BocelliOnline

[SpecialK]

Ciao Tutti, I am anxiously waiting for tomorrow night at 7:30. I have great seats at the Arena at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport, CT.

I'll post a report on Saturday.

[si]

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[SpecialK]

Ciao Tutti, Well, as promised, here's my report. First, I wish we had purchased the $100 seats. We were in good seats, about 12 rows up, forward-center to the stage. I'll tell you about the layout of the arena: It holds about 6,000 people, and it is oval shaped with the stage at one end. The ice floor was brought up to the same level as the stage, which made it one continuous floor.

The side streets of Bridgeport were jammed with cars from CT, NY, MA and RI as well as coach buses. This city has a hard time getting people in-and-out of the arena, so the show started at 7:45 p.m. (The piped-in music was all Andrea's as people were finding their seats.) It put you in the mood.

The skaters opened the show with a group performance for about five minutes skating to a song of Andrea's. He then appeard on stage and the crowd gave him a huge applause. He was dressed casually in jeans, a black top and black casual sport jacket.

Andrea sang (about) eight songs, and the skaters were on ice simultaneously. It really worked, except for the fact that I was distracted by the skaters, and felt like I was at a tennis match: Turn head left, turn head right. But, I quickly decided to focus on him, and casually look at the skaters.

Each of the skaters chose a Bocelli song to which they did their own interpretation. Most of the skaters chose the duets, which made sense because Andrea couldn't sing the duets in concert. You could just feel the emotion of the skaters as each one did their own routine. Ths was their tribute to him.

Andrea also played the piano twice with his band as the skaters performed. The time flew by...not only was he applauded, but the audience rose to their feet for him. The palm of my hands were sore from clapping. You heard cheers like: Andrea e grande! Bravo Andrea! Benissimo!

On stage, he introduce a young girl of 12, who sang a duet with him (didn't catch her name). The announcer said the two of them recorded the song for a movie (didn't mention the name of the movie). She was cute, and she put her right hand out toward him, and he held it breifly in his left hand. She has a terrific voice.

Let me tell you, Andrea is TALL. He's been written up as a tall, slender man, but I didn't expect him to be so tall. He towered above everyone on stage. HIS SMILE - Oh, what a wonderful, true smile he has, and he smiles often. He looks so relaxed on stage, so natural, so compelling, and to use a simple term - he looks like a nice person.

Would I pay to see him in person again? You bet. I've purchased his new abum, and his book "The Music of Silence."

I know the small, family restaurant he ate in on Saturday night, which is in an unpretentious part of town (mostly Italian restaurants), and I'm sure the people who own this restaurant will never forget serving Andrea Bocelli (and guests).

I was, however, not happy with the write-up in the Connecticut Post, and I sent an e-mail to the reporter. This reporter interviewed people BEFORE the concert (what's the point?) and not one interview AFTER the concert. The article in the paper was bland for both Andrea and the skaters. I hope more people sent this guy e-mails about his poor reporting skills.

Anyway, we are still on a high from last night. Andrea sang all his popular songs and probably did not disappoint a single sole in the audience.

Thank you Andrea for being you.

[westsider]

Thank you very much for your detailed account of the show. You are the first one to report! I felt like I was there!
_________________
"Canto alla vita alla sua bellezza ad ogni sua
ferita ogni sua carezza..."

"I sing to life, to its beauty, to each of its
wounds and each of its caresses..."

[si]

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[si]

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[Tina]

Mille grazie specialk! As Sandie said, your the forst to report here! Sounds like a great night! Now, i wonder where our Melodie is??
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La tua voce e come un dolce dolores nel mio cuore! Non c'e nessuno migliore di te!!

[Melodie]

[si]

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[SpecialK]

I wanted to add one more observation. There we were in America, listening to this marvelous man sing, and I wondered how many people understood what he was singing in Italian.

Conclusion: The language barrier doesn't matter. The audience was enthralled with Andrea Bocelli.

[si]

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[tvcats]

I wasn't there. But I can tell you that the majority of figure skating fans are well aware of Andrea. His music is well-known in that circle because it is popular for use in skating programs. And, speaking as a fan of Todd Eldredge, I can tell you that most of Todd's fans own at least one of Andrea's CD's (Romanza). Todd has used two songs from that particular CD. But several other skaters have used his music as well. I hope that helps.
I do remember an interview that Todd did where he admitted that he had no idea what the lyrics meant (for "Il Mare Calmo Della Sera"). LOL
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Rita

[JustLaura]

Mel, you said "Andrea sang 6 songs: SOGNO (skated to by Brian Boitano), MELODRAMMA, WHERE LOVE GOES, SIN TU AMOR (with Mario Reyes), CON TE PARTIRO and DELL'AMORE NON SI SA...and one more that I didn't write down!! I'll have to ask someone to fill in that little gap."

I can't think of a 7th song for the life of me! Are you sure there were 7? I confused myself initially, because I was counting "Le Parole Que Non To Ho Detto" as one of them, but that was not live...

Laura

[Melodie]

[Vic]

If I remember correctly the 6th song was......Nessun Dorma.