Enrique’s a Hero with fans

Latin heartthrob Enrique Iglesias had the female audience at Birmingham NIA in a daze as he brought his blend of ballads and R’n'B-themed songs to the region.

Enrique, son of legendary crooner Julio, arrived on stage 40 minutes late for this performance, part of his Insomniac tour.

The Madrid-born, Miami-raised singer has sold 40 million albums in little over a decade, becoming one of the most successful artists in the history of popular music.

The singer has spent the past three years crafting his latest album. Insomniac is a humorous nod to Enrique’s sleepless nights and obsessive artistic persona, and the record is clearly the most ambitious project of his phenomenal career.

Enrique has become the biggest-selling Spanish-language singer in the world. He has enjoyed 16 number one Billboard Latin hits, more than any other artist in history. He has also achieved gold or platinum status in 32 countries.

Surprisingly to some, he has a reasonably entertaining back catalogue which hits the better notes with his Latin-style songs such as Bailamos rather than the saccharine Hero, played to death over the years on X Factor.

Still, it’s one of his better known songs and was duly saved for the encore.

Last night’s arena was mostly full of women in their 30s, duly followed by their partners, who were there for Enrique’s good looks as much as his music.

They would not have been disappointed with the runway set-up which allowed him to parade up and down to his swooning fans.

It was a mixed set, full of energy and then toned down for a stripped acoustic set with couches and girls on stage, followed my more up-tempo tracks including one of his best tracks, the Kelis duet I’m Not In Love.

Naturally the show ended with two of his biggest hits, Hero and Escape.