Nightwish signs Swede Anette Olzon as new vocalist
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Olzon has studied at the Royal Swedish Ballet School in Gothenburg, the Copenhagen Conservatory, and the Malmö Music College.
The 35-year-old Olzon lives in Katrineholm, Sweden.
Until now, she has not been a devout Nightwish fan.
"The first time I heard of Nightwish was a couple of months before
"A week after I had sent out my demo, I received a personal reply from Tuomas via email, in which he said he had liked my version and my voice. I was completely flabbergasted!" Olzon describes her sentiments after the first contact by the Nightwish central figure, keyboards player
In March 2006 , however, Holopainen informed Olzon that she could not become the Nightwish vocalist, as she had a child, and it would not compute well with the band's extensive touring schedule.
After that Olzon sent Nightwish a DVD of a live concert of Alyson Avenue, a move that apparently convinced the Nightwish members and the organisation of Olzon's willingness to commit to the band's future.
After a long wait , on the 30th of January 2007, Tuomas Holopainen finally told Olzon of the band's decision.
It was planned to release the information only next week, to coincide with the appearance of a new single. However, a leak of the single on a British download site brought forward both the release and the announcement of Anette Olzon's signing.
Nightwish are scheduled to bring out their sixth studio album in September of this year. The new single, Eva , will be included on this album.
Swedish singer Anette Olzon (b. 1971) has been signed as the new vocalist of the Finnish symphonic metal act Nightwish. Olzon, previously known as Annette Blyckert, has earlier sung in bands such as Alyson Avenue and Disdain. In the early 1990s she also performed some rock opera.Olzon has studied at the Royal Swedish Ballet School in Gothenburg, the Copenhagen Conservatory, and the Malmö Music College.lives in Katrineholm, Sweden.Until now, she has not been a devout Nightwish fan."The first time I heard of Nightwish was a couple of months before Tarja Turunen got sacked. Before that I knew nothing about the band or its history", Olzon explains in a communiqué distributed by the record label Spinefarm."A week after I had sent out my demo, I received a personal reply from Tuomas via email, in which he said he had liked my version and my voice. I was completely flabbergasted!" Olzon describes her sentiments after the first contact by the Nightwish central figure, keyboards player Tuomas Holopainen , however, Holopainen informed Olzon that she could not become the Nightwish vocalist, as she had a child, and it would not compute well with the band's extensive touring schedule.After that Olzon sent Nightwish a DVD of a live concert of Alyson Avenue, a move that apparently convinced the Nightwish members and the organisation of Olzon's willingness to commit to the band's future., on the 30th of January 2007, Tuomas Holopainen finally told Olzon of the band's decision.It was planned to release the information only next week, to coincide with the appearance of a new single. However, a leak of the single on a British download site brought forward both the release and the announcement of Anette Olzon's signing.Nightwish are scheduled to bring out their sixth studio album in September of this year. The new single,, will be included on this album.
Previously in HS International Edition:
"A Hispanic in the Nightwish works" (16.5.2006)
Nightwish sack female vocalist after lengthy world tour (24.10.2005)
Links:
Nightwish – The Official Website
Nightwish (Wikipedia)
Helsingin Sanomat
Anette Olzon will replace the bands previous vocalist Tarja Turunen (above).

Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish have announced the signing of Anette Olzon, also known as Anette Blyckert, a 35-year-old Swede, as their new lead vocalist.

The announcement comes 19 months after original vocalist Tarja Turunen was sacked.

Olzen had previously been in the band Alyson Avenue, and was selected from over 2,000 separate applicants for the place in Nightwish. Part of an official statement by the band said “She’s already so much more than we were ever expecting to get. ... The new album will be a monster


” The band first met with Olzen earlier this year during Olzen's first visit to Finland.

Olzon said she had not previously heard much of Nightwish until shortly before Turunen was sacked. One week after sending Nightwish a demo, she received a personal reply from Nightwish keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen. She was informed at one point, however, that she could not take the part as she was a mother and Nightwish were worried that could impact on their touring schedule, but Olzon forwarded a DVD of a live concert with her previous band that apparently changed Nightwish's mind. She was not told of the band's decision, however, until January 30th this year.

Olzon's Former bandmates posted a message to the official MySpace account of their own band, wishing her "all the best" and stated that they "Know That You Will Kick Ass

" in her new position.

Olzen is on the recently released single, "Eva", and has recorded her vocals for Nightwish's sixth studio album, due out in September. The rest of the band is currently in studio finishing the album.