Anette Parting with Nightwish

[Traxan]

C, I think the Denver tantrum was simply the last straw for the band but the first hints we had something was wrong.

Am I the only person who finds this suspicious? You don't just ring up a singer like Floor Jansen and say 'Hey, wanna fly 6,000 miles and come on tour?' I suspect Tuomas had her on standby in case things melted down. Which by all accounts, they have.

 

[C.]

^Don't get me wrong, I really hope it's not health issues that kept her from parting ways with the band, but I would think as open as Anette is on her blog, she would have mentioned that if this were the case. Maybe they don't know for sure yet what is wrong with her. I don't wish illness or death on anyone, so I would rather be mad at her for leaving due to hurt feelings than to be sad if she died.

Besides, I'm sure the Tarjaholics out there are not only cheering that she's gone, but would be cheering if she *did* have cancer too. I wouldn't.

Thanks to you C. for letting your inner bitch loose, you rule! Reminds me of the past days, hahah...!

Hey, I aim to please.

I have to agree this does sound a bit suspicious how quickly Floor was brought in to save the day. Perhaps these tensions with Anette have been brewing for a long time and the band has been in talks with her because they might have had a feeling that they wouldn't finish out the tour with Anette?

I mean, judging by some things Anette has written in her blog, she appears to have been left out of a lot of things that were "band-involved", and that totally echoes of the Tarja days when the two camps were split entities. If this is the case, it's sad if the guys still have not learned anything about how to treat their ladies after all these years. Then again, maybe it is for their betterment for this reason that they get a vocalist like Floor, who has lived life on the road and knows how to handle the unique position of being the only female in the band.

Well, since it seems that Floor will be at the meet-and-greet instead of Anette, does anyone recommend a very cheap AF item I can buy to get signed?

 

[Melusina]

Floor happened to have a valid visa because she performed at ProgPower in Atlanta just a couple of weeks ago. I don't know whether she went home afterwards or had any reason to stay in the USA for the past two weeks. Anyway, her swift arrival to save Nightwish still looks somewhat suspicious to me. But maybe i'm just paranoid... LOL!
!

Wow now isn't that convenient.

 

[SheisMySin]

I'm the biggest Tarjaholic out there, but I still liked Annette after this last albumn. I'm definitely not cheering that she's gone.

At least with Annette, we knew what we had in her. This whole process just makes the unknown scary all over again.

X

 

[C.]

I think the likelihood of Anette coming back is far more probable than Tarja.

I have been thinking for some time that due to these tensions that seem to go on with their female singers, maybe Tuomas would be better off making Nightwish more like an Ayreon-type project, and having guest singers on the albums and for the tours, rather than putting us fans through the wringer time and time again with replacement vocalists that never work out?

Oh, and Anette has officially closed her blog. Here's her "final statement":

Dear blog readers:
With this I say farewell to you and this blog. This blog was a way for me, as the singer in NW, to keep more in touch with you NW fans. Now when this chapter has ended, there is no more need for me to do this blog and from today I close it.
I want to thank you all for being my readers for so many years, for your loving support and I wish you all a happy and healthy life! Stay kind to others and live life easy!
Lots of love,
Anette Olzon (from now on just Anette Olsson;=)

 

[Traxan]

Man that's an unusual ending given there are so many questions. Like her health.

I'm getting a bad feeling that the next thing we hear will be a death notice.

 

[Twaddlefish]

I really liked Anette's voice, it's just a shame for me that her career with the band ended on the worst album they've done by a large margin. Which is weird, because DPP is my favourite. Like someone above said, I hope it's all backstabby nonsense and she's okay and not really ill.

 

[C.]

Now that I've gotten over my initial shock and being pissed off, I am thinking that it must be her health or something really serious, because I don't think anyone would cancel a tour right in the middle if either party could help it.

 

[crimrose]

This is all so strange. On the one hand, it feels very planned (Anette saying she's studying to be a nurse on the side -- what a coincidence! -- and then Floor just HAPPENS to be able to fly many miles to go on tour and has practiced the songs and knows the lyrics off by heart...yeah, sure).

On the other hand, though, it feels very...unplanned. What I mean is that I think that they had planned on Anette leaving sometime in the near future, perhaps at the end of the tour? (Definitely makes a lot more sense than this.) But something prompted them (and her) to immediately stop. Something major, because honestly, it just doesn't fit. When does a band ever call it quits with their lead vocalist, in the middle of their world tour for their very popular latest album, unless something truly serious has happened?

This also leads me to think that Anette is facing a very, very uncertain future regarding her health and that it would be unwise, bordering on stupid, for her to continue touring. So yes, perhaps she had long planned to leave, and it seems obvious that the guys had long planned on her leaving eventually, but I strongly suspect this liver cyst is culprit for it being RIGHT NOW. I wouldn't be surprised if doctors had advised her against it until they actually know what's wrong with her. Tests take time, and if it turns out that it really is something very serious (and it very well could be, liver problems are USUALLY serious), why would you want to get that news on tour, in a high-stress situation, where you are physically exhausted and you don't have your family there? She needs her family and her friends with her at this time. She needs security, and that means being at home, in a familiar place, with low stress and low strain on her body.

Hopefully it's just pointless drama, of course, but I honestly do not think that NW would be willing to part with yet another singer over some silly drama all over again. This puts them in a seriously bad position.

 

[C.]

^Crimrose! Where have you been? Long time, no see!

 

[crimrose]

^Hey, C! Nowhere in particular. Took a long break from forums, just a lot of drama and blah. But I had to de-lurk to give my thoughts on the latest NW drama, of course! Other than that, not much is different. School, work. Procrastinating on a paper I'm meant to be writing, of course...

Again, though, maybe it's naive of me to think that NW has learned anything from the Tarja drama, but I feel like they seriously did not want this to happen. I do get the distinct impression that this split is mostly on Anette's end, simply because on her blog, she genuinely sounded...not happy, but absolutely relieved not to be The Nightwish Singer anymore. And I can totally understand that, especially if she is facing major health problems, and even more especially if those health problems could be life-threatening. I feel like on the second try, the guys would probably have been more willing to compromise...but perhaps I'm wrong, of course. I think it's just her tone of total relief that makes me think it was mostly her who was set on leaving, and not them wanting her to leave. Plus that they seemed to have, most of the time, a generally amicable relationship. In the Toronto show a week and a half ago, they seemed very happy. Anette and Tuomas hugged on stage, they laughed together and told jokes and etc etc. We never expected this.

 

[C.]

Yeah, I think in some ways this is even more of a shock than when Tarja was booted. There were signs a little longer in advance than there were here. I mean, it was just like, "Anette goes to the hospital, Anette's mad about the replacement singers, boom, Anette's gone". Whereas with Tarja, there had been speculation for months that things were not going good. I even remember reading an interview someone did with them about a month before the open letter and saying how it felt like they weren't getting along so well.

This is definitely no less shocking, but I think the way it happened is probably more of a surprise. This does make me think it is health-related, due to how quickly everything went down.

Anyway, I'm glad to see you came out of lurking to join us again!

 

[Melusina]

I am guessing like with everything it was probably a combination of factors and that Anette's health is only one part of the puzzle, she does mention that the "flu" may have been stress induced, I think being NW's front woman might have turned out to be more work than anticipated for her, to be that stress after being with a band for 5 years does not bode well. The more I think about it I have a feeling the band knew this was coming and was trying to make it though the tour and that Anette going into the hospital meant that things had to be pushed forward faster than expected. Of course I could be absolutely wrong on this too.

 

[BaraHime]

She seemed so cheery at the Philly show meet and greet and also out back after the show. I'm so glad I got her to sign my poster from that night. Looks like I'll never get another shot at it. I'm really sad about this, not just because I loved Anette so much, but also because this derails my chibi story involving NW! :Shedevil: I just hope she's not too ill to recover. There are tons of good singers out there who could replace her, but her life is one and only. I hope she's alright.

 

[crimrose]

Yeah, I think in some ways this is even more of a shock than when Tarja was booted. There were signs a little longer in advance than there were here. I mean, it was just like, "Anette goes to the hospital, Anette's mad about the replacement singers, boom, Anette's gone".

Yeah, exactly. I was definitely more shocked this time than when Tarja was fired. There had always been signs that things were not good between NW and Tarja. It was always a very strained relationship. But Anette, it never felt that way. Sure, they talked about having difficulties, but it was never about THEM having difficulties with each other. At least, not serious rifts. It was always something external, like fans not accepting Anette and going to concerts just to rip on her, or journalists being totally obnoxious, etc. Plus the fact that there is no Letter to Ruin [Insert Singer's Name Here]'s Reputation this time around, P), it makes me think that they still had a friendly relationship, even if their working relationship was not tolerable any longer. I feel that if Anette had done something so truly wrong that made them want to split from her, they would have told the fans. Nightwish tends to be a little too honest in that regard, and I would bet that they would have said something like, "we feel we can no longer go down this road with Anette." Something like that.

 

[C.]

Yeah; that's another thing, she and the band always looked so friendly and comfortable onstage. It really makes me think this has less to do with personal issues between them and more to do with personal issues individually. I hope that it's not her health, or maybe she needed to quit because of the stress and maybe now she can recover. I just feel bad for all the fans out there who bought m&g tickets who wanted to meet Anette and get their stuff signed, and now they'll be one autograph short. At least I got to meet Anette in '08 and my Nightwish calendar got signed. And I have my Imaginaerum CD signed too. So I'm a lot luckier than other folks.

 

[crimrose]

^Yeah. I never got to meet her. I'm sad about that. I always did want to meet her, but I had to leave before she came out at my first NW show, and at my second, NW didn't come out at all.

Maybe it's a strange wish, but I hope they pick someone somewhat unknown again, because I always enjoy hearing a new voice. I was glad they picked a nobody because it allowed me to listen to with completely fresh ears. I haven't heard a lot of Floor, because from what I listened from AF, I wasn't a fan of their music. I hope to like her, especially if she stays on (I don't think she will though, because of her other projects and the fact that she is a creative force in her own right). In theory, she seems a good fit, but we will see.

 

[Danteryu]

At least we can say we got to see her at her best before all this happened.

 

[C.]

Crimrose: I kinda think the same thing too; a known name would be good in the sense that they need someone who can handle the life of touring and the criticism of rabid fans. But on the other hand, a no-name gives that person a chance to shine on their own merit, rather than having a ready-made audience, or certain fans accepting everything they do because of who they are and already knowing them (such as Floor).

 

[crimrose]

^Yeah, and this also brings up something else that I've been thinking. I actually feel really sorry for Anette on this point, that Floor is stepping in. Because Floor has a large established fan base. She is widely considered one of the best female vocalists in the genre. And Floor has a style that could be a lot closer to what Tarja's style was like, so Tarja-fans are going to give her a MUCH warmer reception, because she is their idea of what a "metal queen" should be. That's another part of the problem; Anette never fit the bill of "metal", and I get the impression that, with her outfits on this tour, she REALLY tried to get into the character of a metal singer a lot more, but it was already too late. Now, I never cared what Anette wore. Sure, some of her outfits were wacky, and at worst, ugly. But who cares? The strictly metal fan base, that's who. The ones who want to be tr00 metal all the time and detest anything in the subculture that remotely resembles non-metal.

So Floor is receiving a very warm reception, a warm welcome. What a slap in the face to Anette, who got death threats -- and not just one or two, but MANY of them. Put it this way: How would you feel if you lost your job, they hired a new person, and your co-workers essentially said, "wow, we're glad you left, this person is soooo much better! (I hope you do get cancer and die, btw!)" Not saying that ALL fans are saying that, of course, but there are enough of those people around, for sure.