Canadian crooner MICHAEL BUBLE is still haunted by a childhood experience which saw him search dark waters for a missing fisherman.
The singer spent time as a youngster working on his father's fishing boat and admits the hunt for a missing man whose boat had overturned while heading to see his waiting family scarred him for life. He says, "It really affected me. I couldn't stop thinking about his wife and kids." (ALM/WNES/LJ) WENN - FIFTH - HOLLYWOOD, SHOWBIZ & PEOPLE NEWS - 02 JULY 2007

Живое выступление. Майкл исполняет "Call me irresponsible"  и "It had better be tonight". 28 июня 2007. Для радио 106.5 в Сиднее.

After jetting into Sydney, smooth singing Michael Buble chats to The Daily Telegraph's Kathy McCabe about his upcoming tour, Rove's recent controversy and James Packer.
Produced by Tim Artlett.
Music video courtesy of Warner Music.

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Buble's night with the Packers                             

 

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By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski

LiveDaily Contributor

"Terrified" is a word that comes up frequently in conversation with Canadian crooner Michael Buble. After selling 11 million albums, what is he so terrified of?

"I put pressure on myself," Buble said about the making of his latest album "Call Me Irresponsible." "I was treading a real fine line. I wanted to show growth as an artist, even for my own sanity. At the same time, I didn't want to alienate 11 million or so people who bought the record the first time. I didn't want to make the easy choices, if that makes any sense. I wanted to do songs because they were right. Not because it was the easiest or the simple thing to do."

That challenge also arose when Buble filled in as a last-minute substitute for Tony Bennett on "American Idol" earlier this year, after the legendary singer came down with the flu.

"Now that was terrifying," he said. "It wasn't the most perfect situation for an entertainer to be in. To step in for Tony Bennett is an impossible feat. It's funny; people said, 'Oh you looked loose.'... What I do is a loose thing. The style of music I sing, it's about hearing the lyric and enjoying yourself. It's not a show-stopping, 'American Idol-esque' number.

"You see these kids, and if they do a performance of one of these songs and they do it at a club or a theater, they would probably look over the top. On 'American Idol' it's perfect. It's about vocal gymnastics ... and not much about telling the story."

Buble talked to LiveDaily about "Call Me Irresponsible," working with rock producer Bob Rock, and more.

LiveDaily: How do you go about choosing your songs? There's such a wealth of material out there.

Michael Buble: With great difficulty. It's hard to say. More than anything, it's an instinctual thing. I think it's a gut feeling, knowing if a song is ready to be done--if it had enough time to live and then to be interpreted. I wanted to take songs and take them into my world. I didn't want to just do an ode to the song. I want to kind of make it my own--without turning it into bad lounge music, because it's pretty easy to do.

Do you come up with a list of potential songs, or is that what the producer does?

I think in maybe some cases, that's what a producer does. In my relationship with the producers, I come up with the songs and the concepts. With a lot of the concepts, I come in and say, "I want to do this song, Eric Clapton's ‘Wonderful Tonight,' and I'd love to do it with Ivan Lins because I'm a big fan of [his] records. I think that this song can be taken there, and it can be really tasty and beautiful." Or, with "That's Life," I came to the producer and said, "Here's a song I've always liked. I've been a big fan of Donny Hathaway my whole life and I would love to take this song to church and fuse it with that great gospel R&B feel." I can go on and on and on [about] each song. I spend a lot of time thinking about it. I think what happens is, you think about it so much and you live with these ideas, then, all of a sudden, you start to second guess yourself. So you show up to the recording studio and think, "Is it just me who loves it, or is this going to be loved?"

How did you hook up with Boyz II Men for "Comin' Home Baby"?

The same idea. I was a big fan of this Mel Torme song "Comin' Home Baby," and, every time I heard it, I wanted to do it. The only group I conceived of was Boyz II Men. I figured they'd be a perfect match. They're cool and retro in so many ways. They were a big influence on me as a kid. They were a huge group. I liked a lot of their songs. I knew they were still working and stuff. The first call I made on the record was to call them and ask them if they would do a duet with me.

They must have been thrilled.

They're really nice guys. I had been in touch with Shawn [Stockman of Boyz II Men] before we had even started. We were just kind of fans of each other. We sent e-mails to each other. You know, "Your stuff is great."

How was it to work with producer Bob Rock? He's known for working with the likes of Metallica.

Why, he's one of the greatest jazz players that ever lived! [Laughs] No, I'm kidding. Bob is managed by Bruce Allen, who also manages Michael Buble. (I hate talking about myself in the third person. I just did it to be funny. [Laughs]) It was kind of cool. I've