Mario!

"If music be the food of love, play on ....."

--From Twelfth Night (I, i,1-3)

He's Greek and sings in Italian, Spanish, Greek, French and English, with a voice that is like that of an angel: it melts your heart and makes your spirit soar. And, unlike Pavarotti, he's young and looks like a movie star or male model. What else can I ask for? Mario Frangoulis, my hero of song.

In his first album Sometimes I Dream, he says, "Allow me to introduce you to my world. With humility and dignity, I offer you my dreams with love and colors from the Mediterranean world, the deep blue of the sea and sky, the warmth and the spirit of my ancestors and the rich heritage of my homeland, Greece.
A gift no longer in my hands, I give you Sometimes I Dream."

I first heard him sing the song Vincero, Perdero in a compilation of classic pop operas. I didn't know what the words meant but I loved listening to it over and over. Found out the meaning of the Italian lyrics online and hey, I'm learning Italian now. The boys and D got me his second CD Follow Your Heart for my birthday, as it was so obvious what I liked. They couldn't find the first, but I liked the second as much, especially the first song, Here's to the Heroes. I found the first CD in Singapore later, and now, I can listen to him in the car, in the house, from morning to night.

As Mario put it in his second CD, "For me, music is the greatest gift you can give to someone because music is life and life is love and honestly, I live for making good music." Well, long may he live to make good music for all the world to enjoy, and may he come to know too the Creator of Music, the One who gave him the gifts of voice and song, life and love.