Anneke van Giersbergen and Martijn Bosman have won an Okapi-liedprijs for their song “Ik Ga Slapen” (“I’m Going to Sleep”), for the Dutch show version of the children’s book “The Bear That Wasn’t” by Frank Tashlin.

Dutch songwriter Jan Rot, who grants the award to songwriters said the following about the winning song: “Even I, as a father of four, tend to make issues less complicated when it’s meant for children. Anneke and Martijn proof how much children really can process.”

Anneke and Martijn wrote an entire album to accompany the “De Beer Die Geen Beer Meer Was” show.

We’ve created an Event for our anniversary show ‘Elements’ on Facebook. It’s important to ‘attend’ the event, to make sure you’re the first to hear about any Elements news. Believe us, we’ve got some surprises in store for you…

Also let’s share the Elements joy on Twitter, by using #WTelements. Share with whom you’re going, where you’re coming from or anything else you want to share about Elements.

Over the weekend we experienced the most extreme start of ticket sales, ever! It seems as though all of you were trying to order your tickets at the same time.

As always, for more information on Elements, check the tourpage!

It’s exceeding everything you’ve ever seen, heard or experienced from us before…

And it’s called: Elements.

Since the release of Enter in 1997, things have skyrocketed for us. We were able to share and play our music all over the world and received so much appreciation from you. We got the chance to grow and become Holland’s most successful rock band internationally.

We are celebrating our anniversary with an incredible concert on the 13th of November in Sportpaleis Antwerpen, Belgium. The anniversary show, Elements, will be the most significant event in the history of Within Temptation.

The title represents the kind of music and live shows we are known for – the melodius, crystal clear voice of Sharon, the massive guitar riffs, the orchestral and Celtic influences and the always surprising musical collaborations.

Energetic performance, musical mastery, and visually thrilling elements ranging from impressive set designs to fireworks and specially made films and videos. Everything you have witnessed in the last 15 years will be topped during the anniversary show in Antwerp.

We will share the stage with some unexpected guests and  can already tell you that we will also be accompanied by the renowned Il Novecento Orchestra.

In the upcoming months we will reveal more details about the show but more importantly, we will celebrate our anniversary with you. A lot of exciting things coming up so please keep an eye on our website, newsletter or social media tools to make sure you are the first one to know.

Ticket sales start on Friday the 11th of May at 11 AM (CET).

Tickets are available through:

Proximus Go For Music

Phone: 0900 2 60 60 or

www.proximusgoformusic.be

Teleticketservice

www.teleticketservice.com

Starting the 21st of May, Tickets will also be available at:

Free Record Shop

Stores in Belgium and the Netherlands

FNAC

Stores in Belgium

Read the complete press statement in Dutch, English, or French here.

Sharon and Ruud performed a cover of Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” during De Wereld Draait Door, a Dutch television show. For the DWDD Recordings, the show invites guests to come and create their own version of well known songs by people they admire.

Watch Sharon and Ruud’s version of this well-known song below:

Watch the entire interview with Sharon here (Dutch):

p.s. this is not what we used your cover suggestions for

Are you ready?

The ticket sales for Elements start Friday the 11th of May at 11.00 (CET)!

You can get your tickets through www.proximusgoformusic.be and www.teleticketservice.com.

Read all about Elements here!

Tonight, Sharon and Ruud will perform live during the Dutch television show De Wereld Draait Door.

De Wereld Draait Door (DWDD) is a popular Dutch talk show where current topics regarding politics, sports, culture and media are discussed. Tonight, Sharon and Ruud will give a very special performance for the DWDD Recordings.

The show starts at 7.30 PM on NL3.

Ruud has been working on the second album of his acoustic Iron Maiden tribute band called Maiden uniteD which also features Mike. On his days off during the Sanctuary Tour, Ruud took his time to work on the new album.

The first Maiden uniteD album called “Mind the Acoustic Pieces” contains acoustic versions of Iron Maiden’s songs of their album “Piece of Mind” from 1983. The new Maiden uniteD album will be a collection of songs from all the releases until 1988.

Aside from the original band members Damian Wilson (vocals), Ruud Jolie (guitar), Joey Bruers (bass), Marco Kuypers (piano) and Mike Coolen (drums), the album also holds some interesting guest performances.

The album will be released in September. However, you can pre-order the new album starting May 11th! Those who pre-order the album will receive some cool extras.

Before returning to the studio to finish recording the album, Maiden uniteD will play the songs from the new album twice:

May 11th in Dynamo, Eindhoven (NL)

May 13th in De Boerderij, Zoetermeer (NL)

For more information: www.maidenunited.com

Aside from playing the keys in Within Temptation Martijn also enjoys working with new bands, such as LEFT. He co-wrote and produced their upcoming album and new single “All or Nothing”.

“The first time I saw these guys, their music and performance grabbed me and didn’t let me go,” Martijn said.

DJ Michiel Veenstra, of the Dutch radio station 3FM presented LEFT’s single “All or Nothing” to the public yesterday. As of today the single is available for everyone.

Check out the video, below!

The location of the Global East Rock Festival in Ukraine has been moved to another location!

The festival will take place in Club Stereo Plaza in Kiev, Ukraine on the 17th of June.

Aside from Within Temptation, bands such as Forgotten Tears, Hollow Haze, Inferno and W.H.I.T.E. are performing at this year’s edition of the festival amongst others.

For more information on this and other festivals, check the Tourpages.

As we’ve mentioned before, we are going to show you a recap of The Unforgiving South America Tour that we did in February.

Sit back and get ready.. well almost… Today we show you a preview and we will post the complete report soon.

Enjoy!