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I'll begin by issuing a blanket mea culpa for completely missing the boat last year on Il Divo, the still somewhat new Simon Cowell creation. Spawned by the success of American Idol, this supergroup is composed of four european operatic tenors (okay, two tenors, a baritone, and a pop singer), each talented and accomplished in his own right. I missed the boat not only because I don't watch American Idol, but also because I'm not part of the target demographic for their act and because the good folks at Sony have not yet discovered a need to send us review copies of any of their titles. Fortunately, a friend in the office slapped some sense into me and loaned me her copy so that I could find out what I am missing.

And what I am missing is a lot, apparently. In spite of the fact that Il Divo is a manufactured musical product if ever there was one (why else would Sony release the group's Christmas record directly on the heels of their debut?), and in spite of the fact that I would much rather rip such a product than to say something nice about it, I enjoyed every song. These tenors know their way around a Christmas carol, that's for sure. In particular, their combined voices drip with pathos on Ave Maria.

Simon Cowell is a marketing genius, taking high-brow singers and molding them into an act that can be enjoyed by the masses. My friend at work knows all their names and pedigrees. I don't plan to get to know them that well. Suffice to say that each has his moments on The Christmas Collection. I particularly enjoyed their turn on Somewhere Over The Rainbow, a song that, like any number of selections from popular children's movies, sometimes masquerades as a Christmas song.

Coming in a bit short at 37.9 minutes, this is still a commendable effort and of interest to anyone who loves listening to a quartet of european operatic tenors, as well as being suitable for anyone who can look past the fact that this is a shamelessly designed, manufactured, and demographically-promoted spinoff product featuring four european operatic tenors.

--Richard Banks
(Reviewed in 2006)

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Il Divo

The Christmas Collection

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Track List