Tarkan's Letter to His Fans

Current Affairs Magazine Features Tarkan on Front Cover
Yeni Aktüel & Sabah Günaydın
22.06.2012


Yeni Aktuel and Sabah Gunaydin Logos
Current affairs magazine Yeni Aktuel has featured Tarkan on its front coverCurrent affairs magazine Yeni Aktüel has featured the Turkish king of pop on its front cover (21 June-4 July 2012/Issue 272) with the headline: "Aktüel's got a letter from Tarkan". Daily Sabah's entertainment supplement, Günaydın has run an article on the feature publishing excerpts from what is effectively a letter from Tarkan to his fans.

The newspaper article says that the magazine feature reveals Tarkan's plans for future productions and backstage notes from the 11th annual Fanta Youth Fest in the artist's own words.

Printing quotes by Tarkan published in magazine Yeni Aktüel, the Sabah supplement also provides notes on the Fanta sponsored festival taking the Turkish provinces by storm this summer, and reminds its readers that the festival had broken attendance records with Tarkan last year by reaching the million figure mark.

The article writes that the festival entourage, consisting of 5 trailers, 10 trucks, 15 vehicles and 6 buses, employs close to 300 workers. The stage takes two days to construct and a day to dismantle before moving on to the next city in its 16 date tour.

The first leg of the tour had been the Turkish capital city of Ankara, and Sabah's article begins Tarkan's excerpts with the artist's feelings on the opening show which official audience figures say attracted over 100,000 people.

Tarkan facing large crowd in Ankara for Fanta Youth Fest 2012The first stop on this year's (Fanta) tour was Ankara. The interest and excitement from the 100,000 strong crowd at the concert was amazing. The Samsun and Trabzon concerts were great, too. There are still a lot of cities coming up and it looks like it's going to be great tour. Although the tour can sometimes get stressful and tiring, the minute I get up on stage I forget everything and I'm rejuvenated by the passion and energy of the large crowds. Plus while on the road and at our hotel stopovers we have a great time with my team mates and orchestra. The whole team has fun together, we laugh a lot.

In short I can say this: it's great being on this tour. To meet my fans from all across Turkey and sing songs together in one voice during the shows is an amazing feeling...

When I find the time in between the shows, I go on nature treks too. I take pictures. For example, after my Trabzon concert I went to visit my homestead Rüzgarlı Köy (Windy Village) in Rize. It was beautiful.

Riding on the release of the song 'Aşk Gitti Bizden' from Ozan Çolakoğlu's album has added an extra energy to the concerts this year as well. Another song sang by me for Ozan's album, 'Hadi Bakalım' has seen a lot of interest during the shows, too. I've been wanting to sing my own version of 'Hadi Bakalım' for a long time, it was destined to be for Ozan's album.

And I also believe that the song 'Ben Yanmışım', written by me and composed by Ozan and myself, and sung by dear Ajda Pekkan, will be popular and gain a lot of interest as well.

I admire and love Ajda very much for her heart, her humanity, and as an artist. The enjoyment and happiness I feel listening to her sing my songs is something else. And I have to say this; I believe Ozan's début album '01', which he's worked on for so long, is one of this summer's best albums."

With both the album and track topping the Turkish sales charts just weeks after their release, the magazine writes that the music artist has filmed the eagerly awaited music video to the digital best-seller "Aşk Gitti Bizden".

The Yeni Aktüel article says that under the production of Emrah Gamsızoğlu's Gaya Film, the video was directed by Los Angeles based director Eric Heimbold, who made Super Bowl history with his "Power of the Crunch" commercial for Doritos.

Details provided state that the video was in pre-production for a month, with actual filming taking place in two different studios. The video's choreography was carried out by dancer Nathalie Marrable, known as Madonna's body double in the industry.

Tarkan Tributes to Turkish Music

Sabah's entertainment supplement goes on to share the music artist's plans in the pipeline regarding his future productions provided by the magazine, printing that Tarkan is preparing to cover another song - this time in a tribute album to late lyricist Aysel Gürel.

Having already covered "Hadi Bakalım" for his producer/arranger Çolakoğlu's studio album, there may be a second Sezen Aksu-Gürel surprise for his fans in the near future, if Tarkan can fit it into his busy schedule. The article quotes the magazine which says that Tarkan and Gürel's paths first crossed in 2001, before the release of his Karma album, and that they became the best of friends.

In the tribute album entitled Aysel'in headed by Gürel's actress daughter Müjde Ar, there is the strong possibility that the pop star will be singing the Gürel penned track "Firuze", co-written and immortalised by Aksu in 1982.

With no plans for a studio album from Turkish pop's ambassador until at least 2013, rumours had been circulating since the start of 2012 that Tarkan might feature in other collaborations with artists in the near future, including a Gürel tribute album (pictured below).

Speculation in the Turkish celebrity press throughout the first half of 2012 over whether there would be any original releases from the singer this summer

Moreover, in more recent news, a columnist has claimed that although Tarkan hasn't yet chosen the song he will sing for Gürel's tribute project, Gürel's daughters have given Tarkan first option over the late lyricist's much sought after "treasure chest" of unpublished works, rumoured to be around 20,000 lyrics.

Their reason for choosing Tarkan is said to be because of the artist's honesty over correctly attributing his 2010 Adımı Kalbine Yaz album track "Sevdanın Son Vuruşu" lyrics to Gürel.

The lyrics are rumoured to have been sent to Tarkan when they were found in Gürel's house after her death. On confirming with Gürel's daughters that the lyrics were written by their late mother, Tarkan's credit to Gürel, when he could have easily appropriated the lyrics, is said to have moved them deeply.

Meanwhile, magazine Yeni Aktüel writes that Tarkan is involved in collaborations with classical female singer Emel Sayın and Orhan Gencebay. Tarkan has often spoke of his admiration for Sayın and Gencebay, as he grew up listening to their songs. Gencebay had featured in the Tarkan promo track "Uyan" for a nature society in 2008.

Although Yeni Aktüel claims that the Sayın project is a closely guarded secret for now, the Gencebay tribute track has been recorded. The newspaper quotes Tarkan's letter to the current affairs magazine as the singer talks about his involvement in Gencebay's tribute album.

I've also sung one of my most favourite songs 'Hatasız Kul Olmaz' for dear Orhan Gencebay's tribute album, which is out this summer, and I think it's turned out to be a very good version. You all know the love and respect I have for Papa Orhan. So my participation in the album was really a no-brainer. It's a pity the album didn't make it in time for the tour, and so I can't sing 'Hatasız Kul Olmaz' in my shows at the moment, but it's release is very soon. The album is almost finished. Hopefully, if it hits the music markets before this tour is over, then it will give me great pleasure to sing it on stage.

Alongside this, I'm also preparing my latest album. I'm currently busy writing new songs, working on my repertoire, but I can say this much; an amazing album is coming. I don't know when I'll complete it, but I instinctively feel that when it's done it will be a great album."

Tarkan Visits Late Father's Village

Mentioned in Tarkan's letter to Yeni Aktüel magazine, entertainment news portals had also previously reported Tarkan's stopover at his father's village in Rize, after the artist had posted up photographs of his visit on his official Facebook page.

Known for his support of protests against the proposed building of a hydro-powered dam in the region because of the threat to the environment, Tarkan is photographed in front of a banner which reads: "As long as the rivers run free, we are free. Water is life, it's not for sale."

Tarkan visits father's village in RizeTarkan visits father's village in RizeTarkan visits father's village in Rize
Photographs by Sedat Mehder

While Tarkan only posted comments to inform his followers he had enjoyed visiting relatives and touring his father's homestead, the media reports added that Tarkan visited his father's grave, and listened to the needs of the villagers, personally taking notes of requests (pictured below).

Visit Tarkan Online at http://www.facebook.com/tarkan for more pictures of Tarkan's trip to his father's home village.

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