Tokio Hotel WW47 (About TH)

PART1:
Woman: "We have decided to find out what it's like to be a fan. Why? Because it's been a long while since we've seen a musical group create scenes of hysteria with girls screaming "Eeeeeee!" and fainting.
And, unless you've been gone for a while to visit the planet Mars, you know who this group is. No? C'mon, you have 5 seconds to guess. Quickly!"

"So, have you figured it out yet? Well, I'll give you another hint by showing you this picture.
The answer is: Tokio Hotel, of course. The German band; four guys, all around 20, with a rock, manga, and androgynous look. They're starting their Europe Tour in March, in Geneva (Switzerland). David Marine and Bernan Remaul are not going to scream "Eeee!" at the concert, but they met up with some of Tokio Hotel's groupies."

Narrator: "Fans have existed for quite some time. The Beatles have been the cause of broken hearts, and caused scenes of general and collective hysteria. But they have finally found dignified successors: Tokio Hotel; 4 Germans who have replaced Paul, John, George, and Ringo. It's about time."

"The success of their concerts can be measured by the number of people fainting. Fans of bands and singers are almost always young girls."

Isabelle Lyons, psychiatrist: "For young girls, the important things are aesthetics, image, and beauty. And it's true that they find all of those at shows and concerts. But on the other hand, what we're going to ask of a boy or a man is performance, success, and a desire to fight for what he wants. So he would most likely be more interested by the sporty types."

Narrator: "Laura and Marylin are 17 and 15. They're teenagers just like most. Well, almost. They have a true passion for the group Tokio Hotel, and enough of a passion to form a petition for the band to come to Geneva."

Laura & Marylin: "So we'll present to you our idols: *points to Bill*, so this is Bill, he's 18, and he's the singer of the group. *points to Tom* This is Tom, the guitarist. *points to Georg* This is Georg, the bass player. He's 20. *points to Gustav* And this is Gustav, the drummer; he's 19."

Narrator: "They both have transformed their rooms into sanctuaries dedicated to their idols. But what do these songs written in German express?"

Laura Gachet: "They talk about... divorce between parents, relationship break ups, suicide, and all that stuff. Those are themes that really touch young people.
Marilyn Prahin: "They also raise questions about things like life after death."
Laura: "They aren’t useless lyrics, or lyrics that don't make any sense."
Marilyn: "It's also like what you do to not to be manipulated by adults. It's about doing what you really want and...to not have everything dictated to you. It's about being yourself."

Narrator: "So what are these girl fans of in a group of guys? In what can they identify themselves with these new Beatles that sing in German?"

Isabelle Lyons, psychiatrist: "The idea is to incorporate into yourself the qualities that you find in these boys. That Bill is very androgynous, and so he's very sensitive. A fragility like that is what has to touch a large number of young girls (ME, ME!). The other members are more on the masculine side but the idea is that, inside, we incorporate into ourselves the qualities that we can find in others."

Narrator: "So, does this passion for Tokio Hotel hide a quest for love?"

Marylin: "Well ok, we can admit that they're cute but I mean, that's not mainly why we love them (as artists)."
Laura: "We can't be in love with people we don't know."
Marylin: "I find all that really ridiculous. It's just impossible (to be in love with them) because they don't even know that we exist. (Very true, but you can be in love with your image of them!)For me, being in love with a band member, just isn't logical. We can certainly have admiration for what they do, but I could never love them on a romantic level.

Narrator: "The obsession for Tokio Hotel is at its peak and the phenomenon is nowhere near stopping. Their t-shirts can even become treasures. Marylin even has a 'sacred' t-shirt."

Marylin: "For me, it's a sacred shirt because I went to their concert, and near the end, when they were throwing water on the crowd, I got splashed by Tom and Georg. I'll admit that I haven't washed the shirt, but for me it's sacred."

*The girls start to watch the Zimmer 483 Live Concert DVD*
Marylin: "He's coming with the guitar...wait...there it is"
*Tom's guitar is playing in the background*
(to Laura) "Remember, we cried?"

Man: "We see/feel a lot of emotion when you guys watch the group."

Marylin: "Yes, the first time we saw it (the concert) we cried. We were just sitting there, and it was night time so it was all quiet and we just looked at each other and we were crying."
Laura: "Yeah it's so great/magnificent, I find."

Written on their wall: "Bill, Gustav, Tom, and Georg... 4 stars, 1 group, my musical oxygen, my idols.
Fur Immer! I love you. 14/4/07 11/10/07 best days of my life. Come back to Switzerland! Please! Wir lieben euch fur immmmmmer!"

Narrator: "The next big day in the lives of Tokio Hotel fans will be the 21 of March in Geneva (the start of TH's tour)."

Man: "So you bought your tickets early!"
Marylin: "Really early! We won't be the only ones.”





PART 2:
Woman: "Michael Drieberg, good evening."
Michael: "Good evening"

Woman: "You are the director of Live Music Production and you are going to organize the famous Tokio Hotel concert in Geneva, in March.
You have seen many artists, singers, bands,... how do you explain that this particular band has exerted such a fascination on its fans?"
Michael: "On the young, the very young."
Woman: "On young girls in particular."

Michael: "Yeah, young girls. I think that it's been almost 10 years that the young... the young girls have been waiting for a change (replacement).
Because they weren't too many things to identify themselves with... to revolt, in comparison to their parents who listened to a different type of music and, they take their kids to a concert for a band that sings in German, and the parents don't understand what they're singing, and that forms a barrier. They (Tokio Hotel) have a look, well a look which is a little new, androgynous, like we saw with Kyo (French rock band), Kiss, those kind of bands, in addition a music that is more 'rock', than the 'fm rock' like they hear all day long. We have all we need so that finally there can be a replacement." (Agree? Cuz that’s like exactly what I explain to people…)

Woman: "So, it's a band that's still very young, very wise. The androgynous look, we can say that it's somewhat a little less sexual (haha, NO—it’s very sexy), it's not Mike Jagger or Elvis or even the boy bands of the 90s. How would you explain that young girls keep sweaty t-shirts filled with steam and they also faint,...why do they act like this?" (haha, I wouldn’t waste my time fainting!)

Michael: "I think that it's not a reaction in relation to the band only, but it's also a reaction to society, that is; it's something they can differentiate themselves with and so they can sleep with the t-shirt, they don't necessarily sleep with the singer but they sleep with...they sleep with a difference."

Woman: "So, is it a phenomenon that is going to stop? Like it happened with the boy bands of the 90s or is this a band that will continue and last?"
Micheal: "I am not psychic, but I think that the same thing will happen that happened with Robbie William and Take That. The handsome Bill will fly away and start his solo career. I think that it can't be avoided." (AWWW! Noooo. But actually, sorry old man, Tom happens to be his brother. And if something manages to pull them apart in the future, well...)

Woman: "Because they are different than the others."
Michael: "Well, he's above the other members of the band." (hehe)

Woman: "For you, are the look, the lyrics, etc... purely commercial, well thought of, to please?"
Michael: 'I think that we can forget the commercial side when there is such a success, or otherwise every band would be a hit. They are all trying to be a hit, but their (Tokio Hotel) success is very simple, like it was for Bruel (Patrick Bruel - a French singer), because they talk about divorce, they talk about..."
Woman: "Suicide"
Michael: "Yeah and every day life, also problems that haven't changed for 10 years unfortunately with which kids can identify themselves."

Woman: "There are going to be 10,000 young people with maybe a few parents in the middle at the concert in March. How will you manage the hysterics, the crying, the fainting, the crowd moving? Because we saw it in Zürich, so it will happen again without a doubt."
Michael: "With anguish. The same anguish of the parents that will wait outside. When I was in Bercy, we had 600 faintings in one concert." (OMFG)
Woman: "That's incredible/unbelievable!" (RE: OMFG)

Michael: "That's what we saw with the Beatles. There isn't really those types of examples nowadays. Of course we don't take this lightly, we've organized a room for the hysterics, We even have kids psychologists, because I can imagine an 11 year old girl, waking up after fainting on the other side of the concert hall. She would be a little lost. So we have a lot of health rooms and we'll double the security. We will do everything, so that everything can
go perfectly."

Woman:" I think that, maybe you'll say that I'm wrong, but I think that there are many teenagers, many pre-teens, even younger, at these types of concerts."

Michael: "This is undeniable, I think that this phenomenon started with Star academy (French thing, sort of like American Idol). We do not realize what Star Academy changed in this career, but it was the first tour, the biggest tour ever organized in Europe history, it broke all the records. With kids that didn't know how to sing, that no one knew a few days ago. So suddenly, a whole generation of kids could identify themselves with that, saying to themselves that it's possible, that they can do it too. And so, through iPods, mp3s, the internet... I came back from my holidays and my 4 year old kid asks me to download a Christophe Mae (French singer who passed away recently) music video."

Woman: "And you did it, of course. If you could give one advice to the parents, what would be for you, the age limit that you wouldn't let a kid go this concert?"

Michael: "I wouldn't really say that there is an age limit, but I think that it's nerve-racking for a young kid to find himself/herself in the middle of a crowd of 10, 000 people.I wouldn't leave my kid alone... It happened with the Spice Girls, we had to evacuate kids who were alone. I think it's sad that parents would just let go of their 10 year old kids alone in crowds."