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)