James Glover II / Star staff Italian singer Nicola Congiu, kicking back last week in the Oxnard home of his manager, Steve Binder, says he's still in a state of humble astonishment over his chance to make it big in America. "I can't believe it yet," he says. "For me, it's really a dream."

Let's get the inevitable hype-friendly — but flawed — comparisons out of the way.

Nicola "Niko" Congiu is not the Italian version of "___." Just insert the name of a crossover singer such as Michael Bublé, Josh Groban or fellow Italian Andrea Bocelli.

Up-and-coming singer Congiu, who just moved to Oxnard from his native Italy, has been compared to all three of these genre-busting pop artists, whose swing, classical and/or operatic voices, charming looks and, in the case of Groban, mastery of Italian as a second singing language have swelled the hearts of (mostly female) fans.

For Congiu, hearts are sure to throb — but to a different beat.

Like Bublé et al., Congiu is comfortable singing many styles of music.

Unlike his crossover compatriots, Congiu rocks.

He's a little bit country, classical and soul, but his prevailing edge is rock 'n' roll.

Congiu admires Bublé and Groban, but says of the faulty analogies, "My music is much closer to rock. Even if it's just a little bit of rock.

"It's rock and pop arrangements with a big melody — always melody."

Influences offer a clue to his style. The first movie he saw was "Grease," triggering his passion for 1950s music (and '50s haircuts). The first cassettes he owned? Chubby Checker and Little Richard. He loves Deep Purple, Sam Cooke, Whitesnake, Elvis and Celine Dion. He sings covers of Robbie Williams' "Angels," Queen's "Too Much Love Will Kill You" and U2's "One," somehow making it all his own, as well as the original songs that he's written himself in Italian.

Plus, he's a natural on acoustic guitar and piano who's never had a formal lesson.

Now it's time for the public, not just music industry honchos, to discover him.

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Congiu, 33, is having a whirlwind singer's dream year that's likely to get dreamier, if not busier.

He opened for Jewel at a Chicago Pops concert in October and for Celine Dion on her "Taking Chances" world tour in February, performed at Carnegie Hall at a 25th anniversary celebration for the New York Pops in April, sang at an intimate home party hosted by Ivana Trump, inked a Live Nation touring deal and was signed as a Gibson Guitar artist.

As part of the Live Nation deal, he's opening for Chicago and the Doobie Brothers on their current tour, including concerts tonight and Friday at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City.

Congiu, a native of Sardinia, moved to Oxnard two weeks ago to be near his manager, Steve Binder, who lives in the same Mandalay Bay housing complex near the beach.

Binder, known for directing and producing TV music specials, has an impressive knack for discovering and nurturing vocal talent. He produced "Elvis," more commonly referred to as Elvis Presley's 1968 TV "comeback special"; brought Rick Springfield over from Australia; launched Seals & Crofts; won a directing Emmy in 1977 for a Barry Manilow special; and has worked with Diana Ross, Patti LaBelle, Liza Minnelli, Olivia Newton-John and other superstar singers.

Binder stumbled upon Congiu in 2006. On holiday in Italy with his wife, Binder noticed a pumped-up crowd gathered for one of Congiu's shows and gave up on his inclination to avoid concerts while vacationing.

"I decided we would peek in and listen," Binder recalled. "Then I heard his voice. I said, Wait a minute.' We went back the second night to see if it was real because we saw over 1,000 people, especially the women, acting like it was Elvis Presley or Frank Sinatra time."

Binder both embraces and shoots down crossover artist comparisons. "Very few artists have been able to cross over and be accepted by audiences in different genres," he said. "Immediately when you hear his voice, you say he should go after Bocelli and Groban and Bublé and those guys, but then you realize that his musical boundaries are unlimited, and he's not trying to compete with anybody."

When he and Congiu first met at the concert in Italy, Binder said, Congiu asked for his autograph. Binder is well-known in the Elvis community for engineering the legendary singer's comeback, and Congiu is a worshipful Elvis disciple.

Binder told Congiu that he wanted to bring him to the U.S., which shocked the singer.

"He comes from a small island in Italy; he had no intentions of even thinking he was going to be invited to come to America," Binder said.

Congiu is still in a state of humble astonishment about the chance meeting and the possibility of a U.S. career.

"I can't believe it yet," Congiu said. "How can I explain exactly my sensation? I thought (it would be) just Italy for my career, but America was impossible. For me, it's really a dream."

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Binder introduced Congiu to friends in the music industry at small showcases in New York and Los Angeles last year. "When he sang eight bars (of a song) in their offices, everybody reacted exactly the way I did," Binder said. "I will go on record saying he's the most talented new artist I've ever, ever met."

Congiu was signed immediately as a Gibson guitarist after a showcase at the Gibson Guitar showroom in Beverly Hills, which happens to be on the same street as Live Nation's offices. The late Bruce Kapp, former senior vice president of touring at Live Nation (he died in April at age 57), who oversaw tours for Jimmy Buffett, the Jonas Brothers, Van Halen and others, dropped by to hear Congiu and, according to Binder, said (here we go again with those comparisons), "He's Bocelli, Bublé and Groban all combined into one. I've got to sign him."

Hyperbole from those with big stakes in Congiu's career? Maybe, but an influential person who's not part of the promotional team, James M. Johnson, executive director of the New York Pops, attended one of those initial showcases and concurs with Binder.

"I had no doubt that I was in the presence of a special talent, one certainly big enough to fill Carnegie Hall," Johnson said in an e-mail.

When the New York Pops was planning its 25th birthday gala, "Nicola was one of the first artists I asked to join us," he said. "My instincts told me that this unknown singer from Sardinia was going to bring down the house. I was right. He walked on stage to polite applause and left with the audience shouting and screaming for more. I look forward to welcoming him back to Carnegie Hall."

A tougher audience might have been supporters of St. George's Society of New York, who heard Congiu sing at the charitable organization's English Ball benefit in April.

"I'm sure there were a few grumpy English types" in the audience, the society's executive director, John Shannon, said, laughing. "I had never heard of him, but our publicist said she knew this great artist who was the talk of Europe, sexy and entertaining."

During the performance, Shannon said, "he was very wrapped up in his audience. Everyone liked it, and it really added to the evening."

Congiu made his U.S. debut opening for Jewel at a Chicago Pops concert at the Rosemont Theatre. Dan Wiener, Congiu's agent at the Paradigm talent agency, said the concert was "a challenging situation because he was performing in front of 2,500 people who had no idea who he was. He blew everyone away within two songs. His voice is very powerful, and he has such a comfort with the music and the audience."

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Congiu's Italian accent is absent when he sings in English, but he's learned to speak the language only in the past year and still struggles sometimes for the right words. During an interview, he lapsed a few times into Italian, mainly when his fervor for music stifled his translation skills.

In describing his reaction to first seeing "Grease," for example, he came up with "amore prima vista" (love at first sight).

Although Congiu always wanted to be a musician, he's never clamored for stardom. "For me, it's important to do this because I like singing, I like playing the music," he said.

Congiu taught himself to play piano around age 7 and guitar at age 12. For years, he performed at discos, clubs, festivals and other small venues, and participated in nationally televised singing competitions, "sort of like American Idol' in Italy," Binder said.

At first he covered American songs, then added originals to his repertoire. Since 1997, he's toured with a band throughout northern Italy, performing four to five times a week. He self-produced his 2007 CD "Per Te," which features Italian and American songs.

Singing in America, whether in English or Italian, isn't any different from singing in his home country, Congiu said. "The people are the same. The audience, when I sing, understands my emotion, my passion."

@TO-1-Text Subhed:What's next for Niko

Binder is in full managerial mode, trying to land a record deal and whatever else he can to promote his new protégé.

"We're negotiating with PBS to do his own special, possibly around Christmas," Binder said, adding that he doesn't have plans to book Congiu at any Ventura County venues.

"I'd assume the closest thing to Ventura would be the Santa Barbara Bowl," he said. "That's the closest thing for the kind of artist he is."

One promotional strategy that Binder wants to avoid is the Elvis sound-alike/look-alike angle.

"When I brought him over — and this kills him — I made him promise me he would not sing any Elvis Presley records because I did not want him stereotyped as another Elvis singer," Binder said.

Congiu laughed when asked if he's kept that promise. "Yes," he said. "But it's hard. (Elvis) was my musical teacher."

So far, Binder said, "we've stayed away from it. I think he can do it once the audience accepts him as who he is. We even want to phase out of doing cover records and have him do his own material."

Congiu said he's not sure what will happen after the Chicago/Doobie Brothers tour, but he plans to stay in the U.S. for at least a year.

He and his wife, Manuela, who have a 1-year-old son, Leonardo, signed a one-year lease for their Oxnard home.

Apparently, our neighbor to the south with a more glamorous show-biz reputation hasn't lured him away. According to Binder, "when I took him to Beverly Hills, he said he likes Oxnard much better because it reminds him of home."

Oxnard, Congiu said, "is a beautiful place. Many things are like Sardinia — the weather, the temperature, the trees."

And the rock 'n' roll.