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Samu's Blog 2006 auf Englisch

Blog from 24. February 2006

Stockholm - The Album is in our hands

We dreamed about something like this for years and we made our foreheads hurt but now we're here. Our dreams weren't
half of this outcome we hold in our hands. By some miracle, we have been blessed to work with the top producers ands
engineers of Finland and Sweden. That alone is a dream come true.

I'm lying on a hotel bed somewhere in Stockholm and next to me sleeps our producer Jukka dead tired (and dead drunk)
after a long session of a few days. Tomorrow we'll have some more meetings with international distributors and publishers
and then we'll have a free night in Stockholm after a long long time. Our Mastering Engineer Thomas Eberger from Cutting
Room Mastering Studio has done well with our mastering. Must say it sounds just great, and so say the professionals too.
I slept half of the whole session although we drank a gallon of coffee. Luckily Jukka stayed awake even though he hadn't
slept one bit the night before. There was still the final touch needed in the mixes. He had just dropped his partner
Aku Sinivalo home before the plane took of in Helsinki. He wore shades all day in taxi, flying and in the cafeterias.
He didn't want the poor traveling children to see the eyes of the devil ...
(I can tell you, those eyes would make the Devil himself scared!)

We haven't earned a penny so far with this. All we've gained is some clothes from Guess ands Acc3ss and a lot of debt
from the credit card companies and our parents, but still this is the best thing after sliced bread. Far better.
The folks here in Stockholm seem to like the finalized album too. Good! We had a showcase on Tuesday in Helsinki
for European record companies and we hope it will take us forward. We have the greatest record company in Finland
working for us. Bonnier Amigo Music, and especially their head Anne are really committed to get this done.
But as always, the most thanx for the successful showcase belongs to the wonderful audience. You. Thanx, Thanx, Thanx.

Feels as if there's more to come ...



Blog from 26. February 2006

Music video for Romeo

It was a long night. It's 8 AM and I just got home from shooting the video for ROMEO. My feet don't carry me and
I'm tired as a pig on a Christmas table, but still happy after experiencing something completely new again.

Solar Films, a big Finnish independent movie & TV production company is making a video for our song Romeo.
The director Dan Peled has worked with artists such as Redrama, Stratovarius and Nightwish, for example.
He was a cool guy. Just sat on his comfortable chair and gave commands on what to do. Also the producers,
Markus Selin and Mika Karttunen need no introduction here in Finland.

It's a story about a hooker at work. Romeo could have been spoiled with a typical Romeo & Julia (or Julio) shit.
But no, the guys came up whit something more interesting. The leading female role was played by Ms. Sini Säkkinen,
a finalist of "Model School" TV format in 2005. We had our doubts after seeing all the "star flights" of all the
"get famous fast" idol etc. formats, but this young lady was a huge positive surprise.
She actually cries for real on one of the scenes and we have never seen any one work with such an attitude.
I bet weäll hear from her.

There were American cars, smoke machines, prostitutes (not real ones) catering with all the delicious stuff
and some thirty guys an d girls doing all kinds of stuff. And we were treated almost too well.
The whole gang worked more than around the clock. Respect!

Maybe the coolest part of the video is where we get to show the pimp, that he shouldn't mistreat the girl Sini.
It'll be fun to watch the way we get rid of the bad guy played by a Colombian gentleman, Jorge.

Our beloved producer Jukka was also with us in front of the cameras. Even though his work is done after mastering
the album, he'll keep on being a part of the band. Even on the worst gigs. That's cool.

The video will be released during May. At least in Finland...



Blog from 28. Mai 2006

Final Countdown

We finally got the albums today from the factory... Somehow I went totally speechless, felt damn good.
Somehow even I (!) was quiet and happy for a moment. Happy for the fact that I've been blessed to be a part of something
like this and that it's finally here. The album is more beautiful than I ever thought, the first child (of five guys...?)
Well, of course the "asshole" MD of our production company found a mistake from the booklet right away ;)
It'll be out in Finland on the 31st of MAY.

So. Cheeses it's soon out and as much as I know myself, I won't sleep for a while again. The only thing we can still
do is to believe that our record company in Finland has done and will do a good job promoting etc and people will buy it.
So far we have had nothing but good to say about them.

And yes. We signed a worldwide deal with EMI. Pretty crazy. We knew about the offers and stuff they made already in early
march and I can't tell you how hard it was to keep the secret. And how hard it was to sit back and wait for the managers
and CEO's to work with the stupid details. Week after week after week. We already told our management here to sign the
deal with any terms, but luckily the adults kept their heads cool. They've done it before. I didn't sleep well for the whole
time 'cause I was scared they'd get cold feet in Germany. I must have lost 5 Kilos weight...
So the album will be out in Vatican City too. I wonder if Pope Benedictus likes Romeo...

The staff at EMI Germany seems pretty cool and hard working. Of course we'll have the whole truth when the train's left the
station completely, but everything seems to be in order. In the German way!! So there will be releases at least in Germany
already in August and the rest of the planet will follow depending on how good we do there.
I really hope we get to tour there soon...



Blog from 12. June 2006

ON THE WAY TO BARCELONA

I'm sitting 10 miles above the Eastern Sea together with Janne, Raul, Sami and Mikko from our record company
(in an airplane of course) and we're heading towards Düsseldorf. Julia from Emi Capitol Germany will join us in
Düsseldorf for the second flight to Barcelona for the whole week to shoo video for Fairytale Gone Bad! Yippee!!
I just love Barcelona, no question; it's the coolest city in the world!

They have hired a cool director and photographer Ralf Strathmann from L.A. USA to the project. He's worked with HIM,
System of a Down, Blink 182 etc. in the past - I'm sure he knows what he's doing. Cool! We'll soon be in Barcelona.
I've lost my heart to the city a long time ago on my journeys. But now I feel better than ever on the way there ...



Blog from 13. June 2006

First day shooting

We were nice boyz and girls and went straight to bed after a few welcoming beers in the evening. Now we feel fresh!
First we waited for our manager BOB to arrive (who's flight was cancelled yesterday), but then decided to leave him
on his own with the Spanish taxi drivers.

The first location was maybe 15 minutes from the centre. A cool studio / Office complex surrounded by palm trees.
We met Ralf, a guy originally from Germany, who's lived and worked the last fifteen years in L.A. - a cool guy.
We have many bags of clothes and all kinds of accessories and pretty tight instructions from the stylist what to wear
on each set. I've never seen such a big crew shooting promo pictures. Probably in the States people are used to have
a big dynamic team. The only thing is that the Americans are used to work dynamic and all the Spanish folks aren't ...
Ralf has to bite his lips many times when things are a bit late or the Spanish team provides him with stuff that don't work.
I'm sure we'll be just fine.

The first day we shot pictures at the complex. The photos seem really cool on Ralf's laptop. It's extremely hot,
30 Celsius in the shade and Jamie, the make up girl needs to work with powder with both hands.

In the afternoon we shot some photos ion front of the famous ARTS hotel (with no permission;)
and on the beaches and bridges in front of it. There Ralf finally showed us who's the man.
He's got great visions and working in front of the camera has never been this easy.

In the evening we shot at La Rambla, the famous street right in the heart of the City next to a fish market.
I almost slipped after stepping on a dead fish, yak. Dinner after the long day and we all were ready for bed.
Feels really great to be a part of this thing. I could pay for this experience.

During the first day we met some cool Spanish folks; The local head of action PEPE, Jesus (Not from Nazareth),
Carlas and of course our private driver Lynn who was a bit lost all the time ;)



Blog from 14. June 2006

2nd day, Video shootings part 1

Hotel breakfast. If all the people all over the world would get hotel breakfast once a month,
I'm sure there would be no wars. It's so great. Even the bacons were placed symmetrically.

Huge bags of clothes again and this time also our guitars and basses along and towards the studio complex.
Of course I had forgotten my guitar strap in the tour buss and Mikko had to explore the city's flamenco guitar shops
to find a new rock credible strap for me. And he did!! Quite a job. The day started with waiting and waiting ...
The local crew had delivered a wrong kind of a crane (the one that moves the camera)
and it took a while to get the one he needed.

Finally we decided to have lunch before shooting a single shot (we woke up for this at 9 AM!) and it was 3PM before
we got to the action. Hot as hell! We shot some live stuff at the complex. The story is about me and my "girlfriend"
breaking up, actually she's throwing me out in the end. The girl is played by ASHLEY, an extremely pretty girl from L.A.
We play the song in front of a reflection of shots that "I've made of her." Ralf told us that they were approached
by more than 600 girls from L.A. who wanted the role. Whatta hell?? And we got to choose. Every job has its down side.

In the evening we drove the whole equipment to the center of Barcelona to a rooftop to shoot some more live parts.
Sami's drums were 30 cm away from the edge of the roof - a long way down. We were all a bit nervous. Especially
Janne and Raul weren't able to fully focus because they don't like the heights.

We had a small fight with Janne as I took Julia on my shoulders and pretended that I'm gonna throw her down.
It was only a joke, but OK, a bad one. It's stupid to play with such stuff especially if someone's not happy being on the roof.
Luckily we were too tired to have a fistfight. I would have lost. I think ...

We worked for 14 and a half hours. Make up and new clothes all the time and all the time ready for action.
It's tougher than you would think, but in a way I feel happier than ever.

After the dinner Julia invited us to her room to have "a couple of beers." We all agreed to get up early to go shopping
but due to Julia's hospitality Sami and I stayed in bed. Couldn't get up. You gotta sleep too you know ...



Blog from 15. June 2006

Video shooting 2nd day

In the morning we sat in our van and headed towards south to the next location. Julia was feeling a little sick for all the
"a couple of beers" and we had to stop on the highway for a while ... We drove to this little village in the middle of nowhere
and as we arrived, the weather wasn't too promising. We can skip the whole thing if it starts raining.
When we were almost at our destination, we nearly hit a BULL with the van. It was 30 cm away.
Our driver Lynn just happened to look at the lovely mountains for a moment.
Would have been nice to shoot the last parts with blood on our faces.

Most of the day we just waited and waited. As Ralf and his crew were getting everything ready
(and hoping for the weather to change a bit) we shot some clips with Julia's vid cam for the German press and TV.
"Hi, were Sunrise Avenue and you can see our new video Fairytale Gone bad on Viva" And the same in German.
It took so long for us all to learn it. Especially Raul had problems pronouncing, probably gis hairy face is not
made for the language.

The shooting location was really cool. It's the same place where U2 shot their VERTOGO video.
A desert field with some kind of an old concrete building ( probably an old oven?) in the middle on what they reflected the
shots of me and Ashley. The later and darker it got, the angrier the mosquitoes got. And guess who's face is in the spotlight.
Mosquitoes love bright light. But Ralf seemed to know what he's doing. After those parts, Julia, Ralf and I went to the beach
nearby to shoot some scenes where I sit on the sand right next to the water for the first chorus.
The place was awesome. 5Km of a sand "bridge", water on both sides.
They say it's the only place in Catalonia (Western Spain)
where you can see the reflection of sunset in the water. There were also some thunderstorms by the mountains that time.
Looked pretty impressive. We only got a few drops on us. Good.

On the way back to the centre of Barcelona, our driver Lynn got completely lost. She's from the southern part,
from Malaga and don't know the area that well. Luckily I had been to Barcelona quite a few times and I was able
to use my knowledge and my Spanish skills for a long time. It's funny how you don't forget the language once you learn it.
At least not all of it. We got to the hotel at 01AM and we still had to pack the bags for an early wake up to get to the
airport at 6. Again we slept for some 2 hours. I really wouldn't want to leave all this at all. I'll miss this trip.
On the other hand our tour buss will be waiting for us at the airport in Finland and we'll get to see Jukka again.
We miss him a lot and we wish he could have been a part of this trip too.



Blog from 16. June 2006

On the way home

The flight company (I won't mention the name) had made a mistake with Sami's, Janne's and Raul's tickets.
When we left from Finland they said it's cool and we don't need to check in earlier or nothing.
But no, we had to pay extra and we were lucky to take off at all.

So here we are again above the Eastern Sea. Janne is snoring (like a baby) next to me and Sami is hugging him
(probably dreaming about his mom) on the other side.
Raul sleeps on the other side of the ally and Mikko's seat is in the front.
All by himself. We had to leave Julia to Germany on our stop, she had to go to work. Poor thing.
We'll be able to sleep in the buss, but I'm sure she can't just close her eyes at the office.

It was the first time we all met Julia and we liked her a lot. She seems to be dynamic and she seems to know what
she's doing. And she knows how to drink beer like a man.
Good. We taught her all the necessary nasty words in Finnish to be used once she comes to Finland.
And we shot many clips for our own "teen hitchhikers.com archive" of her. Her bosses will love it.

Pori and club 19 here we come. I'll close my eyes for an hour now. Damn I love this ....



Blog from 17. June 2006

Back in suomi Finland

We came back from Barcelona shooting the video for Fairytale Gone Bad. We spent the whole week by the Mediterranean
Sea and as we got back to Finland, the tour bus and our driver MÄTTÖ was waiting for us at the airport.
Jannes bag had disappeared on the way home and due to the early flight (and some beers the night before)
he already had spent two days in the same clothes. Just like the rest of us.

Jukka was also waiting for us with our tour agent Elina. A short brief how things had gone and the trip towards Pori started.
We had only slept for some 2 hours and as the engines of the buss went on we all fell asleep.
I woke up after 2 hours when Jukka yelled "all up for lunch". Idiot ....

Pori was a quiet city. We'd never been there before. One of the biggest festivals was on in one of the neighbor cities and
seemed as if all the folks had left the town. Club19 was a nice place and we put our hands to work.
Right after the sound check our driver Mättö told us that the steering assistant of the buss is broken.
We're supposed to continue our trip in the morning to the next city ... We'll see.

2 minutes before show time there were 4 guys sitting in the club. Cool, this'll be fun! Feet back on the ground after
all the 5-star breakfasts in Barcelona. Together with the club manager, we decided to wait for another 30 min.
And finally the room got pretty full. And they were great. The yelled us back on stage twice after the set.
We'd promised our live agent that we won't play any cover versions, but this time we gave them
"Let me entertain you" as the last song.

After the gig we had some beers with the guys and the morning (10 AM) felt pretty early.
We must have fallen asleep at six or something



Blog from 18. June 2006

Across Finland

Our driver Mättö woke us up at ten and told us the buss is fixed and fine. Hotel Breakfast (We do love it a lot).
Stuff & guys in the buss and towards Kuopio. We had slept for some four hours so we all fell asleep again as the buss slowly
mowed in the curves. After an hour or so I woke up to a terrible heat. The AC had broken down and now it's hot as hell!!!
It's +27 outside and you can only open the driver's window. So I'm sitting in the front of the buss and writing this diary.
We're all wearing only shorts and in a way it's cool. Summer!!

When we got to Kuopio, the weather got a bit cooler at 8 in the evening. We did a quick sound check and had some dinner.
I usually can't sleep right before the show, but this time I slept like a pig. U know, a cute one.
Janne kept on pushing me for snoring. I don't snore??? He must be dreaming. I woke up 30 min before show time.
I was still not totally awake as we started. I even forgot some words. Hope nobody noticed.
Henry's Pub is a nice place for bands. Not like at most of the clubs, here the folks come to listen to the music,
not to party and drink that much. The evening was nice and we found out that some ladies had come all the way from
Northern-Finland to see our show. How cool is that!

It would have been nice to hang out at the clubs of Kuopio after the show,
but we had to get home for the first time in 10 days.
I had no clean shirts left. On the way home, we were supposed to sleep, but no.
The club owner gave us some bottles to go and the whole gang, Janne, Jukka, Raul, Sami, MP (tech guy),
Mikko (Front man), Mättö, Janne's friend who got a ride and I stayed up all night drinking
wine etc and listening to the show on Minidisk.

It's hard to describe how pretty it is when the sun gets up from behind a Finnish lake and woods and you're in the buss with
the best guys on the planet. I could go on for a zillion years. But it's nice to visit home too. We'll have a week off now.
Only some interviews and the next gig is at Virgin oil Helsinki on July 1st ....



Blog from 07. August 2006

Promotion trip to Germany

We are above the Baltic Sea again. We're on the way to Germany to promote our single Fairytale Gone Bad.
It'll be released in Germany + Switzerland + Austria on 11th of August. I have two seats.
The other one is for my Martin (Guitar;), who I didn't dare to put down in the cold with my luggage.
It's a pity they didn't serve him breakfast. I would have had two ....

Two stewardesses have already asked for autographs for their kids. One got it to the safety instructions card.
Was the first time for me on that one ....

We're gonna play live acoustic song at radios. The first one is today at 1130 AM.
I decided not to sing public before afternoon EVER after Playing NRJ live a few months ago with Janne.
But this time I'll be flexible. So it'll be only Janne and I playing.
Raul and Sami can focus on looking good and answering correctly.
Tough job! Our Finnish record company MD Anne escorts us.
She takes the trip with us to get to know her German colleagues.

So we'll land in Frankfurt and in the evening we'll drive to our "home town" Cologne. Tomorrow will be like today.
But tomorrow evening we'll all also see Robbie Williams show at Cologne Arena.
Robbie is also EMI Capitol artist, just like us.

I gotta have a coffee now. This'll be fun ....



Blog from 08. August 2006

Day 2 - Cologne

We woke up in the morning from the fabulous Marriott hotel and we went to gym right away. Not so rock credible ....
yesterday we spent the whole day driving around Frankfurt visiting radio stations.
We played acoustic Fairytale gone bad and gave them interviews to be broadcasted on the spot or later on.
We drove to Cologne in the evening for one more interview for the big 1LIVE channel and after that we were free
for two hours before dinner with some EMI folks. The dinner made us all sleepy after the long day and we all fell
asleep around midnight.

Today we played a live gig for the whole EMI Capitol office folks with Janne. Usually it's not nice to perform to record
company people because they're so professional and live out of criticism, but today it felt really good.
It's nice how the rock songs get softer and even better in a way when played only with two acoustics.
That's the way I write most of the stuff in the first place. We played Make it go away, Diamonds,
Heal me and of course Fairytale gone bad. We were told that Fairytale gone bad has been doing well on the German
TOP 100 radio charts and that's gooood.

In the afternoon we had a meeting with our new stylist and we also gave a few interviews for local radios & press.
Finally we're able to get ready for the Robbie Williams show tonight. So I'm sitting in my room only with my towel on
( just had a shower;) writing this stuff. Soon we'll see how Robbie and his guys handle stuff on stage .... JEEE!



Blog from 09. August 2006

Day 3 - Hamburg - Kiel - Berlin

Robbie was just awesome! It's amazing when 80.000 fans stand up their hands towards the sky and sing angels with him.
The first feeling I had was "I wanna get there!, on stage I mean. I think we still have some miles to go ....
After the show we were invited to Robbie Williams VIP after party.
I've been to several cool parties before but I gotta say this was the coolest after party ever.
There was a red carpet even for us guests. We would have wanted to stay (so much) but we all knew there's
an early flight to catch in the morning and we decided to go to sleep after a few drinks.

We flew to Hamburg in the morning and from there we drove to Kiel, a harbor city to meet new radio folks.
In Kiel there was this very cute interviewer girl who was doing the stuff for the first time with an international act.
Raul and I helped her with the equipment. Sweet .... We drew her a painting "on the way to wonderland", where a crocodile
walks (or do they crawl..) on the road next to Sunrise Ave road sign. None of us four can really draw .... We gave our best.
From Kiel we took a minivan to Berlin to visit the Gibson office. We'll get our guitars and basses from there from now on,
JEEEE! The first guitar I tried was the same guitar Faith Hill performed with in the Grammy gala a couple of years ago.
I decided to take that model. Janne chose a bigger one. Size does matter, he said.
In the evening I made a few more phone interviews and I had only 11 minutes for shower and to get ready for dinner.
We had a dinner with a director from Ibiza, who's probably gonna direct our next video.

We had a long dinner (with a bit more red wine and stuff that the evenings before) and brainstormed like hell.
We even needed a few drinks after dinner at the former Eastern side of Berlin because of sitting in the car and interviews
all day. Bad excuse, I know. Tomorrow will be a long day again and we're gonna have to sleep too.



Blog from 10. August 2006

Day 4 Berlin

The wake up call was late, at 10, all though I could have slept for plenty more hours. I went down for breakfast with Julia and
soon the others followed to order their Cafe Lattes. Today we did interviews all over Berlin and also went to discuss stuff at
Gibson office. We gave them a list of guitars and basses we want to have on stage in the future. How cool is that!

Raul and Sami got the rest of the day free and they went shopping. Julia, Bob, Janne and I drove 45 minutes to another radio
station for the last interview. All the radios were pretty curious about our friend Mikko who sold his house to fund our album.
The also were pretty amazed of how we're not wearing eyeliners and black clothes like other Finnish bands.
When we arrived back to the center, Raul and Sami were happy with all the cool stuff they had bought while we'd been
working with Janne and the guys. Janne was also able to get a new pair of Converse shoes before we took the car to the
airport and I got nothing. Damn. My revenge will be sweet next week in Stockholm. I only have 11 pairs of All Star
Converse's, and we all know that's not enough to survive.

On the way to the airport Julia got a phone call and after she finished it she said we'll be supporting the local mega band
Tokio Hotel near Cologle on the 3rd of September. Apparently it'll be some 8.000 screaming youngsters in front of the stage.
They're really big in Germany and it's the last show of their tour. We also made a deal with Contra Promotion for booking
us in Europe. That'll hopefully take us all around the continent.

There had been a terrorist group in London who tried to get explosives in the airplane. Because of that they checked our
luggage with extra care, especially my innocent Martin guitar who always causes extra trouble when checking in at airports.
Janne wasn't even allowed to take his toothpaste in. He might have hurt someone with it. In Finland we use toothpaste
as weapon pretty often .... Our manager Bob's flight to London was cancelled and he had to stay an extra night in Berlin
(poor thing, I could have done that too ....).

So, once again we're above the Baltic Sea on the way home. I must say that we're pretty lucky to experience all this even
though the trip made us too tired. I'm gonna sleep until the wheels hit the runway in Helsinki.



Blog from 21. August 2006

On the way to Wonderland

Here we are on an airplane again above the Baltic Sea on the way to Berlin. We'll have a busy day there promoting
and visiting Radio Channels and in the evening we'll drive to Cologne, to our "home town" in Germany.
This is probably my 8th trip to Germany this year to work with EMI folks but this is the first time we'll also
play full club shows with the band. We've done all kinds of stuff at radios before, but the club thing makes me a bit nervous.
Nobody really knows us in Germany and I'm worried if anyone's gonna come see us.
On Friday we'll also perform at the DOME in Leipzig. That's pretty cool. It'll be some 6.000 viewers in the audience
plus some millions watching TV at home. Really cool.

As our driver Jörn drove 200Km/h on the autobahn we saw the movie (already forgot the name) about the black guy
who's this little girl's bodyguard somewhere in South America.
The girl is been kidnapped and first they think she's dead but the end is happy after all.
I was more focusing on dreaming and staring at the air condition control buttons above me.
And thinking how happy I am to be on road with these guys ....

In the evening we met Julia briefly at dinner and after dinner a few beers in the hotel lobby bar.
After that we all dived into our beds. Tomorrow is full of interviews and stuff - need to sleep.



Blog from 22. August 2006

In front of media

I woke up 9:30 to Janne's phone call asking me to join him at the gym. Goooood .... Ok, it's not that rock credible,
but you feel so good after it. And especially if you're gonna sing,
some running or anything that raises the pulse will make the throat work better.

The day was filled with interviews. Magazines, TV and Radio. The German media treats us really well.
It's a bit amazing. In Finland we've had to explain how rock can also be played without eyeliners but here it's different.
Really cool. One of the reporters asked me and Janne what drugs would we like to try .... JEEEE!

In the evening we went to this outlet store in Düsseldorf with our new stylist Feli.
We got all kinds of clothes to perform in at the Cologne underground and at The DOME.
Our manager BOB and tech guys Mikko and Mikko-pekka and also the Finnish record company guy Mikko (A lot of Mikko's)
and a Finnish reporter Aino arrived and we had a fabulous German style dinner together.
And a few beers .... Tomorrow is a big day and we must go to sleep early to be in shape.



Blog from 24. August 2006

Leipzig One hour sleep

The morning was wonderful. We were out pretty late and I didn't pack my stuff in the night.
I woke up as Janne knocked on my door saying I have 15 minutes to get downstairs.
It was the world record of packing 50 Kg of stuff. And the guitars and stuff ....

We went straight to DOME camera rehearsals from the airport and of course I had forgotten my guitar strap to Cologne.
I did the rehearsal with air guitar ..... Some lovely person from EMI capitol Cologne picked the strap up from my hotel
and flew it over to Leipzig. So, all ok!

After the rehearsal we got ready to play an acoustic show with Janne at the Games Convention nearby.
It was a really cool beach they had built on a huge parking area. And they had hired 15 really good looking young ladies
to give massages with sun cream and we spent the afternoon with them at the back stage.
After the back stage birdies and acoustic session, we went to play this weird cucumber game with Collien Fernandez,
the Maxim cover girl. She and Sami and Raul, Janne and I were against them. We won!

Julia got a call in the afternoon that Ray Wilson's (from Genesis) supporting act had cancelled the show in Halle,
near Leipzig. Our tech. team had just arrived in Helsinki and they had messages waiting in their phones as they switched
them on at Helsinki airport to get back to Germany, Cool. It'll be 15.000 viewers. JEEEE!

We had the evening off. We went downtown Leipzig to have dinner in a really nice Italian restaurant and
went to bed pretty early. Well Jukka and I had some beers in my hotel room, but let's not tell anyone ....



Blog from 25. August 2006

Leipzig - the DOME 39

As soon as I woke up, I had the image of us standing on the red carpet of the dome. It made me nervous.
Quick breakfast and the driver picked us up at ten. The morning and mid day was all about interviews,
fan meetings and make up. We did probably 15 bigger TV channel and magazine stuff.
Around 2 PM they started to do the makeup for the red carpet.

The red carpet is the official way in for the artists of the dome. Hundreds of music lovers, mostly teenagers,
are behind small barriers screaming for autographs of their idols. And it's so many TV and photo cameras.
I wasn't really nervous about the thing itself, but the fact that probably not that many teenager knows
us since we've just started our stuff in Germany and it would be annoying if they wouldn't scream at all ....

We sat in this black limousine hands sweating. It was only a couple of minutes until the car would drive us to the carpet.
We could hear the screaming folks through the car windows as the artist before us drove to the spot.

The door opens and all the flashlights fill my eyes. I don't know witch way to walk. Anywhere you look,
there are screaming girls and guys. I've seen a lot of thing’s and experienced a lot of stuff,
but this is something I'll take to the grave with me. I mean the feeling. For the first time in my life
I really feel like a rock star!
The stage was cool. The production company had arranged movie projectors on stage,
the same kind we have in Fairytale Gone Bad video. The 3,04 minute thing was quickly done and over.
The coolest thing was the Finnish flag with our band logo in the first row, right behind the fence.

After party was soooo cool. When we walked in, there were youngsters who'd been waiting there for autographs,
cool. It was in the center of Leipzig in a really cool club. The drinks were free and we met a lot of cool folks
and we were shot for different magazines, websites and stuff. We spent most of the evening in a room,
where they had built a small lake inside. We just wanted to relax. Ok,
Raul went on the dance floor to show his inner Backstreet Boy.

We were back at the hotel at six. We had to party a little bit. But we also have a show tomorrow,
a big one. Gotta sleep now ....

www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfwTbMxKDfM



Blog from 26. August 2006

Halle - supporting Ray Wilson

The morning started fine. Two nice cars, one BMW X5 and one VW Lux Buss picked us up at the hotel at 2PM.
We drove to Halle, some 40 Km towards Berlin. Everything seemed to be ok with everything as we checked
in to the very nice Kempinski Hotel. It was really coool. You know, in normal 4star hotels they make the
bed in the afternoon, but here they also open the bed and close the curtains in the evening so you don't
have to do that yourself when you want to dive into bed. Cool.

Jukka and I went shopping and the rest of the guys headed to the festival area to check everything just in case.
So we bought some perfumes and clothes with Jukka and afterwards went to eat in a really nice Italian restaurant.
After eating we decided to have a nap and just before I closed my eyes in my room, Janne called me that we had
no backline at all (Drums, Guitars, Amplifiers, etc.) Great! First I thought of waking Jukka up and getting there
with a taxi, but hell no. I was sure the guys, Bob and Julia would do everything there is to do.
I fell asleep as soon as I closed my eyes.

Janne woke me up (he seems to do that a lot;) and said everything was ok. Mr. Ray Wilson had promised to borrow
all his stuff, even drums and amplifiers. Cool guy. He joined us with his band to build up our stage system and
I gotta say, without them, the night would have been a disaster.

The show was great. There was a 15 meter catwalk on the stage and for the first time I was really able to get
in the middle of the audience. Cool. It was also the first time the audience was so big that you couldn't
see where the last guy stands. We met some really nice German fans after the show; especially the 4 pretty twin girls.

We drove back to Kempinski hotel at around 12 and we had several bottles of red wine, cheeses (not rock credible, I know),
baileys and beer. As Janne stood up to get to sleep, he went to the wrong direction. Must be the blue cheese.
We were the last ones up with Jukka. We were already on the way to our rooms at 5 in the night when we had this great
idea to go out downtown. The sun was already up as we got to our beds.



Blog from 27. August 2006

Home calling

Our driver picked us up at 13:00, Bob and Julia had already left for their earlier flights.
So were in our minivan right now and we bought some breakfast at a petrol station.
I really wouldn't want to go home. I'm so happy we have this great show on SAT next week,
otherwise I'd probably stay here. I must be the luckiest guy on planet



Blog vom 03. September 2006

Thank you Tokio Hotel & Fans!

We were invited to support Toki Hotel, probably the hottest band in Germany right now.
We had played a show in Finland the night before and I slept for an hour the night before.
The alarm clock rang 5:40 in the morning. I was pretty tired as we got to the venue,
Loreley open stage near Frankfurt. It was so cool. It was this kind of an open-air theatre on a huge hill.
The Tokio Hotel guys have fans even in Finland and we'd heard they're big in Germany but as soon as we got
to the back stage, we realized how big they really are. There were tens of medics, hundreds of police
officers and guards to secure the event. The band also had a separate room for gifts from fans.
The room was full. Cool!

We were a bit late with the schedule and they opened the doors as we were on stage doing sound check.
That can be pretty annoying sometimes, because you don't want the audience to hear how you build up the whole thing.
But this time it was nice. The growing crowd of TH fans cheered for each sound we made. Cool!

We were nervous how the teenagers would take us. I mean the TH fans are really fanatic and they might only want
to get rid of the support and get to the point. But no. The noise was huge as we got on stage.
Just amazing. We've been supporting different kinds of groups before but never before has the audience been like this.
All the 7.000-12.000 fans (nobody seemed to know how many;) gave their full support all the way.
The best support slot you could ask for.

After the show was confirmed some weeks ago, we heard a lot of stuff about Tokio Hotel and many folks asked how do we
think we'll maintain the image of a credible rock band after playing with them. First I must say after being there,
I'd do it every week if I could. It was so much fun. It was even better than the red carpet at the DOME.
There's nothing better than thousands of girls screaming with their hands up. And second about being credible.
Yes, the TH guys are young and so are most of their fans, but there are many cool "credible rockers"
who should buy a ticket to TH show to see how to make the crowd get what they want.
Well done guys und wielen dank fur fie einladung! We'll buy you beers as soon as it's legal ;) You rok!



Blog from 07. September 2006

Stockholm Shopping

We went to Stockholm together with Sami and our stylist Tarja to buy clothes for the next video shoot.
The rest of the guys will arrive late tonight; Tarja didn’t want us all five to walk after her in the shops asking
"is this good, is this good ...." It's so cool to have someone with us who knows exactly what to get and even more,
who pays! We bought a lot of cool stuff. I hope She has some money left for the other guys too.
They'll go shopping tomorrow.

Tomorrow we play at the local Alcazar club for Stockholm media and other guests.
I have some meetings with publishers in the morning and also a few radio interviews.
It's nine PM right now and we're getting ready for a dinner at my friend's restaurant down town.
Seriously, if you're in Stockholm, please go taste the delicious stakes of Texas Long Horn. Yammy!!! Evening off ....



Blog from 08. September 2006

Show time

The day started with publishers (the first one already at ten!!). Publisher's job is to promote the writer's music
and pitch songs into movies, TV ads and stuff. They also collect the money from all around the world for us poor writers.
We need to have some tuna fish to eat too ;) We / I still don't have a publisher since all has happened so fast,
but luckily there are many applicants. No hurry!

Sound check was just fine. Alcazar is a small club, probably only for 200 persons max, but it feels like a nice place to play at.
Swedish style. I'm a bit nervous. Nobody really knows about us in Sweden.
Ok, local NRJ added us on their play list today, but that will not bring anyone in yet today. They'll start the airplay next week.

The club was full before the show JEEEEE ;) The Swedish media took us really well. They even sang NASTY with us.
That would never happen in Finland. Swedes are so cool.

We had a few drinks after the show in some really cool place down town. At Östermalm, that's the place to go they say.
We knew there will be a photo shoot of SuperStar magazine in the morning. We shouldn't stay awake until late.
We were the last ones with Jukka (Again;) and we dived to bed at around five I guess ....

The interviews and photo shoots went really well and actually the pictures were really coool.
Now we're in Arlanda Express (airport train) heading towards the airport. Next week will be really cool.
Finally a whole week in Finland. First a really big student party on Wednesday and Thursday and Saturday
really big TV live shows.



Blog from 14. September 2006

Charity Concert at Hartwall Arena

Yesterday we played at a really cool student party in Kotka (FIN) and we drove directly to the next show in the morning
to the biggest arena in Finland, The Hartwall arena in Helsinki. The biggest yearly charity is being held there this
year and we are one of the few live performers. For 13.000 viewers Cooool!! Again I forgot my ear monitors at home
and I had to borrow Osama's (Samis). It's always me ....

I didn't realize how big the place is until I jumped up on stage at sound check. Checking went pretty well,
even though we didn't have that much time for it. Would be pretty important to have a good sound today.
A huge audience and some million folks at their living rooms listening ....

After the check, there was the press stuff. We met Kim Wilde there again and as soon as she saw me she came to say hi.
I hope I didn't do anything stupid at the after party in Leipzig three weeks ago to leave a clear image of my face
into her mind. She's so sweet .... After the press, there was only waiting and waiting.
Finally they called us to be ready for our performance ....

It was so cool!!! All those folks in the audience screamed so loud. It's funny how it makes the blood run in your veins.
The stadium almost lost its roof when we started the song Fairytale gone bad.
It's been number one on the Finnish airplay charts for 5 weeks in a row, so most of the folks should know it.
The only down side was that we had to leave the audience right after the song.
It's a bit stupid the get yourself in heat and as soon as your body is boiling you sit back down at the dressing room ....
I could have done the same thing again. And again. And again.

We had a drink with Kim Wilde and her band & Crew and one EMI Germany lady in the night at the after party.
We stayed until they closed the place... Again... ;)



Blog from 16. September 2006

Saturday Night Fever

Whatta TV week! First the thing two days ago and now the biggest weekend show in Finland, the Saturday Night Fever.
Every week they have one band performing live at the show and this week it's our turn.
I saw the show last week and I thought it looked a bit boring, but this week the atmosphere was totally different.

After the performance and some autographs, the guards told us that some girls had been waiting for us outside
the TV station gates all the time from the afternoon (some 7 hours) and asked kindly if we could go see them
on the way home. And there they were. We spent a moment with the lovely girls signing stuff and taking photos
and it was a lot of fun. There were feeling a bit cold (poor things), because it was probably some 10 degrees
outside and they had been standing there all day .... ;)

We had a pizza with Sami and Janne on the way home. The guys went home, but I had to have a few at Stockholm
Diskotek with the record company guys. They were really happy with the weeks TV performances and they said
it'd effect positively on the album charts .... We'll see ....



Blog from 18. September 2006

To Stockholm

We're on the way to Stockholm to play at mobile operator 3's gala. They hand out golden mobile phones for the most
downloaded tracks of the year. We perform there together with one of the biggest local bands,
Bo Kaspers Orkestra. We flew here already today to get some rest before the show.
We all feel a bit ill and I really hope my throat won't break ....



Blog from 19. September 2006

Showtime Stockholm

It was sooo cool and my throat didn't break ;) The event was held at a real garage in the center of Stockholm and they
had made it look really nice. The back stage was at the place where they normally really paint the cars;
there were actually some cans of car paint on the walls. Candles, salmon cookies,
beer and red wine served by extremely pretty Swedish girls. Yammy!

The show went so well. Seems as if when we play these shows for invited guests outside Finland,
the guests really know how to behave. They all stayed focused during the speeches and performances,
some because they really enjoyed what they heard and some just to be polite.

The rest of the guys took off to Finland right after the show and I stayed alone for one more night in Stockholm
to do some interviews and stuff in the morning. NRJ has added us into their power play list and seems as if the
business will start also in Sweden now. Tavastia club 3 days… And counting ....



Blog from 22. September 2006

Tavastia Club Helsinki

I have had a few dreams since being one meter tall (long ago ;) and one of them has been to play for full Tavastia
club in Helsinki. Tavastia is THE club in Finland. The biggest bands, such as Foo Fighter and all play there.
I've stood in the audience a million times just visualizing my self on that stage with a guitar.

The day started with radio NOVA interview in the morning. I listened to nova on my way to the studio in my car
and as I had some 15 minutes to go, I heard the VJ say "Samu will be here in 5 minutes ...."
Luckily there was no traffic control. I drove FAST! Me and waking ups .... I also dropped my coffee cup as soon
as they gave it to me in the studio. I cleaned the mess my self. Too early ;)

I woke up in the afternoon from my nap when Raul phoned me. He said they had already taken all the stuff to the club
and they thought it would be best not to wake me up because of the morning shift and all. Sweet dudes ....

Sound check went really well. This time we had all the time in the world since were the only band performing tonight.
Our first Tavastia show ever!! Jeeee ;) There were also some really nice young ladies asking for autographs and stuff
outside the club and what could be a better coffee break place than that every time they’re checking
someone else's equipment. Raul had bought us (with our band's money) wireless stuff for guitars and bass.
For the first time we'll be able to run around the stage without thinking about twisting cables.
We had an acoustic show and some interviews with Janne at seven at NRJ Finland's birthday party right next door.
First set of performance clothes on quickly and ready to pose for the cameras. There were a lot of invited guests
at the party and the place was really cool but the guests weren't quite as polite as the ones we saw in Stockholm.
Finnish VIP don't always know how to behave. Who cares - It's our Tavastia night tonight!

Back to Tavastia. I haven't been this nervous for months. Usually I've only been worrying if the club is going
to be full or not, but I haven't had even that for months. We heard that they had sold a lot of tickets during the
week but even that didn't comfort me. The last minutes before getting up on stage move sometimes terribly
slow and at the same time awfully fast.

On stage. Full house!! And what a reaction! I felt like the king of the world for the whole 82 minutes.
Nothing has ever felt that good. Add all the times you have had sex and all the ice creams you've eaten to one
moment and you're near. They shouted us back two times and on the second time we had to give them NASTY,
the live special.

We sat down in front of the stage for half an hour signing album covers and stuff and after meeting and greeting
we went to the after party at Teatteri Club VIP with our manager BOB and some record company folks.
I lost my extra t-shirt somewhere and you know how you sweat on stage. Wasn't nice for the ones with me but I just
didn't want to go home to change. Who cares after a show like that..?

I was home at around five with my stomach filled with Kebab. I can only sit on my balcony and smile.
If I'd die now, I'd probably go with a smile on my face ....



Blog from 29. November 2006

Berlin

Yesterday we played NRJ live in Helsinki for our wonderful home audience. The NRJ staff said there was more audience
seeing our show than in a long time in similar events and the atmosphere was just fantastic.
I got to sleep at three AM and I had to be awake early to go to the morning show of YLEX rock station..
The VJ Peltsi mentioned Raul's dirty boy band past twice.

We flew to Berlin in the afternoon. Jörn, our beloved limo driver was there waiting for us together with his colleague
Eik and they took us directly to the VIVA TV station to join a live TV show. America! There were some fans waiting
for us outside the door and also some body guards with black suits and headsets.
Men in black! The program was in German and we got the translation through our ear monitors.
I guess it was the first time for Sami and Raul on a live TV talk show outside Finland.
We have had some of those with Janne before. I accidentally said Cookie-George (Muschi-Klaus) live on the show.
Ooops! We had a quick signing session outside the TV studio and after that awe headed towards the Post Bahnhof Club
in the center of Berlin to support Madsen together with another Finnish band Disco Ensemble after we won the vote
at MTV Germany. Thank you all for voting! So Finland rules tonight in Berlin.

I'm sitting at our backstage with my feet on my bag and I'm wondering how the week will be. It'll be many interviews
and stuff and we'll be really busy. We perform at The DOME, the biggest pop/rock event in Germany on Friday and tomorrow
will also be about that. We'll get up on the same stage with many local super stars and some international major acts,
such as All Saints. On Saturday we'll play in TUI Arena in Hannover for some 13.000 viewers. Cool.
Sound check will start soon. I'm so hungry right now but it's too late for me to eat before the show.
Can't really perform with my stomach full ....

The show was so cool! 900 listeners. I'm so tired even though we played only seven songs. I'm lying topless at the
backstage dreaming about a hotel bed waiting for me in Düsseldorf where we'll start driving
(600 Km) as soon as the pulse has come down back to normal.

On the way we saw Into The Blue DVD featuring Jessica Alba and friends. It's so nice to look at her work.
She's so good .... I mean a great actress. Janne is sleeping next to me and Jukka passed away on the back seat an hour ago.
Raul, Sami and MP follow us in the other van. We left Mikko in Berlin.
He'll fly to Finland tomorrow for a show of his own band "Häiriköt." Their hit song is called "Violence is the answer ...."
I'm not that much into violence right now. I think I'll join Janne and Jukka and close my eyes for the rest of the trip.
The screen of the navigation system says 300 Km to go and the speed seems to be 195 / hour on a German autobahn.

I didn't remember how good a quality hotel bed could feel. I'll dive into the bed and start dreaming about Jessica and her
diving sessions. Tomorrow is a long day again I guess.



Blog from 30. November 2006

Day off in Düsseldorf

The bell rang at 10 in the morning. I jumped straight to the shower. We had agreed to meet in the lobby at 1030 and head
straight to the venue. I had just washed my hair and put the conditioner on my hair as the water turned cold. Cold as hell.
I stood there for a while hoping for the situation to change, but no. I even called Julia
(still all the not -so -tasty chemicals on me) if she would have something else but ice water in her room,
but no. We all know how easily the conditioner gets off with cold water. I had to stand there for 15 minutes.
I'm sure if the water had been any colder, it would have been ice cubes coming out of the pipe.

Jörn's warm limo van cheered me up a bit. After having the some coffee at the venue it was our time for camera rehearsal.
We'll have the bombs and flames and stuff but also a laser show tomorrow. The show's producer and the guy who operates
the equipment said we must look forward during the whole show.
Otherwise we'd get free eye-operation. They said it could really damage your eyes.
They also said it's ok to feel this warm kind of burning feeling on you cheek!!!
Cool. We played the song Fairytale Gone Bad a couple of times for the cameras and went back to the press
section for interviews. The camera rehearsals are done so the director and the cameramen know how we move on stage
tomorrow at the actual show.

Sami, Jukka and Raul got off already at two PM. Janne, Bob, Julia and I went to one of the biggest radio stations NRW
to an interview and to play a couple of songs acoustic. There we also signed the guitar that Hoobas
Tank had signed some months before.
After the session at NRW we were also free. We've never had this much free time on our German trips before.
First we all had lunch at Subway's and after eating Jukka, Janne and I went shopping. We bought mostly perfumes and stuff.
It was really nice to have our own driver Jörn driving us around. I don't have a driver for shopping trips in my country ;)

So we have an evening off and the pick up tomorrow is at 1:30 PM!!!!! Holiday! I'm thinking of having a beer
(you have to if you're in Germany) and play some guitar in my hotel room. We'll have dinner together later on and hopefully
we'll go to bed early. I just have a bad feeling (knowing us all too well) that we'll find ourselves
in the center of Düsseldorf in the middle of the night ....



Blog from 01. December 2006

DOME Düsseldorf

Yesterday evening was so much fun. First we had beers at a tower 180 meters above the city of Düsseldorf.
And after encouraging ourselves with some beers, we went bowling. Yes, bowling. How cool sis that!
It was The band, Julia, MP, two drivers and Bob. Julia won the whole contest but I must say Raul's performance
with the ball was the best of the night. He has a background with ballet and we were all able to see that by
the way he moved with the bowling ball. Jukka won the second round and Raul was on a lead on the third but
then they switched off the electricity and the game was never finished. I'm glad that happened.
I was 21 points away from the 100-point hetero limit and there was only one shot left. Still hetero ....

So now we're at the DOME. We slept really well last night (starting 6 AM). Our hands weren't as shaky on the red
carpet as they were last time. But it's still always pretty exciting. Hundreds of music lovers screaming as you get
out of the limousine. We've done many interviews for magazines, radio, TV and websites and soon we'll get some lunch.
Our show time is 715 PM and after that we get to hang out at the venue.
Later on we'll go to the official after party to have some free drinks together with the local and
international superstars. Today we have bombs on our show but also the lasers. I hope they don’t burn my hair ....

Jeeeesuuuuus!!! That was cool! The only down side is that on these events you only perform one song and as soon
as you have the adrenalin running like Edwin Moses, you must get off stage. The screaming was awesome!
It was some 9.000 viewers. And of course behind TV screens there are millions. The lasers were even cooler than I expected.

Now were sitting at our back stage and we're waiting for the grand ending when all the performers get up on stage together.
And I'm sure the party will go on at the DOME after party somewhere in the center of Düsseldorf.
Last time we got to the hotel at 7 AM. We'll see how late it'll be this time.
We play a full show for a full TUI arena in Hannover tomorrow and it would be good if it wouldn't be five corpses on stage.



Blog from 02. December 2006

Hannover

It was a very long night last night - again! We partied until the morning. I guess I was in bed at 630 AM.
First we went to the noisy after party. Probably at three we called our drivers to pick us up and take us to the hotel.
We were supposed tohave only one beer with the All Saints gang in the lobby bar, but finally at five we all we walking
towards this gay bar nearby. The gang with me at that point was Jukka, Sami, Julia MP and also this totally weird German
grand father who didn't speak a word English and he also did this odd jodling sound every now and then.
I was amazed how wanted I was among the gay bar customers. Nobody scored!

Now we're in Hannover at TUI arena backstage after our sound check. It was a disaster.
The company providing us with the stuff on stage (or someone) did not deliver what we need and the whole
check was a mess. Also our FOH engineer missed his connecting flight and we had to survive without him.
I just hope all stuff will work in the evening. I mean it's still 10.00 listeners. I need a hot shower at the hotel now.



Blog from 03. December 2006

On the way home

We're 10 miles high above Denmark on the way home. We signed some autograph cards as soon as the plane took off.
It's sometimes a bit annoying to do that in such public places (some of the passengers might give mean looks ....)
but the girl who wanted them for herself and her friend was too sweet for us to say no.

The show yesterday was really cool although on stage and behind the stage it was a terrible mess.
Still the lights and explosives (that they mentioned about to us 10 minutes before the show)
saved the night and we heard that it sounded and looked extremely good for the audience.
It's just that if your hearing is bad on stage, it's so hard and so much work to sing.
But still, I must say it's pretty cool to see an arena filled with 10.000 music lovers raising their hands
up and singing our song with us. The noise was huge!

After the show we went to the after party (again;=), but it was not long late as yesterday. And no gay bars this time.
Also our drivers Jörn and Eik joined us for partying and that was cool. It's really nice to have cool and nice guys
driving you when you go from a town to another. We spend quite much time together with them too.
Now the flight attendants are approaching with food plates and I'll finish writing.
Next show on Tuesday in Jämsä on Finland's Independence Day party.
For those who didn't know, my country got independent on the 6th of December 1917.



Blog from 10. December 2006

Stuttgart NRJ Music Tour

Yesterday we were in Stuttgart playing for the NRJ Music Tour. The day started with awakening at 0630 at home in Helsinki
and of course I had slept mighty 2 and a half hours. So picking up Jukka by taxi and to the airport.
I was supposed to sleep in the plane but we were talking about everything and when we came to Frankfurt I was dead tired.

Our regular driver Dirk and his colleague Stefan were waiting for us with their minivans. Dirk was driving me and Janne
some months ago all over Germany as we were touring radio and television stations with acoustic guitars.
Then Dirk drove me nicely to a doctor in the middle of the night as my flu was about to destroy my throat.
He even paid the medicine with his own money as they accepted only cash.

Julia, Bob and Bob's daughter Rosie were waiting for us at the hotel and we had a quick lunch before driving to the arena
with the NRJ event's drivers. The place was put up really cool for the evening's party.
An arena of 10.000 people was supposed to be filled up. For once the sound check didn't have any problems in this kind
of radio show. We had in addition to Mixer-Mikko and Monitor-Mikko our new technician Karri who seems to be a good guy.
After the check to a hot shower in the hotel. My throat is somewhat sore again.

A totally super gig. There was a 10 metre long cat walk on the stage along which Janne, Raul and I could go in the middle
of the crowd while spot lights were shining. It is pretty cool to stand in the middle of 10.000 people,
them waving their hands and singing your song. Short gig of five songs
(Choose to be me, Diamonds, Forever Yours, Fairytale and All because of you) and to the backstage to pour sweat.
Probably the coolest show ever in Germany. Our new stage technician Karri poured me a sip of rum to my mug before
Forever Yours in order to get the slime out of the throat. It helped!

After the gig we had a meet and greet with local NRJ competition winners where the prize was to be able
to meet us sweaty (!!??) after the gig. Hundred photos and autographs for everyone and finally to the backstage
for our own pre-Christmas ritual.

In Düsseldorf a week ago we had each drawn a name from a hat to whom we had to buy a 15 euro Christmas present.
Everybody had remembered to buy a present (Janne, Raul, Sami, Jukka, Bob, MP, Mikko, Julia and me)
Karri was shooting and Rosie acted as a Christmas elf. Janne got from Julia a golf game to the backstage and Raul
got from Bob belly dancing gear. I had bought to Sami Stefan Lindfors' design condoms and an ovulation circulation counter.
Jukka got a NECK SUPPORT (!!!) from MP and some heartburn medicine. Mikko had bought Bob an English version of the
Finnish classic "Unknown Soldier" book (good) and MP got a scented candle series from Jukka.
Everybody's hobbies were in a big role clearly when choosing the presents.
Sami had gotten BMX biking magazines and batteries to Mikko. Julia, who has been taught the most essential phrases
in Finnish, got from Janne a cap where it says "yksi olut kiitos" (one beer, please) and I got from Julia a black Superman
shirt that Tarja has to pimp to a stage condition.

Next we checked new Sunrise Avenue clothing and fan stuff that Bob brought from London. Jesus they looked good.
You will see soon. They will be on the market during spring. The ladies' pink hooded jacket is coolest in the world.

We made a couple of video interviews at the hotel and I answered to a Bravo magazine interview in German with
the help of Julia. To the shower and after parties. There will be waiting at least free drinks and if old signs
were to be believed also the people from the local fan club. But as we were so dreadfully tired and hungry and
as there was no food served in the after parties, we decided to head for the city and find an Italian restaurant.
As we didn't find an Italian one or anything we decided together to go to McDonald's.
Stomachs full for everybody. And to sleep at three!!!

So now we have slept for 10 hours and we are riding with our driver Dirk (Captain Dirk) to Munich.
We have a day off today and tomorrow the first thing is around five in the evening when we practicing for the Tuesday
evening's PRO7 TV show. This sleeping thing is worth a try another time also ....
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