night
By A.D. Amorosi
For The Inquirer

Julio Iglesias did not invent the concept of the Latin lover and master of grand seduction.
Yet during the 42-year career that his international Starry Night Tour currently celebrates, the 66-year-old Spaniard has refined that image with his persuasive intonation and a song catalog that ranges from subtle drama to epic pomp.

Iglesias hasn't limited himself to the language of love. He's a multilingual crooner who, beyond the schmaltz of his hit "To All the Girls I've Loved Before," has reportedly sold more than 300 million albums worldwide. That's some come-on he's got going.

On a wrenchingly humid Thursday at the Mann Center for the Performing Arts, Iglesias - dapper in a three-piece black suit and tie - never broke a sweat while seducing his diverse audience. With three beautiful black-clad female singers beside him, the effect was like a Robert Palmer video come to life.

Iglesias was remarkably centered - no excess movement, a few simple gestures. He closed his eyes as he crooned tenderly throughout the Skinamax-like backgrounds of "Ni Te Tengo Ni Te Olvido" and the gently theatrical "Nathalie."

A master of dynamics and soft phrasing, Iglesias often sang with the microphone so far from his lips that he could almost have mailed a letter from there. When raised in passionate display during the tango "A Media Luz," his voice was conversational rather than boisterous. He told the audience that lyrics of sex and romance are his stock in trade. This brand of intimate calm was necessary to impart that message. His band even quieted down, so much so that during "De Niña a Mujer" it was if Iglesias were performing a cappella.

Iglesias' choice of English-language material allowed him to open up without losing his tender charms. He turned Willie Nelson's "Crazy" into a cocktail-lounge classic, complete with tinkling piano and trilling vocal flourishes. He brought one of his singers front-and-center for a dewy duet on "All of You" (his 1984 hit with Diana Ross) and made "You Are Always on My Mind" into an effortlessly breathy ballad.

(Source: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/magazine/20100717_Iglesias_coolly_seduces_the_crowd_on_a_steamy_night.html)

Chicago Video (YouTube)

(Source: YouTube)

Julio charmed Chicago last night with an amazing concert at the beautiful Chicago Theatre.

Julio sang for about 2 hours and the audience loved every moment of it. Three encores encluded "Me Va, Me Va" "Can't Help Falling In Love" and "Hey!" He also sang a very emotional "Me Olvide Vivir" after which the crowd gave him a standing ovation. "All of You" was as usual a beautiful duet between Julio and Wendy.

Julio spoke to the audience thanking them for an amazing 40 years of music to which a audience member shouted "You deserve it!" to a round of applause and cheers.

Julio went on to discuss how hard it will be on Sunday with Spain going against the Netherlands in the World Cup. The crowd was cheering "Viva Espana!" and Julio joked that he would watch his kids to decide who to cheer for since Miranda would be cheering on the Netherlands.

Overall it was an amazing night in an amazing theatre!

(Pictures: Rory's cell phone)

Chicago Tribune Article / Interview

Alice Cooper and Julio Iglesias, together (sort of)
By Allison Stewart, Special to the Tribune
July 9, 2010

They are, both of them, wedded to their personas.Alice Cooper, 62, is forever the kohl-eyed, snake-wielding singer of "School's Out." The Spanish-born Julio Iglesias, 66, is forever the perma-tanned crooner, frozen sometime in 1988.But both have moved on. Cooper, a born-again Christian and well-known golf fanatic, is working with his longtime hitmaker Bob Ezrin on a new disc he describes as "classic Alice." Iglesias is touring in celebration of 40-plus years of record-making.

Both men are engaging conversationalists who know a thing or two about surviving in the ever-more-perilous record industry, and about keeping their onstage and offstage personas separate.

Some highlights from our conversations with both:

On the difference between their onstage and offstage personas:

Cooper: When I first started, I honestly didn't know where I began and Alice ended, and the reason was, I was drinking. I had to look up to Jim Morrison and Jimi Hendrix — those guys were like my big brothers. And they all died, every single one of them, by not separating the stage from the real world. So I learned kind of the hard way. I had to almost die doing it — that you have to have your stage life, which is this really over-the-top image, but you can't pull him off the stage and expect him to live in suburbia … without it driving you insane. I have a wife, I've been married 34 years, I've never cheated on her. I've got three kids who are the best kids. We go to church together. My real life is totally different from Alice Cooper, but when I play Alice Cooper, I play him to the hilt.

Iglesias: Physical things, of course. I don't wear pajamas on the stage. (Offstage,) I love to be in my comfortable pants and my T-shirt. I live in the sun — the three places I have are in the sun. The temperature in these places is no less than 75 degrees. It's a very open-air life.

'If anyone had told me 30 years ago I would still be performing, I would have said…':

Cooper: You're probably going to ask me that question in 30 years, when I'm 92. I'll still be doing it.

Iglesias: I would have told them, "Impossible!" We all believe in ourselves. Everyone who has contact with the people dreams that that is going to be for always. But we have a little (voice) in our brains that says, maybe tomorrow I wake up and I sell no records, maybe tomorrow I wake up and nobody comes to the concerts. … I have my discipline, it's stronger than ever. I can't drink two bottles of wine at night. I only drink a little glass. I used to drink a bottle of wine. The only thing I like in alcohol is wine.

On longevity:

Cooper: I think once you stick around for a long time like Ozzy (Osbourne) and myself and Iggy (Pop) — you know, we were young and dangerous and merciless, now we're sort of old and mischievous and lovable. … I probably do better shows now at 62 than I did when I was 30. … I'm in much better shape. It's like Benjamin Button. When I was 30 I was 65, because of drinking and messing myself up. Now that I'm 62, I feel like I'm 28 onstage.

Iglesias: It's not something I do economically for money at all. … I don't like holidays. Holidays make me feel like I'm retired. I have to work. Work for me is everything. When singers are on the stage, our lungs and our hearts run at a different speed. For example, when I'm singing, I'm breathing 20 times more than normal — 40 times. So my lungs and my heart have an instinct (for this), so when I stop doing it my heart and my lungs and my breath miss it. And I not only feel uncomfortable, I die earlier. You listen to any cardiologist, he will tell you.

On whether they're ever tempted to change their style:

Cooper: You know, it's funny, I've never wanted to go in any direction except hard rock. That's all I ever really wanted to do. Almost every one of my albums is a guitar-driven hard rock album, derivative of the Yardbirds and the Who, except it's got the Alice twist to it, and it's certainly got my lyrical twist to it, and that's really what makes it. I think if you look at all the bands from the '60s to now, all the bands that are still around are the hard rock bands.

Iglesias: My style, I don't have anything else than that. Even if I'd like to change something, it's too late for me. I'm not so young, you know?

(Source: http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/ct-ott-0709-cooper-iglesias-20100709,0,4267996,full.story)

Chicago

Julio Iglesias charms Modesto Crowd

At age 66, Julio Iglesias remains a class act who pours soul and passion into his singing. His sold-out performance tonight at the 1,200-seat Rogers Theater at the Gallo Center for the Arts brought the audience to their feet. Appearing with a six-piece band, Iglesias sang a mix of Spanish and English hits, chatting in between in English with the crowd during his hour-long set. He made everything more interesting by including three gorgeous backup singers- two of whom did some sexy solo dancing for him. Ever the charmer, he joked that the 19-year-olds South American beautys were too old for him. A pair of talented tango dancers added some heat to the show, performing some steamy moves during many of the songs. Iglesias sang everything in a smooth, romantic style, adding his own Latin twist to such classics as Patsy Cline's "Crazy," Elvis Presley's "Can't Help Falling in Love With You," "All of You" and more. Of course, he sang his biggest hit "To All the Girls I've Loved Before." He has an undeniable charisma and stage presence. It's not surprising that he has been able to maintain a 40-year international career.

- Lisa Millegan Renner/ Bee arts and entertainment reporter

(Source: http://thehive.modbee.com/node/20214)