Nightwish vocalist Floor Jansen has checked in with the following update:

"I am proud and happy to announce that I will join the Dutch TV show The Best Singers (Beste Zangers). This show is all about music and singing and despite the name, has nothing to do with whom is best. Seven singers participate and we will sing each others music but in our own style. I think it is great they asked me, as a metalhead, to be a part of this. As you might know about me, I think it is a pity that mainstream media in The Netherlands has avoided ‘our music’ for years and years. The ‘stigma’ metal makes that many great songs will never be heard by a larger audience. 

As an ambassador of good music I think that everyone should have excess to more diverse music, and then it is up to the listeners to decide whether they like it or not. This choice is not offered nowadays. Us metalheads know well what ‘they’ miss out on and because of this TV show I get a chance to share good music. I will also get challenged to dive into the genres and styles of the other singers, as they will be when they sing my music. I have always enjoyed diversity and I get a great opportunity to show this. The TV show will be recorded on Ibiza this coming week and broadcasted on Dutch TV in August. Social media will be ON it so you will get the chance to see it wherever you live on this beautiful planet!"

Nightwish vocalist Floor Jansen is featured in an intimate interview with Metal Hammer, delving into her younger days of being bullied and putting smart-mouthed fans in their place from the stage. Following is an excerpt from the story:

What Floor Jansen definitely is not is a diva, at least not today. The ‘d’-word has plagued her for several years. It’s an accusation that has been brandished as a weapon by people who seem unable to comprehend that a woman in her position is entitled to refuse to stand for bullshit. In 2014, she felt obliged to post an open letter online in response to criticism of how she dealt with fans. The letter’s contents were summed up in the typically blunt line: “I am not an arrogant bitch.” (A sentiment a male contemporary would never have to express.)

“That upset me terribly, just having to write it,” she says, looking genuinely pained. “Because I felt so misunderstood. But I stand by it. People think that when they come up to me, screaming things into my ear, that I will respond according to what they want. I’ll turn around and smile and take the photo. But I’m not somebody’s marionette. Just because I sing in a band, people don’t get to dictate whatever the fuck they want from me.”

Read the complete story here.