their domestic fans exactly what they needed: a new dose of the pure Siddharta live energy. The fans had earned it – the fan votes won Siddharta the fourth popularity Viktor. It was in 2005 that Siddharta performed for the first time before the international audience at the Exit festival in Novi Sad, Serbia. The success of 2005 was wrapped up in November as Siddharta received their first international recognition for their work: in Lisbon, Portugal they were awarded their first MTV European Music Award (EMA) for Best Act. For the first time in their career they shared the stage with the big names of world music industry. Greetings from the Lisbon stage were in a way a farewell. In end-2005 the band isolated themselves to work on the materials for the new album. Petrolea (2006): Fourth album Almost three years after the release of their last studio album, Siddharta returned with Petrolea, an album much different in sound and arrangement from its symphony-based predecessor. One could say that in a way this album was Siddharta's return "to the garage" and thus came close to the band's original sound. This, however, does not mean that the production was any less glamorous. On the contrary, a selection of domestic and foreign studios, combined with the experienced ear of Žare Pak and the musical perfectionism of the band members offered Slovenia an album marked by many a critic as album of the year 2006. Having kept their fans waiting that long for a new album, Siddharta rewarded them with a free cultural event – an opening concert at the Ljubljana Castle. It was at the same time the first rock concert ever to have taken place in the castle courtyard, the event thus placing a new milestone on the band's path of achievements. Autumn 2006 was spent on the road as Siddharta played 22 indoor concerts and a tour-closing concert in Ljubljana's Prešeren Square just before New Year. The latter was filmed by the national TV in order to air it a few days afterwards. Young promising Slovene bands opened for Siddharta throughout the tour. They were given the opportunity for a big-stage experience, which would definitely pay off later. The Slovene and international audience did not neglect to see Siddharta's qualities and so the band was again nominated for the MTV EMA and it received the Viktor award for Artist of