Tokio Hotel

Tokio Hotel is a German pop/rock-band from Magdeburg, Germany.

Band history

Starting Point

Twins Bill Kaulitz (born September 1, 1989) and Tom Kaulitz (born ten minutes before his brother) had been performing since the age of 9. After putting on a show in their hometown of Magdeburg in 2001, Bill and Tom met Gustav Schäfer (born September 8, 1988) and Georg Listing (born March 31, 1987). Their similar taste in music led to the creation of the band 'Devilish'. In 2003, the group was approached by music producer Peter Hoffmann and were soon after signed with Sony BMG in Hamburg. They were then known as 'Tokio Hotel' (Significance: 'Tokio' for the lively and engaging city of Tokyo and 'Hotel' for the band's constant touring around the country). Assisted by professionals, Bill co-wrote the majority of the songs on their album, Schrei (Scream).

Career

The music video of their debut single Durch den Monsun (Through the Monsoon) has been playing on German television since July of 2005. The band quickly gained a multitude of fans after its release. The single appeared on the German music charts at #15 on August 20th and reached #1 on August 26th. It also climbed to #1 on the Austrian music charts. Second video was "Schrei"...This video also climbed to #1 all over Europe.They released their album Schrei in September of 2005. In early 2006, their third music video Rette Mich (Save Me) was released. This version of the song was different from the original version on their first album because of Bill's now propubescent voice and some instrumental differences. Rette Mich made it to the #1 spot as well. The rerelease of their first album was initiated by Bill's voice change and was released with three new songs ("Schwarz (Black), "Beichte" (Confession) and "Thema nr. 1" (Topic #1) in March 2006 titled Schrei: So Laut Du Kannst (Schrei - Noch Lauter Edition) (Scream: As Loud As You Can (Scream - Even Louder Edition)).

Popularity, controversy, and criticism

Tokio Hotel is largely popular among teenage girls, of whom most are drawn by the sex appeal of the lead singer of the band, Bill Kaulitz. There has been controversy about Bill's androgynous look (long unconventional dyed hairstyle, black nail polish, unconventional wardrobe), in spite of the fact that the young Kaulitz has made it clear that he is simply an artist expressing himself through his music as well as through his choice of clothing. There has also been controversy about Bill and Tom's weight and concern that their 'unhealthy' underweightness might cause complications for themselves as well as send a bad message to their fans. Furthermore, the band members have been criticized for being 'too young and immature' and for having their music composed and arranged by their production company for them. Many critics say that Bill Kaulitz copied the hair of Japanese singer Miyavi. In Hungary even an Anti-Tokio Hotel Club exists, counting about 1300 members now, their number growing rapidly. Little TH-fan teenage girls (who are said to be unbelievably ugly by club members) often criticise the club and send outraged emails to it, usually containing bad language use also. However, members don't really care about it, they're just laughing at those girls. Some people (not necessarily the members of the club) like to commit sabotage during Tokio Hotel fan meetings and criticise the fans for being nothing more than "undorító hülye kis picsák." The number of the band's haters has probably that of the fans', thought to be much more already.

Currently

According to recent interviews with the band, they are in the process of releasing their album Schrei in English to gain international success and are currently improving their English skills. The boys have just released their newest music video "Der Letzte Tag" (The Last Day).

Awards

06.10.2005 - "Best Newcomer" and "Super Comet" awards at the annual Comet Awards.
24.11.2005 - "Eins Live Krone" award
01.12.2005 - "Bambi" award

12.03.2006 - "Best Newcomer" award at Echo Awards.
25.03.2006 - "Bester Newcomer" award at Steiger-Award
06.05.2006 - "Goldener Otto" award at Bravo Otto show.
22.05.2006 - "Music" award at Bild Osgar

Discography

Singles

2005: Durch den Monsun (Through The Monsoon), Germany: #1, Poland #1
2005: Schrei (Scream), Germany: #5
2006: Rette Mich (Save Me), Germany: #1 , Poland #1
2006: Der Letzte Tag (The Last Day)

Albums

2005: Schrei (Scream), Germany: #1, Poland: #3 (Platinum - 40.000+ copies - in Poland July 2006)
2006: Schrei: So Laut Du Kannst (Scream: As Loud As You Can ) - Extended Editon, Germany: #1

DVDs

2005: Leb' die Sekunde (Live the Second): Behind the Scenes
2006: Schrei Live (Scream Live)

External links