Il Divo - USA - Chicago IL - 17 February 2006

[Dave]

Media previews/reviews and fan reviews of Il Divo's concert in Chicago Illinois on 17 February 2006, (normally those mentioning Hayley!), should be posted in this thread, together with any follow-up comments.

Please stay on topic to this concert; off topic matters can be discussed in a more suitable thread or board. If something in here prompted it, you can either quote an extract from it in the new post, or easily add a clickable link back to here, where it started.

Posts that start or drift seriously off topic may be edited or moved by the forum staff. Let's try to make it easy for people to follow what's happening on this important tour for Hayley!

Dave

[stevemacdonald]

Oh, they loved her in Chicago. From Il Divo's forum:


asingingrose - Sat Feb 18, 2006 7:31 am:
"I will try to recap high points...
So, Haley Westerna started the show and I liked her enough to look into getting her record I'd never heard her before. And of course anyone who sings a song from Lord of the Rings is ok by me!"

R. Monique - Sat Feb 18, 2006 2:05 pm:
"p.s. Hayley Westerna has a beautiful voice. Best of luck to her!"

ameslouise - Sat Feb 18, 2006 5:04 pm:
"Haley Westerna was amazing. Her voice was haunting. I enjoyed her rendition of Both Sides now by Judy Collins."


Now as to that last comment, in the States "Both Sides Now" is firmly associated with Judy Collins who had a huge hit with it back in the '70s. The fact that Joni Mitchell wrote it and even recorded it first is not well known to many of us. Hayley's treatment of this song is clearly patterned after Joni's delicate style, not the bravura of Collins'.

Steve

[Dave]

And there's more (photos too in my next post! )

whiskers: Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2006 2:04 am

Haley has a beautiful crisp voice and it was a treat to listen to her too.

Megan: Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2006 6:42 am

I believe the other ladies summarized the concert very well, it was great. That Hayley Westenra was good but she kept killing me. I thought she would sing a song or two but I believe she was up there for 5 songs. Don't get me wrong, she is very good but I came in the cold windy air to see IL Divo lol.

Ruth Sweet: Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2006 8:46 am

Hayley came out and sang 5 or 6 songs. She sang beautifully. Any other time, I would have really enjoyed just sitting back and enjoying her wonderful voice. But the anticipation of seeing the guys was too much, so I didn't fully appreciate her performance as I should have. Hayley left the stage and it took a few minutes for the stage to be set up.

Maria Theresa: Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2006 2:40 pm

Hayley Westenra entered the stage promptly at 8 p.m. Too bad the other concert goers didn’t arrive with that same promptness. There must have been 25 to 30 people with seats very close to the front who spent at least 25 minutes standing in the center aisle, finding their seats, chatting away, and blocking our view as Hayley just continued with her program. Incredibly rude and thoughtless people!! Hayley really does have an angelic voice, and her songs were just lovely. She sang one in her native New Zealand language that was just hauntingly beautiful. I thought she was very poised and charming for such a young age. She was an excellent opening act!! Her pianist-arranger just beamed at her throughout her performance, obviously proud and pleased.***

***see photo 3 in next post

Dave

[Dave]

Four nice photos, thanks to:

Maria Theresa: Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2006 2:57 pm See Il Divo thread or right-click for "properties" to see the larger originals.









Dave

[Oksana]

Hi Dave!

Thank Maria Theresa for me, because those pictures are spectacular. It looks like Hayley was having a great time!

Oksana

[roger]

Yes, please thank Maria Theresa from all of us. As Oksana says, Hayley does look as though she's enjoying it. And doesn't the guitarist look pleased to be backing her?

All good stuff!

Roger

[Richard]

Wonderful pictures of Hayley and her musicians! i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

Thank you for sharing them Maria Theresa.

Richard

[stevemacdonald]

Here's a nice article from Illinois Entertainer


Hayley Westenra preview

Posted by IE in Stage Buzz, Weekly (Wednesday February 15, 2006 at 4:15 pm)

Hayley Westenra
Chicago Theatre, Chicago
Friday, February 17, 2006

The verbal portion of most standardized tests have an analogy section: Dog is to puppy as (fill in the blank) is to swan. Hayley Westenra’s analogy reads: Hayley Westenra is to pop music as the Sistine Chapel’s ceiling is to modern art.

Belonging to a generation that brands the ’80s ancient history and nostalgia anything that happened last summer, Westenra takes on the daunting task of being Generation Y’s answer to everlasting music. With her second Stateside CD, the international singer revamps classical music into modern, mature pop making it both accessible and listenable for her peers. In Odyssey the 18-year-old accomplishes what Mandy Moore attempted to do with Coverage, combining haunting vocals, youth-friendly lyrics, and a timeless sound with the package of a pop star.

Listening to young artists forces the constant reminding of oneself, “This artist is not someone they sound like or have been compared to, but an original that has something unique to offer.” Hayley Westenra relieves you of this duty. Thoughts of Josh Groban and Charlotte Church may cross listeners’ minds, but something about Westenra is different, something not palpable. It’s the background noise of dinner parties Gen. Y-ers will be having in 10 years, but the sound of their love stories today, and simultaneously the resonances of a climatic scene in a Disney cartoon a la Aladdin and Princess Jasmin or Princess Aurora and Prince Phillip, it’s what might be playing overhead on a loudspeaker in heaven.

The native New Zealander, who traveled the world with her international debut, Pure, and has performed for both the Queen Of England and President Bush, will be opening for Il Divo on their U.S. tour. Imagine receiving the opportunity to watch Michelangelo paint; yeah, it’ll probably be something like that. Maybe faster.

– Angie Maldonado

Stage Buzz Weekly
1 comment for Hayley Westenra preview »

The day I die, I want Hayley Westenra playing when I make my way to those pearly gates. I’ve heard a few of her songs and all I wanted to do was take my television into the bathroom, put on Aladdin, run a bubble bath, light some candles and let her music seep into my pores.

Angie M. thank you for capturing the essence.

Comment by Hal — February 16, 2006 @ 3:46 pm

(source: www.illinoisentertainer.com/?p=404 )

---------------------------------------------------------

By the way, the abovementioned Mandy Moore and Hayley have the same birthday -- April 10.

- Steve

[Dave]

stevemacdonald said:

Here's a nice article from Illinois Entertainer
Hayley Westenra preview

Posted by IE in Stage Buzz, Weekly (Wednesday February 15, 2006 at 4:15 pm)
Hayley Westenra
Chicago Theatre, Chicago
Friday, February 17, 2006

... Hayley Westenra’s analogy reads: Hayley Westenra is to pop music as the Sistine Chapel’s ceiling is to modern art....

– Angie Maldonado

Wow, thanks for posting that Steve - it may just be the strangest preview or review that i've ever read. It's also the most beautiful.. quite poetic indeed!

I do believe that we have in Angie Maldonado a music critic, finally, who "gets it"; one who seems to understand what Hayley is all about. It's enough to bring tears to your eyes!

This review should be printed in large gold lettering and framed for posterity. Now, how can we get Angie to join the forum?

Dave

[Andrew]

Hi All

I'm not sure whether this Article has aleady been posted? If so, tell me and I will delete.
Here it is: (The link below will take you to the Article I sourced)

www.suntimes.com/output/music/wkp-news-westenra17.html

Chicago Sun-Times

America next world for Westenra to conquer
February 17, 2006

BY MIRIAM DI NUNZIO Weekend Editor

Don't call singer Hayley Westenra a diva. It just makes the 18-year-old New Zealander burst into peals of laughter.

"It's one of those terms that people like to use. Maybe it sounds glamorous, but it just makes me laugh," she says during a phone conversation from her home Down Under.
Westenra toured the United States last year on the heels of her 2004 debut album, "Pure." At 18, she has sold more than 2 million CDs worldwide, enjoying most of her success across the pond and in Asia -- for now. Described in a New York Times review as having "the voice of angel," Westenra is constantly described in the same breath as the latest Charlotte Church or Sarah Brightman or even Enya. She shrugs off those comparisons, too.

IL DIVO; HAYLEY WESTENRA
• 8 tonight
• Chicago Theatre, 175 N. State
• Sold out

Westenra's vocals, as evidenced further by her release last year of "Odyssey," (Universal Classics), are truly pop-classical (yes, with splashes of Enya around the edges), with a voice that's equally at home on Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides Now" as it is on Vivaldi's "River of Dreams."
The young star, who played Carnegie Hall when she was just 15 and who has performed duets with the likes of Andrea Bocelli, Russell Watson and Jose Carreras, opens for Il Divo at the Chicago Theatre tonight.

Q. You're only 18, but you and music go way back.

A. I learned to play violin, piano and the recorder at a very young age, and I studied ballet. But I realized when I was about 8 or 9 that music was my passion. I used to sing around the house, and it wasn't until I got my first solo in a school Christmas play that me and my family learned that I had a real voice.

Q. What's it like to sell 2 million records at 17?

A. It was just overwhelming. I was suddenly singing for presidents and the Queen and traveling the world, and it was all really surreal. In a lot of ways, it still is.

Q. Do you get the star treatment when you're back home?

A. [Laughing] I'm pretty well-known here, so the paparazzi do follow me around. Grocery shopping takes half a day, just to try to lose the photographers and to stop to say hello to fans and such. In London, where I live most of the time now, I'm not as well-known yet, so I can still venture out pretty easily and anonymously.

Q. Tell me about your "busking" days in New Zealand.

A. It started as a pastime when I was about 11. I was part of a children's group and we were performing at a festival. When we broke for lunch, some of us didn't have money for it, so we just started singing on the street corner. Then we realized we liked it and we could make money doing it. The hardest part is breaking the silence, but once you start singing and the people gather round, it's quite nice. I loved it. I was getting great pocket money out of it. I used most of the money to pay for the first real recording of me doing a few songs. That little demo CD led to me getting a record contract in New Zealand.

Q. Who's on your iPod these days?

A. Joni Mitchell, Secret Garden. I adore Celtic folk music, so I have lots of that on there. Andrea Bocelli, too.

Q. What's your guilty pleasure?

A. On the road I'm very disciplined when it comes to sweets, but when I'm home I just live for cookies and chocolate. I can't help it.

[stevemacdonald]

Hi Andrew and thanks for this delightful interview.

I have no problem with you posting it in here since it is an excellent preview article, but it does already exist in the "Hayley in the Media" section where it was moved after I initially posted it in the "News Discussions" section.

I do get confused about where these materials are meant to reside. A forum as sprawling as this borders on labyrinthine. The various categories overlap quite a bit, at least in my brain. I'm glad we have omnicient admins to sort this all out.

[roger]

Thank you for your feedback, Steve. We have tried to simplify things recently but perhaps not sufficiently. I won't go off topic here for too long but we will pick up on the subject in "Suggestions" when time permits.

Cheers,
Roger

[Dave]

roger said:

Thank you for your feedback, Steve. We have tried to simplify things recently but perhaps not sufficiently. I won't go off topic here for too long but we will pick up on the subject in "Suggestions" when time permits.

Cheers,
Roger

Hi Steve, Richard, spiderman,

Roger's right and I've just deleted a handful of our replies to this including two of mine. My fault, for drifting it even further off topic

Cheers, Dave

[roger]

Huh! You can't get the staff, you know!

Roger

[Dave]

Here are the latest two Opinions on Hayley in Chicago. Unusually for this tour, both are negative.

Julia34: Posted: Wed Feb 22, 2006 8:28 pm

"Haley in my opinion needed to be "GONGED" off the stage!!! I know that most performers have opening acts before the main act, but this chic? No thanks..... Then when she was finally finished which seemed like an eternity..we heard the strings started to play Il Divo's music. I think by then I needed oxygen!! Screaming my head off as the guys walked into the 4 lights beaming..."

DeborahG: Posted: Fri Feb 24, 2006 2:05 am

"I am with Julia on the Haley thing! Leave her to the Lord of the Rings and give me my IL Divo! She was not even introduced. She just walked out on stage and started singing. I just wanted to see IL Divo- that's all!"

No rude comments about them please, they are entitled to their opinion (strange though they may be!).

I'm not ignoring them because if I do, we won't have a balanced view if how the Il Divo fans felt about Hayley on this tour. These two seem to be critical not of Hayley's performance but of the decision to have an opening act at all - and of the organisation (no introduction!!!). Looking at the US leg of the tour as a whole, these two are fortunately in a large minority.

Dave