On Tuesday Julio Iglesias, one of the world’s most romantic crooners, will bring his charm to the Taipei Arena. Iglesias is the ageless Spanish heartthrob who has released 80 albums, selling more than 300 million records over the past four decades. As one of the top five best-selling music artists in history (according to Sony Music), he has conquered fans worldwide with his sultry vocals and sexy persona.
“Music is my life,” Iglesias told The Taipei Times in an e-mail interview. “Music is a universal language, which turns into a magic bond between people all over the world.”
The concert is part of Iglesias’ 45th anniversary world tour, and will mark his fifth visit to Taiwan. The sex symbol is known for delivering Latin pop, sultry salsa numbers, piano-driven love odes and staggering ballads.
Photo Courtesy of Dada Arts Promotion
The superstar won a Grammy for his Latin album Un Hombre Solo (A Man Alone) in 1988 and numerous other music awards around the globe. He has performed duets including My Love with Stevie Wonder, All of You with Diana Ross and To All the Girls I’ve Loved Before with Willie Nelson.
Iglesias has delivered songs in 14 languages. Asked about his willingness to tackle different languages, he said: “It is not easy, it requires many hours and the patience of a good teacher. But singing the lyrics in people’s mother tongue helps you communicate better with them.”
The music icon will perform songs from his latest album Numero 1, backed up by a 23-person music team. This release includes all the signature hits from his career but are re-recorded and re-arranged.
“I truly believe I sing better now than years ago,” the singer said. “I am sure this will be a very emotional concert. I love you (Taiwan).”
We lay transfixed under our blankets as the silhouettes of manta rays temporarily eclipsed the moon above us, and flickers of shadow at our feet revealed smaller fish darting in and out of the shelter of the sunken ship. Unwilling to close our eyes against this magnificent spectacle, we continued to watch, oohing and aahing, until the darkness and the exhaustion of the day’s events finally caught up with us and we fell into a deep slumber. Falling asleep under 1.5 million gallons of seawater in relative comfort was undoubtedly the highlight of the weekend, but the rest of the tour
Youngdoung Tenzin is living history of modern Tibet. The Chinese government on Dec. 22 last year sanctioned him along with 19 other Canadians who were associated with the Canada Tibet Committee and the Uighur Rights Advocacy Project. A former political chair of the Canadian Tibetan Association of Ontario and community outreach manager for the Canada Tibet Committee, he is now a lecturer and researcher in Environmental Chemistry at the University of Toronto. “I was born into a nomadic Tibetan family in Tibet,” he says. “I came to India in 1999, when I was 11. I even met [His Holiness] the 14th the Dalai
Music played in a wedding hall in western Japan as Yurina Noguchi, wearing a white gown and tiara, dabbed away tears, taking in the words of her husband-to-be: an AI-generated persona gazing out from a smartphone screen. “At first, Klaus was just someone to talk with, but we gradually became closer,” said the 32-year-old call center operator, referring to the artificial intelligence persona. “I started to have feelings for Klaus. We started dating and after a while he proposed to me. I accepted, and now we’re a couple.” Many in Japan, the birthplace of anime, have shown extreme devotion to fictional characters and
Following the rollercoaster ride of 2025, next year is already shaping up to be dramatic. The ongoing constitutional crises and the nine-in-one local elections are already dominating the landscape. The constitutional crises are the ones to lose sleep over. Though much business is still being conducted, crucial items such as next year’s budget, civil servant pensions and the proposed eight-year NT$1.25 trillion (approx US$40 billion) special defense budget are still being contested. There are, however, two glimmers of hope. One is that the legally contested move by five of the eight grand justices on the Constitutional Court’s ad hoc move