Back to the US in November??
FAZ, a very reliable German newspaper, has posted a new article claiming that Universal Music plans to send Tokio Hotel back to the United States in November for another tour. This is because after winning a VMA on Sunday, Universal decided to put a lot more money and effort into promoting Tokio Hotel in America, the biggest and toughest market in the world. To read the translated article by Peki of our forums, look below the break.
Just a note for Canadian and Mexican fans that visit our website, I wouldn't expect to see any concert dates because the effort is really on the US, but anything could happen.
UPDATE: Fans in Québec, Canada are reporting that today one of the hosts on their radio station, CKOI, said that Tokio Hotel would be returning to Montreal in November. So, there may be hope for Canadian fans!
An unexpected award from MTV has given Universal Music a boost in their efforts to establish the German teen band Tokio Hotel in America. The sales numbers of Tokio Hotel's music in the American online music store iTunes have climbed steadily over the past few days, on Tuesday, their album ‘Scream' was at position 19 in the charts. On Sunday, the band won the ‘Best New Artist' award at the annual MTV Video Music Awards.
Universal launched a campaign this year to make the band a success in the US, too. "The American market is the largest in the world, so we're investing more money to establish Tokio Hotel there than in any other country," the head of Universal Germany, Frank Briegmann, told our newspaper. It's a daring experiment, because the US is said to be a tough market in which few strangers become stars, especially if they're not from English-speaking countries. One of the few real, big German successes was singer Nena with her song ‘99 Red Balloons' in 1983. But Universal felt encouraged by Tokio Hotel's great success in other countries to try their luck in the US. Tokio Hotel had their breakthrough in Germany in 2005 and landed hits in countries like France and Poland soon after.
This spring, the band released their first English record, ‘Scream', in America and made it to position 39 in the Billboard charts. Sales went back a bit after that, which Briegmann claims to have anticipated from the start: "More effort and work is required in America. We knew that from the beginning." Briegmann feels reassured by online sales numbers after the award now, and hopes that the album will return to the Billboard charts. According to him, Tokio Hotel have sold 105000 records so far; Briegmann hopes it'll be 500000, ultimately. To keep up a steady presence, Universal wants to send Tokio Hotel back on their third American tour this November. Briegmann states that because of the focus on America, other of the band's target markets like Asia will have to wait a little longer.
Young Hollywood Hot Topic Interview
BUNTE.DE
A ferocious come back for Britney Spears at the 25th Mtv Award show, where she won all 3 categories,in which she was nominated.
The German Teenie band Tokio Hotel was chosen as best newcomer.
"Tokio Hotel was completely blown away and astonished and went bezerk" explained manager David Jost through the phone after the VMA awards.
Tom in the background said thet the first thing they were going to do was get completely drunk and waisted doesn´t matter if you need to be 21 in the US to do that "this night belongs to us" Tom screamed.
"They are going to clebrate peacefully " David Jost said "they´re such sweet boys"
In the room the boys are completely going crazy, it is the first time in the history of the MTV awards that a German band is nominated twice and win, leaving Miley Cyrus, Kate Perry, Jordan Sparks and Taylor Swift far behind them.
It was unbelieveable, already the entrance was a spectacle with Tokio Hotel arriving in their monstertruck with their logo painted at large to enter the red carpet.
The nicest birhday present in the world
With" Ready set go" blasting through the entrance of the legendary Paramount Studios a US reporter was asking who these totally crazy boys were,"You can spot their truck when you're standing on the moon" he said.
In America Tokio Hotel has fans, but on the red carpet they were completely new for the local media, everyone talked about Bills hair; "Its real" Bill said with the biggest smile ever.
"We were absolutely not nervous because we did not expect to win at all" said Tom to the Bunte reporter, "We were only looking forward to the fact that our name would be mentioned in the same category as Miley Cyrus" Gustav added.
The award by the way could only be achieved by fans actually voting in.
"We are looking forward to see Pink".
Beside Gustav its also Bill and Tom celebrating their birthday on the first of September in Los Angeles.
"We have been relaxing and taking it easy on the beach of Santa Monica, enjoying the sea, watching the waves roll in and hanging out with Gustav and Georg" explained Bill.
"What do you think of the double nomination"?,
"We are so incredibly proud, its a tremendous honour for us being here on the red carpet, we couldn´t have imagined this even in our wildest dreams, words cannot explain the way I feel and everything I say is not enough to express my gratitude" Bill explains.
"Its a big daring step from Europe to the USA and really hard work, but we feel fairly well "Tom says.
"We are looking forward to seeing Pink perform tonight" , In the meantime the Pussycat Dolls come in to congatulate the boys " we love these boys", head Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger screams.
"We're taking a break"
In the upcoming days one show is left and that´s at the Jimmy Kimmel Show after that it's off to Germany."We are going to finalize the recording of our new album, create new things, and be creative again"
"We are drawing back from publicity, for we have been on the road non-stop for 3 years and now its time to take a break" explained Bill
The fans will be sad.
"How do you explain your succes in the US"
"We have been thinking about that for a long time but stopped trying to find explanations, think we have been extremely lucky and are very grateful for that" replied Bill.
Than its party time, after the VMA at the MTV party its of to the Interscope Party in Santa Monica.
Congratulations!!!
Source
Reviewer Love from Denver Colorado
September 7th, Somewhere in the Northeastern United States - Nina, the 16 year old photographer and artist from Portugal is watching the Video Music Awards on MTV, while I work at a mind-numbing and low paying online job, watching the little TV out of the corner of my eye. Nina's mother sits in the living room, watching the final stretch of a two day "House" marathon on USA network, as addicted to the good doctor's antics as Dr. House is addicted to his Vicodin. I'm living a "surreal life," for real.
Our mission tonight is to catch Tokio Hotel on MTV. We know they'll be there, the rumor is that they will present an award to another act. But to our shock and delight, Tokio Hotel won best new artist, over a some other very pretty and talented competitors, including Myley Cyrus and Taylor Swift.
My last music review was seriously flawed; I used the date "September 25th," when Tokio Hotel's Denver show actually took place on August 25th. This might lead the reader to conclude that I have delusions of supernatural powers. Sadly, I have no such prescience, and I'm well aware that I can't report on whatever Tokio Hotel is doing in October today. However, I was able to see this much clearly: these kids have a fanatical American fan base, and they are well on their way to superstardom in the US market.
Unfortunately, the acceptance of the award by Tokio Hotel's glamorous and slightly shy lead singer Bill Kaulitz was all that we got from MTV.
Sure, there were other high points: Rihanna's performance gave me chills, Pink's video had me distracted from my work, and a collaboration by Kid Rock and Lil' Wayne on some original lyrics performed over a bizarre segue of the music of Warren Zevon's "Werewolves of London" into a tribute to Skynyrds "Sweet Home Alabama," cracked me up; the thing is, all of the aforementioned artists have been getting their fair share of MTV coverage for quite a while now.
Tokio Hotel has been around for a long time, but apparently has remained obscure to the US market. This will no longer be the case. They are young, pop-friendly yet hard-edged, and downright weird, reportedly (by MTV) showing up for the awards ceremony in a monster truck. This was an appropriate gesture for what the future holds; these kids are going places, and will roll right over their tired out tabloid fodder American competition.
Alex Interviews Tokio Hotel at the VMA's
Tokio Hotel on Swedish MTV
And here is the transcript.
MTV: So the VMA is just around the corner..Are you excited?
Bill: Really excited, and really, really nervous. I didn't sleep anything last night. It was just terrible. I was just thinking about everything. And...yeah, we're proud to be nominated and to be there.
MTV: And if you win how will you celebrate?
Bill: I think we'll celebrate anyway...
Tom: Yeah, you know for us it's good to be nominated so we'll celebrate anyway. ..
Bill & Tom (at the same time): ...the nomination...
Tom: Yeah the nomination. We celebrate the nomination.
Bill: yes
Tom: because you know we have no big chance...It's good to be here. Our part is very small you know. Bill's nervous about..you know just about red carpet.
Bill: (giggles) I'm nervous just to be there
MTV: I'll be nice to you guys on the red carpet. If you promise to talk to me.
Georg: Thank you very much.
MTV: I often..actually every week I get emails about you from my viewers. Sometimes they are very nice sometimes they are not very nice. Usually they are very nice. usually they are like "Please I wanna see more of TH" and sometimes it is "Why the F do you not show more videos?". I would like to know, is this something you urge your fans to do or is it soemthing that just happens?
Bill. It just happens. I think it just happens.
MTV: But why only with you? Why do you have such hardcore fans?
Bill: I don't know. We're just proud of them...I have no reason for that......
Tom: We have the best fans in the world....and you know, we...
Bill: If i take a look at Georg I don't know...
Tom: Yeah...
Bill: I don't know but it is great...We go there and we're proud of our fans and everything
Part 2:
MTV: Cause I want the same kind of fans but they are not...
Tom. I think you have, you have good fans
Bill: I mean our fans...
MTV: Could we be eachothers' fans now?
(everyone babbling over eachother so I don't think they hear the reporter)
Bill. I think our fans are the best fans in the world, so noone else can have(?) them.
MTV: So you're nervous for tomorrow... how will you prepare for your thing tomorrow?
Bill. I need some sleep so I'll go early to bed...and..yeah sleeping, and chilling at the pool.
Tom: Reading, eating, relaxing and stuff like that¨
MTV: When are you coming to Scandinavia?
Bill: I don't know. I mean our schedule is very very full and our trip is very long in America and it was not planned so after this we go back directly back to Germany and to the studio and we'll record new stuff and everything for the next record, and we're still at the creative process so we have a lot of stuff to do and yeah...
Tom: For the next tour I think we definitely will come over and play some concerts and stuff like that.
MTV: Thank you. They'll be much nicer to me after hearing this.
Thanks to tokiohoteamerica for the transcript
GOLD STARS NR. 5
MTV VMAs
Tokio Hotel are the only males to be nominated for Best New Artist at this year's Video Music Awards - they are also the only foreign act contending for the prize. Maybe that will give them the edge, but the guys are quite shy about their chances of snagging a Moonman at Sunday's big show.
"We don't expect it, so for us, it's so cool to be nominated," frontman Bill Kaulitz told MTV News. "I think it's really, really special for us - it's America and it's our first American award, and that's so huge."
The German pop-rockers are up against American pop stars like Jordin Sparks and Miley Cyrus, but back in Germany, the guys are the megastars. They've sold millions of records in their home country and scored several #1 hits since they got together in 2001. Being crowned Best New Artist in front of an American audience would only solidify their fame here in the United States.
Just because they're rock stars back home doesn't mean they don't appreciate being nominated for a VMA. "I mean, I still can't believe it," Bill said. "Last year we were nominated at the [MTV Europe Music Awards; they won one] and it was the biggest thing we had, and now it is the Video Music Awards.
"It's really hard to get fans in another country, especially here - America is so, so big, so it's really hard to get known in this country," Bill told MTV News back in May. "We are so excited we have fans here at all. In America, we see a fan and it is like, ‘Oh, we are proud! We have a fan in America!' "
But with a couple of VMA nominations on their side, it seems that now they have more than just one fan in the States. Guitarist Tom Kaulitz added, "To be nominated at the VMAs, for a German band, I think it's crazy."
The guys also have a chance to pick up the Best Pop Video trophy for "Ready, Set, Go!" Of going up against the likes of the Jonas Brothers, Bill modestly said, "We have no chance." But one thing he does hope he has a chance of doing is meeting Rihanna at the big show on Sunday. "I think it would be so cool to meet Rihanna, 'cause she's so sexy."
Big 9/08
CZ Bravo 18/08
IT Summer Music
Atrevida
Who: the twin brothers Bill and Tom Kaulitz (vocals and guitar, respectively), Georg Listing (bass) and Gustav Schäfer (drums).
Where: Germany
When: They got together in 2001, at the beginning the band was called Devilish. In 2005 they signed with a big GRAVADORA, and had the debut the first CD.
Why: they already released the albums Schrei in 2005 (and released in 2006 the English version, called Scream) and Zimmer 483 released in 2007 (the English version is called Room 483). The first single, Durch den Monsun, reached the top on the radios in Germany and Austria and the 8th in France. In 2007, the English version of this song (Monsoon) made it to the first place of Aisplaycharts from Israel.
Radio Interview in Texas, 28/8 2008
RU Bravo #34 - The twins are 19! No longer boys!
Very soon, on September 1, we will be celebrating the 19th birthday of the Kaulitz twins. But for now, let's take a look at all the events that have taken place recently in the life of Tokio Hotel.
Success and Achievements
Bill Kaulitz has everything necessary for a successful career: talent, a look, money, the love of the fans. But there is one thing missing for the total happiness of every young man - a good car! This month Bill finally got his driver's license and immediately bought a luxurious, silver convertible from BMW, for almost 100 000 Euros.
Aside from that, the group is among the nominees for the MTV VMAs in the "Best New Artist" category. This, yet again, proves that the boys are successfully conquering the Unites States and are already quite popular in this country. You can vote for the guys on MTV's official website (mtv.com). The Award show is very soon- on September 7.
This month, Tokio Hotel is also celebrating another important event: exactly three years ago, the August of 2005, the single "Durch Den Monsun" was released, which made Tokio Hotel known to the world. With that song started the band's history. And with that song these boys changed the world of music forever.
Indecent Proposal
The twins are getting older, which means, that the scandals, that they are sometimes involved in, are getting bigger too. Not that long ago, a few girls declared that Bill spends the nights in different online chatrooms, using his big name and fame to get the girls to send him naked pictures. But we know that Bill would never dare to take advantage of the love of his fans, with such low behaviour. The police did an investigation and caught an 18-year-old Frenchman, who, for few weeks was posing on the internet as Bill Kaulitz and making the girls believe that he really is the "real" Bill. During the contact with the girls, the false-Bill was very friendly and caring, so it took awhile to find out about the fraud. But the Frenchman took too much advantage of Bill's fans, and this brought about hard consequences. At first the girls were nervous to send the poser their naked pictures. They were suspicious, but still sent the photos. Finally, the law enforcements were able to trace the guy and found him in a small town in France. With him, they found many photographs of naked girls in erotic positions. The police were in shock, when they found out that some of the girls were only 11-years-old. Now the dude will have to pay a large fine. When we contacted Bill for a comment about the event, he assured us and all of his fans, that neither he nor anyone else from the group ever were and ever will be at these online chatrooms. They just don't have the time.
Pic Captions (Clock-wise from the top)
Page 1
- The boys had fans waiting for them at the New York airport.
- Tokio Hotel are being pulled in different directions. Despite their tight schedule, they promise to come to Russia. You will know about the concert dates first in BRAVO!
- Bill tries to pay attention to each fan.
- Even on the streets of New York the boys are greeted by large groups of fans.
- The tough American cops protect the boys like "the apple of the eye"...
- ... But the love of the fans cannot be stopped.
Page 2
- The future "Birthday-boys" are ready to party.
- There is no limit to the excitement of the American fans.
- Today the guys of Tokio Hotel are welcomed guests on MTV, but once they couldn't even dream of such tremendous success.
IT Gals
IT Big
IT Debby
CZ Popcorn 8/08
CZ Bravo 17/08
DE Bravo 36/08
