The people at American Idol just won’t listen to me.  They always get it wrong.  Last night, over my strenuous objections, they crowned Scotty McCreery as the new American Idol.

It’s not that I don’t like him, or that I favored Lauren Alaina, but I was counting on my write-in vote to tip the results in favor of the best talent ever to appear on the show. The three teenage tenors – Il Volo – who appeared as guest stars last Thursday.

Awright, awright, I know.  They weren’t contestants – just guest stars.  They aren’t American,  and maybe they can’t even speak English.  But what they lack in citizenship, they make up for in preternaturally mature talent.  As far as I’m concerned, I will always remember them as this year’s “American Idol”.

Nobody but the Italians could have produced a trio like this one.  The boys are 16 and 17 years old.  Their names are Piero Barone, Ignazio Boschetto and Gianluca Ginoble.  

They got their start two years ago when they were 14 and 15 years old on an Italian show similar to “American Idol.” They were competing against each other, but some inspired producer on the show said “Why don’t we have the boys do a number together?  How about “O Sole Mio?” And Il Volo was born!

“O Sole Mio” is a very old song, but Il Volo brought it to resplendent life.  Thursday’s performance on American Idol earned a standing ovation – even from the judges.  The performance simply brought the house down.

“O Sole Mio” is a globally known Neapolitan song written in 1898. The lyrics were written by Gionanni Capurro, and the melody was composed by Eduardo di Capua.

This is what the words mean in English:

What a beautiful thing is a sunny day,
The air is serene after a storm
The air’s so fresh that it already feels like a celebration
What a beautiful thing is a sunny day

But another sun,
that’s brighter still
It’s my own sun
that’s upon your face!
The sun, my own sun
It’s upon your face!
It’s upon your face!

When night comes and the sun has gone down,
I almost start feeling melancholy;
I’d stay below your window
When night comes and the sun has gone down.

But another sun,
that’s brighter still
It’s my own sun
that’s upon your face!
The sun, my own sun
It’s upon your face!
It’s upon your face!

Il Volo is hugely popular overseas, where they’re known for their incredible voices, and they’re just now breaking out in the United States. 

Their self-titled debut album has gone platinum overseas, and was just released in the U.S. – in time to appear on American Idol last week.

The name, Il Volo, means flight; it was chosen to signify the feeling that these three young tenors were about to spread their wings and fly. And they will.

Buona fortuna, boys!