Dave
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Post by Dave on Apr 21, 2006 1:56:21 GMT
Media previews/reviews and fan reviews/photos of Il Divo's concert in Helsinki, Finland, on 25th April (preferably those mentioning Hayley!) should be posted in this thread, together with any follow-up comments.
By the rules of Proboards forums, only reviews and messages in English may be posted.
Please stay on topic to this concert; off topic matters should be discussed in a more suitable thread or board.
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Post by stevemacdonald on Apr 25, 2006 23:35:16 GMT
Hi everyone! This is a message I just received from Saara Aalto in Helsinki: The concert evening was the best...totally amazing event!
And I got to meet her, which is the best thing of the whole evening 
After Hayley had sung I was very worried about my chances to get to meet her..
but then suddenly some men came and asked me was I on the guest list (I had been given a sticker to my shirt which said I was Il Divo's guest) and I said I was Hayley's guest and then they took me to her backstage where she was waiting for me!!!
She knew I was there in the hall and she made sure I got a chance to come backstage..
She was amazing!! She really cared about me and I really respect her effort to get me to the backstage. I'm so happy! We had a nice 15-minutes chat and we took a lot of photos!
I gave her my demo-CD and a letter I had written to her.
It was amazing!!! It was also nice to see Gerrit, and I hope he also had a great time!
Saara ----------------------- She also sent me a bunch of nice pictures but don't know how to get them properly onto the site. Please advise. Steve |
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Post by stevemacdonald on Apr 26, 2006 0:08:46 GMT
(Okay, thanks for the help J) These pics were made possible by Saara Aalto who is shown with Hayley below.   Edit: I resized the pictures slightly. Richard |
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Post by Richard on Apr 26, 2006 8:59:14 GMT
Hello Steve!  Thanks for posting Saara's message and the great photographs. i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gifI've found two mentions of Hayley's performance on the Il Divo forum this morning. Leo wrote:- Maria (ma_aar) wrote:- I knew Hayley would learn a few words of Finnish!  Richard  |
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Post by Richard on Apr 26, 2006 14:31:30 GMT
Hello again everybody!  I've found two more comments about Hayley on the Il Divo forum. Carina in Finland wrote:- Tia wrote:- There is a nice photograph with that last one. It's on page 7 of the Helsinki thread, and you can see it here. Best Wishes, Richard |
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Post by roger on Apr 26, 2006 14:48:39 GMT
Another mystery solved, I think. Dave, if you look at the link in Richard's post (above), then scroll down to Tia's post in which there is a photograph of herself...
Isn't that who sat next to you at Wembley and referred to us as "three older men"?
Roger (006 and working on it!)
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Post by Richard on Apr 26, 2006 15:09:49 GMT
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Dave
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Post by Dave on Apr 26, 2006 17:41:40 GMT
Yes indeed Roger and Richard, Tia it was - sat on my right at Wembley by the gangway - and very nice she was, too! I couldn't quite place her accent, thinking it was vaguely teutonic and now I know she's Finnish, I'm not surprised at all. But in fact, I think Tia is the only Finnish person I've ever knowingly met! My one regret is that I didn't get the chance to disturb her during Il Divo's performance - as I had apologised in advance and explained to her what would be happening... meeting Hayley... but it never did!  Tia is the lady on the right of this photo (on David's left) the link having been copied from the Il Divo thread mentioned by Roger (well spotted!) Cheers, Dave |
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Post by Stuart H on Apr 26, 2006 19:06:32 GMT
Hi Steve
Thanks for posting the review above. I am so pleased for Saara, she sounds over the moon. Hayley seems to care an awful lot about her fans and puts herself out all the time to gove them oportunities to meet her. Nice pictures too.
Stuart
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Post by gareth on Apr 26, 2006 19:20:30 GMT
Hi All, Just back from Finland, and I can't resist to tell you the story before moving off to Australia ... I had worked out via Internet (on directions given by Saara) which bus I had to take on arrival in Helsinki - after a ride of about 15 km I got off the bus at what I thought was approximately the right stop to get to my hotel. It turned out I had gotten off 1 stop to early - still, I had to walk less than a km to get to the hotel. The hotel itself was within walking distance of the Hartwall Areena. On Tuesday afternoon, Saara and her friend visited me at the hotel, to make arrangements for meeting each other before the concert. We found a convenient spot at the nearby railway station, as they would be arriving there. Just after 6, we got to the Hartwall Areena. And then we had a somewhat tense period. You see, there were 4 of us (Saara, her firend, her boyfriend and I), and at that time, only 2 tickets in hand. The two tickets Saara and her friend had initially bought in January. It was then that Steve Abbott promised Saara two guest tickets. At that time I decided I would travel to Finland to be there, and the two tickets Saara and her friend were already holding would be for her boyfriend and me .... We found a little office where information about tickets could be obtained. It turned out they had some guest tickets there, but these were for official parties. As Saara was a private guest of one of the artists, and the artists hadn't arrived yet, no information was available about the status of those tickets ... We decided to wait in the office. Then, after nearly an hour, a man walked in with an envelope ... it contained the long awaited tickets, with thanks to Steve Abbott for making them available! At the interval, we were first at a loss what to do. We were informed that Hayley would not be signing autographs, as there was no suitable area. (Rotterdam was an exception as the stand were she signed autographs was in a relatively quiet area, away from the main crowd - most of the other venues do not provide such an area.) However, Hayley had not forgotten us - she had apparently sent out one of the ground crew floor managers in search of Saara. She was quite easily spotted, especially with her sticker of "Il Divo guest" .... The manager asked her whose guest she really was. When Saara confirmed she was Hayley's guest, he responded "I thought as much." Initially, only Saara and her friend were invited backstage, but after a brief consultation, all 4 of us ended up backstage for a brief photo and chat session. It was really nice to see how happy Saara was that this one chance of meeting Hayley in her own country hadn't escaped her and she thanked Hayley for being so considerate to make sure they could meet. That little session alone was well worth the journey to Finland. I am glad I didn't miss it! I include three photos here, with the second one presumably being the only photo taken in which Saara and Hayley were not posing. The third photo was actually taken in the arena itself, right next to the stage, in full view of the audience. The vast majority would not have been aware of its significance - and it did not result in masses gathering around us for photos and autographs ... But I never dreamt I would once take Hayley's picture in full view of just about the entire audience of a concert (and it also show that this time I did manage to get my camera inside ) Gerrit    |
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Post by Natasha on Apr 26, 2006 20:38:34 GMT
Wonderful story, and I'm so glad that Saara got to meet Hayley!! Once again she shows off how wonderful she is!! |
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Dave
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Post by Dave on Apr 27, 2006 0:12:26 GMT
Thanks for your report from Finland Gerrit, and the lovely photos (lovely doesn't refer to you, LOL). I'm very pleased that your plans came to fruition in the end, after the disappointment of Rotterdam. Saara must have been delighted too, I wish i could have seen her face' in the flesh' so to speak, it must have been a picture! I think this is another example of how hard Hayley tries not to disappoint her fans and supporters if she can possibly avoid it! You must let us know what you thought of the concert itself when you get a minute - not forgetting the opening act! Good luck on your Australia trip - perhaps you'll find an internet cafe to keep in touch with things. Do they have the Internet yet in Australia?  Cheers, Dave |
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Joe
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Supporting Hayley since 2003!
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Post by Joe on Apr 27, 2006 3:02:08 GMT
Hi Gerrit, Many thanks for the pictures...Saara is a lovely young woman. It was very nice to see your pic as well...puts a face to the name! So glad everything worked out well for you! Cheers, Joe |
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Post by Richard on Apr 27, 2006 7:34:11 GMT
Hello Gerrit! Thanks for sharing your wonderful story, which again proves what a genuine, caring person Hayley is. I'm sure Saara will remember the night for ever, and she'll be a life-long fan of Hayley now. The photographs are all delightful, including the one of you! i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif Good luck in Australia. They definitely do have the Internet there, as our Jenny will tell you, so please try to keep in touch while you're there. Best Wishes from London, Richard |
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Post by Richard on Apr 27, 2006 8:37:08 GMT
More from the Il Divo forum. Åsa (namupala) wrote:- Ullis wrote:- Cielo wrote:- There is a photograph of Hayley on stage with the last one. To see it, click here. Richard |
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