Anette Olzon
 |
| Source: Kerrang! magazine. Issue and photographer unknown. |
I first discovered her when Nightwish announced her as their new vocalist in May 2007. I loved her immediately and soon, I began preferring her over Tarja Turunen (their original vocalist). I swore that I'd never prefer one singer over the other but she won me over.
I've been fortunate enough to have seen them twice with her. Once at Carling Birmingham Academy on 28th March 2008 and at Brixton Academy on 11th March 2009. Both shows were breathtaking. At the Brixton Academy show, Nightwish performed Dead Boy's Poem (the first time it had ever been performed with her) and while I've never been a fan of it on CD because I've always found Tarja's voice too cold for it, I cried as soon as Anette started singing it.
Sadly, she left the band last year. I woke up to text messages from three different friends about it. I thought "No. Please be trolling me. Please please please." I turned on my computer and immediately went to their Facebook page only to see it was true. She had left the band.
I started sobbing. I thought I was devastated about Tarja's departure (I was a fan at the time) but this was a whole other level. I was absolutely heartbroken. I cried for twelve hours straight and then on/off for the next. I couldn't believe it.
Why do I love her?
1) She's extremely caring. There are countless examples of this but I'll share just one.
On her old blog last year, she spoke about bullying and encouraged us readers to share their stories and support each other. She always looks at comments before publishing them so it was a safe place for us to talk about our experiences and not worry about being judged.
I shared my story and a few days later, a friend of mine told me that she replied to me so I rushed off to read what she had said.
Escapeofthedoll; Hi! And I so sorry to hear you still suffer from the bullying, but I do understand cause I never forget it either. But I am happy that you didn’t succeed your suicide attempts. Cause you are needed here! As I have said to others here, we all have a special place and mission in this world! Don’t let them win! Don’t give them that! Then they win! Please try and beat the eating disorder, I know its a really hard thing to beat, but there are help to get. Your life will be much better if you can beat it! I send lots of strengthening hugs to you! Thanks for sharing your story and thanks for still being here in this world! Love and hugs!
I was in tears before I had finished reading it. I couldn't believe one of my idols had replied and told me to beat it. She didn't have to acknowledge my message yet she did and took the time to reply to me.
2) Her voice is fantastic. She's versatile but it's not to everyone's taste and unfortunately, she's received a lot of hate over the years mainly because she's not Tarja.
During her time with Nightwish, she went from strength to strength and by the time Imaginaerum was released, she had improved massively. If you listen to it, you'll hear just how versatile she is.
3) She's protective of her children and refuses to show their faces.
Those are just a few reasons she inspires me. If I listed every single reason, I dread to think how long I would've spent on this post!
Links:
No comments:
Post a Comment