NIGHTWISH Mainman Says Singer 'Freaked Out' During Belo Horizonte Concert
15.11.2008
NIGHTWISH mainman/keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen has commented on the band's abbreviated performance in in Belo Horizonte, Brazil Monday night (November 10) which ended shortly after the group's singer, Anette Olzon, suddenly appeared to start crying at the end of the song "The Poet And The Pendulum" (about six tracks into the group's set) and walked off stage. The rest of the band finished the song with bassist/vocalist Marco Hietala attempting to handle some of the lead-vocal parts (see video below). The group then played two more cover tracks and ended the show, explaining to the crowd that Anette was "really not up to doing this kind of heavy shit right now." (See video below.) Olzon — who joined NIGHTWISH in early 2007 as the replacement for the band's hugely popular operatic singer Tarja Turunen — has since reportedly released a statement to the Brazilian media in which she blamed the incident on "an excessive amount of smoke" inside the Belo Horizonte venue, which "was irritating my vocal cords." She explained, "When I felt my voice was beginning to go, I ended up panicking and had to leave the stage. The band tried to give me some time to recover but I had no way of coming back since I was not able to sing."
Speaking to O Povo Online about the incident, Tuomas said, "[Anette] freaked out because she couldn't handle the different mannerisms of the fans here. There were a lot of people screaming the former vocalist's name, making obscene gestures (with the middle finger). Normally she can shake that stuff off, she has good self-esteem, but it's been hard to deal with the fans and the critics. I guess it was a sudden breakdown; she just... lost her mind for a second. It's kind of scary, and we all feel for her and understand what she is going through. We hope she can put her mind at ease and make the rest of the shows. So far it's been fine; she's feeling much better."
NIGHTWISH cancelled the last four shows of its recent North American tour — September 23 in Knoxville, Tennessee; September 24 in Charlotte, North Carolina; September 26 in Baltimore, Maryland; and September 27 in New York City — due to Anette Olzon's "sudden severe illness," according to a posting on the band's web site.
Anette walking off stage in Belo Horizonte (from two different angles):
Marco addressing crowd after Anette walks off stage:
Speaking to O Povo Online about the incident, Tuomas said, "[Anette] freaked out because she couldn't handle the different mannerisms of the fans here. There were a lot of people screaming the former vocalist's name, making obscene gestures (with the middle finger). Normally she can shake that stuff off, she has good self-esteem, but it's been hard to deal with the fans and the critics. I guess it was a sudden breakdown; she just... lost her mind for a second. It's kind of scary, and we all feel for her and understand what she is going through. We hope she can put her mind at ease and make the rest of the shows. So far it's been fine; she's feeling much better."
NIGHTWISH cancelled the last four shows of its recent North American tour — September 23 in Knoxville, Tennessee; September 24 in Charlotte, North Carolina; September 26 in Baltimore, Maryland; and September 27 in New York City — due to Anette Olzon's "sudden severe illness," according to a posting on the band's web site.
Anette walking off stage in Belo Horizonte (from two different angles):
Marco addressing crowd after Anette walks off stage:
Source: Blabbermouth.net
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Comments
This is wierd...
One explanation given is that the behavior of the audience freaked her out...and Anette's own comment is the smoke in the venue affected her voice....which is it?
This girl is a performer one if the things she would be used to is rowdy boisterious audiences. There is no evidence she had something thrown at her or that a few of them got on stage or that there was an emergency warranting the concert being stopped.
SO WHICH IS IT?
If she has personal issues then isn't it much better to be honest about it instead of coming up with stories that don't match?
Ren design wrote on 15.11.2008 at 00:33
Weird. This band seems to be always really weird.
UnderWater wrote on 15.11.2008 at 00:56
If she lied about the smoke and really freaked out, it wasn`t smart at all to lie to the media. That was really , really stupid.
But I think it`s also stupid that the fans were making obscene sings because they wanted the former singer. If they wanted Tarja, so all they had to do was wait for her to go to Brazil, instead of being at Nightwish concert screaming all that stuff. So what do they want? Tarja? Nightwish? Both? Which is it?
Rockma wrote on 15.11.2008 at 01:33
What was the crowd chanting after she walked offstage?
Christina wrote on 15.11.2008 at 01:43
I think Tuomas' explanation is the good one, maybe Anette tried not to blame the audience's behaviour for her breakdown, to avoid hurting the feelings of brazilian fans 'cause I'm sure not everyone belongs to the TarjaBackAnetteOut kind, so she came up with that smoke thing, just diplomatic stuff.
Elisa wrote on 15.11.2008 at 03:32
I'm pretty sure they were chanting "ANETTE!"
Jess wrote on 15.11.2008 at 03:33
poor Anette! x(
it's not fair for her to have to face so many stupid people all at once, she doesn't deserve that. I guess it's karma for the guys of the band for having kicked their former vocalist the way they did, which most likely prompted people to take her side, but the real issue here it's that none of that it's Anette's fault nor it's going to bring Tarja back.
If people want to see Tarja, they should go to her concerts and if they really don't enjoy the new singer for the band, then it's just ridiculous to pay to see them. Apparently these people have too much time and money to waste around.
Blackwood wrote on 15.11.2008 at 05:13
SHAME YOURSELFS BRAZIL! I'm soo disappointed how the audience reacted = "There were a lot of people screaming the former vocalist's name, making obscene gestures (with the middle finger" WTF are you doing people?! Look at yourselfs! NW came to you from Finland, this a long way to Brazil, and you done such a horrible things! If you didn't want to watch the gig, you had to go HOME! It's not Anette fault!
Pauria from EUROPE wrote on 15.11.2008 at 13:19
Oh yeah, time to change the singer! ,,/ Suppose she just couldn't handle the pressure. Anyway, it's not like it matters. The most important thing is that they'd change the singer. :)
Jack wrote on 15.11.2008 at 14:46
To Jack
Tuomas would rather give up the band than allow the previous singer to return. So what do you suggest - singer number 2 from their list, because Anette was their number 1.
Changing the singer again would only worsen the situation.
3 years after firing the previous one there are still people who want her back and cannot understand that it is not possible and they will hate every next singer.
Now we have Nightwish fans who love Anette - and they will probably detest every singer after her.
So I don't think that the problem of Nightwish is a singer,
I think, that Nightwish doesn't have any problems at all.
Well, except for maybe tiny one: some people, who call themeselves "fans" and don't want to accept reality :)
I see it in this way: I'm pro Nightwish so it means I'm pro Anette, because the band has chosen her.
If somebody doesn't accept the situation - well, there are thousands of other bands - of course none of them is like Nightwish, but this is not my problem :D
Kasia wrote on 15.11.2008 at 17:35
well said Kasia, well said!
all NW "fans", read the above post
hopeLeaves wrote on 15.11.2008 at 20:38
You know, if I was Anette I'd laugh my ass off. Some jerks actually bought an expensive ticket to a gig that they didn't want to see. What a bunch of losers!
If they have so much money to spend they should have sent it to me.
And that was only one bad gig. They're playing in Brazil since November 5th and every night the crowd is warm and sings together with Anette, so I guess she'll recover quite fast.
Maddie, Brazil wrote on 15.11.2008 at 21:00
This band is a comedy greater even than the Eurovision song contest! Marco says it was "personal problems", Anette says it was "the smoke", and Tuomas says it was "the fans". Whom should I believe now? Do the band members communicate at all?
TheSeer wrote on 16.11.2008 at 17:07
to theseer:
I've wondered the same thing...
it's intriguing how 3 people out of 5 can tell 3 different versions of one single fact. They all should have stuck with the first, or at least, only one of the 3 stories.
It's weird, it seems like they're unable to back each other up/agree on specific events.
However, they're great at their business, which is music, so I guess there will be no need for them to be diplomats anytime soon, which would be worrying indeed.
Blackwood wrote on 17.11.2008 at 00:05
I agree with Pauria and Rockma. I think that, some times, we, brazilians, are a very ungreatfull people, but anyway, all of us need to show some respect for this band. They make us happy, lets show some gratitude. And we only know the truth when the dust goes down.
Love and Peace....
Andreia - Brazil wrote on 17.11.2008 at 15:33
To TheSeer and Blackwood: Marco said on stage Anette has some "intense trouble", he didn't say a word about "personal problems". When a singer disappears from stage and is unable to come back, then that IS intense trouble, whatever the reason is! Maybe he used the wrong words, but for me (I'm a Finn) that was quite clear. Anette explained it with too much smoke, okay, if you already are about to burst into tears, as it seems on the video, then the smoke may cause you trouble, even if it normally doesn't (they have used smoke all the time). So, I guess her explanation was partly true and it was very diplomatic, but I really can't believe smoke was the main reason why she left the stage! Btw, Anette also mentioned in an interview taken in Brazil, that there have been guys giving her the finger in front of stage. I'm afraid Tuomas is right when he says Anette got upset because of nasty gestures from the audience. And that's such a pity, since otherwise they had a wonderful audience in B.H. just as in every other place in Brazil, and such a great gig.
TheLongAndWindingRoad wrote on 17.11.2008 at 18:17
I don't really get it. If they wanted Tarja, the wouldn´t be chanting Anette. I think the emotions she felt let her a bit twisted, since brazilian fans are hard to cope - and yes, I am brazilian. Yes, you're all right, if they wanted Tarja they shouldn´t go to Nightwish's concert. But you know, how many years has it been since Kiske´s left Heloween? And the fans still talk about him every single concert. So, she will have to learn to liv with Tarja´s shadow forever no matter what.
Rafaella wrote on 18.11.2008 at 05:38
Maybe personal issues shouldn't be brought to public because they are....mmmh, PERSONAL!!!
So, what really is stupid here is, apart some wankers screaming Tarja, the fact that Tuomas said something completely different than the "official" statement of the concerned person: Anette!!
OW wrote on 24.11.2008 at 16:37
It looked like she was crying before she left the stage. so far her voice sounded great unless it was her allergys kicking in
Missay wrote on 01.12.2008 at 20:42
Whatever the real reason was (or, as I believe, a combination of all 3/Nettie not wanting to upset the Brazillian fans), I hope she doesn't let this hiccup put her off performing! Much love to her for having strength enough to cope with touring pressures so early in her career as a pro singer.
Jonathan wrote on 12.12.2008 at 18:58
I think she has already recovered, and that's good =). As far as I know, she recently said that their gig in Santiago was the best of the South American Tour. Go Nightwish!
Jorge wrote on 15.12.2008 at 01:37