All posts by Jane

General news, Personally Speaking, Randomness

In Loving Memory of Mary Bohling…by Jane

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Mary and her precious Piero

For those of you who may be newer to this site, one of our former writers, Mary Bohling, has passed away.

Mary had such a deep love and devotion to Il Volo,  and especially to  her dear Piero!  She flew all over the U.S. attending concerts and Meet and Greets,  PBS Pledge Promotion events, the MOA event, was instrumental in all of our Minnesota Il Volo fan get togethers,  plus attended the Fan Faire in Las Vegas.   When ever she could adore them up close and in person…she was there!  The highlight of one of the concerts she attended was out in back of the venue after the concert was over.  Mary, along with Marie and her other cohorts, were waiting to catch a glimpse of the guys and lo and behold, out came Piero who jumped right in with them in the van they were sitting in!  She was in seventh heaven!

She had a heart of gold and everything about her was genuine. As Joyce, a friend of Mary’s put it, “I am sure she is in heaven making sure the angels are listening to Il Volo.”

Mary was a gifted writer and poet.  Writing for the blog made her feel closer to the guys, as if they were family.  In honor of Mary, here is a post taken from the many of hers in our archives.

 

ACROSS THE MILES

To our darling sweet Italian boys,
Keepers of our hearts, our joys,
While you’re away you keep us guessing
About new projects you’re addressing.
A new CD would be so neat,
A DVD would be a treat.
You’ve been busy, that’s for sure.
Broadcasts, photo shoots demure,
Modeling, getting new wheels,
Making contacts, sealing deals,
Since staying fit’s high on your list,
Trips to the gym cannot be missed.
We search each day for what you’re doing,
Wondering what surprise you’re brewing.
We know it will be something great,
Anticipation makes it hard to wait.
We fell in love–you’re our addiction,
Lots of Il Volo time is our prediction.
A heavy dose both day and night
Will help to keep us feeling right.
We love to see your charming faces
Smiling back from distant places,
Tempting us with looks beguiling,
Teasing with Il Volo styling.
It hurts us, though, not knowing when
You’ll come back to us again.

And now your tour is on it’s way,
Back to work–no time to play,
This schedule puts you to the test,
Doing what you love the best.
But  we can only wait so long
To see your faces, hear your songs.
We will be brave, but nevertheless
Please keep us posted, we confess
We need to see you every day,
Though Internet may be the way.
Your future calls to spread the word,
Throughout the world your voices heard.
But we will wait for your returning,
To satisfy our ardent yearning.
So patiently for you we wait,
Eager to see that special date
When you’ll return to us once more,
Bringing  us the music we adore.

                    ~~~Mary B.~~~

 

Mary and her boys in Detroit

Mary and her boys in Detroit.

Mary and daughter, Anne, at TPT event in St. Paul.

 

~~In Memory~~

Jane

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Article or Video Translations, Ignazio, IL Volo Off Stage, Randomness

~ One Night To Forget ~ by Daniela

33 Comments

Hi everyone,

This spring I had translated some passages from the book of Torpedine, RICOMINCIO DAI TRE, and, seeing your great interest, I immediately translated the chapter about the night in which Ignazio did not return to the hotel.

For fear of having some copyright problem, I wrote several messages on the Facebook page of Michele Torpedine, LA TORPEDINIERA, asking permission for publication. I have repeatedly asked for an answer but I have never had any, until September 7th. 

I received this response from the Torpedine staff:

“Good morning, Daniela, the wait – as you might have guessed – derives from business reasons. However now we refer to Michele. Thank you. -Staff”

Since then I still waited in vain, and because in my last message I had reported that I would have posted anyway, I would say that, if there was a problem posting the story, they would have communicated it to me.

I leave the post as I had set it a few months ago.

One Night 01

We started to get to know the manager of IL VOLO a little better and we really liked what we read.

The book RICOMINCIO DAI TRE, we recall that it was written by Michele Torpedine and published by Pendragon and distributed by LaFeltrinelli.

The piece that I’m going to translate this time, speaks of the night in which Ignatius did not return to the hotel, the anxieties, the concerns of a manager, but also a great friend. Naturally I await your comments and impressions.

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A leap forward. Some time after. At night. A drama in which waiting is the solution.

I am in a big city in the United States where my last new artistic creature – IL VOLO – is going to perform in one of the prestigious concerts of their first American tour. Just a few hours before we joked in a restaurant with the euphoria of the successes already collected, with that contagious good humor that the three boys of IL VOLO have never abandoned, in spite of a sense of responsibility necessary but almost excessive, considering that in their peers it is rare commodity.

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But that very responsibility in which I trusted so much, that night has cheated me.

I should not have condescended on a tour of the city with friends known the day before.

To think that, in spite of my suspicious nature, they had seemed right to me.

Instead Ignazio has not returned to the hotel. His cell phone is off.

The night goes forward and no news. Nothing at all.

Piero and Gianluca, tired of the evening, left him a few hours ago alone with other friends around public places, a few drinks, some girls.

The three of IL VOLO are very young and in themselves, it could be normal.

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In my case, of course, there was the managerial responsibility for the engagement with an audience of about 10,000 people.

But perhaps it was only a question of staying apprehensive for a while and at most making him a stern rebuke when he returned, as his father would have done.

But it is already three o’clock at night. The city is large and unknown.

Ignazio is seventeen years old. Everything makes us think of the worst.

Start the process of pragmatics with my staff: we look in the hospitals, let’s go to the police.

No news. good news, say the British, but I’m not calm, for nothing.
A part of my mind chases monsters, then makes them disappear, then again materializes them and chases them.

The other part, perhaps to keep steady, retraces the first encounter with Ignazio and his parents, his bold manner of facing the scene, from Gascon, without fear.

Yes, I think, now that I do not know where he is and I am responsible not only for his career, but also for his life: Ignazio is always sure of himself, he always knows how to face everything and everyone.

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Different was the meeting with Piero, the oldest of the three, who remembers me a little when I started, when I wanted a career as a musician.

Finally, Gianluca, and the first impression with him, certainly wrong: that aspect of a fragile, emotional boy, contained instead a strong character and very clear and precise ideas.

Meanwhile, no news yet. Needless to worry in advance, but now anger came.

And what to do then? Warn parents or not? Make them worry, at a distance with nothing certain? It was not yet the case.

But the concert? Cancel it? What economic damage would I have gone to?

A part of my mind was milling this, asking and answering, building anguish and erasing it.

But the other part, no.

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image M. Torpedine with Il volo -translation of a chapter of his book

While the only solution was the wait, I thought that those three guys determined and prepared, they had saved me from depression and the desire to leave everything.

Three teenagers, yes, but already great, in all respects.

Already great since the first time I saw them.

So my mind returned to that new beginning while I waited for Ignazio. Which fortunately reappeared, after that interminable night.

And in the evening he sang as always, indeed, better than ever: wonderfully.

Michele Torpedine

One Night 02

Piero, Ignazio and Gianluca embrace Michele Torpedine, his brother Nino and his sister Liliana.

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Great Michele, we can imagine the worry that evening and the relief when Ignazio is back, dented, but safe and sound.

That evening at the concert Ignazio wanted to thank all the crew and especially his friends-brothers Piero and Gianluca, making them a surprise with a video  during the concert.

For those who have not seen it, here it is, was made by people therefore not of excellent quality, people laugh thinking that Ignazio is joking, but we know well, now, what had happened. Very sweet.

Credit to all owners of video and photos.

Il Volo, Il Volo Professional, Randomness

IN THE WORLD WITH IL VOLO 2010-2017, by Daniela

26 Comments

The holidays have also begun for IL VOLO.

In this period there will be little new news, and so we often use the time to review old videos. 

It’s just what I did, and I tried to find videos, which maybe, not everyone has seen, or at least I hope so.

The first video is from 2010. I had seen only small fragments here and there but never everything, and my research had led to nothing, but in these days, thanks to Connie Bruns who tracked and shared, here it is.

“O Sole Mio”, filmed in Taormina, when, going to play a concert there, it was still a dream for our guys. What are you saying? This video has brought good luck !!

But how small they were … and that final hug … very sweet !!

The second video is from 2011, is a medley made in Malaysia, in Kuala Lumpur, includes:

IL MONDO

THIS TIME

PAINFULLY BEAUTIFUL

IL MONDO and UN AMORE COSI’ GRANDE  a cappella songs

SMILE

2012 Spain, RELOJ

2013 concert in Panama.

Someone uninvited, a transvestite, enters the stage during the concert and walks, people laugh, thinking that is part of the show, the guys are amazed at the presence, but continue to sing, as real professionals, as long as someone sends out this person.

2014 During the concert in Mexico they perform with the Mariachi.

HISTORIA DE UN AMOR

2015 From the studios of Radio Rai, CANZONE PER TE.

2016 Washington BEAUTIFUL THAT WAY

2017 Germany LIBIAM DE LIETI CALICI

And after this feast of old videos, I hope to have found some that you had never seen, but anyway, even if already seen, I bet you have re-seen them willingly, is not it?

Daniela

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Credit to all owners of videos and photo.

 

Editorials, Il Volo, Our Stories

IL VOLO AND THEIR FANS, by Maura and Daniela

34 Comments
I suggest you read these wonderful considerations by Maura Pucci on the subject: Il Volo and their fans.

 

I can not explain the phenomenon “fan of  Volo”. Instead, I have feelings certainly to be verified. And these feelings lead me to conclude that it is difficult (nothing is impossible!) to find something similar elsewhere.
There are singers, who fill arenas and stadiums, have a huge but less … cohesive fan, much more diverse.  Same thing I have to say, thinking about my children, regarding the world-famous foreign bands, of which they are fans since they were young.
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When these bands come to Italy, there is great enthusiasm, ticket hunting, they go to applaud them in other cities, sold out concerts, woe to those who touch them etc … Despite this, my children do not follow and have never followed these bands, in the same way that we follow IL VOLO.
From one concert to another they leave them, they do not think about them in the least.
The fandom de Il Volo is something different and it is also necessary to make distinctions.
In Latin America we find the younger fans who constantly follow their idols, especially on Instagram, which is daily fed by the guys themselves. Their appreciation is manifested above all with smiles and little hearts, also because young people do not like to write ….. In the US and in Italy their audience is different, more adult, musically more prepared and appreciates more the voices that the appearance physical. In the US they heard them sing professionally since they were kids. Effect “infant prodigy”……
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But, unlike what they did with Shlrley Temple, they did not abandon them once they grew up, on the contrary … The numerous transatlantic flights on the occasion of the Italian concerts, in particular in Taormina and Verona, are showing that their love is “forever”.
In Italy some of us have known them almost like brats and then they found them already great, others have discovered them in their twenties or so. All of us were struck by sounds now obsolete, melodies and forgotten harmonies, finally true voices. And we all adopted them or we fell in love with them, depending on age ….
The pages dedicated to them have sprung up like mushrooms. I think,  that in the world no singer has a number of fan pages superior to IL VOLO and not even in Italy as regards the “our own” singers …. Too bad there are no comparative studies in this sense!
So, it formed a hard hoof of Italian and American fans that follows them on Facebook in a manic and obsessive way and that follows them, if he can, in concerts from one end of the peninsula to the other, not sporadically …. but DAILY .
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We always know where they are, with whom they are, where they sleep, what they eat (of this subject we are very well informed …) and if they go to a place without letting us know why, we get angry too …. We are even able to follow the route of their planes step by step when they travel. And we look forward to knowing when they land. We travel with them, we live with them. Let’s make a local mind: is this normal? Does it happen to fans of other singers ?. Personally I can not believe it.
To conclude …… Our attachment to Il Volo, which makes us a permanent fan “in service”, I would call it type,…. morbid / familiar, that is visceral: we feel them part of our affections. In fact, we can not bear to be left without news of them. 
Through videos and photos, which fortunately the guys generously do not make us miss, we live in symbiosis with them … It is as if, every day, we put them under a microscope to learn everything about them: nothing escapes us, a look of understanding, a gesture, a grimace, even a sigh.
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And all we try to interpret, each according to their sensitivity and their desires. That being the case, the deep feelings that our guys inspire us, it is inevitable that they translate into POETRY, on the part of those who are able to transform emotions into words. Very difficult, in my opinion, to find something similar in fans of other singers.
And you do not think that they, feel suffocated by this our great love for them?
No,they are instead gratified and consoled by all the negative things they undeservedly receive.
Personally, I like to imagine them wrapped in a giant bubble of love, a sort of protection, to proof of the bullets of those who do not love them.
If they did not know they are so loved, they would not be smiling and happy as they are actually our dear Gianluca, Piero and Ignazio !!!
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Congratulations Maura, you made a beautiful analysis, in which I find myself, because I am a fan of IL VOLO and I confirm it with pride!
 
Daniela
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Credit to all owners of photos.
Editorials, Our Stories, Piero

ROSEMARIE MEETS PIERO, By Rosemarie and Daniela

20 Comments
Perhaps not everyone knows that between June and July, our Rose Marie Paliobeis has been in Italy and in particular in Sicily.
Her journey began as a 2 week tour to visit Naples, Sorrento, the Amalfi coast and then Sicily, but then Rose Marie, let herself be tempted by another  tour offered by  Dario Mirabile, the friend of Piero, and so Rose Marie, after having seen the Amalfi Coast, Naples and Sorrento (where for but a moment she did not see the guys at the Agnes prize), she reached Sicily and what is the first picture she send me?
It is not possible not to recognize Taormina and the Bam Bar !!
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She also went on the Volcano Etna where the day before it had snowed and then sent me this message:
” I am in Palermo, I love this beautiful city! We were in Agrigento this afternoon and went to see the Greek temples. We are taking a tour of Palermo tomorrow and Monday afternoon I will leave this tour go to Naro. I am tired but ok.”
Ok, Naro is approaching and Piero is in Naro, because in this period he is doing school exams.
And here is the picture that she sends me.
A beautiful photo of RoseMarie in the company of Wendy, Joanie, Suzana, Dario and …….. our beautiful and sweet Piero !!!
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I’m so glad she met Piero (even a little jealous), and she confirms that he’s a very kind and caring young man, he finished the exams and everything went ok.
But the meetings do not end here, for the following days, Piero will continue to go to greet our ladies, a true gentleman, will spend a little of his time with them.
Here he is in the beautiful photos taken by Suzana Gutierrez of AAIV.
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But the thing that RoseMarie told me with such amazement was that Piero remembered very well a gift from her.
” I gave him a bent nail when I saw him in Detroit, it was a good luck piece like the ones Luciano Pavarotti collected and he remembered that I gave it to him in blue box. I was so impressed that he remembered because they receive so many gifts on tour.
We asked about the many gifts they receive, especially t-shirts. They keep some but can’t possibly keep all. They donate others to homeless shelters. “
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“He did say they would be touring USA in 2019 but there were no definite dates yet because the manage team is dealing with music, dates, venues etc. He stopped every day to see us, usually at the beach. He was with his friends and family but took time out for us to ask how we were and if we liked Naro. Of course we loved Naro. A small town where everyone knows each other.The other ladies with me have met him before many times but this was my first (hope not the last) time that wasn’t a meet/greet. ” 
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“He was just a normal down to earth young man, waving to everyone who greeted him as they drove or walked by. He spent time with us at a friend’s house where we learned to make pasta and pizza. So I can’t begin to tell you all how fortunate I was, and to say how lucky we are to have this young man in our lives. May God keep these 3 safe, and healthy. May they find true love someday and have families of their own .” 
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Damn, RoseMarie, this last shot is really amazing, who of us would not like to take a picture with a similar hug?
Yes, you were really lucky, a pity that you could not stop until the concert in Taormina ……. but for that there will be a next time, is not it?
Daniela
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Credit to all owners of photos.