ho trovato l'intervista che c'era dentro la rivista
è una gran bella intervista....Josh è semplicemente
THE BEST!(Jiujiu non sapevo dove metterla,perchè non mi sembra che abbiamo un topic per le interviste,recensioni etc. o sbaglio?
comunque spostala pure dove meglio credi
)
Wide Awake with Josh GrobanBy Joanne Rae Ramirez
Saturday, October 20, 2007
He stirs your soul and awakens your senses with his voice, described by critics as “deliciously flawless.” Oh, how could something so solid glide so effortlessly across a crowded arena, like raindrops rushing down a hill?
Not quite Bocelli, not quite Il Divo, Josh Groban, 26, marries pop and the classics with casual ease and rare dexterity.
He makes opera seem in sync with blue jeans, singing “The Prayer” sans tuxedo and still making the audience feel they were in La Scala.From the moment he guested on two Ally McBeal episodes in which he debuted “You’re Still You,” and “To Where You Are,” Josh Groban has wooed audiences in five continents effortlessly, and has sold 15 million albums worldwide.
Not bad for a shy kid in a Los Angeles high school, who wasn’t popular with the guys. But young Josh Groban loved to sing, and he joined the choir, finding out that here was one place where he belonged.
Unbeknownst to Josh, he stood out among the 20 members of the choir. One day, one of his music teachers took him aside and said, “I’d like you to do solo in the next concert.”
“And I was scared to death!” recalled Josh during an exclusive interview with People Asia magazine at dressing Room 164 of the Stockton Arena in Stockton, California, where he was due to go onstage in less than an hour. He was in blue jeans, and wore a light denim jacket over his crew neck shirt.
“I invited my mom because she’d never heard me sing solo,” he continued. “And when I sang that night, she was crying.
“I was around 12 or 13. I was kind of shy in school so I wasn’t very popular. I felt that singing was my way of communicating, this is my way of expressing myself.”
And how!
Josh was discovered by songwriter David Foster when he was 17. “After that, everything happened very quickly.”
“Oh, I’ve learned a great deal from David. He’s such a great mentor and teacher. You know, I was thrilled when he called me up and said, ‘I believe in you and I want you to show what you can do to the world’.”
The song that he first sang for Foster? “All I Ask of You” from The Phantom of the Opera.
Shortly after pursuing a major in theater and musical theater at the Carnegie Mellon University, Josh was signed up by Warner Bros. Records. He had to quit school after that. After seeing Josh perform at a charity event, producer David Kelley included him on two Ally McBeal episodes. Several international performances followed, including an unforgettable performance of “The Prayer” with Charlotte Church at the 2002 Winter Olympics.
In 2002, the former shy choir boy who was not popular with his classmates became the best-selling new male artist of 2002 and his in-concert performance in Pasadena, California, which was recorded by PBS for its Great Performance Series, became the top selling concert DVD of 2003. That same year,
Josh performed on Broadway in a one-night only concert and the Playbill reviewer described Josh as having “one of the richest, fullest baritones of any male singer around.”And he wasn’t even a quarter of a century old yet!
Our group (including concert producer and businessman Francis Lumen, Smart Infinity’s Bong Mojica and Julie Carceller, STAR’s Ricky Lo and photographer Pancho Escaler) arrived from Manila the night before Josh’s concert at the Stockton Arena.
We were met by US-based concert and talent specialist Rhiza Pascua and led to a private box in the rafters that had a commanding view of the stage. There, Ricky Lo and I were told that due to time constraints, we would be having only five minutes each with Josh, and photographer Pancho Escaler, just about as much time. Talk about a letdown!
After about 45 minutes, we were distracted by the sound of a deep and rich baritone, each note permeating the corners of our waiting room. It was Josh doing a sound check, a tall glass of Starbucks coffee in one hand.
We waved at him from our perch, and he waved back. I knew at that moment, when his hand sliced through the air to acknowledge us, that he was going to be a nice guy. Jetlagged, we were suddenly wide-awake and even wider awake when, after being led backstage, came face-to-face with him in Dressing Room 164.
Up close, Josh looks like a Biblical character with heartthrob looks.
In fact, he reminded me of one of the disciples of Jesus Christ with his chin-length curly locks, his kind eyes and his gentle smile. And that heavenly voice!His hit “You Raise Me Up” is especially meaningful to him, because he feels he connects to everyone who listens to him sing that song.
“I think the very special thing about that song is it asks every single person individually what raises them up. They could listen to it and they could be thinking about a family member, they could be thinking about a best friend, a teacher, or they could be thinking about God.”
If his voice and his songs raise up his audiences from the depths of boredom, depression or the stresses of everyday life, what raises Josh Groban up?
“My fans, my family, I think the power of the human spirit,” he says.
Josh’s addictionHis belief in the power of the human spirit brought him to South Africa in 2005, a trip he called, “life-changing.” He met with Nelson Mandela, and visited children in Soweto who were being supported by the Nelson Mandela Foundation.
His life took on a new purpose after those meetings.
“I was inspired by Mandela even before I met him. I mean, he’s such a living saint. When you go to a place like that, when you see people who are less fortunate than you, it makes you more grateful for everything that’s happened to you. I don’t take anything for granted anymore.“Having the ability and the money, most importantly, to help others less fortunate, was the greatest way to give back. It feels good. It’s addictive to give back. When you see what you’ve done, helping something firsthand, you wanna keep doing it. So it’s a good addiction to have.”Josh has set up his own foundation to fill the need in his soul to give back.
“I think the ability to start that foundation was one of the greatest thrills for me because it’s also having a platform for people to listen to what I wanna tell them.
It’s great that this foundation has raised money and it does reach children all over the world who are less fortunate — through education, music education, food, medicine, shelter. I’m very excited about it.”One of his future plans is to hold a concert where every cent earned will go directly to the foundation. And he is not discounting the possibility that poor Filipino children will one day benefit from his foundation.The private JoshOffstage, what’s Josh Groban like?
For one, he still sings in the shower. This he admitted to Ricky Lo.
“Yeah, of course I still do,” said Josh, who grew stubbles on his chin for that ruggedly handsome look. “I’m sorry that my fans can’t hear me sing from the bathroom because I probably sing my best in the bathroom!”
Josh also likes a good back massage, even if he has to pry himself loose from his work schedule for some expert kneading. “It’s a total luxury to me. I mean, once I’m on the table, I’m thinking why did I have to force myself to do this. I’m always working so hard, I’m always thinking so much about the next thing that when it comes to taking a vacation or getting a massage or something like that, it’s really a luxury thing…”
Josh, who describes himself as “some sort of a hermit,” doesn’t really party or socialize much. How does he maintain a relationship considering he’s always on the road? Does he have a family life?
Sure he does.
Ohmijosh!“My brother just came on the road with me for a week. That was great to see him. My parents (his father is Jewish-American and his mother is Norwegian-American) are coming to the show tomorrow night at Anaheim. So you know, they travel for me, which is amazing because the only time I get to see them is when they come up to see me. I also have breaks so I definitely spend a lot of time with them when I have a break.”
So he has a semblance of a family life. How about a love life? “As far as like a relationship goes, that’s really hard right now,” he admits. Ohmijosh!
“I can date, casually. But I can’t be in a serious relationship because you might meet someone great, you got a couple of days with them, and then you say, okay, I’m going to Manila for a little while…”
My five minutes with Josh Groban had turned into 15 minutes, without the world renowned singer showing any signs of impatience. His smile was as warm as the California summer sun. I try to squeeze in one more question as I ignore his manager’s plea for an end to the interview.
If you could describe yourself in one word, what would it be?
“Passionate!” says Josh. I end the interview, smiling and wide awake.
Edited by sissicat - 23/11/2007, 15:04
),but people that already did,said that it is a really cool and funny interview 
ndt)in un video musicale per il Kimmel show. Poi fu il turno del video musicale pieno di celebrità " I'm F****** ben affleck", nel quale Groban compare in uno scenario blu notte - con tanto di fiocchi di neve che cadono dolcemente su di lui e sul suo pianoforte- per offrire le sue dolci note. Fu un nirvana pop-culturale: il momento esilarante in uno dei più divertenti video della memoria recente.
