On Tuesday, December 5, Sibel Tuzun, who represented Turkey in Athens 2006, performed at Con Hombres, the Eurovision bar/club in Helsinki as a guest of the OGAE Finland. Sibel, who came 11th in Athens becomes one of the very few participants who perform in Finland after the Eurovision Song Contest.

The Turkish star arrived in Finland Sunday 2nd December, and she has had a very busy schedule arranged for her by OGAE Finland that has a lot of reasons to celebrate. The most important one being that, according to Martti Immonen, the International Co-ordinator, OGAE Finland has become the largest Eurovision Song Contest fan club in the world with 600 members. At the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest in Athens, they had one of the largest contingencies, and were perfectly placed in the centre of the hall, in front of the stage, to enjoy their first victory!

Sibel is known in Finland for her rock attitude and interest in rally. This is her second time in Finland this year. Also this time the weatherwas not on her side. Foggy and grey, snowless Helsinki is far cry from the panoramic pictures she saw in tourist brochures and books given her last time but it doesn’t put Sibul down. In a good humour and full of energy she sat down with journalist,Anna Muurinen, to answer some questions and talk about her Athens experience.

How was your Eurovision Song Contest experience and would you do it again?
“It was such a thrill! So exciting on and off stage. Especially I enjoyed the press conferences. There were many fans and real Eurovision experts and they had very interesting questions and knew a lot about me and my career. For a singer and songwriter it was very flattering. I’m not sure if I would want to do it again and it doesn’t depend on me but TRT. I would insist on singing in English the next time but they propably wouldn’t allow me. But yes, with these conditions I would do it again, it is such a big event. I heard there are 43 countries next year! Maybe 50 soon?”

You recorded your song “Superstar” also in Greek. why?
“I was in Greece when Anna Vissi’s song was selected and the Greek audience loved “Superstar”, they were really wild! So it seemed like a good idea to record it also in Greek and I’m planning on recording more songs in Greek as soon as possible. So, from now on I will be recording in Turkish, English and Greek.”

There’s a photo of you and Mr Lordi getting rather intimate…
(Explodes in laughter) "Oh no! I saw that photo, too, and only then realized how intimate we have been! Well, no, just kidding. It’s taken after the semifinal in the greenroom. We were all just so happy and fooling around. Mr Lordi was walking around showing his tongue to everyone. It was childish but very funny. I don’t know if the photo is also photoshopped but we were having silly fun! You can imagine the reaction in Turkish media! I met Mr Lordi already in spring in Tampere in Eurovision 40 Years Gala you had so we kind of knew each other already. In Athens we stayed in the same hotel and Mr Lordi used to play with my little daughter. He is a very nice man who wants to be a monster. On stage I want to be Barbie, so…”

Do you know any other Finnish Eurovision artists?
“In Tampere I was very impressed by Laura’s “Addicted to you”. She wasn’t there but I saw the video. A very good song and a charismatic performer.”

She is participating again in Finnish selection 2007…
“She is? That’s interesting! Well, I guess that once you become part of the Eurovision family you always want to try again just like Anna Vissi, Carola, Kate Ryan…

What are your plans for the near future?
“I will start a new show in Istanbul. It’s going to be very exciting as I’m not only going to sing but it’s going to be interactive show. The audience decides the songs and how the story goes. We will create together a love story with songs. The performances will surely become very different every night and it will be interesting to see how they develop. The story could also be very short: if it starts with “Can’t take my eyes off you”, follows with “Fever” and “Kiss” and next up is “Sex bomb” the story’s over! (laughter) We also use a big screens and show clips from Love Boat and Married with kids, it’s going to be fun! The show goes on until summer for sure and after that I will make an album for EMI Greece. In summer I will also do concerts and have already some new songs in English ready.”

So you’re conquering Europe? What do you expect from the gig in Helsinki?
“I hope so! I want to share my music with people, especially Eurovision fans all over.I hope thateverybody has a good time, me included of course! I hope that people sing along to Superstar. Every time I sing it I remember the wonderful audience in Athens. I’m sure I will enjoy the gig very much! It is so wonderful to be here. Finland has a very relaxing effect on me. Istanbul is so crowded that when I first came here, I thought this is a paradise!”