IL DIVO

A couple of days after the show I guess I'm back to myself and talk about the experience, so... let's get personal! ♥

The first time I came across Il Divo, it was right after my presentation of college's final project - on the night of the presentation I went for a cellebration pizza with my parents right after it was all done, then came back home to... keep working in the same project. Hard to explain. It's not because you get a 120% score that you'll leave a project behind. It was not just because of the scores and there were things and space for improvement, so it felt quite natural to go back home and back to work.

Mom got angry. "You're 3 full days without a second of sleeping!! Go to bed! NOW." - it was past 4am and I was still there, totally design focused. lol

But she sort of had a point. I needed to learn how to relax again, because, hey, college was over and finally, after a couple of years, I would have spare time again. After.... maybe 3 years without really stopping to watch TV ~~(and basically starting to hate it)~~...

So, the next night it was the presentation of a great classmate and friend. We started the course together and had been through a lot of drama together as well. There I went to support him, like he did to me the night before. Everything great! =)

Back home, at the same night: WHAT SHOULD I DO OF MY LIFE NOW?!

Yes, I was warned about a common sense of emptiness that comes right after you finish uni, but not 24 hours had passed by and I was already going crazy. hahahahha

That's how I dediced to watch TV. Thousand of channels with boring, soooo boring content....

No. No. No. Eeewww, grossss! No. Nahhh. No. Hell, no! No... oh, wait! Right back there!

There, in front of my eyes was being exhibited "Il Divo - A Musical Affair", 2014, In Tokyo Budokkan. - even though at the moment I didn't have all these information!

It was at the very beginning: 4 gentlemen in Armani suits, with amazing voices and skills. Definitely love at first sight! Believe me, it can happen!

Now, tell me... how not to love? The skills are great, the personalities enchanting, and with a show totally dedicated for pieces of music that are trade marks from many Broadway musicals.

Can you imagine how happy I was when they started singing THE MUSIC OF THE NIGHT?

Then, the show was over and I was already researching the hell out of them, thanks, Google.

Something I found interesting, but kinda bitter: This show, which was my first contact with Il Divo world, as I said before was recorded in Tokyo. Ok, so far, so good.

In 2014... March 11st!!

So frustraaaaaating! Why?! Because I was there! And these guys are quite something in Japan, they're really famous! And I was there. And probably there were loads of things about them all over the place during their japanese tour and I knew/noticed absolutely NOTHING.

Here's the DVD menu. At least Japan received a nice gift in such a important day 3.11!

And now, since I told you it was going to get quite personal...a little flashback of what I was doing that day...

Boo. Here we have the Rapha of 2014's March 11st.

I went to the popular hair salon L.O.G. by U-realm that day.

I remember I wanted to have my hair styled by Kenji-san, but in the end I met the adorable Aki. He's a great professional and became a friend as well. ♥

The salon is actually pretty cute inside. Even the cafe space is sweet. =)

To be honest, that day I was very sad, because I was expecting to meet someone and it seemed like this someone was already having a great time with another girl... So the mood of the day was sort of "meh, he doesn't love me!" ... But even in a sad day, traveling totally on my onw, there was chance to get to know myself better and make a nice experience of everything... I mean... Some of my friends have been in Tokyo for a good number of times and never noticed this beautiful cathedral in Omotesando! For me it was impossible not to notice.

Probably because it wasn't a 100% happy moment, that night Shibuya became impossible for me. Too many people, too much noises, lights everywhere. It was overwhealming. Everything too much. But tons of empty people. I really started to get sick and found comfort inside a temple. It was dark and really silent. The impact of the busy Tokyo couldn't reach that blessed place. But suddenly I noticed I wasn't alone....

I made a friend! And this cutie made me company until I was feeling better enough to go back to the contemporary japanese frenzy.

But instead of feeling blue, why couldn't I decide to watch an Il Divo live that day? Knowing that something so precious was there right in my face and I didn't notice is veeeeeeeeery frustrating. Yet, I wonder if it would have had the same impact it did have in the nowadays Rapha... will never know...

Back to the end of 2016: we're still talking about that Rapha who fell in love with Il Divo and realized she missed a good chance in Tokyo...

Then came the moment when I ordered all avaliable DVDs and spent hours of my life enjoying Il Divo on Youtube, praying for them to come to Brazil soon.

Around this year's June finally we had the great news! Yup, a new tour around Latin America and with many brazilian cities in!

The preorder of the tickets came in a not great moment of my credit card! But I had to pay to be part of an exclusive club of shows... only to have access to the first sold tickets. Expensive, but worthy.

I spent a night without sleeping juuuuuust to keep my seat reserved: 2 line, chair number 3, exactly in the middle! All because I wanted to pay with a debit card and it was impossible to do it without going to our Fnac. This ticket was kept safe inside a locker, together with importand stuff like passaports and so on... hahahaha

And then, obviously the drama isn't over, it was released the info of a M&G event!!

Thank you, dear heart, for not failing me at the time. 200USD! F*cking 200USD.

200USD became 700 reais - A LOT OF MONEY.

Still I paid. And made of my $$$ life a pure mess. I was going to meet the guys, talk to them, have a picture and all... why not?

Nothing was emotional easy, so next there was a bomb, after the serial killing in L.A., all the M&G events in Latin America were cancelled!! All the sweating for making the money... in vain...

The good point about it was when the money was returned to my credit card and everything fell into place. hahahaha

"Ok. No meet and great. I can live with that."

I was going to watch a live of a favorite group, basically without anyone in front of me and exactly at the middle of the stage. Who can complain??

Finally October 14th had come! Show night! And how can I forget my anxiety?! I was showering... shampoo bubbles and rock japanese songs everywhere when suddenly the music stopped (in my favorite part) - WHO THE HELL IS TRYING TO CALL ME NOW??????

The number was unknown and after some seconds of indecision, I did pick up the call.

"Hello, Raphaela? Hi! Here's Manoel from Clube Shows. Did you purchased a ticket for Il Divo's live tonight, right? Are you going? Oh, great, because you're one of the lucky selected people to have full access to the backstage and meet the group. Can you meet me when you arrive at the venue? Ok, deal. See you there."

*TILT*

From that moment on it all was quick and pure magic. ♥

The absolutely great view from my seat!

"Tonight, tonight, the world is full of light, with suns and moons all over the place...Tonight, tonight, the world is wild and bright, going mad shooting stars into space" ♥

I was supposed to meet the group a little before the show started, but since I arrived very early at the venue, I spent a good time looking to the stage and getting more and more anxious.

And the time came. And the huge heels I bought just for the show meant nothing, because these gentlemen are soooo talllll.... hahahahaha ♥

But really, these guys entered my life less than a year ago. They're like a graduation present and I can't put into words how honored I still feel just to have had a chance to spend a little time with them... I'd never had believed if someone told me this was going to happen! No. Way. Even after so many events that made me think everything was going to a wrong way... Seb, Urs, Carlos and David, I guess I'll never be able to thank you enough! ♥

Remarkable moments: when I was entering the private area and Seb was warming up his voice and walking around - I was like "Sh*t! this is real!" / Right before this picture was taken: Seb and David were having a loud talk of themselves with so much energy! David looks like he was still speaking at the *cheese* moment. / Urs. When we first met his already big eyes became really really large and I still can figure out the meaning... he was surprised? why? It made me a bit nervous, so I guess I didn't even gave him a decent hug in the picture, hahaha x_x / Carlos was friendly and touchy, but in a very respectful way! Not even close to the flirty mask he uses during the shows. That was new.

I had tons of fun during the show, but all the anxiety was gone even before I left the backstage... I was also expecting to cry a river, but I didn't cry at all. There were quite a good number of emotional moments, even more when they sang a music which is important for one of them... Impossible not to get teary eyes when they did it all the time. Yet, not crying. (And I did it... in JSB3 show, in Coldplay show...)....

Uma publicação compartilhada por Raphaela Pareto (@raphacchan) em Out 14, 2017 às 11:28 PDT

The experience was intense and it took me more than 10 days to recover from my "I'm a little mount of powder glitter" state of spirit. ♥

Carlos' personality was really a surprise for me. During the show he even looked me in the eyes and said "hello, beautiful lady" - but again, not with the dirty voice he'd usually do to other woman. It was so sweet. hahahahaha - We made him a birthday surprise, BTW!

Uma publicação compartilhada por Raphaela Pareto (@raphacchan) em Out 14, 2017 às 11:20 PDT

Seb went totally "vida loca".... La vida sin amoooooor!

Also, sorry about my trembling rec! It was hard not to dance... because he was the one who asked me to stand up and dance! lol

Final thoughts: next year I'm in for the two nights! Need to save moneeeeey! AND! The new dream is my redemption: wathing an Il Divo live in Budokkan, Tokyo. ♥