IN: Nightwish is a symphonic metal band from Kitee, Finland. The band was formed in 1996 by lead songwriter and keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen, guitarist Emppu Vuorinen, and former lead singer Tarja Turunen. The band soon picked up drummer Jukka Nevalainen, and then bassist Sami Vanska after the release of their debut album, Angels Fall First (1997). In 2001, Vanska was replaced by Marco Hietala, who also took over the male vocalist role previously filled by Holopainen or guest singers.

A new album, Once, was released on June 7, 2004, along with its first single, "Nemo". The single topped the charts in Finland and Hungary, and reached the charts in six additional countries. "Nemo" remains the band's most successful single release to date.  Once utilizes a full orchestra in nine of the eleven songs on the album. Unlike Century Child, Nightwish decided to look for an orchestra outside of Finland this time, choosing the London Philharmonic Orchestra. It is also their second album to feature a full-length song in Finnish, "Kuolema tekee taiteilijan" (English: "Death Makes an Artist"). Once has sold triple platinum in Finland, platinum in Germany, and Gold in 6 other countries, it also reached No. 1 in the Greek, Norwegian and German album charts, and charted the Top 10 in France, Hungary and Sweden. The following singles were: "Wish I Had an Angel" (featured on the soundtrack of the film Alone in the Dark), "Kuolema Tekee Taiteilijan" (released only in Finland and Japan) and "The Siren". Besides the commercial success, Once was also well received by critics, with many positive reviewers drawing comparisons with Oceanborn.  The success of the album allowed them to perform the Once World Tour, taking them to play in many countries the band had never visited before. Nightwish performed at the opening ceremony of the 2005 World Championships in Athletics, held in Helsinki, highlighting the acclaim the band had gained. A "best of" album, Highest Hopes, was released in September 2005. The compilation also featured a live cover "High Hopes" (from the Pink Floyd album The Division Bell) (sample). Besides "High Hopes", a remake of "Sleeping Sun" (from Oceanborn) was included on the album and released as a single. A video for the remake was shot, featuring a medieval battle, and can be found on the German release of the single and as a separate DVD released by Spinefarm.  The four other members of Nightwish had decided that it was best to continue Nightwish without Turunen. After a concert in the Hartwall Areena (Helsinki) on October 21, 2005, recorded for the live DVD End of an Era (released June 2006), they expressed their decision through an open letter which was given to Turunen by Holopainen, and afterwards posted on the band's website. It was written by Holopainen and signed by all four band members. The main justification given in the letter for Turunen's dismissal was that the band felt that both her husband Marcelo Cabuli (an Argentine businessman) and commercial interests had changed her attitude towards the band.  Turunen responded to the incident twice, during press conferences in Finland and Germany, saying that her dismissal came entirely as a shock to her, given that she had not been notified before the letter was given to her. She felt that the personal attacks on her husband were unwarranted, and that playing the issue out in public was "senselessly cruel". She expressed these feelings through her own open letter, which was published on her personal website, and through various TV, magazine, and newspaper interviews.

What is one major chart topping success?

OUT: The single topped the charts in Finland and Hungary, and reached the charts in six additional countries. "Nemo" remains the band's most successful single release to date.


IN: Tucker was born Sofya "Sonya" Kalish (in Russian, Sof'ia <<Sonia>> Kalish) in 1887 to a Jewish family en route to America from Tulchyn, Podolia Governorate, Russian Empire, now Vinnytsia Oblast, Ukraine. ("Sonya" is a nickname for the name "Sofya", the Russian form of the name Sophie.) The family adopted the surname Abuza, settled in Hartford, Connecticut, and opened a restaurant. At a young age, she began singing at her parents' restaurant for tips.

In 1907, Tucker made her first theater appearance, singing at an amateur night in a vaudeville establishment. It was here that she was first made to wear blackface during performance, as her producers thought that the crowd would tease her for being "so big and ugly." By 1908, she had joined a burlesque show in Pittsburgh but was ashamed to tell her family that she was performing in a deep southern accent wearing burnt cork on her face. While touring later that year, luggage including her makeup kit was lost, and Tucker was allowed to go on stage without the blackface.  She then stunned the crowd by saying, "You all can see I'm a white girl. Well, I'll tell you something more: I'm not Southern. I'm a Jewish girl and I just learned this Southern accent doing a blackface act for two years. And now, Mr. Leader, please play my song." Tucker also began integrating "fat girl" humor, which became a common thread in her acts. Her songs included "I Don't Want to Get Thin" and "Nobody Loves a Fat Girl, But Oh How a Fat Girl Can Love."  In 1909, at the age of 22, Tucker performed with the Ziegfeld Follies. Though she was a hit, the other female stars refused to share the spotlight with her, and the company was forced to let her go. This caught the attention of William Morris, a theater owner and future founder of the William Morris Agency, which would become one of the largest and most powerful talent agencies of the era. Two years later, Tucker released "Some of These Days" on Edison Records, written by Shelton Brooks. The title of the song was later used as the title of Tucker's 1945 biography.  In 1921, Tucker hired pianist and songwriter Ted Shapiro as her accompanist and musical director, a position he would keep throughout her career. Besides writing a number of songs for her, Shapiro became part of her stage act, playing piano on stage while she sang, and exchanging banter and wisecracks with her in between numbers. Tucker remained a popular singer through the 1920s and became friends with stars such as Mamie Smith and Ethel Waters, who introduced her to jazz. Tucker learned from these talented women and became one of the first performers to introduce jazz to white vaudeville audiences.  In 1925, Jack Yellen wrote one of her most famous songs, "My Yiddishe Momme". The song was performed in large American cities where there were sizable Jewish audiences. Tucker explained, "Even though I loved the song and it was a sensational hit every time I sang it, I was always careful to use it only when I knew the majority of the house would understand Yiddish. However, you didn't have to be a Jew to be moved by My Yiddishe Momme." During the Hitler regime, the song was banned by the German government for evoking Jewish culture.

Was she well received at first?

OUT:
as her producers thought that the crowd would tease her for being "so big and ugly."