Il Divo vs. Il Volo: Breaking down the differences

In what must be the most coincidental booking of the year, male operatic pop groups Il Divo and Il Volo both take to the Peabody Opera House stage next week, with Il Volo on Tuesday and Il Divo on Wednesday.
The two groups are so alike on the surface that it's easy to confuse them. They share a musical genre, similar names, sweeping male harmonies and international flair. Both have performed on "American Idol" and have a connection to Barbra Streisand.
But there are distinct differences between the groups.
One group is a newcomer, the other a relative veteran. One group is made up of teenagers, the other includes men old enough to be their fathers. One is under the watchful eye of Simon Cowell, while the other sprung from a talent competition unrelated to Cowell.
Here's a breakdown to help tell them apart:

TABLE PROVIDED BY stltoday.com

Il Divo vs. Il Volo: Which is which

	IL DIVO	IL VOLO
MEMBERS	Sebastien Izambard, 39; David Miller, 39; Urs Buhler, 41; Carlos Marin, 43	Gianluca Ginoble, 17; Ignazio Boschetto, 18; Piero Barone, 19
ORIGINS	Pulled together in 2003 when Simon Cowell embarked on an extensive search looking for singers with individual gifts	The teens performed on Italian talent TV show "Ti Lascio Una Canzone," giving a rendition of "O Sole Mio." After they won the crowd over they decided on the name Il Volo.
HOMELAND	Izambard (France); Buhler (Switzerland), Marin (Spain); Miller (Denver)	Italy
ALBUMS	"Il Divo" (2004); "Ancora" (2005); "The Christmas Collection" (2005); "Voices" (2006); "Siempre" (2006); "The Promise" (2008); "Wicked Game" (2011)	"Il Volo" (2010); "Christmas Favorites" (2011); "Il Volo ... Takes Flight Live From the Detroit Opera House" (2012)
NAME TRANSLATION	Italian for "divine male performer"	Italian for "the flight"
SALES	More than 25 million albums	More than a million albums
TOUR	Sebastien Izambard: "The tour has been really great. People seem to be really enjoying it. We're more relaxed and fun, and people are getting to know us better. We don't do the same show over and over, and we try to play around with the audience as much as possible. ... We're really excited about the way the tour looks. We really wanted to have something quite simple, something that puts our music in perspective and doesn't distract with special effects."	Ignazio Boschetto: "It's going to be fun because we're not just singing and letting the people listen. We want to have fun. We want to smile. We want to cry. And we're performing many songs."
STREISAND CONNECTION	Toured with Streisand as her special guests in 2006	Opening for Streisand in the fall; also invited by Quincy Jones to sing on "We Are the World: 25 for Haiti" along with Streisand, Celine Dion and a number of other superstars
FUN FACT!	"Ancora" is the first crossover classical album to enter the Billboard 200 at No. 1	First Italian artists to sign with Geffen Records in the United States
ON THE OTHER GUYS	Izambard: "We've never met them, ever, but we always hear about them. They're very talented guys. We just hope people won't make a mistake and go see Il Volo thinking they're seeing Il Divo."	Boschetto: "I know Il Divo because we like music, so we listen to them. But they're different. You cannot compare. We are two different things. We have no problem with another artist who makes music that makes other people's lives feel better."

 Source: stltoday.com