Nightwish - Walking in the air (19.9.2009 Helsinki)

[@marklayton5374]

She has an absolutely beautiful voice. Melts me.

[@sirencall8073]

I don't think I have ever heard something as beautiful as this, Anette, you're perfect 💜

[@chrisr9764]

This is truely an incredible live performance. I don’t know why Tuomas didn’t put this on every set list when he heard this performance.

[@leoguitar01]

Beautiful version

[@Aurinkohirvi]

There you go! Anette sings this very beautifully. Haters will hate, but rest will admit it's beautiful. Anette's version is innocent, sweet and soft, Tarja's is strong, clear and angelic. Love'em both.
And as usual from her era... audience captured and the audio/video quality is very low.

[@stefanogombi134]

Merveilleuse Anette. Voix parfaitement modulée

[@drmerdcver]

Simply beautiful. I love the emotion Anette brings out in the songs. Her beautiful melodic voice doesn't overpower the emotions Tuomas pours into the music like Tarja's did.

[@jesusantonioechavarriadelgado]

This song is not by Tuomas, Anette and Troy performed the original version of the snowman, not the version that Tuomas decomposed for Tarja.ruclips.net/video/5A3THighARU/видео.html&ab_channel=uderzo1984

[@savinedawn3556]

I like this better, it is very similar to original Walking in the Air. This song simply needs a childlike voice like this.

[@raniahb2366]

This is pure magic

[@TheHect20]

ahora que escucho bien esta cancion con anette, debo decir que mil disculpas, ella realmente tiene una hermosa voz

[@trotyi2562]

Por lo menos lo reconoces, otros sin escucharla o sin casi escucharla se dejan llevar por los malos comentarios y no quieren cambiar su opinión de ella así estén equivocados

[@BrenRivero]

I really love this acoustic version! Anette did a great job, and she sing with her sweet voice :)

[@saah89]

Thats cute!!!
She`s singing so gracefully in this song

[@DJUncleSlappy]

I was blown away by this at the gig it bought a tear to my eye utterly brilliant!

[@sjm20043]

this version was awesome, I'm a Tarja fan, but this version is breathtaking, congratulations Anette, I know the risk that you take replacing Tarja Turunen's place, but your evolve is simply amazing, go ahead and I know that Imaginarium will show us the beauty of your voice and your technique. Nightwish forever lml

[@l1509X]

qué hermosa canción, y qué hermosa que suena la voz de Anette, quedé sorprendido!

[@mofrakker]

Wow! Wasn't expecting her to be this good. Why the hell they haven't put out a Live DVD with the old stuff (like this). This is a very authentic sound, Annette gives it an almost medieval feel, Tarja gave a more operatic approach. Guess what? They both rock! Nigthwish Rules!!

[@ElinevanderLaan]

I love it! :D So sweet with Anette, she's amazing.

[@sommarmorgon]

She sounded so beautiful in this song. It really touched my heart.

[@strangergv1]

This was the best verison of this song. Anette truly has an incredible singing voice. No other singer touches me more than Anette and for sure Sharon Den Adel of Within Temptations. Anette and Sharon Den Adel, the best of the best.

[@DomiPordeus]

Amazing, I have tears in my eyes :'D

[@LigeiaNoire]

It is beautiful! I wanted so much but really so much that Nw had turn this show onto a dvd, she deserved a dvd so bad, she was breathtaking here and they, of course, couldn't care less. My favourite is Tarja's version, as it caters to my taste but this is much more in tune with the film, perfect rendition. Nightwish's music would have been in a much more interesting and heartfelt place if they kept the Imaginaerum path instead of the overblown pipe folk shit they have been doing.

[@marimarilis3715]

Better than the original!!!

[@sombrina1995]

this is beautiful! so much better than the studio version

[@sofialuz6]

liar!

[@scarletfairy6161]

sofialuz6 he's right. Studio version is so much opera.. I think this version is better..

[@lowroar5127]

This version is 10000000 better than the studio version!!

[@karlottokurt]

Thank you so much for sharing this with us.
It s just awesome! : )
I really hope for a dvd.

[@mountainvero]

wow... i love anette's voice in this song! awesome!!

[@wellingtondefreitas.2743]

Anette mostra a calmaria melódica da música , porém a Tarja explode a energia obscura que contem no poema .

[@23lonelywolf]

Wow. "Walking in the Air" regresa en su versión original ("The Snowman") y Troy Donockley tuvo el honor de tocarla junto a ellos. Viva Nightwish!! :D

[@BackwardsManifesto]

Fuck, that's amazing. I had a tear in my eye watching that. :)

[@seledkavsahare]

Anette is such a courage woman. I adore her since I've seen her singing live. It's an increadible feeling. Even I could feel sitting 100 meters away from the scene all 6 members of Nightwish (incl Troy) are really getting on well together. No matter what I'll always remember that feeling of happines that you gave me during the show. Thank you.

[@MarysiaKosowski]

Wow! I didn't expect this to sound so good, and it does, it sounds very beautiful. Way to go, Anette! And I consider the Oceanborn version to be the pinnacle of perfection for this song, even including the original cartoon version, so that's saying a lot. :P

[@StellaFiver]

this almost made me cry all over again. I can't believe it's almost been a week... so beautiful.
thank you for filming and posting :)

[@NataliaNightwisher]

Very beautiful version :)

[@DamnImSoBored123]

this is my favorite version of the song...it was so beautiful and simple. i imagine singing this on a cold winter night :D (we don't have snow in my country)

[@dontdosadness]

Anette

[@XxBibcsixX]

To be honest,in this song i like Anette more than Tarja.This song doesn't need operatic vocals,it's better with Anette's warm,sweet and angelic voice.Tarja's voice..is little bit "too much" for me in this song.In other songs i really love her vocals but not in this one.

[@reafras]

@linalida you must be kidding me... it's just you who haven't heard enough classical singers while hearing natural singing all around so it's pretty much the only reason you think that way. anette's versatility in singing styles and natural voice is quite unique while tarja is a mediocre classical singer who isn't able to be successful in her actual league..she got the success by being lucky for nw
stop making out of a goddess of her just because she sings with classical way in metal

[@boteci2001]

Had to miss the last concert of this tour... But I'm glad there is You Tube, so we can see some of this last DPP concert:-)

[@SeaKitten00]

@hemetravenwing
Ignore him, his hates the fact that nightwish is so successful without tarja that he finds any means to prove that DPP isn't as successful or hasn't sold as many copies as Once

[@shannaravel]

Amazing performance. Great Anette !

[@liveforlife2494]

Love this performance! Seriously, people need to stop insulting Anette and saying that Tarja is better than her. I prefer Tarja myself as the lead NW singer, but I respect Anette for what she does. Anette is a great singer in her own field, and this is concrete proof. Tarja and Anette are from completely different backgrounds and have different styles. It's pointless to compare the two. It's like holding up an iPod and a Snuggie and asking which one is the better product. So Anette haters, stop.

[@IDislikeCowards]

It's probably something more like Tarja said she FELT like a guest singer, because of how the rest of the band was treating her. Of course she wasn't a guest singer, she co-founded the band with Tuomas and Emppu.
If you want to see someone who's looking for popularity by being in Nightwish, she's right here in this video, and her name is Anette Olzon. She was unknown till she got her "job" with NW.
Now she has her own website, peddling her own merchandise, and working on a solo album.

[@barrry9]

Not sure why there are people with a problem with this being an acoustic version - IMHO the sign of a GOOD song is that it works in its "full on" form and as an acoustic/alternate version. And this, IMO, is a good song :p

[@IDislikeCowards]

Toumas might be the one who writes the notes on paper, but the rest of the band are the ones who bring those notes to life. It is THEIR heart and soul which go into how the music eventually sounds, and the vocalist is the one who brings to life the lyrics of the song.
Tuomas IS in other bands, but those other bands are nowhere near as good as Nightwish used to be, as the ENTIRE band is what made it what it was, and that includes Tarja.
The combination was perfect.

[@IDislikeCowards]

Here's what Anette herself had to say in an interview...
"When I read about Tarja's departure, I was in an ABBA-cover band," says Olzon. "I had just heard of Nightwish a couple of months before Tarja got fired, so I didn't know the band or its history at all. "

[@Ahasverus92]

Beautiful....

[@IDislikeCowards]

What became obvious was that Tarja's vocals were quite powerful, and that is what gave Tuomas the idea to experiment with metal based songs. Emppu switched to an electric guitar and they asked Jukka to join them to play drums.
Emppu played both guitar and bass on the first album, Angels Fall First, then they brought on Sami to play bass for the 2nd album, Oceanborn.
As far as Floor Jansen, if her voice had the same "color" as Tarja's, After Forever would be much more popular.

[@omtuomas]

that's nightwish...'' i 've always longed for''...!!!!! :P
amazing voice & style!!!great work annette!!!!!

[@reafras]

Anette is truly innocent here! LOL.
Nightwish was looking for a singer, and she was one of the 1000 people who wanted to join to this band. And she joined. She won!. She deserved it. (Her personality, her talent made her win) What she won is a job... Of course she will have them.

[@reafras]

Tarja was Tuomas' friend and Tuomas asked her to be his bands lead singer. And she accepted Lead singer could be someone else in the school.
Idea was really special: "Creating a power metal band with an opera vocal."
This idea really liked by too many people and Nightwish became a world class band.
An example for you: After Forever's vocal has such a powerful voice as tarja's. And her voice color is really similar to tarja's voice color. I mean Tarja's voice isn't unique.

[@LTA..V.I]

the best walking in the air so far

[@IKEAFTW]

Dark Passion Play have sold 126 084 copies in Finland so far, making it the 26th best selling album EVER, in Finland.
Once have only sold 107 288 :)

[@IDislikeCowards]

Untalented people can hit high notes. It's HOW you hit those notes, and how you make those notes FLOW, that distinguishes a talented singer from an ordinary person.

[@LovingLife411]

I did that too- I told everyone not to bother me,
that I was missing the last concert for DPP,
so I would be blasting the CD
in my room and mourning. HaHa
This is amazing! I really
wish they would have had it recorded!

[@IKEAFTW]

"Dont let anyone out there try and fool you, cause the only place where you can "talk" to us is in NW webpage or for me, this blog."

[@misieq4168]

It's been a while since I heard something from Oceanborn sung live. Amazing!

[@soraelegido]

this is wonderfull =)

[@IDislikeCowards]

@soulsurrender
A huge reason people liked Nightwish was that their songs were metal even if they were not written that way. Take for instance Over the Hills and Far Away, or this song, Walking in the Air.
It's that power and energy that really made Nightwish stand out. The way they perform this song now is just a very ordinary and unexciting rendition of a song that they used to, as you say, "soar" with.
It's just sad to see where they are now compared to where they were musically.

[@MusicalLover6]

This is lovely. I love both versions of this song, now. Its very celtic sounding here. Where the other one was very classical.
Anyway, this song can be interpreted different ways. They didn't write it, lol. Chill people.

[@oamadeife]

"Tarja was NOT sloppy when she first started with Nightwish. Go find some early NW videos and point out where they made mistakes"
Thing is, when Tarja began to sing, no1 has already known her

[@HeartsEyes]

@musicredshoes Tarja didn't have any solo training when Nightwish started, she went to the academy later, so that is probably the reason why there was improvement compared to her earlier capacities.
And Anette's voice was very much broken by the DPP tour, so it's actually the same thing as with Tarja in 2005, that she seemed to get better the more she could recover towards the end.
And I totally agree with you, (Tarja is not my fave soprano, but I do respect her) and I am happy for both singers!

[@reafras]

No, not only orchestral arrangement and lyrics. In almost every album, tuomas writes all of the songs except 2-3 songs. In almost every song, Emppu plays what Tuomas writes. If Emppu writes the main riff you see his name as the composer. (But vocal and some other parts are from Tuomas).
About bass and drum arrangements, they must fit in the main melody of the song (which is usually written by tuomas). So, there are too many bass player or drummer to arrange that parts as marco or jukka)

[@THK1978]

Me too... though I love NW's studio version of this song, nothing beats it. :) But imo Anette does it better live... it just works better. :)

[@IDislikeCowards]

Thing is, Tarja was and is a classical singer, yet she sang rock songs, and did it well, so well that Nightwish became a world class band.
Old Nightwish concerts certainly didn't sound like a middle school talent show. Ever listen to End of an Era or From Wishes to Eternity?

[@IDislikeCowards]

Tuomas wasn't Tarja's friend, more of an acquaintance from the same university. And the original idea for the band wasn't "metal with opera vocals", it was to be campfire music, more of a folk style of music. You can hear one of the original demo songs if you look up Nightwish demo here on RUclips.

[@YuuiNoAi]

@animeclay345 hate no.. that people dislike the way she sings and stop listening to Nightwish yea that I can understand. But to hate someone for that, and going as far as sending death threats as some have, sorry I can't understand it.

[@IDislikeCowards]

From 0:07 - 0:13 I don't see her holding any notes, except for where she uses vibrato throughout the note. At around 1:37 she does in fact hold a note without vibrato in the middle of a verse, so I'll admit I'm wrong there.
She doesn't ALWAYS have a problem, especially in the middle of a verse, but she will often have problems at the end of a verse where she should hold a note without vibrato.
For an example of how it SHOULD sound, check the following video;
watch?v=PfVJu4ERDBQ

[@MaySunsetWalker]

Thank you so much for this vid! I never liked the song too much, but it sounds so much better this soft in my opinion =) do you have other vids?
See ya!

[@WhiteRoseWithering96]

LOL at the people saying "this song is only for Tarja," because this is a cover song from a Christmas movie. :P Personally I like Celtic Woman's cover the best, Tarja and Anette both do a good job.

[@IDislikeCowards]

As far as earning money, Tuomas, Emppu, Jukka, Sami, and later Marco ALL earned money from the band's success.
Did you expect Tarja to refuse to be paid?
As far as who made who famous, they became famous because of the COMBINATION of Tuomas' song writing and Tarja's vocals, as well as Emppu's guitar arrangements, Jukka's percussion arrangments, and Sami (later Marco's) bass arrangements.
In fact, Tuomas doesn't write EVERYTHING, he only writes the orchestral arrangement and lyrics.

[@IDislikeCowards]

Once sold over a million copies, and I doubt DPP sold anywhere near that many in the first few months.
I think DPP was close to one million about a year after it was released, but as you say, sales of ALL Nightwish albums may also have gone up.
Thing is, the official numbers of current sales figures for the various albums are not available anywhere, not publicaly at least.

[@kubatzen]

wow!! its so bad that i couldnt be there in helsinki... :(

[@IDislikeCowards]

And if you find Nightwish's past performances of the song with Tarja "hideous", then you were never a Nightwish fan, you are an Anette fan.

[@Nightowljrm]

I would be so extremely overjoyed for a DVD release...

[@barrry9]

He's already said that he is definitely going to be on the next album - whether he'll be playing the Uilleann pipes or just the whistle (or one of the OTHER instruments he plays)...we'll just have to wait and see

[@DamnImSoBored123]

I don't know what you guys are arguing about. For me, I like Anette because I find her voice beautiful, not because she's good (or not) with techniques and training or stuff which "experts" know about. I just like the way her voice is.

[@Tangakkai]

Although I absolutely adore Tuomas' bombastic opus-songs, it's really nice to heart them play without any kind of backing tracks... really special atmosphere right there!

[@IDislikeCowards]

Wikipedia doesn't say DPP Is the best selling album, it isn't even an accurate source, you or I could go there and make an entry right now saying it sold half of Once or vice versa.
Now, provide an OFFICIAL source which gives the total worldwide sales figures for Once, End of an Era, and Dark Passion Play.

[@reafras]

I didn't say something like "First Idea". Yes, they thought to create a band which makes "campfire music, more of a folk style" music first. But then the special idea came out: "metal with opera vocals".
I didn't mean close friends. But yes, acquaintance is a better. :) Anyway.. the point isn't that.

[@reafras]

Hitting high notes doesn't make a person a great singer :)But makes the person talented. And i am being objective.
Description of great voice can be different for everyone.(Example: I like pure voices)
"Walking in the Air" While singing this song Anette can feel happiness, and someone else can feel excited. Anette doesn't have to feel excited here. :)
Nightwish's songs doesn't have pain or hate. In the Mother&Fathe of The Poet and The Pendulum she sings with the right emotion very well.

[@animeclay345]

@junpei19870 Yeah, same here but in a different sense. Tarja was exactly known to sound like she did on the record when it came to live performances. If you've heard her sing Dark Chest of Wonders live you'll know what I'm talking about right away. What I love about Anette is that she doesn't try. She just does her own thing with the song and clearly is having fun. I can't hate that!

[@drmerdcver]

I don't give a flying fuck what you ppl think. This is beautiful.

[@AmaranthxNightwish]

So beautiful

[@IDislikeCowards]

Point is, being in a cover band isn't the same as being in the original band itself.
Additionally, I didn't bring up the topic here, a stalker (from a different thread) followed me to this video and tried to claim that I was lying about what Anette had said, where it's clear as day what she said, it's on the NW site and her own blog on MySpace.

[@rebuylolz]

I like how people still can't get over Tarja leaving the band and spend the whole day bashing anette and new nightwish videos behind the computer. Very "cowardly" in my opinion. ;) anyway great version of WITA. The acoustic mood brings me back to the AFF days.

[@lunaslyth]

Nightwish rocks

[@barrry9]

Really good quality recording of a very nice performance - I think Troy gives this song a nice extra element with the low/soprano tinwhistles - wonder how it'd have sounded if he'd used the uilleann pipes a little in the song..........

[@mrmikef10]

She is doing great ! But i miss the insane guitar solo :'(

[@RockSidi]

What an awesome performance and I bet it was a great gig!It's also great that Troy Donockley was there with his pipes and I hope we will hear his pipes also in the next album (he plays also in DPP album if someone didn't know)!An awesome ending for this long 2 years tour.

[@THK1978]

I hope they'll do more acoustic songs. :) Like... Ever Dream with only acoustic guitar and Anette's sweet voice? ;)

[@Vrauccia]

I wonder if anybody could expect THIS 2 years ago, when the tour started... But I bet Tuomas did, that's why he picked her =) And she's perfect. I'm sure that next album will be more than amazing, and I can't wait for that! I want the DVD of this show soooo much!

[@jean15june]

actually,anette sounds EXACTLY LIKE THE LITTLE GIRL WHO ORIGINALLY SINGS THIS SONG & she was about maybe 8 or 9 yrs old i think. SO SAD FOR THE BAND!!!!!! THEY RESPECTFULLY & TRULY DESERVE SO MUCH MORE THAN HER!!!!!!!

[@malaleche]

nice, i like both versions, tarja and anette

[@soulsurrender]

*Shrugs* Put it this way, I agree it's not the most mind-blowing performance ever, but neither was Tarja's, at least, for me.
IMHO, I actually appreciate the two different interpretations..Tarja's soars, Anette's twinkles, both evoking different feelings of 'walking in the air', for me at least.
As for comparing Tarja to other classical vocalists, I was referring to her singing classical repertoire, not this song or other crossovers, which of course, is her niche and 'specialty'.

[@IDislikeCowards]

Thing is, Tarja was NOT sloppy when she first started with Nightwish. Go find some early NW videos and point out where they made mistakes, I haven't seen any. Post a YT link if you find one.
Anette is doing a bit better than when she first started, but here I was just responding to people who can't accept documented facts, or who concoct tales to make themselves sound special.

[@evilregalvampiress]

I like Anette! She rocks! I liked Tarja, too! They're both really good!

[@IDislikeCowards]

I'm talking about after they released Angels Fall First. It doesn't count what they did before they released their first album, just like we don't see NW with Anette until after they released DPP.

[@reindeerride]

This was actually Anettes idea. Doing a acoustic version of the song. And of course it´s brilliant! They failed badly with troja if you compare with the original one. That was sang by a boy soprano.

[@SeaKitten00]

Awesome performance, great job annette!!
It's weird how a lot of people are claiming how amazing Tarja is and all, I've heard both live and for some reason people don't seem to notice that Annette just keeps improving and improving and tarja on the other hand is getting worse o_O

[@soulsurrender]

Anyway, it is kinda a pity that this version doesn't rock as hard as the old one, but at the end of the day, it is still the band's decision to perform their music any way they want. I wouldn't mind if they had done a simple acoustic version of this with Tarja way back then either come to think of it.