The Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli is the world's biggest selling classical artist and he is set to follow-up his 2009 UK dates with two huge arena shows in autumn of next year.

With global album sales of more than 65 million, Bocelli's November arena dates - at London's O2 and Manchester's MEN - are set to sell-out very quickly when tickets go on sale Friday, 4th December at 9AM.

No doubt, the Italian's return will be welcomed by many, not least the similarly successful acquired-taste Swiss-Canadian songbird Celine Dion. Celine is on record as saying "If God would have a singing voice, he would sound a lot like Andrea Bocelli". Deep.

Apparently, Bocelli has captured the hearts of audiences across the globe without ever sacrificing the integrity of his art for the sake of popularity. That, perhaps, is where comparisons with Celine end.

Ms Dion is right about one thing though, Bocelli is good. In fact he's a superstar. Catch him (if you can) at the O2 on November 12 and in Manchester a fortnight later on November 26.