Lordi

Initially formed by vocalist and costume designer Tomi Petteri Putaansuu or Mr. Lordi as a solo project in 1992, Lordi released his demo album “Napalm Market” in 2002, led by the single “Inferno”. After organising a Kiss cruise for Finnish Kiss fans heading to Sweden, Mr. Lordi met guitarist Amen and bassist G-Stealer who recorded the band’s debut “Bend Over And Pray The Lord”, however due to the label's lack of resources the album never got its release.

Lordi has long been indebted to the band Kiss, not least for the theatrical stage performances and elaborate make-up and masks (which they never take off) but it is in the shared appreciation for Kiss how most of the members met. In 1999 G-Stealer left the band and was replaced by Magnum who Mr. Lordi met at Kiss Army Finland, and who, alongside drummer Kita, recorded the band’s proper debut album “Get Heavy” in 2002. The album shot to No. 3 in the Finnish chart, has been certified triple-platinum and spawned the No. 1 single “Would You Love A Monsterman?”. The subsequent European tour propelled the band to popularity, especially in Germany, and aided the band signing with German record label Drakkar.

Magnum was fired just after the album release, however his replacement Pekka Tarvenen (Kalma) only stayed with the band for the release of Lordi’s sophomore album “The Monsterican Dream” in 2004. With Kalma replaced by Samer el Nahhal (Ox) and Siikavirta replaced by Leena Peisa (Awa) the band released their third studio album “The Arockalypse" in May 2006. The album spawned the No. 1 single “Hard Rock Hallelujah” and was appointed Finland’s official single entry in the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest, which some religious leaders denounced as supporting the devil.

Their song eventually won the Eurovision Song Contest, scoring the most points in the contest’s history, catapulting the band to further international popularity and starting a wave of media outlets wanting to capture the band without their masks. Lordi celebrated the victory with a free open-air performance in Helsinki’s Market Square. The band’s impressively elaborate and pyrotechnically inclined live show was then showcased in America for the first time, with Lordi playing shows at Bamboozle and Ozzfest, before touring alongside Type O Negative.

Lordi’s fourth studio album “Deadache” was released in 2008 with a more keyboard and horror focused direction, and featured songwriting contributions from all members of the band. After Lordi spent time recording with Jeremy Rubolino and formed Kiss guitarist Bruce Kulick, Lordi released the single “This is Heavy Metal” ahead of their fifth studio album “Babez For Breakfast” in 2010. The album marked the departure of drummer Kita who was replaced by Otus, who surprisingly died shortly afterwards, leading the band to cancel a number of their shows in early 2011.

The band has subsequently released the 20th anniversary CD/DVD compilation “Scarchives Vol. 1” in 2012, Lordi’s sixth full-length album “To Beast or Not to Beast" in September 2012, led by the single “The Riff”, and “Scare Force One” in 2014.

Guy Theodore Sebastian is one of Australia's most successful artists who received his commercial break after being crowned the victor of the first season of Australian Idol in 2003. Following on from his talent show background he was chosen as a judge of the Australian X Factor between 2010 and 2012. His first album titled 'Just As I Am' was released shortly after his win and topped the Australian album charts upon release, it now holds a six times platinum selling certificate. The following six albums all hit the top 10 on the albums chart and hold at least a platinum selling certificiate. He has enjoyed similar success with his singles, appearing twelve times on the top ten, six of which topped the chart. To date Sebastian is the only male artist in Australian chart history to score six number one singles.

'Battle Scars' is perhaps his most successful single to date, achieving six times platinum selling certificate in Australia as well as charting on numerous international charts including New Zealand, Norway and the United States. To date Scott has accumulated 51 platinum certificates and four gold making him the most successful Australian Idol contestant of all time and one of Australia's best selling artists.

His career has also been a critical success, to date he has been nominated 24 times for ARIA Awards nominations and has won four. When Australia released their list of thehighest selling singles of the decade, Sebastian's first release 'Angels Brought Me Here' was named as the top selling song.