Former NIGHTWISH singer TARJA TURUNEN has issued the following festive update:

"The tours for this year are over and it’s time to have holidays with the loved ones. I am very happy with the outcome of this year and I am sure that next year will bring new challenges once again. As long as I keep on dreaming my dream, I guess the path I took many years ago is the correct one.

Before changing my winter jacket to the bikinis, I wanted to tell you what has happened in these last couple of weeks.

My lovely Christmas tour was very successful. It was wonderful to see all the concert places packed with people with Christmas mood, even though we took an early start for the holiday celebrations in the beginning of December.

I had never visited Keuruu before, so it was a nice surprise indeed that so many people came to listen our music in the beautiful wooden church and offered us a standing ovation. Perfect ending for this show.

Every one of us musicians was very sad that the tour had to end so soon. We would have all loved to continue with the concerts, but we live in hope that in the next years we can do many more of them together. That’s a nice wish. I already miss Kalevi, Markku, Mervi and Marzi!

Immediately after my Christmas tour, I had to get my mood back to rock´n roll for my shows in Hämeenlinna, Tampere and Mikkeli, just two days after the last Xmas concert. Many people have been asking me how I manage with such drastic changes, but I just love it! I will never get bored like this ;)

I enjoy having two careers at the same time, because they both complete me as an artist, as a singer.

It was pretty tough though to front a seated Finnish audience in the concert halls in Finland. I am sad when I hear and read that Finnish people we are “cold/dead/frozen”. We are definitely not, but we have our own ways to show our interest. If you front a full house and people getting away from their seats to cheer and stand, believe me, you won this one!

I would love to specially dedicate all the shows I did in Finland this year to those ones with power to decide. Guys, open your eyes and you will see… Finland I salute you!

After Suomi we headed to Europe, Luxembourg and had a nice day off. We walked through the streets of the old city and it was the first time for me to have a chance to see the life of Luxembourg more than just through the hotel room window. Lovely!

After Luxembourg anyway my luck changed.

Nitra, Slovakia was something particular. We spent three days in a cosy hotel doing absolutely nothing important, since the Slovakian shows got cancelled just in the last minute. It was a really big misfortune for me and I didn’t expect that at all to happen. I really hope to be able to return to Slovakia and to sing for my lovely fans. We are working on that and I hope to have news soon about it.

You were the ones that made me really happy when I met some of you at the Christmas Market in Nitra. Even though it was a very cold day, I was surprised how many of you got my message and was there! Facebook has remarkable powers! :) Anyway, I ask you my deepest apologizes for not performing this time.

Luckily I had a lot of time to walk around the city of Nitra.

Well, many of us were anxious to get to Austria and Graz is definitely one of the most beautiful cities in Europe. Even the sun was showing up on the day we arrived there. I wanted to see the view of the city from the Schloss Eggenberg and it was worth to go up on the hill.

The show was really great and we rocked together with the Austrian people.

The last journey we did was to Milan. I have always had good memories from my shows in Italy, but this time the people were just stunning. Beautiful, loud and happy crowd. The weather was terrible, but despite of that, there were a lot of people waiting for me after the show under the rain. People were soaked and cold, but happy.

It was a lovely ending for this 2010 tour. There are many more tours to come next year, I promise.

I want to thank for all the Xmas presents, lovely messages and supportive words you’ve been giving me during these last months. “What Lies Beneath” is alive and well, but wouldn’t be so without you all.

Now it’s time to say goodbye, but I’ll be back sooner than you expect. Perhaps just a bit more tanned.

Wherever you are, I wish you a merry Christmas and a happy New Year. Take care and have lovely holidays!

For more photos visit Tarja-whatliesbeneath.com.