Julio Iglesias Sings His Canciones de Amor At the Las Vegas Hilton

Julio Iglesias is not your run-of-the-mill Las Vegas act. Now celebrating his 40th year in show business, Iglesias is playing the Las Vegas Hilton tonight and tomorrow (June 11 and 12). And, aside from his longevity, he is a rare entertainer in that he draws a vey large Latino audience along with the English-speaking people who come to his show. And, while it may skew slightly older, his audience is of all ages.

In addition to celebrating his career, Iglesias was given two awards before his show Friday night. The Las Vegas International Press Association bestowed its Maximum Hispanic Pride (Máximo Orgullo Hispano) award on him and the Clark County Commissioners declared June 10th “Julio Iglesias Day" ikn the county where Las Vegas is located.

But, of course, we're here to discuss his show, billed as an "Evening of Passion, Excitement, Romance."

Iglesias appears with a seven-piece band, three singers and two dancers. He mostly stands quietly as they all do their thing. Having never seen him in person before I have no comparison but he seems to be a classic crooner, quietly singing (with his eyes closed) and choosing songs very familliar to his audience. Of course, that means that only four songs were in English — All Of You, his hit with Diana Ross, To All The Girls I've Loved Before, the Albert Hammond song with which he had a hit with Willie Nelson and the two other Nelson numbers he recorded, Crazy and Always On My Mind. His interpretations of these four songs were lovely. Always On My Mind and To All The Girls I've Loved Before were especially so.

Iglesias' band was outstanding and the singers were good. The two dancers, however skilled they were, seemed superfluous as they distracted from the music.

Iglesias looks good and he sounds good. I must note that, unlike most concerts I've seen, even those performed by people who've been in the business as long as Iglesias, the audience tended to sing along with him as he did the music they know very well.. And by "sing," I mean they actually sang. Out loud. They didn't just mouth the lyrics. On one hand, it was distracting, even annoying. On the others, this man was clearly singing beloved songs that have meaning for his audience. So, I cannot exactly condemn them.

The show was, on the whole, quite a pleasant way to pass 90 minutes or so and different enough from the usual fare to be worth seeing.

Julio Iglesias appears June 11 and 12 at 8 pm in the Las Vegas Hilton Theater. Tickets are $59 - $119 (plus tax and service charge). For information and to buy tickets, visit the Las Vegas Hilton website.