By: Sue White
THE SAGINAW NEWS
February 28,2003
MOUNT PLEASANT- Love hung in the air like steam in a sauna Thursday at Mt. Pleasant’s Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort. Even before Julio Iglesias took the stage, women circled like sharks around a bucket of blood thrown in the water, quipped opening comedian Tim Wilkins. Then came a sax, a mournful voice heralding Iglesias’ arrival to a room bathed in bursts of magenta and azure light.
Finally … Iglesias himself, flashing a megawatt smile, his hands fluttering across his heart, his eyes at half-staff, seducing a sold-out house with his Latin libido.
The music transcended mere words, a blessing since Iglesias was most at home in his native tongue. Singing in other languages, he explained in one of many “my heart to yours” dialogues, is like making love to a different wife. But the multilingual mix didn’t matter- he could have sung “have you cleaned out your septic tank lately?” and the room would have fallen in the same swoon.
And the familiar tunes, say “Let It Be Me,” found Iglesias closing a capella, drawing the final notes like a musical caress. Singing or talking, he made love to his audience in away you can only believe once you have seen it firsthand.
Love- more accurately, making love- was the common thread winding through the night, whether Iglesias was commenting on Michigan’s cold streak or ordering his fans to go to their rooms after the show and name the result after him. “I wanted to make love, but I couldn’t because it was so cold,” he laughed, telling how age has slowed the “tickety, tickety, tickety” pace of his youthful pursuits.
But he strayed on occasion, often reminding the audience of how great America is and how proud they should feel of its role in keeping peace around the world.
His father was nearly killed in a act of terrorism 20 years ago in Spain, he said paying tribute to the American troops overseas with a touching performance of Sting’s “Fragile.”
“This country is the best,” he said, and again, it was a sentiment that seemed to come from the heart.
Americans have embraced Iglesias since the mid 80’s when he joined with a country singe in the now classic “To All The Girls I’ve Loved Before.”
“My record company told me there was a singer in America who wanted to sing with me” Iglesias said. “I asked his name and was told ‘Willie Nelson.’ I said I didn’t know him, and they told me, ‘That’s OK…He never heard of you either.’”
Walking up to Nelson’s house in Austin, Texas, Iglesias said he thought the gardener was coming to welcome them. And there was a strange smell, he added, one that made him feel as if he went to heaven.
But it all worked out with Thursday’s crowd treated to the resulting work.
Another American tune, Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling In Love,” found the audience strangely silent. “Straight from God, I tell you, in Russia and China, people sing this song to me in your language,” Iglesias scolded his fans. “You are too embarrassed. This is your music. Be proud and sing.”
He didn’t have to ask twice; the night was his from the start.