Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli and a pair of guest sopranos will perform at the Shanghai Grand Stage on December 3, organizers announced yesterday. The show comes just two weeks after pop star Mariah Carey is slated to perform in the city.

"It is really a cultural feast to have two international stars perform in the city within a month," said Yang Xingrong, vice president of Shanghai Media Group, which is helping to organize the two concerts.

Bocelli, called "the most beautiful voice in the world" by the classical music world, will be joined by guest sopranos Maria Luigia Borsi from Italy and Huang Ying from China. The trio will be backed up by Italian conductor Marcello Rota and the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra.

Tickets for the show will be priced between 300 and 3,000 yuan (US$36-US$360), organizers announced yesterday.

The 45-year-old blind tenor will arrive in the city on December 1 and meet some local disabled people before the concert.

Organizers say they hope tickets will sell as well as they have for Carey's show.

While Carey's career has fallen apart in the West - to the point Virgin Records gave her US$49 million to walk away from a recording contract - she obviously still has fans in China.

About 80 percent of the 26,000 tickets for her show at the Hongkou Football Stadium on November 12 have been sold, with prices ranging up to 1,600 yuan apiece.

Rumors are spreading online that a second show will be added, but organizers wouldn't confirm those reports yesterday.

The bad news for local music fans is that Julio Iglesias has canceled his show scheduled for November 19 and the Rolling Stones made it clear last week that they won't be performing on the mainland this year, despite promises to make up dates in Beijing and Shanghai canceled during the SARS outbreak.

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