Il Divo - Germany, Stuttgart - 10th May 2006

[Dave]

Media previews/reviews and fan reviews/photos of Il Divo's concert in Stuttgart, Germany, on 10th May (preferably those mentioning Hayley!) should be posted in this thread, together with any follow-up comments.

By the rules of Proboards forums, only reviews and messages in English may be posted.

Please stay on topic to this concert; off topic matters should be discussed in a more suitable thread or board.

[Holger]

Hi everyone,


I just came home from the Stuttgart concert and although it is very late, I would like to give you my impression:

Hayley once again gave a phenomenal performance. Time and again I couldn't help but close my eyes to fully absorb her celestial singing. Her repertoire was the same as in Munich (and probably as elsewhere), but knowing what to look forward to even heightened my anticipation.

To my pleasant surprise, the audience was quite different from the Bavarian one. The applause increased noticeably after every song and after Hayley had finished with "Across the Universe of Time" the clapping became almost thunderous so that she had to thank the audience several times. I was so happy for her!

Well, I was there quite early this time but Hayley would not show up for a signing session. Since I had already attended the Il Divo-concert in Munich which I found to be technically brilliant but somehow anemic (compared to performances e.g. by Mario Frangoulis or Aled Jones) I left after Hayley's part hoping to meet her still. First, I waited at the wrong exit but then the friendly security personnel directed me to the right spot.

While waiting for Hayley to come out, I had a nice chat with the guardpost who proved to be quite talkative. He told me that Hayley was supposed to do a signing session in Stuttgart as well but there had been another instance of idiots behaving inappropriately toward Hayley two days before - which means Munich. Tori, did you observe anything in this regard?

After I had waited for about 1 1/2 h, Hayley finally came. Even though she was in a rush, she had her bodyguard (crude, but quite o.k.) stop the car and came out to pose for a picture with me. She is such a wonderful being, always kind and attentive toward everybody . That's why I didn't mind the ridicule for giving her standing ovations after every song of hers. She deserves all the support she can possibly get.

Talking briefly with Hayley, I addressed the recent stalking incidences. She just nodded with a pained look on her beautiful face. You could tell those happenings had left their traces on her. I told her how sorry I was, especially since these things occurred in Germany. But she replied that all of this could have happened in any country. I am so glad she doesn't see it as a "German" problem and hopefully there will be no problem at all in the future.

Sadly, I couldn't speak very long with her, but I was grateful for the short moment of attention she gave to me. Till we meet again, lovely Kiwi!


Holger

[graemek]

Great stuff Holger,
Happy for you. Also for Hayley.
She has tremendous spirit.
It never ceases to amaze me
that anybody could fail to be moved
by her fabulous singing!!

(not happy for the interference she
had to go thru however)
Thanks for writing the review.
Graeme

[postscript]

Holger,

What a superb and wonderful report on the Stuttgart concert. It is a useful comparison with Tori's experiences and it was good hearing Hayley's response directly and to learn of the nature of her reactions to the security issue. It was also good that hearing (presumably) that she had recognised you she ordered the car to stop. It shows she is in control of the need for security, not security controlling her. She's still in charge of her life That is good to know

Thank you.

Peter

[roger]

Many thanks for your fine report, Holger.

When I saw her at the Classical Brits, I deliberately avoided mentioning the Berlin incident as I'm sure she would not have wanted to be reminded of it so soon after the event. However, it is interesting to get some feedback from her now.

Regards,
Roger

[tori123]

Hi Holger,
thanks for your report. I´m pleased to hear, that the audiences reaction was much better than here in munich.
There´s not much i can tell you about this stalker here in munich, because after here performance i went to the area place, where she gaves the autographs and there was nothing extraordinarly conspicuous. Afterwards i listen just a few tones of Il Divo, but left the concerthall after some minutes. In the now dark area of the entrence i saw Hayley for a short moment again, but she disappears together with several people (perhaps her security) towards the stage entrance and i was very glad to realize, that at least here in munich the stalker hasn´t followed her. If something has happened, it must have been later afterwards. I´m feeling very sad and i´m really sympathetic and sorry for her. But on the other hand I was a little bit "happy", not to have to experience such a situation, because I´m not sure, how i would have reacted: To try to talk to this crazy person? To call the police? Or something else? I´m really not sure…

[Andrew]

Hi Holger,

Many thanks for your very informative report!

It's interesting that you waited for an hour and a half outside by the Artist's suite entrance- that was the same length of time I waited for Hayley in Glasgow on April 6th. I'm glad the Security Guard you met was a friendly guy- the one I met in Glasgow wasn't! I tried to strike up a casual conversation with him, but gave up in the end as his non verbal cues weren't very positive! He seemed to be a man of very few words... It was a very cold and windy night and I just stood and watched him slurp cups of tea for an hour and a half and he didn't even offer me a cup!! (not that I would have expected him to!) His face totally changed when Hayley eventually appeared though! (no surprise there! i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif) By then it was dark, but I couldn't help noticing the change in his facial expression. I've never seen such a positive transformation on anyone's face before. It was a complete metamorphosis like "The Incredible Hulk" effect working in reverse He also seemed to like the tartan which I had brought for Hayley- so much so that he even started to ask me a question or two about it!!!

That just goes to show the positive effect Hayley has on people!

Regards,

Andrew

[roger]

Hi tori, good to hear from you again. The fact that you are not able to tell us about the stalker in Munich has to be a good thing. Let's hope there is no story to tell.

It is impossible to know in advance what we would do if we encountered this crazy person. It would depend very much on the situation, whether Hayley was in sight, who was with her and so on. The right and proper advice would surely be not to approach him. Act naturally, but be vigilant. If you believe he is behaving suspiciously, bring it to the attention of whoever is with Hayley at the time - her manager if you spot him, her bodyguard, or any of the venue's security staff. Don't mention it to Hayley unless you believe she is in imminent danger, but that shouldn't happen. Her security team should ensure that.

However, if the crazy person happens to start talking to you (as he did me, assuming it is the same person), provided you don't feel you are in any personal danger, let him say whatever he wants to tell you which in my case was quite a bit. Then, pass that information onto Security as soon as possible together with a description of the guy. That information could be very useful.

So be cautious, act natural, but be vigilant.

Roger

[Steve H]

Hello Holger,

Thank you for a very well written and enthralling account of you meeting with Hayley , and the show before hand. i felt that I was there with you! it just goes to show how thoughtful Hayley is to ensure that even though she was clearly in a rush she stopped to talk to you!

Hayley you are one in a million, and we bow to your continued compassion and professionalism.

Your wait was worthwhile and we are all pleased for you! Its a shame that Andrew got a grumpy security guard in Glasgow, it makes the wait that much easier if they are civil!

Thanks again, you have done your kinsman proud!

All the best

Steve H

[graemek]

Just a quick question Holger,
From my wife actually:
What musical accompanyment did she have?
Thanks
Graeme

[Holger]

Both in Munich and in Stuttgart Hayley performed in front of the curtain of the Il Divo stage, so I can't say whether or not the Il Divo orchestra accompanied her from behind.

However, I am pretty sure that the music for Hayley's songs was recorded material. Hayley, of course, performed live.


Regards,

Holger

[Joe]

Hello Holger,

Thanks very much for the review...it was very vivid! I'm happy that you got to meet Hayley (eventually!) after the show !

Cheers,
Joe

[graemek]

OK Thanks Holger,
Graeme
Oh, one further question.
How come your English is so darned good??
I speak German (I had to learn it) but I'm
sure I couldn't express myself in German as
you do in English.

[Lothar]

Hallo Holger, many thanks for your intersting report.
cu Lothar

[postscript]

Hi Tori,

Thanks for your input. I think we have all on this board, who are likely to attend a Hayley `concert and hope to see her afterwards have given private thought to how we would react in defending Hayley and I'm sure that concern has NOT been a matter of thinking of some dramatic 'daring-do' but of being most effective in her interests.

May I suggest:
1. The situation is REGARDED as sufficiently serious as to warrant professional involvement.

2. As a consequence of 1, it is best to let the professionals 'get on with it'. Amateurs could inadvertently 'get in the way' and foil an otherwise successful professionally managed response.

3. We have no idea what situation might arise and are untrained, more particularly, we cannot pre-envisage such a situation and speed of response could be inappropriate when cool nonresponse would be best.

In short, general alertness, yes, report anything suspicious to 'an authority' as one would with a suspicious package and trust the professionals to be professional.

What I would suggest Hayley most wants is utter normality within a commonsense perimeter of 'due caution'.

Peter