Hello Tarja, how are you? Thank you for being here with us, it's a pleasure to interview you.
- It's a pleasure to do an interview with you.

- First of all, let me say that it's about time for all the awards you've received this year...Finland's most elegant woman, your single went gold, various awards with Nightwish...without a doubt it's the best year of your career, isn't it? How do you feel after having spent so much time working so hard and now having it paid off?
- Of course, I must admit I feel very good right now. The press and people in general have shown much appreciation for my work, so that makes me happy. The work to mold my voice and have the image that I have has required years of work, so I can definitely be proud of that.

- I've always wondered what came first - the chicken or the egg. In your case, which came first - metal or opera?
- I studied church singing at Sibelius Academy (the only music university in Finland), and then I joined the band. Honestly I was leaning toward classical music, but my life changed radically when I joined Nightwish and success entered my life. I still have appreciation for classical singing, but Nightwish takes all my time so I haven't had the option to do many classical concerts by myself.

- August 17 was your 28th birthday and Nightwish started in 1997, when you were 19. In 8 years you have become one of the foremost singers in gothic metal. Has it been hard for you to have all this happen in such a short time?
- In the beginning it was very hard to understand all the changes that were happening to me and the reasons for them. The recognition came too fast and I wasn't prepared for it, but finally I was able to handle it. My family was supporting me from the beginning, and my friends accepted my new reality and that they would see me very little during those 8 years. It's a lot of time actually, but that time has had many changes.

- Currently you've released your successful single and now a live CD of Noche Escandinava. Is this just a gift to your fans, or do you have plans for a future studio album?
- My Christmas single, "Yhden enkelin unelma," is part of the next Christmas album and it was never planned to be released anywhere outside of Finland, because of the content. Its success was a huge surprise which I honestly did not expect. The CD will be released at the end of 2006, so it will still be a while. And Noche Escandinava has been put on my website for the fans. Many people have been asking for stuff from my classical concerts, so when I did the 2nd concert in South America I decided to record it in Buenos Aires to release it later for the fans. I sang with my composer friends from Finland in Finnish and Swedish.

- If that's so, do you already have in mind what it will sound like? (In English, in Finnish, rock, pop, goth, opera...)
- Through Noche Escandinava I will start a solo career. But that will come later.

- You sing very different styles. Have you found it difficult to disconnect from one style when going to the other? These styles of music require you to have different vocal registers - how do you practice with your voice for all aspects?
- I don't find it difficult to switch, because the styles are so different. This is why I never confuse what I do. The only thing in common with both styles is the fact that I sing. When I sing, I never practice aggressive singing like in metal, only classical singing and its techniques. I use my classical style to sing in Nightwish. I've practiced classical singing since I was 17 and actually right now I'm taking singing lessons. The work in itself shows me how I'm progressing through hard work. You can't learn to sing in a short period of time - it can take years. In addition I give classes to students of classical singing. Singing with Nightwish was very hard at the beginning of my career with the band, because there wasn't anyone to ask for help from. I didn't want to take singing lessons from a pop music teacher, so I learned on my own. All the aspects of my voice that you hear today come from myself.

- Given the musical variety in all of your genres, what would be your ideal audience, or the concert of your dreams?
- My own concert, with a huge production and with the musicians I've always wanted to play with.

- Do you expect your single to have such great success in other countries? In Spain your single has entered and stayed in the top ten sales lists for some weeks now...
- It was a wonderful surprise for me to see my single be a success. As I've said, I was only going to release it in Finland. In the end some things got mixed up and it entered the lists in Germany, and then in Spain which was incredible. Now it's funny because it's a Christmas single and it entered the lists in April.

- You'll be supporting this single on tour in Europe this Christmas, stopping in Barcelona. Can you give your fans an idea of what these solo concerts will be like? For example, how long, what songs will be performed, if you'll do a Christmas song adapted for opera...
- I will be doing an hour and a half with a break in the middle. There will be a piano accompanist, a string quartet and a flutist. The concerts will include traditional Finnish songs, arias, and some famous Christmas songs.

- What do you imagine your life being like in 10 years?
- Really I can't say, probably singing somewhere. )

- Among your collaborations with other artists is Martin Kesici. Here in Spain, he's pretty much unknown. But judging by the video for "Leaving You For Me" which he recorded with you, we assume he must be someone quite famous in his own country. What can you tell us about him?
- He is a very prominent rock singer in Germany and that song is from his second album.

- Going back to Nightwish...when Century Child came out, people started criticizing Nightwish for going commercial. What do you think about this album?
- That's a surprise because I don't really think that that CD was commercial at all. It's the darkest CD Nightwish has done, and it helped us put a lot of things behind us.

- When Nightwish came here in November, you said that you were going to record a live DVD with the London Symphony Orchestra, but now we hear you're going to be doing that by yourselves at the final concert on this tour. What happened to the original idea?
- We're not going to do the orchestra concert this year, because that will be a very expensive thing for us to do right now. We do have it planned for the future, but nothing's been set in stone. The last Nightwish concert in Helsinki this year will be the biggest concert of our career.

- The majority of the members of Nightwish are around 30, while Marco is about 40, having had a rather colorful musical career. Being the oldest, what sort of role does he play in the band?
- As you know he joined us a few years ago. He came at a moment when a lot of things were happening with Nightwish. For his long career with other metal bands, he was the natural choice for this band. He's a wonderful person and a great musician.

- Now we're almost at the end of the interview. Thank you once again for your time and we wish you the best. Do you have any words for your fans?
- I hope to see many of you at my Christmas concert in Barcelona. I'm very happy to have this concert and I hope you enjoy it as much as me. See you!