Hi Everyone,

We are still surprised that Piero, Ignazio and Gianluca went home so soon after a brief stay in Ny and then LA. Despite all the guessing and conjecture we do not know what their plans are for the immediate future; as you can see by my yellow question mark guy, above. As soon as I hear anything I’ll be running around in my blue suit finding out what’s going on. I do know they landed safely in Rome via Paris. They’re on a pace that includes some heavy duty flight time this year.

***Gianluca tweeted 2 hours ago “slept 15 hrs– jet lag’s fault”

****** Update, Gianluca tweeted about 2pm our time: “Yes. I have decided. I’ll move to LA”  It will be interesting to see how this develops!!!

I know most of you enjoy Andrea Bocelli, here’s a little bio.

Andrea Angel Bocelli,  (Italian pronunciation: [anˈdrɛːa boˈtʃɛlli]; born 22 September 1958) is an Italian tenor, and singer-songwriter. Born with poor eyesight, he became blind at the age of twelve following a football accident.

Since winning the Newcomers section of the Sanremo Music Festival in 1994, Bocelli has recorded fourteen solo studio albums, of both pop and classical music, three greatest

hits albums, and nine complete operas selling over 80 million records worldwide.Thus,he has had success as a cross-over performer bringing classical music to the top of international pop charts.

In 1998, he was named one of People Magazine’s 50 Most Beautiful People. In 1999, he was nominated for Best New Artist at the Grammy Awards. “The Prayer”, his duet with Celine Dion for the animated film Quest for Camelot, won the Golden Globe for Best Original Song and was nominated for an Academy Award in the same category. With the release of his classical album, Sacred Arias, Bocelli captured a listing in the Guinness Book of World Records, as he simultaneously held the top 3 positions on the US Classical Albums charts. Seven of his albums have since reached the top 10 on the Billboard 200, and a record-setting 10 have topped the classical crossover albums charts in the United States.                     

It was evident at birth that Bocelli had numerous problems with his sight, and after visits to many doctors, he was diagnosed with congenital glaucoma. In 1970, at the age of 12, he lost his sight completely following an accident during a football game. He was accidentally hit on the head during a match and suffered a brain hemorrhage. Doctors resorted to leeches in a desperate last-ditch effort to save his sight, but they were unsuccessful, and he remained blind.

In the United States, Bocelli made a number of high profile TV appearances. He first performed “White Christmas” at the 83rd annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, broadcast live on NBC, 26 November. He performed the song again on 30 November during The Today Show also live. His appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show during her Holiday Music Extravaganza, where he sang “What Child Is This”, with Mary J. Blige and later closed the show with Adeste Fideles, was also aired the same day, and was later rebroadcast on 23 December. Bocelli also sang “Adeste Fideles” and was interviewed by Barbara Walters and Joy Behar on The View, which aired 2 December, on ABC. On 8 December, he performed “Jingle Bells” with The Muppets on The Jay Leno Show. He also performed a number of songs from the album, including “The Christmas Song” with Natalie Cole, during a dinner at David Foster’s mansion in Malibu, which was featured on The Dr. Phil Show, on 10 December. Bocelli also performed “White Christmas” and “Silent Night”, on the Larry King Live and Fox & Friends holiday-specials, broadcast 23 December, on CNN, and 19, 24 and 25 December, on Fox News.

On 30 April 2000, Bocelli’s father, Alessandro Bocelli, died. His mother encouraged him to honor his commitments, and so he sang for the Pope, in Rome, on 1 May, and immediately returned home for the funeral. At his 5 July performance, filmed for PBS as American Dream—Andrea Bocelli’s Statue of Liberty Concert, Bocelli dedicated the encore Sogno (Dream), from his 1999 album Sogno, to the memory of his father.

A section of the beach in Jesolo, on the Italian Adriatic coast, was named after Bocelli on 11 August 2003.

In October 2013 Bocelli bought a second home in North Miami Beach.

We can all remember the heartfelt advice Bocelli gave to Gianluca when he won the singing contest,Ti Lascio Una Canzone, where Il Volo originally met in 2009.

Bocelli was born in the village of La Sterza , Lajatico, Tuscany. Here is a short history of his home town.

Lajatico is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Pisa in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 50 km southwest of Florence and about 40 km southeast of Pisa. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 1,353 and an area of 72.3 km². Lajatico sits in mainly hilly terrain (variable altitudes from 100 to 650 meters above sea level), and dominates the end of the Valdera valley and the opening of the valley known as Val di Cecina.

La Sterza, one of its hamlets (frazioni), is the natural door between these two geographical areas. The Sterza, Era, and the Ragone rivers form natural borders, placing Lajatico in a very central position to reach Tuscan cities and seaside resorts.^[ Lajatico is, however, best known as the home town of tenor Andrea Bocelli. His annual concerts at the Teatro del Silenzio are attended by people from all around the world, every year.

Lajatico has the following hamlets (frazioni) associated with it: Orciatico, an ancient small medievil village; Spedaletto, a stomping ground of Lorenzo de’ Medici; Villaggio San Giovanni, and La Sterza.^[Lajatico borders the following municipalities: Chianni, Montecatini Val di Cecina, Peccioli, Riparbella, Terricciola, Volterra.

The first written document mentioning Lajatico dates from 891. From then on, the Castrum Ajatici was property of the powerful Pannocchieschi family of Elci. In 1139, Ranieri Pannocchieschi gave to the Bishop of Volterra, Adimaro Adimari, his property stretching to Lajatico and neighboring areas. In 1161, another part of Lajatico was given to the Bishop of Volterra, until Bishop Ildebrando Pannocchieschi, due to a Papal Bull of August 1186, took over the political jurisdiction.

In 1202, Lajatico and part of Volterra came under the influence of Pisa until 1284, when Pisa was defeated by Genoa in the battle of Meloria. At the end of the hostilities, Lajatico came back to the Bishop of Volterra, who brought it, together with Orciatico, Pietracassia and other castles, under the jurisdiction of the city of Florence, which held it until the peace of Fucecchio, in 1293. Aside from 1362, when Florence occupied Lajatico for a short time, and kept it under the jurisdiction of Pisa until 1406, when Pietro Gaetani, a Pisan noble who decided to sell out his native land, and gave the castles of Lajatico, Orciatico and Pietracassia to the Florentines. In 1434, the Florentines demolished not only the walls of the town, but also the wall and towers of the surrounding villages to punish all their inhabitants for having decided to submit themselves to Niccolò Piccinino, who was on the Vicounts of Milan’s payroll. In 1664, the same castles with their territories were conceded as a marquisate to the Corsini until 1776, when Lajatico annexed the municipality.

We will be on the look-out for any new news. It’s entirely possible all plans have not been finalized. Patience is the key here.  We know that they are safe and sound at home and that’s what really matters for the moment.

******To repeat the warning from Marie’s last post, beware that you are not buying concert tickets from scalpers. I see most of the commenters here have been successful buying their tickets from the venues. Thanks for sharing your experiences everyone.

Love and Luck Guys, we can hardly wait to hear of your next great adventure!!

Linda