Spain 1, Holland 0

Sting is performing at the Metropolitan Opera in New York with the one and only Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and preparing for the release of a new album, “Symphonicities,” containing orchestral arrangements of his songs.

Sting, 58, said the appreciation for classical music he cultivated from the piano playing of his hairdresser mother and BBC radio of the 1950s was not something he could readily confess to back in his Police days.

“It was frowned upon,” he said, “and that’s the whole ridiculous premise of rock ’n’ roll becoming this Taliban-esque, closed thing. ‘You can’t do that, you can’t do that.’ What’s the spirit of rock ’n’ roll except freedom – freedom to do whatever you want?”

“I have a feeling that all New Yorkers, no matter what they’re doing, are in their own TV series with their own theme music, and you are merely a guest on their show,” he said. “We’re all celebrities in this town. I find it very comfortable.”

Pretentious arsehole.