Venezuela!

It is absurd to be here in Venezuela! I have always wanted to come to South-America too see how people live here. I have met many Indians from these countries around the world, but have never actually been here, so this trip has made me understand a few things about the Indians from here.
It is very unusual for me who am from one of the richest countries in the world, Norway, and come here to Venezuela and the prices are twice as high as in Norway. I am just shocked about the prices! No wonder people are poor here, when even I with my salary much higher then people here have, have big problems with these prices. To buy anything is a big deal anyway, I would rather not buy anything, cause everytme I want to buy something they need my passport ID, name and address where I am staying.
Makes me kind of paranoid... There are a few things here that I dont understand, I must say...Why am I not allowed to take a picture of the Hotel? and why do they need my finger prints to exchange money? How come you need my passport id to buy a t-shirt? Why do I have to sign that I ate breakfast for 250 bolivares, when a breakfast buffest is included in the room? Simple questions, but I doubt there is a simple answer...

But besides all these political questions Odd-Erling and I have had a wonderful time here! We did a duo-concert where he played the baryton-guitar and we also played the traditional sami drum.
The event we where playing at was actually the opening of a photo excibition by Antonio Briceño called "520 Renos" (520 reindeer). He had been i Sapmi for a while taking pictures of sami people and learned alot about the sami people. He had some portraits of some people I actually know, which was really fun to see on the other side of the world. I was really touched when we got a guided tour through the exibition with him. I don tknow how to explain the feeling I had when I kind of came home to Sapmi on the other side of the world. The exibition was just perfect! His art was fantastic and so thought through, I dont have words. I actually had to stop myself from crying while I was there. It was such a big honour for me to play at the opening!


While we were there we also got to participate in a meeting with the wise-president of the Indigenous peoples standing commite in Venezuela. The wise president of The Sami Parlament in Finland,Irja Seurujärvi-Kari,was also there. And I was hosted by the Norwegian and Finnish embassy in Venezuela, and also the Swedish embassy was there. It was very interesting to hear about the differences between the sami people and Indians in Venezuela. There is such a big difference in the law and rights for the different indigenous people in the different countries. But it is amazing how we are helping and learning from each other and sticking together.


Info about the exibition

Homepage of Antonio Briceno

Pictures from Finnmarksløpet-tour coming soon!

End of Finnmarksløpet-tour

Wow! I dont know where to start when writing about Finnmarksløpet. I traveled around Finnmark for 10 days, had a concert every day, and met so many great people. It has been such an adventure! I want to write about every day in this blog ( I will), just so I can look back and read about it later in my life. I never want to forget about this experience!

My two last concerts where on saturday in Alta. I had gone from Kirkenes at 7 in the morning, to catch a flight to Tromsø, then Alta, so I could be in time for the prize-ceremony at 12. Eveyone who had come back to Alta at that time was there, after the ceremony, in front of all these winners I sang "Lihkku Niehku/Dream of Fotune". The audience where cheering and people sang along, and at the end I actually managed to sneak me a hug from some of the winners. I felt I had stolen hugs from them, but I have just got so attached to the race that I really hoped they would accept my gratulations.
In the evening was the banquet, and everyone involved whith Finnmarksløpet was there to celebrate the end of the event. I had been following and got more and more intrested in the race. It is amazing, and just looks so fun to do it! I have really learned to appriciate sledge-dog racing now. The dogs are awesome! I like how wild they are. They are tamed, but if they run away they become wild again just in a few hours away from humans. One of the participants had lost one dog, so he actually had to go out looking for it, and skip the part where he revieves a bronze-trophy, he was just so afraid of loosing his dog. That it would go wild again, and he would never be able to catch it again.
Petter Carslen and me sang a few songs each. I was so tired that night, but I stayed for a while selling CD's. I got to met Lars Monsen, and Jeff King again! A lot of other people, including Steinar, who is in my video, and his wife Lisa, who made us the best food. I sat at the table with some nice people from Hamburg, and Sweden. And also met my godmother from Kirkenes, whom I have only seen once the last 10 years. :D

Klarte å snike seg til en klem av alle på Finnmarksløpet-pallen! hihi:D//I stole hugs from Finnmarksløpet-winners! :D hihi

Back in Kirkenes

So early morning Jørn and I caught a flight to Kirkenes with Mikael wiehe and his magic soundman. We are going to support him in Kirkenes also. This time at samfunnshuset.
This was a very special place to come to for me. The building was so old, but very well kept, and the manager was very much engaged in what he was doing. they had made the most beutiful lightening for the stage. It was just great.

While I was on stage i didnt have any clue how many people where in the room, because of the light that shined right at me, but I could hear them, and they told me there where about 200 people in there. So here was the same as in Alta, people where suprised to hear my music and see my dancing, spellbound with it, luckily for me! I am very happy to have been able to show people in Finnmark my music and dance. Even if many sami people know me, there are still lots of Norwegians in the northern parts that had never heard my music. I am happy about all thet good response I had had from people in the north, and also from far away from other countries. It makes me want to continue dancing and singing when so many people tell me that I should, and that they felt spellbound. That is the biggest thing for me! :D

Winner of Finnmarksløpet arrives Alta!

Yesterday in karasjok was my last concert together with "Ája" and "Songs from the heart". Right after the concert in Karasjok we hurried back to Alta. I barely had time to say hello to my father before we had to go...
But it was good because that gave us tha whole day to rest on thursday before our duo concert at City Scene in Alta.

I was support for Mikael Wiehe from Sweden. I had such a good time playing there! The sound was amazing. Both Jørn and me where just overwhelmed about how good the sound-man was. We had borrowed the Mikael Wiehe's sound-guy for that concert. His name was Krille, and was just the most effective, precise sound-guy I have ever met. And maybe Jørn as well cause we were both impressed! :D

I had never seen so many people in City Scene, and was happy I had the chance to play there in the first place. The audience were very welcoming. Many of them had never heard my music before, but it looked like they liked it! They looked at me with big eyes, which I take as a good sign. :D

Mikael Wiehe played for almost 2 hours. Towards the end of his concert Roger Dahl, the winner of Finnmarksløpet came in, and I ran out to get a glimpse of him. Wow, I couldn't believe he had been out there with his dogs the whole time while I had been travelling around Finnmark as well. It was so cool to see him there. he was tired, and he had gotten champagne and flowers. The first thing he did was to thank and hug each and everyone of his dogs for the trip. He was surrounded by media, so it was quite hard to actually see him...

Did you follow Finnmarksløpet?

Concert in my hometown Karasjok

It's wednesday and we are going to my hometown Karasjok from Varangerbotn. On our way we there we drive over the river on a ice-road to the finnish side of the river. We just want to go to the finnish supermarket and get some snacks and food for the trip. everything is cheaper in Finland, so it is usual to go there to get meat, cigarettes, gasoline, alchohol and whatever you need...
I only bought a small carton of cold blueberry-soup. They dont sell that in norway, and I love it! :D

So on our way there is a checkpoint in Levajok. We decide to step by there to see what's going on, and just to have a break from driving. We go in that cafe, and there is jeff King! He is the most famous sledge.dog racer. has has won the biggest longest race 4 times, and was invited to Finnmarksløpet at a hounour-guest. Dont know what you say in english. He was specially invited. So it turns out he really liked my performance at the opening show and we toop a pic together. I actually didnt know who he was when i met him first, but afterwards they told me he was the most famous man here. By now i am getting to be a big sledge-dog-race fan, so I am really proud to have met him! :D


So we arrive to Karasjok and this was the hardest concert I had. I was terrifyed to sing and dance in front of so many people from my hometown who have known me since I was just a blonde small kid. Very frightening. I felt I did everything wrong, but in between i had some moments where I felt that I had managed to show them what I wanted to show them performance wise. Even if I didnt feel I did great, I think they understood my message, wich is good. I dont actually know if the perfomance was as bad I as I felt it was, could be it was great...sometimes I am a bit hard on myself...

Varangerbotn concerts at the museum

So now we are arriving at Varangerbotn. This day was the day I didnt seem to do anything right.. Jørn and I had 2 concerts that day. First a short one outside wich was spectacular again. The sky was clear with stars all over, and just a little tiny bit of the northern lights. There are not much lights ouside the museum there, so the stage light where the only lights there, wich made everything even more magic. But well.. The leader of the checpoint varangerbotn had told me to open up the checkppoint by lit a fire beside the stage. so he told me what to do before the concert, and I was thinking about this all the time. "remeber to carry the fire to the side of the stage to open the checkpoint". i was telling myself that the whole time we where playing, but it the end of the last song, I forgot!! unbelivable!
so I was leaving the stage when someone reminded me, and I had to go back to the mic and tell the audience what I will do, and I just blacked out, and didnt know what to say... really embarrasing. But in the end everyone understood I was carrying fire to a fireplace to lit it and that would symbolize the opening of the checkpoint.
I was really honoured to do this, cause now I am starting to follow the racers and watch on the news on the internet and TV how things are going for the racers.
I found it really exciting and fun to watch and learn alot about these dogs, and just admirering the racers who travel so far with their dogs. thay must have an amazing experience out there travelling!
So I am really really proud that they wanted me to do this opening of the checkpoint. I promise i will make up for them somehow in the future, for doing such a bad job...

We were finished outside and now moving inside to the museum to play a concert indoors. This concert was a little bit longer. Here I made my other misktake, wich has never happened to me before. I started singing the wrong song! Jørn was playing a totally different song then I was singing, so mothing made sense. It was was weirdest thing... and embarrasing again!! yeah..dont know what got me so distracted that day, it was one of those days. probably the moon or something... But the audience where forgiving, and luckily I managed to do good, except for these small weird mistakes. I dont think they are so uncommon. Do you konw of anyone who has made mistakes like that?

Snow-hotel in Kirkenes

So now its time to go to Kirkenes, and for the snow-hotel.
Every year they build a snow hotel in Kirkenes. They have sround 10 rooms. This year some ice-artist from Tokyo had come to Kirkenes and helped bulding this hotel, so it had some oriental decor in there as well.
I think this is my second snow hotel I have been to. I have also been to a Ice-bar in New Zealand, but that was basically just a really big refigerator with bar in it made of ice.

Jørn Øien came to meet me today. He will be playing duo-concerts with me most of the tour. He is a jazz-pianist and although he plays synth on my CD "jiknon musihkka-frozen music" ha has never played with me live before.

It was once again the perfect setting for my frozen music i felt. I was surrounded by ice and snow, but still it felt very intimate. Ája and me played a short concert in the bar-area of the hotel. It was a magical feeling. And people loved it. And I really loved the setting!

Many of the people at the concert would be sleeping in the hotel that night. I wonder what it feels like to wake up in a snow-hotel. I have never tried sleeping not even in a lavvu in the winter, except for once, I belieive long time ago....
Here they had proper beds with reindeer sking, and sleeping bags, but you have to wear woolen clothing to go to bed, cause the temperature is below 0 I think.Dont really know, but I believe so....

I hope someday I will get the chance to sleep in a snow-hotel...

Snow-stage, Ice-art and duodji-sale in Tana!

So in the morning sunday the 13th of februrary I had to wake up early to start the long drive all the way to Tana. It took us about 7 hours to get there. My band went back to Oslo, and now it was back to duo concerts. after that great concert in hammerfest I really wanted my band to come with me, but they could not.

I was exhausted after the trip to Tana, so I tried to rest as much as possible. Outside our hotel it was packed with people. Alot of people were selling doudji/sami handcraft, and other clothing and arts and food and alot of stuff. It was fun to see so much people there, amongst the ice-sculptures, and the hill for children to play on. They had built a stage of snow, and the funny thing was that the dog-racers track was right on the stage, so every once in a while there would be a dog-sledge passing over the stage where the conferansier was standing.

Later in the evening the stage was used for music. Ája and me where playing on that stage. And just when Ája was playing their last song one of the dog-racers came and passed behind them, and waved to the audience. It was just the coolest thing!
I thought: "Wow, how cool is that! I want a dog-sledge come and pass over stage when I am singing too!! That didnt happen unfortunately, but it was so cool to se that anyway! :D

Later that night there was a acoustic Cyaneed (girl-punkrock band from Alta) concert at the hotel that I went to see. They always have such energy and power at their concerts. It was nice to hear them in a more quiet setting. I really enjoyed their concert. Their bass player did a few songs on her her own, wich was really suprising for me, and beutiful! :D

Hammerfest! Hammer-party!

Photos Andreas Fliflet


Friday 11th I did a few songs at the opening banquet for finnmarksløpet in Alta. This was at the hotel. The athomsfere was nice and i could tell people where excited about the next day, when the race starts.



And so the next day, saturday 12th of march just before the race started I did "Lihkku Niehku" at the start line before the racers took off. There wehere so many people who had gathered there to watch the racers when they went. The race had begin! :D



When I had done my song I had to hurry straight to the car and start driving to Hammerfest. It is just a few hours driving, so it wasnt so bad. I got there just an hour before my band landed at Hammerfest airport, so I went to get them from the airport, wich was not easy to find, actually, when you have never been there before. No signs anywhere.

Hihi anyway, we were playing at Arktisk kultuersenter in Hammerfest. A really nice new building. The sound was great, and the lighting was awesome, the whole thing just went perfect! I couldnt be more happy with our performance!
This time I had with me 2 new bandmembers. Andreas on drums and Jo Skaansar on bass, in addition to Juani Silvola on guitar and Ole Jørn Myklebust on synth and trumpet.


I am som happy , because this concert was recorded for NRK to send it on the radio at some point, and that concert was awesome. The people who had come where very happy with it! Everyone seemed to have had a great experience, which I was hoping for of course. Very very happy!! :D

Lihkku Niehku/Dream of fortune for sale on iTunes now!

http://itunes.apple.com/no/album/lihkku-niehkku-dream-fortune/id425236222

First day of Finnmarksløpet - tour

Photos Ken A. Brox















The start of my Finnmarksløpet tour was in Alta 10th of March for the opening of the Borealis vinterfestival as well as Finnmarksløpet.
Alta videregående skole had made this amazing play for this. I dont know where to begin descibing it. It was just perfect. The cotumes where great and the big stallo was the star of the play. It was teatre, musical, puppets, circus, karneval. All in one! Alot of different acts.

They had some poi-fire dancers there, and I was so lucky that they actually agreed to do some fire-dancing under my act as well. I was really proud. I think poi is the coolest thing. I tried to learn it at some point, but just havent practiced, so no progress with that....

This snow/ice-artist Laila Kostyak had made lots of sculpures and also the huge stage of snow. It was up to 7 meter over the ground, I belive. Such a artwork!
I started singing quite high on the sculpture and for the third verse I went down from it. I was so terrified of falling down! I saw all the people from up there. They said it could be a few thousand that had come to see the opening. It was the strangest feeling ever. Just to see the heads of people, and when I looked up there was the northern lights! It was the perfect opening of my tour I must say. I knew it was going to be a special experience to sing under the northern lights every day!

Så trøtt for tiden!Har sovet 12 timer igjen.Ka hjelper mot trøtthet?//So tired!Slept for 12 hours again.How do I to get more energy?

My songs at Foto.no

Frank Hesjedal from foto.no has used my music for their slideshows on Youtube.
Foto.no is a page for photographers, a page where they can put their pictures for people to look at and buy, share comments and so on.

I saw the slideshows today and thay where amazing! I was almost in tears cause the pictures where so beutiful and my music just seemed to be used for something good, and that was a wonderful feeling.

More at http://foto.no/cgi-bin/articles/articleView.cgi?articleId=43615