woman & home 11 (UK) 2006.10
What I love in a woman - by Il Divo
Il Divo's last album Ancora sold over five million copies and hit the number one spot in 26 countries, including the UK. Their new album Siempre is out in November. The four talk to Victoria Young about glamour, seduction � and dating older women
Click on all thumbnails to see the large image.
I started to sing, so I could seduce women
Sebastien Izambard, 33, is French, lives in Paris and has been with his girlfriend for eight months.
About women: I love them. I fall in love with women so easily, though I don't get attached easily. French men love seducing, but I'm scared of relationships because they put you in a cage. I've been seeing someone who lives in Australia. It's a big risk for us but she's wonderful.
What is glamour? It looks delicious, fashionable, aesthetic. I like soft, natural beauty; I don't like make-up. You can tell at a glance if someone is glamorous. Glamour is gracious and has an emotional element to it, but I don't like people who try too hard.
Favourite screen icons: Natalie Portman and Brigitte Bardot.
Off-stage life: We spend 340 days a year working. I'm constantly on the road and it can be lonely. I do get homesick � it's strange to wake up and wonder where you are all the time. Of course, it's worth it, but I miss doing ordinary things like going to the supermarket.
Perfect date: For a date I'd go to Rome. But if it was the person I wanted to marry, I'd pick Venice for dinner by the canal. And I would sing to her. That is why I started to sing � so I could seduce women.
Worst date: When I was younger in Paris, I played my guitar in the street to serenade a girl upstairs. She loved it, but it was two in the morning and the man in the flat below hers threw water over me.
Marriage: I believe in marriage and I believe in family; it's important to me. But I hate pressure. I have to be with someone who is not jealous.
Dating an older woman was amazing
Urs Buhler, 35, from Switzerland lives in Lille, France, with his girlfriend of three years.
What is glamour? For me, the archetype of glamour is the cocktail dress look from the Frank Sinatra era. It's hard to define, but some people just have a certain presence that can be seductive.
Favourite screen icon: Catherine Zeta-Jones is absolutely gorgeous.
Dating code: A date is when you get someone's number and call them to go out the next weekend, but I don't really do that. I've always dated women I've got to know gradually.
Dating older women: My ex-girlfriend was ten years older than me, and the one before her was 11 years older. The good thing about dating a more mature woman was that she knew who she was, where she stood on things and where she was going � and that confidence in herself gave me a certain direction in my own life.
A perfect date, New York for romance
David Miller, 33, from the US, lives in New York and has been with his girlfriend for three years.
What is glamour? The human form in its natural state is innately glamorous. The minute it becomes too plastic and artificial, it loses it.
Favourite screen icons: Angelina Jolie and Audrey Hepburn.
Perfect date: For moonlit walks, I'd choose Paris. But there is a lot to be said for New York, which offers romance with an edge. It has a restaurant called Balthazar which is intimate, though it is always packed.
Worst date: My high-school prom was pretty bad. My girlfriend of six months broke up with me the week before, but we decided to go as friends. Then we had a massive fight and I decided to sabotage the evening. I wore shorts and red trainers. She was mortified.
Off-stage life: I don't ever want to say �I wish I had...� so I like outdoorsy stuff like hiking, biking, rock-climbing and scuba diving.
Glamour is all about confidence
Carlos Marin, 38, from Spain, lives in Madrid and is married to Geraldine, his partner for 13 years.
What is glamour? It is more the way that a woman wears something than what she is wearing. It is the way she acts and moves.
Favourite screen icons: Monica Bellucci. But Katharine Hepburn and Rita Hayworth had so much charm. And then of course, there was Marilyn Monroe; now that's what I call real glamour.
Perfect date: Would be in Disneyland. I got married in Disneyland.
Worst date: I've never had one. Every date is special because I make it so.
Dating older women: I think it is fantastic. When I was 20, I had a girlfriend who was 35 and everything about it was brilliant, from sex to conversation. But I married someone younger than me; my wife is 29.
On female fans: It's great seeing women throwing underwear at you on stage. We've built up quite a collection; it's a Tom Jones thing.
