But Frenchman Sebastien Izambad says he's still influenced by pop music By Tan Kee Yun THINK Il Divo and the image of four handsome men impeccably dressed in fine black suits singing opera springs to mind. But for one of them, Sebastien Izambard, his music career didn't start out that way. Before he joined the quarter, the 36-year-old Frenchman was an accomplished pop singer and composer in his home country since 2000, with a solo album that spawned a No 1 French hit, Si Tu Savais. Izambard is the only non-classically trained member of Il Divo. Despite being a pop singer, he had a 'deep curiosity' about opera, he told The New Paper in an interview from the US, where the quartet is on tour. He said: 'I never thought I would be singing it though, but it just happened to me.' After he was picked to join the group, 'everything fell into place'. At one of Il Divo's earliest meetings, 'the four of us started singing some harmonies and at once, it became almost natural', Izambard recalled. 'It's such a strange feeling, because we seriously didn't know each other well then' Il Divo, formed in 2003 by maverick music producer and American Idol judge Simon Cowell, also comprises two tenors - American David Miller, 36, and Swiss Urs Buhler, 38 - and a baritone, Spaniard Carlos Marin, 40. They will perform in Singapore at the end of the month. While Izambard might have left pop for opera, his influences are clearly still rooted in pop. He said that his favourite song from The Promise, Il Divo's fifth and latest studio effort, is Hallelujah as he is a big fan of the late American singer-songwriter Jeff Buckley. Hallelujah Hallelujah was written by Leonard Cohen, but Buckley's heart-wrenching cover on his 1994 album Grace was a big hit. Buckley died in a drowning accident in 1997. Said Izambard: 'Jeff Buckley's rendition of the song is simply amazing. It's always challenging for us to interpret songs that have been so successful. 'We're pushed to do our very best as we want to perform just as well as our predecessors did.' Each of the four members of Il Divo comes from different countries and when they sing, they do so in Spanish, Italian, English, French and Latin. It's no wonder then that they made it into the 2006 Guinness World Records as the most multinational No 1 Album Group in the United Kingdom. 'We are totally different individuals, but it's our differences that make us unique,' said Izambard. 'Being multinational is our strength.' On a personal level, he said he is closer to Marin, who is from Spain, while 'David (the American) is closer to Urs from Switzerland'. Having been based in the UK for many years, Izambard now speaks English fluently, albeit with a French accent. When praised for his fluency, he laughed and said charmingly: 'Thank you so much for the compliment. 'I spend half my time travelling around the world with the Il Divo guys, English is a language I'm getting increasingly used to.' http://www.tnp.sg/show/story/0,4136,212842-1252274340,00.html?