KEY POINTS:
Popera star Yulia Townsend is set to marry her New Zealand manager Glyn McLean following a Christmas proposal.
McLean, aged 39 and based in Christchurch, said he fell in love with the 22-year-old singer over Christmas.
A picture on McLean's MySpace profile shows the Russian-born songstress showing off her new ring from David Gill Jewellery in Wellington.
In a blog posting announcing the engagement, McLean writes: "I'm sure we'll write a book about it sometime, but it transpires that after stoically trying to avoid having any feelings for Yulia, it turns out we are each others soul mates, as it were."
McLean, who is also a songwriter himself, acknowledges the couple's 17-year age gap and compares it to that of Celine Dion and her husband-manager Renee Angelil.
He writes: "Wisdom knows no such boundaries and Yulia's own life path has been remarkably similar to mine.
"In fact, we are perfectly aligned in the sense that we share the same sense of vision, mission and values."
After immigrating from Russia in 2002, Yulia shot to stardom in 2004 with her platinum-selling album Into the West, which claimed two Tuis at the 2005 New Zealand Music Awards.
The singer released a new single, Love Siege, in November last year and the couple say they plan to record up to 50 songs over the next three months.
