SIMON COWELL - COWELL STUNNED BY OPERA FIND

Top TV talent expert SIMON COWELL has discovered the ultimate supergroup - made up of four hunky opera singers.

The AMERICAN and POP IDOL judge and X-FACTOR creator has spent two years working with the world's top opera svengalis in a bid to find the next big thing in the form of four-piece IL DIVO (corr).

And the usually outspoken Cowell admits he was left speechless when the quartet - URS BUHLER (corr) from Switzerland, CARLOS MARIN (corr) from Spain, SEBASTIEN IZAMBARD (corr) from France and DAVID MILLER from America - performed for him for the first time.

He says, "For me, we did this like we were putting together an opera. We found, I think, four of the best undiscovered operatic singers in the world, asked them to make an album, which was classical, but at the same time popular.

"For me, it was the best thing I ever heard. Do you remember THE THREE TENORS? I wanted to do a younger version of that."

He recalls the first time Il Divo performed for him: "I have never been so intimidated in my life... I had to sit there and listen to them and go, 'I don't know what to say...'

Cowell introduced his new discovery on OPRAH WINFREY's daytime show in America yesterday (04APR05), where the quartet performed TONI BRAXTON's hit UNBREAK MY HEART.