Tag Archives: Declan Donnelly

On This Day, 7 September 2006, Alfie Boe Sang…

Nessun Dorma on ITV’s Lorraine show:

This time, it’s thanks to Alfie for sharing!

As Lorraine Kelly says, amazing to hear such passion in such a fantastic voice – and early in the morning too!  Alfie was of course promoting his debut album, Classic FM Presents, an album that he doesn’t seem to be keen on, judging by his autobiography but is one that I listen to often.  I still think of myself as incredibly lucky to have heard Alfie sing Nessun Dorma on the Serenata tour two years ago – you could have a pin drop in all the arenas in which Alfie appeared.

Apart from the voice, the other things I love about this video are Alfie’s attire – an early indication that operatic arias and suits are not inextricably linked in Alfie’s mind – and how much he looks like Declan Donnelly throughout.  It seems to me that the likeness grows during the singing but of course that could just be me projecting…I pretty sure I’m not telling you anything new when I say I think Dec is cute too.  Check out Alf and Dec if you don’t believe me.

Alfie’s autobiography is available here:

alfie autobio

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40 facts About Alfie Boe!

I am often asked what it is about Alfie that I love – if this often happens to you as well, this post is for you to share with everyone that hasn’t yet been Boe’d so go ahead and click on the share buttons at the bottom of the post xx

So here goes – I’d love to know what you would add to this list!

1. This is his most famous song – do you need another reason to love Alfie?

2. Alfie hails from Fleetwood, Lancashire (although he was born in Blackpool in 1973).

3. Alfie is the youngest of nine siblings (4 boys and 5 girls) born to Alfred and Pat.

4. Alfie loves cooking and once considered becoming a chef (although he did once cut his finger on live TV!)

5. Other career changes considered include a personal trainer for the Salt Lake City police force.

6. Alfie is a Lyric Tenor which means his vocal range (excluding falsetto) is approximately the C one octave below middle C (C3) to the D one octave above middle C (D5) with the ability to extend a little to either side.

7. Alfie played Jean ValJean in the 25th Anniversary Les Miserables concert and at the Queens Theatre for 5 months in 2011 – but you all knew that one right?

8. When playing JVJ as The Mayor in Les Mis, Alfie used to wear the socks belonging to the convict JVJ costume in order to better inhabit the role.

9. Alfie is married to an American actress, Sarah Boe.  They met in San Francisco.

10. Alfie was the subject of a South Bank Show documentary in 2013.

11. Alfie once supported the Fron Male Voice Choir on tour.

12. David Miller of Il Divo was in La Boheme on Broadway with Alfie (they played alternate nights as Rodolfo).

13. Alfie recorded some demo Queen tracks at Abbey Road studios whilst a student – he listened back with obvious embarrassment on a recent documentary!

14. Alfie used to work at the Blackpool Opera House in a backstage / security role.

15. Alfie has recorded Empty Chairs, Empty Tables with two of the singers who played Marius: Michael Ball (original Marius and 10th anniversary concert) and Nick Jonas (25th anniversary concert).

16. Alfie was a body mechanic at the TVR factory in Bispham – if you know nothing else about Alfie, you know that!!

17. After graduating from the Royal College of Music, Alfie went on to train at the National Opera Studio.

18. Won the Christie prize at Glyndebourne for Albert Herring.

19. Appeared on several Clint Boon Experience albums as “opera dude”.

20. Spent a few nights sleeping on a park bench in Hyde Park “in between digs” so to speak.

21. Played drums in a local rock band, Whisky Train as a teenager.

22. Alfie is an ambassador for the Prince’s Foundation for Children and The Arts.

23. Alfie sang at the wedding of Peter and Autumn Phillips. (Ave Maria and Panis Angelicus).

24. Alfie famously prefers to perform in opera, rather than listen to them – this is usually quoted incorrectly as “Alfie hates opera”.

25. Alfie often takes fans cameras and phones and takes photos of himself and the band on stage – perks of being front row!

26. Alfie auditioned (and was called back) for Raoul in Phantom of the Opera – the RCM beckoned though and we shall have to imagine his Raoul.

27. Won a Tony Award as part of the cast of La Boheme on Broadway.

28. First professional audition was for the D’oyly Carte Opera company – he sang You Are My Hearts Delight.

29. Moonwalked across the stage during final performance of Romeo et Juliette at the Royal Opera House.

30. Appeared on Vanessa Feltz’s BBC Radio 2 programme as part of the Wednesday Words of Warmth – his tip to get through a Wednesday was to make a big bowl of meat pasta sauce.

31. West London Karaoke Champion 1994 singing Suspicious Minds.

32. First recording Alfie appears on is Die Fledermaus, with the D’oyly Carte company (in the chorus).

33. Suffered from chlorine poisoning whilst filming a projection for The Pearl Fishers at the ENO.

34. Brother Michael is also a talented singer, recent album is called A La Voix.

35. Alfie and Sarah’s first dance at the their wedding was Led Zeppelin’s Rain Song.

36. First, and so far only,performer, with Renee Fleming to sing on the balcony of Buckingham Palace (at the Diamond Jubilee celebrations).

37. Alfie was first introduced to La Boheme by his brother Michael – thank you Michael!

38. Alfie is great at comedy falls – as witnessed by viewers of Jonathan Ross show in October 2013!

39. Twitter often mentions how much Alfie looks like Declan Donnelly – maybe, but only without his beard – judge for yourself:

dec

40. A photo of Alfie; together with his amazing voice, what other reason to you need to love Alfie Boe? (thanks to Carole Hunt who took this gorgeous photo and generously allowed me to use it on my blog – what a star xx)

alfie-carfest.jpg

 

 

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Alf & Dec – Alfie Boe & Declan Donnelly – Lookalikes?

If you saw Britain’s Got Talent May 29 2017 you’ll know that Alfie and Dec are still seeing the resemblance:

Thanks for the photo guys!

Alfie and Dec obviously agree as this photo has just popped up on twitter with Dec saying “me and our kid Alfie Boe backstage”

alfie and dec

As Britain’s Got Talent returns to our screens, time to look at one of the burning questions of our time; does Alfie Boe look like Declan Donnelly?

OK, not really a burning questions but whenever Ant & Dec appear on TV there are always plenty of tweets saying “Alfie Boe really looks like Dec”. This usually leads to heated debate amongst Alfie fans who either agree or vehemently disagree – what side of the fence are you on?

 

dec

la passioneI have to confess that I do think a beardless Alfie bears more than a passing resemblance to Dec but I’m sure lots of you will disagree!

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