You all know that “Siníéad†has been chosen as the second single of The Unforgiving. With undeniable disco grooves, we took the opportunity to further enhance the track’s dance floor appeal; commissioning special remixes from four acclaimed dance producers. Some time ago we already announced 3 producers: Benno De Goeij delivers a sparkling trance radio mix. De Goeij is best known for his work with Dutch superstar DJs Tiesto and Armin van Buuren. Scooter, one of Germany’s most successful techno groups abroad. Scooter: “Sharon’s voice and the bombastic Rock of Within Temptation are a truly unique mixture. It was a pleasure for us to contribute our mix for Siníéadâ€. Irish/ British duo VNV Nation has contributed a stylish, electro-industrial mix. VNV Nation is one of the most innovative groups in the international electro EBM scene. We will also share the stage with VNV Nation at the M’era Luna Festival in August. And the fourth producer that will remix Siníéad is: Groove Coverage’s. Their strength is the ability to find the perfect balance between melancholia and power. Many of their hit mixes such as “Poisonâ€, a cover of Alice Cooper’s successfully travelled around the world. Choosing to release “Siníéad†as the follow-up single, underlines our ambition to break down the walls between musical genres. We’re excepting Siníéad to be released in the beginning of July. And of course we’ll update you on any release dates in the near future. With every single release comes a videoclip. We’re proud to show you the official videoclip of Siníéad. Enjoy!
The First Challenge by Sharon den Adel Translated by Mitsy Haeck I am very sporty by nature. I play tennis, I often jog and I like to go to the gym for, among others, Body Combat and Body Pump with various weights. That is not as violent as it sounds by the way. These exercises won’t make my muscles to grow, it’s just working out to good music. At the beginning of my pregnancy, I still was still working out, but not for too long. This because I carry a bacterium, called streptococcus. Firstly, this causes an extra heavy pregnancy: it feels like a full shopping bag that is too heavy but it is stuck on your belly, tending to tear any time. When I pregnant for five months I hadn’t gained that much weight actually, but nevertheless I got the feeling that if I didn’t take it slow things could go wrong. Because, secondly, the bacterium causes premature births. My first two kids both came two months too early; when it turned out I was pregnant for the third time, I decided to take it extra easy. It is hard for me to take things slow because I just can’t sit doing nothing. During the pregnancy I felled trapped in my own body because of that big belly. This time, again, I was thrilled that the baby was out so I could do things my way again. So, after three days, I was riding my bike yet again. We went to the other side of the village to get some icecream with the kids. The people in our street looked kinda surprised: you just gave…? But I felt fine! After a week you could find me on the tennis court again. During this last pregnancy I gained 20 kilos. I want to reach my former weight, but that’s not my primary goal. The most important aim is to get in shape, so I will be able to handle the stage again. Though, I find it important to achieve this in a responsible way. Crash diets aren’t my cup of tea anyway and I don’t want to set a wrong example for young fans. I will be working out with responsible coaching, starting with a personal trainer. More about that next week!
It’s great to tell you more about our upcoming tour! As you know Anneke van Giersbergen & her band will join us for the second part of our tour. That leaves the first part of our tour, where Triggerfinger is going to be our support act, with the exception of our shows in Spain and Portugal, those support acts will be announced soon. We are really excited to have Triggerfinger open for us, if you don’t know them we can assure you that you’ll like them! Check our tourpage for the exact dates.Several shows are already sold out, but there are still some tickets available.
is well known that Robert and Sharon make amazing music, but did you know that they are also great tennis players? Friday, the 3rd of June, fans got the chance to learn about their not to be underestimated tennis skills. Marten de Vries, tennis instructor and initiator of this unique event, was present at the tennis court for a full 24 hours of tennis instruction, competition and fun. You might think that it is madness, but doing it for a good cause changes things. Marten dedicated his 24 hours tennis marathon to charity KiKa. This organization has the goal to raise money so new research can be done for kids with cancer. The research is focusing on a treatment less painful, a higher percentage of kids who will be without cancer and have a better quality of life when they are older.The sun was shining brightly, causing a surprisingly warm day for this time of the year. Of course, this was precisely the day Sharon and Robert had to play tennis. A lot of tennis. They participated in the marathon from 12:00 till 17:00, interspersed with well-deserved breaks, drinks and popsicles of course! Armed with bottles of water, sunglasses and a cap the two took part in kicking off the event, accompanied by local radio and television crews. Kim-Lian van der Meij, Dutch musical actress, presenter and a singer-songwriter, also participated in Marten’s marathon for KiKaAfter Sharon and Robert’s participation was announced on the website, Marten received many subscriptions for the tennis lessons with them. Some of these subscribers came all the way from Germany and Austria to seize the opportunity to play tennis with members of their favorite band. But guess what! They did not need lessons at all. When Marten asked for some feedback, one of the girls said laughing “Well, Sharon hits the ball hard! It’s difficult!â€. And yes, difficult it was. Since I never had really played tennis before, playing with and against these two pros was challenging but definitely fun fun fun! Them, been playing for about two seasons now, teaching us the basic tennis skills like forehand, backhand and, obviously, the serve. It must be said that there were not only newcomers among the fans. It was quite obvious that some of the fans had already played tennis before or just paid great attention to games on TV. Time flies when you are having fun; it is true. The hour was passed before we all knew it and the next group was already waiting to get instructed by Marten. Pretty tired but satisfied we left the tennis court and went inside to cool down, chat and, apparently, take group pictures of this unforgettable day. Eventually, after 24 hours, Marten raised more than 4000 euros for KiKa. A wonderful amount, well done! Thanks everyone for your efforts and enthusiasm. Mitsy Haeck
When you think about it, it's actually quite weird that there are no gyms with a special schedule for women who want to get in shape again after they gave birth. It just must be a gap in the market! Many women don't lose all the weight they gained during the pregnancy and because of that most women are 5 kilos heavier after they gave birth. Well, not me! I want to fit back into my old clothes as soon as possible. So, two weeks after I gave birth I was dying to work out again. It was quite disappointing when the maternity nurse told me that I shouldn't train my abs until six weeks after delivery; otherwise the work out could be counterproductive. Since my own gym doesn't have a 'post pregnancy program' either, I decided to talk with the manager and a personal trainer. To me it seemed especially important that the trainer and I would click. Because, well, I must be able to accept that person frequently kicking my ass (mentally). It turned out to be alright. Esther is one tough cookie with a strong personality, making sure that I stay on the ball. Besides that she is a mother herself too and thus knows what it means. First, she asked me what I want to achieve and what I like and dislike in sport. Well, that was easy. Goal: to be in shape again at the 12th of August. Our first big concert, the First Challenge! Currently I weigh 68 kilos of which I want to lose 9. Likes: group lessons like Body Pump (with dumbbells) and Body Combat (combination of martial arts, to music). Hates: fitness! Only the idea of going to the gym for that can make me cranky already. Esther looked a bit doubtful. She explained that after being pregnant for nine months it normally takes just about the same time to get back into shape again. “What you want is basically impossible, she concluded, “but we're going to tryâ€. I got an exercise plan for three sessions a week. One lesson Body Pump, one lesson Body Combat and, unfortunately, fitness. The most I hate the vibration plate. Yes, it does train your muscles extra intensively but I don't feel happy at all in those embarrassing positions. Yet, the treadmill is a challenge as well and because I am always afraid of falling off I prefer to hold myself. Well, that is not possible when your trainer decides to give you two kilos weight in each hand. Luckily, I am promised that we will replace the fitness by an outdoor activity when we're halfway through the process. I can't wait!
Share the music video of “Siníéad†on your Facebook profile for at least one week and you might win an exclusive signed merchandise package. We installed a special Siníéad app on our Facebook profile so you can share the video. We’ll make sure that you receive the merchandise package at home! The merchandise package includes: The Unforgiving comic (signed by Romano Molenaar), a T-shirt (male or female), a tote bag, silicone wristbrand, Faster single & a signed maxi cd of Siníéad (including 4 remixes). We’ll give away 10 packages!
Siníéad the 2nd single from “The Unforgiving†will be released between July 15th and 19th in most countries. With undeniable disco grooves, we took this opportunity to further enhance the track’s dance floor appeal merging these seemingly disparate genres to create contagious new versions of “Siníéad with the help of four acclaimed dance producers. Scooter, VNV Nation, Benno de Goeij and Groove Coverage. Each of the collaborating DJ producers had carte blanche to reinterpret “Siníéad†to suit their preferred style and personal vision. Both in the story of ‘The Unforgiving’ as well as on the album, ‘Siníéad‘ has always been a favorite of all of us. She is a character with a lot of different opposite sides to her, just like the song. It is catchy and feel good but at the same time emotional and melancholic. So from the start it was quite clear that Siníéad would be released as a single from this album. We recently launched the videoclip of Siníéad. And you can still win an exclusive signed merchandise package, by sharing the video on your Facebookprofile for one week. Only Germany and the Netherlands will release physical CD formats in addition to digital bundles with the various mixes and the unreleased track “Emty Eyesâ€. All other markets will make the tracks available as digital downloads. Due to a unique sponsoring opportunity, the fans in Germany will find a voucher code in 1.500 of the CD 2 track singles which will give them free access to Within Temptation’s “The First Challenge†concert on August 12th. If you get your 2 track CD single in the week after release on July 15th in Germany you have a very good chance to find a voucher code in your single. Another nice bonus is included in the Maxi CDs which are sold at www.bol.com in the Netherlands. The Maxi CD comes with the 2nd edition of the WT comic “Penance Part IIâ€. Here the details of the various single formats: 2Track phyiscal: (Germany) ·Sinead (Single Edit) ·Sinead (Scooter Remix) Pre- order link to www.amazon.de, Maxi-CD (5 Tracks): (Germany & The Netherlands) ·Sinead (Single Edit) ·Empty Eyes (exclusive on MAXI-CD) ·Sinead (VNV Nation Remix) ·Sinead (Scooter Remix) ·Sinead (Groove Coverage Remix) Pre-oder link to www.amazon.de, www.jpc.de, www.weltbild.de, www.bol.com Digital pre-sale links will be posted when available! Digital Audio Bundle ·Sinead (Single Edit) ·Sinead (VNV Nation Remix) ·Sinead (Scooter Remix) ·Sinead (Groove Coverage Remix) ·Sinead (Groove Coverage Remix Edit) ·Sinead (VNV Nation Radio Edit) Digital Combo Bundle ·Sinead (Single Edit) ·Sinead (VNV Nation Remix) ·Sinead (Scooter Remix) ·Sinead (Groove Coverage Remix) ·Sinead (Groove Coverage Remix Edit) ·Sinead (VNV Nation Radio Edit) ·Siníéad (Video Broadcast Version) Digital Combo Bundle Exclusive (Musicload Exclusive Edition) ·Sinead (Single Edit) ·Sinead (VNV Nation Remix) ·Sinead (Groove Coverage Remix) ·Sinead (Scooter Remix) ·Sinead (Groove Coverage Remix Edit) ·Sinead (VNV Nation Radio Edit) ·Sínead (Benno de Goeij Remix) EXCLUSIVE TRACK ·Siníéad (Video Broadcast Version) Digital Combo Bundle I -Tunes U.K. (relase date 24.07.) ·Siníéad (Radio Edit) ·Siníéad (Scooter Remix) ·Siníéad (VNV Nation Remix) ·Siníéad (Video Broadcast Version)
Like I said last week, is Body Pump one of the group lessons I attend. It's exercising with dumbbells. A lesson like this is effective and continues to work after finishing the exercises which I learned the hard way. The very first time I tried a Body Pump class, it didn't look that hard to me. It must be easy, I decided. I was recommended to start with the bar only, without any weights attached. Of course, I refused. I wanted to feel at least something! Thus, I attached considerable weight on each side of my bar. I was able to keep up with the lesson just fine. Afterwards I even doubted about going another time, since I didn't really like it and didn't have the feeling I acutally achieved something. 'Maybe you didn't do it the right way', somebody suggested, but I slunk away disappointed. Guess what: the next day I had such sore muscles I couldn't even get out of bed normally. From head to toe, every muscle hurt. And also a lot of muscles of which I never knew that I had them! My boyfriend, who heard me coming home grumbling the previous evening, died laughing. Anyway, at least I found a lesson which showed me some results and I happily continued Body Pumping. The first lesson I recently participated in after months, so after my pregnancy, was great. I, of course, overextended myself because I was so happy to work out again. Conveniently, I forgot the lesson I learned the last time, starting with a bar without extra weights attached that is. It's always said that you can start where you left off. So stubborn as I am, I expected to be able to easily lift 3,5 kilos, just like before my pregnancy. Resulting in another day of being hardly able to walk due to the muscle aches. I could hardly go up the stairs, but particularly going down the stairs was tragic. All I actually wanted was just to relax on the couch and pity myself. A lot.
Getting your tickets the easiest way depends on where you’re coming from. Coming from Holland, click on this link: http://www.huntenpop.nl/?page_id=16 Coming from Germany, click on this link: http://www.bbv-net.de/termine/tickets_bbv_huntenpop/ Coming from other countries, this is the best link to go to: http://www.ticketmaster.nl/artist/huntenpop-tickets/325163?language=en. If you’re staying over on the camp site, make sure to get a ticket for both days. If you’re only coming to our show, get a ticket for Friday August 12th
VNV Nation’s Ronan announces that he will be the after-party DJ for Within Temptation’s “the First Challenge†on the 12th of August in Ulft.
The First Challenge will not only be unique Within Temptation concert, it will be a Within Temptation happening. Sharon’s personal challenge is to get in shape again. Here’s another personal update from Sharon on her fitness program
Robert is busy shooting all the visuals for the upcoming Unforgiving tour. Of course you will see the results of these crazy long days during The First Challenge on the 12th of August. On twitter Robert showed some exclusive behind the scenes shots that look really promising!
By popular demand, we’re moving to a bigger venue!Hi everyone, Great news for those of you who tried ordering tickets for our show in Munich on November 24th. It was sold out this week, but we were able to move to a bigger venue on the same night! The show will now take place at the Zenith, on the same date. For those of you who already have tickets: your tickets will still be valid for that show. For those of you who don’t have tickets yet, you can now order them here. As you know, opening act will be Anneke van Giersbergen, we’re looking forward to seeing you all there! Cheers, WT
