Il Divo - USA, Wallingford CT - 31 January 2006

[Dave]

Media and fan reviews of Il Divo's concert at Wallingford, Connecticut (especially those mentioning Hayley!) should be posted in this thread, together with any follow-up comments.

[roger]

Hi folks,

The first news of this mammoth tour comes from two members of Hayley's Official Forum who were in Wallingford last night. Both of them are very complimentary about Hayley.

Pebles008 says she sang "approximately 8 songs or so" which were a mixture of tracks from Pure and Odyssey.

Cantoallavita mentions 'Amazing Grace', 'Pokarekare Ana', 'May It Be', 'Never Saw Blue', 'Both Sides Now', and ' The Mummers Dance' but admits there may be some missing due to the concert being so wonderful that one's own name could easily be forgotten! I know how you feel, cantoallavita!

There is also a link to some photographs of the concert in reply #4.

Both members appear to have joined the Official Forum as a result of their attending the concert which proves that Hayley's name is already beginning to spread as a result of this tour.

HW.com's Forum Admin had this to say: "Thanks for sharing your photos - some great ones there. We've heard nothing but praise back from the US from the first night of the Il Divo tour - go Hayley !"

And so say all of us!

Roger

[george]

I am so pleased the tour has started so well. I was concerned that Hayley would not be listened to by a large group of fanatical Il Divo fans who were just waiting for their heroes to take to the stage! Obviously I need not have worried as Hayley has shown her talent and won over the audience. I think we are going to hear a lot of good publicity throughout this tour, if this first concert is anything to go by.
Looking forward to further news and reviews while we wait for our turn in April.
George

[Andrew]

Hi George,

Great to hear from you
That's very encouraging news to hear!

Do you remember which songs Hayley chose to sing?

Did she sing a piece with 'Il Divo'?

Regards,

Andrew

[Dave]

Hi Andrew and thanks for posting that information Roger! (Andrew, check Roger's post above )

Hayley *only* did the opening half hour for Il Divo, she did not appear after that or sing anything with them. Much to the disappointment of several Il Divo fans!

I have been a member of their official forum for some time now and I am currently collating everything the Il Divo fans have to say about Hayley's part in the concert - I will soon report suitable extracts in this thread. In exchange, I have been providing them with certain chart and other information about Il Divo (OK, you guessed, LOL)

I have also asked Danielle (Cantoallavita) for permission to repost some of her photos in this forum and in the official forum so i hope to be able to do that within 24 hours, I hope sooner than that.

Sounds like Hayley did very well!

Cheers, Dave

[Richard]

Hello folks!

I'm pleased to hear that Hayley is flying the New Zealand flag so proudly in the USA!

I'm looking forward to reading more reports. i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

Best Wishes,

Richard

[Dave]

Here are a few snippets from posts at the Il Divo forum that mention Hayley:

"DivoMama wrote: Wed Feb 01, 2006 6:43 am
Can you say goosebumps?!? This concert was wonderful. It opened up with Hayley Westenra - the young lady from New Zealand. Incredible voice!..."

"cantoallavita [Danielle] wrote: Wed Feb 01, 2006 2:29 pm
Second, to whoever asked, they didn't sing anything with Hayley. That wouldda been nice, but what are you going to do. We got there early, too early, but we were in our seats by 7:00. Hayley came out precisely at 7:30, and I was just a little disappointed by the reaction from the audience... I mean, I know we were all there to see Il Divo, but I didn't think she got half the applause she should have. I think she was a little nervous, but she behaved like a professional and sounded really lovely."

Vermont Deb wrote: Wed Feb 01, 2006 11:56 pm
I thought Hayley Westenra was absolutely wonderful! Such a gorgeous voice. I WILL be buying her cd "Odyssey" . "

I'm sure those nice Il Divo fans (yep, they are a friendly bunch!) won't mind me reposting these short quotes from their posts. Unfortunately I haven't yet heard back from Danielle so I'll hold off on the pics for a while longer.

Dave

[Dave]

Hayley Quotes on Wallingford!!!

Clipped from Hayley's Daily Record (NJ) interview (see Atlantic City thread):

It's a long way from New Zealand to New York, and Hayley Westenra had little time to make the trip. The 18-year-old singer closed a tour of her homeland Saturday night and opened a U.S. visit in Wallingford, Conn., Tuesday.

"I did gain a day coming over this way," she said. "I had two Sundays. It was very confusing when I was writing in my diary..."

"I was a little apprehensive, but it went really well," Westenra said by cell phone on the road to Boston the day after the first show. "The crowd was fantastic. I've got a really great band. We had the one day to rehearse before the show..."

"I am introducing myself to a lot of new people," Westenra said. "I do have fans who come along to the shows, but there's a lot of people who still don't know me."

The opening night results were good: "Last night I got a lot of positive feedback from the crowd"

Dave

[stevemacdonald]

I've been reading up on Il Divo, and I must say, I'm extremely impressed by the devotion of their fans.

Here are a few things I've learned from reading their forums: the fans are overwhelmingly female and each appears to have a personal favourite of the four; their knowledge of Il Divo's songs is undeniably rich; they are by and large a smart class of people who appreciate composers, arrangements and nuances in performance; they can be forgiven for their initial non-enthusiasm for Hayley who simply isn't on they're collective radar screen yet. I suspect many Il Divo fans will adopt her as word grows of what a special talent she is.

[Dave]

OK, but we do need to keep these Il Divo Tour threads on topic.

And now... back 100% on topic - Danielle (cantoallavita from Il Divo's forum) has kindly agreed for her photos of Hayley from Wallingford to be reposted here - and her quotes (above ), too! Here are some of the best photos (unadjusted for colour balance)... thanks Danielle!

[Ross]

I came across this in a review of the odyssey cd

ODYSSEY:
This CD is a must. A good number of her songs, I heard last evening at the Chevrolet Theatre in Oakdalle, CT.,which are on this CD "Odyssey". She was the lead in for Il Diva last evening and she was unbelievable. Hayley is superior in her strong, captivating voice and personality. This is truely her best work thus far.