Nightwish signs Swede Anette Olzon as new vocalist

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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.
     
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 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.
     
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.


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)

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