Music mogul Simon Cowell launched his new band last night - a four piece operatic vocal group.

The former Pop Idol judge, who is famed for his nasty putdowns, describes IL Divo as the act he is "most proud of" and says he is "intimidated and slightly in awe of their talent".

Cowell, who has previously launched acts like Robson & Jerome and Gareth Gates, is uncharacteristically modest about his own role with the band, saying: "They have taught me more than I have taught them."

The classical music act, whose name IL Divo means divine performer or a male diva, performed operatic arrangements of romantic popular music at a showcase in London last night.

IL Divo, who sing in Italian, English and Spanish, was formed following a two-year search across the globe, but none of the members are British.

Despite holding auditions in the UK, they failed to find a strong enough operatic voice here.

Members are all in their early 30s, and are David Miller, a tenor from the US, Sebastien Izambard, a self-taught singer from France, Urs Buhler, a Swiss tenor, and Carlos Marin, a baritone from Spain.

Last night the band performed their debut single Regressa Mi, a version of the Toni Braxton hit Unbreak My Heart, at a dinner in London.

IL Divo's debut album, which does not yet have a title, will be released on November 1.