Jane at PBS.
Mario and Justin Concert Special:

On December 4, I had the opportunity to take pledge phone calls at the Connecticut PBS station in Hartford for Mario Frangoulis' concert.
Mario was in the studio and met and talked with all the volunteers, posed for pictures, etc. In person, he is handsome, very slim and shorter than I expected, actually, with a smile that lights up the room.

It was an incredible experience. Most of the volunteers were from a Greek Orthodox church in Hartford and others were from a local high school. I was the only person with a Moody Blues "connection" (Jackieblue, I missed you!!).
After I told him I was there "because of Justin Hayward," Mario was effusive in his praise of Justin, telling me how "generous" Justin was in working with him and that, in fact, they had recently taped a program in London together and Justin agreed to be there at 8 a.m.! He said "he didn't have to do that, but that's the kind of person he is."

Even if he were not talented and handsome, Mario is an incredible individual.
I have rarely met anyone so humble, personable, friendly, caring, gracious, patient and giving of his time to others. He is also intelligent, knowledgeable and very sharp. He charmed everyone there. He spoke to all the Greek volunteers in Greek and to some callers in Italian, etc. The volunteer supervisor told us they had had other "celebrities" there who fell far short of expectations but, he declared, "this young man is going places. He's got it!"

At the end of the broadcast, I took a call from an elderly woman who had a thick Italian accent. She wanted to speak to Mario. Though it couldn't be determined if she had actually made a pledge (those were the rules we were to go by), the supervisor allowed her to do so. She had told me she was missing her home country of Italy so much and that she "used to" know various famous people like Sophia Loren, etc. Mario took the call and, with maybe 10 people standing there staring at him waiting for autographs, pictures to be taken, etc., he calmly spent several minutes speaking with her in Italian, sharing thoughts about places and remembrances, etc. When he finished and turned the
phone back over to me, the lady told me she had been so depressed living in the U.S. and missing her homeland, but that Mario had made her so happy.

When I approached him to get my picture taken with him, I told him "you made that lady's day by talking with her." Later, as I grabbed my coat and walked through the studio to leave, there were only a few TV people remaining, including Mario. I stopped and thanked him again (he had signed my CD) and he said to me--shock--"You made my day talking about Justin Hayward."
Clearly, the admiration he has for Justin is genuine and very heartwarming.
There was a lot of love of the very best kind in that studio last night. One can only wish him well for a wonderful career ahead.

He told me he hopes to do some appearances with Justin in the Spring.

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