 |
This is interesting. We here at MTV News thought we were kind of conducting a fun little experiment when we published an item on Tokio Hotel a couple weeks ago. We were sort of daring the rumored-to-be-rabid fan base to react. But in the words of “GG,” OMFG! Y’all are too much!
Here’s a mere sampling of the massive groundswell of comments we received just overnight when posting about the pint-sized German band’s visit to Times Square yesterday. And if you care this much, maybe we’ll just roll out a video piece on the band. Don’t tempt us…
On Appealing to All Ages Forever & Ever:
Val: I wish you’d stop referring to their fans as 14-year-old hysterical girls or tweens. I am in my 30s and not particularly hysterical and have been a fan of this bad for almost two years now since discovering their music on YouTube.
Melody: Maybe it looks like that TH only has teenie 13-years-old fans, but that’s not real.
Oyoa: I didn’t know I was considered a shrieking 14-year-old tween…seeing as I’m 19.
Maggie: Please, PLEASE, for the love of God stop referring to all of their fans as “tweens” or “little 14-year-old girls” because it isn’t true. Yes, there are younger fans, but the majority of TH fans are 17 or well into their 20’s and even 30’s (and older). Referring to their fan base generally as “tweens” is quite insulting.
Sylvia: I’m 17 and I love this band. Don’t believe me go check out both my Gaias and my MySpace. I’m serious.
Amanda: Yeah, I’m 14 but I barely know ANYONE my age who even knows who Tokio Hotel are. And I’m rly mature and look older than my age and yeah if I ever saw them I would obv scream but still I’m not immature…
Alex: It’s not true that all of there fans are 14 years olds. Like me, I’m 15 and I know others who are older.
TH FanWoman: I know that the teen fans hate being called hysterical but they are. When you go to a Tokio Hotel concert you can barely hear Bill’s voice over the screaming. I am not talking about the singing along with Bill but the random, high-pitched screaming and shrieking. I buy my tickets to hear the boys, not all that teenage horniness coming out in a scream.
On the Experience of Raw Desire:
ecem: Tokio Hotel is appearing very beautiful.
Jeanine: TOM I LOOVEEEE YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!
Alisa: They are f***ing amazing. They showed me that music doesn’t have to be complex and full of technicalities for it to eat my f***ing heart alive.
Shiira: I really, really, really, really, really want to injure the writer of this little article. “Anime Porcupine/frontBOY”? Are you kidding me? He’s not 12, he’s an actual adult, so get over the fact that he’s physically attractive (and yes, adorable) and pay attention to the talent he has…I guess “cute” German teenaged boys just isn’t sophisticated enough for MTV, what with the intellectual fare provided there, like “A Shot At Love With Tila Tequila.”
Stephanie: im uber happy they have more and more ppl are learning about Tokio Hotel in the US…but at the same time it really PISSES ME OFF! cuz i don’t want them to start getting fans that just are in to them cuz their looks…i know it sound really selfish..cuz i don’t what them to gee other fans…but their so amazing i wanted to have them all to myself! I LOVE GERMANS!…TOKIO HOTEL I LOVE YOU WITH ALL MY HEART AND NEVER STOP ON ROLLING MY WORLD! TOM…U R SO HOTT…CALL ME!
Filed Under: New Music Update, music
It's embarrassing. Maybe not for them, but I know I am as a teenage girl. I assure you, people of the world, all girls are not this shallow.
As far as the rest of this goes, I don't have much to say. Some of these people take themselves way too seriously.
The demographic for Tokio Hotel's fanbase *mainly* consists of teenaged girls. How dare Mtv poke a little fun.
And MTV, roll out more promotion =)
x
So I prefer to ignore those kind of 14-year olds who were mentioned in the previos article and stick to more mature audience.
LOVE YA TOM!!!
Sincerely,
Rabid Fangirl
It's unfortunate that the most ridiculous of the fans are the ones who define the fandom in the eyes of outsiders. I am constantly moved by Tokio Hotel's music and I make a point of knowing when I might be able to attend a concert, but I constantly cancel any plan to do so because the more fanatic followers make any event seem too dangerous to attempt to go. There are many other fans like myself, more reigned in ones who appreciate the band quietly by comparison. Just because we don't want to lose a limb to see them, doesn't mean we aren't there.
This article makes a very good point about the more "rabid" fans - there are a lot of them and they do tend to make fools of themselves (seriously, I don't know why some of them don't think before they speak or write). And yes, the age range for the majority of those fans is noted correctly. But please, don't forget that for every one of those fans there are at least ten fans that don't meet the stereotype at all, so don't discredit all the fans based off of a small percentage of bad examples.
This is a recurring problem with TH fans. Most are hardcore to the point where they become overly sensitive to things like MTV Newsroom articles.
TOKIO HOTEL FANS: YOU CAN BE HARDCORE WITHOUT MAKING AN ASS OUT OF YOURSELF.
What you don't see as often are the older audience, I'm guessing because they're more mature. But you'll find them at TH events, just not on the internet, bashing writers.
I'm a huge fan, I'm in love with their music and the group has really touched me but I admit that I'm actually pretty apprehensive when it comes to big crowds of TH fans. Some of those girls can be seriously hardcore and most fans will lose control if they catch sight of TH.
Don't be fooled by the screaming masses; a lot of those girls are mature and love the boys for their music and their message. Just don't judge me when I can't help but scream my lungs out at one of their concerts. Thats a freedom every fan should be allowed to exercise without being told to "chill".
I do mind if TH fans have a bad rep but I really can't help what the media wants to say about us. Actual fans wouldn't be stopped by that. It's about the music, guys, not the image, so I don't see what all the fuss is about.
"Most of these fans just like them for their looks and don't even appreciate the hard work they put into their music. The band is just a bunch of normal guys that are doing what they enjoy."
That's true but I wouldn't say most fans. And surprisingly enough, I think that the fans that like TH more for their music are the more devoted/dedicated ones. They seem to be more calm, too.
Anyways, I'm 16 and again, I'm a huge fan and so appreciative of their music. Both their music and message(s) have really touched me and I can't wait to see them on May 16th! I really can't get enough of their music and lyrics - they work so so hard, I've always said that and I appreciate it so much! They convey truly touching messages through both their music and in interviews - I'm a huge fan of TH! Thanks for the articles. :)
Oh, and one more thing, corn flakes. :)
Anyway. I have been really enjoying the posts about Tokio Hotel both here and on Buzzworthy. It's great exposure, has fun content, and gosh, it is nice to see things written about the band by people with a sense of humour. I have been a TH fan for about a year now, and it is ever-so-amazing to see the amount of support the band is getting from MTV, both online and on air. Tokio Hotel had an awesome appearance on TRL today, and I hope that we will continue to see fun stuff come out of TH/MTV collabouration!
And about the fan thing? Yes, it doesn't make me the happiest person ever to see the band's fanbase described as only hysterical 14 year olds/tweens, because it not only excludes large portions of the fanbase, but it also make taking the band seriously a bit difficult. That being said, to pretend that a lot of the fans are NOT younger and/or hysterical (on occasion if not full-time) is fallacy. TH has a fanbase that spans countries, generations and temperaments, and yeah, it does include hysterical tweens.
(FYI I am 18 years of age and, since I have never seen the band live, I keep my hysterics at home).
Dankeschön for the band coverage, and I hope to see more TH on MTV.com in the future!
xoxo,
Charlotte
P.S. Is the "pint-sized" referring to the band's (somewhat young) ages? Because have you seen those dang twins? "Pint-sized" is not a phrase that springs to mind to describe them. Particularly not Bill's hair.
I am dutch and the most fans that i know are younger than me (i am 15)
so the fact that people say that all the TH fans are like 14 years old is really not true.
[sorry for my bad english =] )
Maybe it would be different if I was part of the fangirl masses that scream their heads off whenever they see a poof of fluffy black hair.
I think that TH fans can be a bit over-obsessed, but most fans I do know, actually all the fans I know personally, are the ones you would never notice in Times Square or in their backstage vids from gigs because they aren't the ones with 'TOKIO HOTEL FUR IMMER' on their forehead and holding huge signs that block the view of other concert-goers.
All the fans are trying to say is that the majority of the fans are not scream-your-head-off-Bill-and-Tom-are-so-OMGHAWT, and we'd appreciate being given a little more credit. Tweens is the worst, because that's saying we're 11-12, and I have never met a fan that young, I think.
'These guys just came off of Bamboozle, not the Disney Channel.'
Well said.
I just think it's a bit sad when every article even with just teeny weeny bit of "diss" and humour are being attacked by "us fans" like this :D I personally can't take everything so seriously that I'll be crying blood everytime TH isn't praised and loved in the media.
But I will bee a teenager only once - so if that's what you call me, quite frankly, I don't care! I'm happy to bee a teen, screaming my lungs off or not :)
I have no hard feelings for anyone \,,/
Go MTV.
Thank you MTV for all the exposure. The articles, appearances, and the reactions to them have been super amusing and great for getting the bands name out there!
thank you MTV
in another note. you didn't help the tween impression yesterday by choosing a girl who couldn't utter anything besides "omg and thank you" to be taken inside. no offense to her but really now
Bill,du wirst fur mich immer heilig sein....!!
Come to Greece...we love you here!! And GOOD JOB you American fans..Thanks for welcoming Tokio Hotel..They desreve it!!
I'm not a Tokio Hotel fan but if I'd interview some band, I'd try to focus more on their music than their appearance and stereotyping their fans. Just saying...
Even though I'm not a fan, I'd like to read more serious articles about them and not how Bill's hair looks etc. But maybe it's too much to ask...
But, more seriously, stereotypes are everywhere, including in a fanbase. It's just like that one person said- the screaming people are getting noticed because, well, they're screaming. TH fans come in all shapes and sizes, and probably across both genders, but really, that doesn't make an interesting thing to blog about, does it? Let them have their fun. Let the world have its fun.
By the way, I'm 14. If I ever went to a TH concert, I'd probably scream just to fit in, but I wouldn't, like, attack any of them. o_O
But honestly, I really do like Tokio Hotel and i'm 18, and it is kind of insulting to their fans and to them when you refer to Bill as an anime/porpcupine frontboy. I mean....really, that sounds more like a school yard insult than anything else.
But all in all I'm just glad they are getting exposure, and in the future I wouldn't test the swarming masses of TH fans. (They scare the f*** out of me)
peace outiezzz
"OMG I LKY3 LOVE YOUZ SO MUCH!"
and
"YOU SO HOTT TOM!!1 CALL ME!"
do not help the stereotype people. Yes we scream, yes we save pictures of them on our computers, yes we go to concerts and bask in their amazingness. But so do fans of anyone else. Never have I wanted to stalk and/or attack any member of the band because they're 'SOO H0TT!!1'. That's just uncalled for. Still, I feel like every fan base will have its idiots. So, all of us normal TH fans can just sit back and watch them make a**es of themselves as we enjoy the boys' music for what it really is.
OK.
Look, I know that hell yea they're going to have fans that are like, young, but there's nothing wrong with that. They're amazing guys and have adorable accents. Just because they have a lot of fans that are like, pre-teens doesn't mean that those are their only fans, and for the love of god don't stress that cause it's so f***ing annoying. Believe it or not there are also really mature tweens that I've met and there's nothing wrong with that either.
Oh and just to let you know, the fans that do go hysterical and start screaming randomly aren't necessarily tweens they're just obsessed. Ok I have to admit at the NYC show in the Virgin CD store yes I did scream and I do have an incredibly loud scream but that doesn't mean anything.
And yes us fans take pictures at concerts and get them onto our computers and our phones and get posters. But you know what this isn't the only artist who's fans do that. So shut the f*** up. Oh and just because you see some kind of hysterical comment doesn't mean that you should judge us all like that cause some of them really are unbelievable and most of us really wouldn't do that.
We love their music and how amazing they are (as people) even without the actual music.
God.
I'm 18, and I for one don't appreaciate being called a 14-year-old tween. But then again, those are the fans who get the most attention. because of how they react to the band.
They are poeple just like everyone else. People who happen to be Famous, but people none the less. and I think some of the fans need to realize this. They aren't some type of gods. they are human beings doing what they love for a living.
Tokio Hotel is an amazing band. they're music is what made me like them. When I first heard them, I had no idea who they were, or what they looked like. I liked them for the music, and still do.
I'm 15 years old and I've admired Tokio Hotel's talent for about five years now. Does that make me a 14 year old screaming girl that can't pull herself together enough to come off as mature or a tween that obsesses over the band members instead of truly loving the music? No, no it doesn't. I’m a 15 year old girl that loves the music and actually prefers listening to their music in German (a language which I don’t speak at all) because she loves Bill’s voice and the fantastic instrumental talents of Tom, Gustav, and Georg. That doesn’t sound like the fans a lot of people are describing, does it?
Yes, I was very excited when I first saw the music video for "Ready, Set, Go!" on MTV, but I didn't start screaming about how much I'm in love with Bill or anything like that. I watched the video like I would watch any other video. The only difference is that I truly love this music and ho
Those kids who run around screaming "Oh my gosh!!! Bill/Tom/Gustav/Georg are sooooooo hot!" are more eccentric about how much they love the guys in the band that they're the ones that people notice. Very few people are going to notice someone who is listening and appreciating the music over someone who is shrieking about how cute the guys are, am I right?
These four men are out to make incredible music, not model. It's nice that they're all very good-looking, but this isn't why fans love them. Don't call fans "immature" or throw other insulting comments at them unless they give off the behavior that calls for it. You shouldn’t even insult them when they actually DO deserve to be insulted. True fans love the music, not how hot the band members are. It doesn't hurt one bit that they're all gifted in the department of looks, but that isn't what makes Tokio Hotel famous. How well the songs are written helps to make them famous. Bill’s amazing singing voice is what makes them famous. Tom’s incredible talent on the guitar makes them famous. Georg’s astounding ability to play the bass as well as he does makes them famous. Gustav’s phenomenal way of playing the drums makes them famous. The dedicated fans that love the music are what makes Tokio Hotel famous.
If you think that they’re famous for how they look, think about how they could go be models instead of musicians. They aren’t models. They’re musicians, more than just musicians actually. They’re people just like you and me. They just happen to have been those four guys out of four billion that ended up famous for their talents. They work just like a lot of people. Music isn’t just fun and games. It’s brainstorming about song subjects, coming up with lyrics, writing the music for the instruments, editing, learning, recording, listening, and perfecting. I used to think that musicians had such easy lives, but I’ve grown to realize that they don’t always have the life from the fairytale. They have their ups and downs just like you and me.
Tokio Hotel composes some truly great tracks, and they are talented enough to be recognized for how well they sing, play guitar, play bass, and play the drums. They deserve to be recognized for how well they create music together. Tokio Hotel, along with so many other bands, shouldn’t be given the stereotypes of having fans that scream their heads off about how adorable they are or how they want to marry the band members. They should be recognized for the music that they make, the things that they do, and the people they are. Would you listen to someone singing or playing the guitar if they weren’t good at it? I don’t think you would do that voluntarily. Maybe you would do that for your friends that are either just having fun or maybe pursuing a dream of being in the music industry, but would you go to wherever you get your music and pay good money to buy something that just isn’t good at all? I know that I wouldn’t, and I hope that you’d use your better judgment and buy music that actually sounds good.
If you really feel the need to insult a band’s “fans,” go look in a mirror and make sure that you can honestly say that you’ve never obsessed about someone, constantly gazed at someone’s picture, or screamed when they come onstage. Think about how you’re really insulting the band itself rather than just the fans. I know for a fact that I can safely say that Tokio Hotel has an array of fans ranging from 10 to 50, maybe more!!
Tokio Hotel deserves the recognition that they’re receiving. If you disagree, then think about how they’ve merely been successful in following their dream of making great music. You can’t insult something until you realize what someone has done to achieve it.
Oh, and to all of you Tokio Hotel fans that feel that it's insulting when others call Tokio Hotel's fans "screaming tweens," remember that no one can take away your love for Tokio Hotel unless you let them. You don't have to fight those battles. All anyone has to do is stick by the guys of Tokio Hotel and give them the support that they deserve.
xo- Arlyn
they just said they probally have alots of 14 yr olds chasing after them,
wich is true.....haha
i am 15 & i think TH is the best band in the world,
and they are soooo special and freaking amazingly
HOT germans