ARI KOIVUNEN: New Video Interview Available

The winner of the Finnish national TV talent competition "Idols", 23-year-old heavy metal singer Ari Koivunen, was interviewed by Finland's Get In The Pit on September 14, 2007 at the Scooprock festival in Mikkeli, Finland. The seven-minute chat, which was conducted in Finnish, can now be viewed with English subtitles below.

In other news, the Ari Koivunen fan page "Ari's Night Elves" has posted more English translations of the recent tour diaries that have appeared in Finnish on Ari's official web site. You can read the diaries at this location.

Koivunen's debut album, "Fuel for the Fire", spent twelve weeks at the top of the Finnish chart and has reportedly sold more than 60,000 copies in Finland so far (enough for it to be certified double platinum).

Koivunen's video for his first solo single, "Hear My Call", can be viewed at YouTube. The song was written by Nino Laurenne (THUNDERSTONE) and Pasi Heikkilä (45 DEGREE WOMAN), who also produced "Fuel for the Fire" (Sony BMG). Among the other metal luminaries who have contributed material to "Fuel for the Fire" are Timo Tolkki (STRATOVARIUS), Marco Hietala (NIGHTWISH, TAROT), Janne Joutsenniemi (SUBURBAN TRIBE), Tony Kakko (SONATA ARCTICA) and Jarkko Ahola (TERÄSBETONI).