OUT NOW

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Few days ago I received my copy of ACTI! I am so happy with the artwork and the video.

It looks and sounds exactly how I imagined it, seriously…or even better!

Everybody involved in this did their very best and I am so grateful for the opportunity. It’s exciting to wait for the release and to find if you are as happy as I am.

In the meantime I am working on my new studio album daily. Now we are already recording keyboards with Christian.

As promised, here is the winner of the photo contest for the video gallery!

I just simply love it. When I saw it for the first time, I knew it would be among the best photos. After I went through thousands of photos, I still remembered this one. So, thank you George for capturing this beautiful moment. You did more than well!

With love, Tarja

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Dear Fans!

ACT I is finally in the manufacturing plant and I am anxiously waiting to get my own copy of it. It was a long process, but I am very happy with the result. At the moment I am very busy with the interviews and many journalists have been asking me if these live DVD and CD are as important to me as my studio albums or if I wanted to have this release done now to win time for my next studio album.

The fact is that as ACT I is my first live release in my solo career, that makes it VERY important to me.

After two studio albums I felt that it was a time to come up with the live release since I had enough material for it. I really want to show the world where I am as an artist today and what my music is about. There is no better way to show it than with a live release.

Nothing has been overdubbed or recorded afterwards, so ACT I is very honest release from me and the band. You can really see, hear and feel what truly happened in Rosario on those nights. It makes me so happy that we were able to capture the magic on the video. I really hope you all can enjoy my work and my passion as you are big part of it!

In the meantime, the new studio album is in production! We are recording basses at the moment with Doug and Kevin. But more about it later.

Here is the second best photo I chose from the photo gallery contest. Morganna took a great shot. I love it! You can nearly hear the music in it.

With love, Tarja

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Hello my friends,

Today I want to share with you the great photo that I chose as the third prize of the photo gallery contest.

I love it from the first time I saw it. Nice touch the black and white grading. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesnt, but in this case it is simply great.

Well done Elizabeta!

With love, Tarja

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Dear Fans,

Thanks for the interesting questions. Here are my answers.

With love, Tarja


How did you choose the songs that were played? what made you choose some and leave out others? – Valentine

I decided the songs for the DVD already in December 2011. This mainly because I wanted my band to be able to rehearse and perform all of the songs several times during the final tour with WLB album and get ready for the recordings without any additional pressure. I wanted to include both of my studio albums for the DVD and have a wide selection of songs from them on it.

When you realized that the time was right for creating a live DVD? – Shirley Borges

I wanted to have a live release after my second studio album to have more songs to choose from and enough experience that could be reflected in the final product. I started mapping the touring plan for WLB album before its release in 2010 and made a decision to film and record a DVD during the final tour. I didn’t know at that time yet where and when, but the overall idea was born.

Wasn’t it expensive to make that LIVE DVD? Can you perhaps tell us the price you and your band had to pay for it, the camera people, the mixing afterwards, the producers and so on. Do you think you will “balance” the loss you made by producing the live Cd/dvd? – Tom

Yes, you are right. It is very expensive to produce a live product like ACT I is, but I wouldn’t like to disclose any numbers to public, since I feel that it is unnecessary to do so. Nowadays when more and more people are bootlegging music from Internet, it is very unfortunate that it is getting difficult for everybody in this business to make new releases happen. If every one of my fans would really decide to buy ACT I, my record company, my band and me would be very happy.

I wonder weather there were any “surprises” during the concert in Rosario? Did something funny happen? What did the orchestra, which was also rehearsing in the theatre, think about your project? – Ana Hace

Julian, my guitar player forgot that he was meant to push some pedals before his guitar solo in the song “Falling Awake” so when the time of the solo came, he was very far away from his pedal board and needed to run fast to make it just in time! Then I saw a girl dressed like me with the “I walk alone” coat willing to get on stage during the concert, but the security didn’t let her. Some of the orchestra and choir members of the theatre came to take pictures with me during their rehearsal breaks, so there were many fans among them! I was having my photo session for the DVD during one of their rehearsals, so sometimes I heard some shouts like:” Tarja, you are very beautiful” coming from the orchestra J

How was your preparation to record the DVD? We all know that you are anxious before every concert and you have your own ways to concentrate. But for something so special did you do something different or you preferred to act as always so it would be easier to keep calm and avoid a bit the anxiety? – Myla

I made sure that I did my breathing and singing exercises double as long as normally I do before every concert just to avoid any uncomfortable feelings on stage and to get more confidence in my performance. I also went through the set list with lyrics and my speeches hundreds of times in my mind before the shows! I took more time and detail to prepare my make up on those nights as well. I needed to check my performing clothes that have been used during last tours that they were still fine or if perhaps they needed some fixing. I also needed to rehearse the quick clothes changes between songs again since the set lists of these concerts were different.

What inspired you for “ACT I” DVD? – Anne Lumi

I wanted to make a nice product not only for those people who have already been in my concerts and can revisit the experience, but also especially for those who haven’t yet been able to see what a live concert of mine is about.

With love, Tarja

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Hello dear fans,

We are still working with the artwork, photo galleries and final video editions for ACT I. It has been lot of work and lot of fun. I am very happy to see it coming together very nicely.

In the meantime, I would like to receive your questions about ACT I.

I will choose the most interesting ones and reply them in my post at the end of next week.

You can leave your question with your name where it says, “Leave a Reply” under the photo of this post.

With love, Tarja

With love, Tarja

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The serious rehearsals for the first live DVD of my solo career started in Cordoba, Argentina, though the preparations for it had started much longer in advance. I had been performing several different set lists in my concerts throughout all my final tour, because I wanted to have all the songs ready and kicking when the time of the recordings would come. The reason I chose these particular set of songs was that I wanted to show the wide aspect of my solo career representing both of my albums.

On the day of the first Argentinean show in Cordoba I welcomed the guest musicians singer Diego Valdez, guitarist Julian Barrett and bassist Doug Wimbish on board. I thought it would be a nice addition to have the musicians that have been alternating on my last tours for my first DVD. The challenging part was to make the new arrangements for 2 guitar and 2 bass players, but we managed together very well since many of my songs already have those existing elements in the studio versions. I had been exchanging many emails and calls with my musicians before the actual show and everybody had been working on their own until then.

Only on the show day we had a terrible delay caused by some technical problems with lights and other stuff, so the actual rehearsals could last only for a couple of hours! Everybody was nervous about it, but in the end, the show itself was the best rehearsal one can ask for. It was very much needed to play one complete show before playing in front of the cameras in Rosario. This way I could assure that the show is functional and the musicians and my crew could learn and still fix their parts for Act I.

It was a great show and lot of fun for everybody. The exciting part for me was to see how we managed to fit to the stage all of us together without stumbling into cables or running against each other. All in all everything went fine and my first visit in Cordoba showed me that I have to return one day, since the local people were really welcoming.

After Cordoba’s show we traveled by bus to Rosario over night. Next day was a set up day for the stage in Teatro el Circulo. While we were building the stage with all the lights, raisers and instruments an orchestra and soloists of the city of Rosario were practicing their program. This kind of arrangement continued also in the following days so it was a hard task for us to keep our schedule running whilst the theatre had its own.

Teatro el Circulo is an old opera theatre and one of the most important theatres in Argentina. I have had a chance to perform the year before in this theatre and it was love at the first sight. I knew at that time already that if one day I would be filming my DVD, it should be filmed there. The atmosphere, the acoustics of the place and the magical beauty of the theatre made that decision very easy.

Also classical music is my passion and a very important part of my artistic life. I wanted my fans to experience something different from the ordinary rock shows and I think I could capture that feeling together with them on my DVD.

As the location was highly inspiring it was quite easy to come with the name “Act I” for this video. Like a part of an opera, the first chapter of a play that is still on the writing.

I had a great two days photo session between the band rehearsals with Eugenio who has been taking photos from me before. We could use the beautiful theatre locations for these photos, so all the photos you’ll see in the artwork of Act I are taken in Teatro el Circulo. I loved all the architectural details of this theatre!

And finally, it was showtime!
I was, as everyone else involved, nervous on the first concert and recording day on Friday. I remember I had to do my breathing exercises and warming up a lot longer than I normally do. I tried hard to keep my focus to rock that night’s audience, but it is always different feeling to perform not only for the audience, but also for the cameras. There was a lot of pressure in the air that night, but during the show little by little I got more and more relaxed and forgot the whole filming situation. The excellent audience in the sold out hall helped me with it for sure! They seemed to be really excited to take part in my DVD so there was lot of love and magic around.

On the Saturday’s concert we performed a very different set list and after having done the first day a tight and clean performance, the band rocked freely on that night. I was many times ready to burst in tears only by looking at the lights on the stage; they looked so beautiful to me. I could say those two nights in Rosario were a huge emotional drive to me personally. Everybody involved put a lot of effort into those shows, so I am sure all of my guys in the band and crew are happy to see the final result on “Act I”.

With love, Tarja