The scene at St. Pete Beach is about to get a lot hotter when Swiss DJ Tanja La Croix, who also happens to be a supermodel, films a music video Wednesday night for her new single that'll be released in February.
"The name of my single is ‘We Turn The World Around,'" La Croix said.
Only Bay News 9 caught up with the Swiss DJ as she arrived at Tampa International Airport on Tuesday.
"It’s my first time here," she said. "So I’m really excited."
La Croix flew into Tampa directly from Zurich, Switzerland, on an Edelweiss Airlines flight. That nonstop service at TIA began in 2012 and helped St. Pete Beach lure the music video shoot away from Greece, according to project manager Ferris Buehler.
"Edelweiss makes it possible to get a really safe and fast flight from Zurich, directly here to the best beaches of the state," he said. "So that’s great. It’s just 10 hours away.”
St. Petersburg-Clearwater Film Commissioner Tony Armer said he doesn't feel bad about stealing the music video away from Greece.
"Originally, she wanted to shoot the video in Greece," he said. "Through our relationship with a PR company in Switzerland and Edelweiss Airlines, we convinced them to come and shoot it here instead."
Armer said La Croix is a top musician in Europe and the music video will give her audience a glimpse of the pristine beaches in Pinellas County.
"I think it's a way to promote the destination and everything that we have here," he said. "That's a little more outside the box."
Visitors in St. Pete Beach this week said they hope to be an extra in the music video.
“Being an extra in a music video, who wouldn’t want that?" said Karli Snell, 21. "It’d be cool just to be hanging out with her."
"I’m really excited about it," said Bill Gabriel, 21. "I’ve never been part of a music video and I love the beach."
La Croix said this is only her second trip to the United States. Her first trip was to Miami. The Swiss DJ said she's excited to see what the Bay area has to offer.
"I'm excited to meet the people from here," she said. "I’m excited to see the beach, the sunset."
Buehler said La Croix will also be doing a Maxim photo shoot during her two days in the Bay area. That'll take place on a yacht in the Gulf of Mexico, a downtown St. Petersburg rooftop, Egmont Key and Fort De Soto Park.
"We don’t have a lot of time," La Croix said. "It’s only 2 1/2 days. So we’re really busy."
Buehler said he hopes this music video will start a new trend for European artists who head to Spain for their beach shoots.
"Many artists are shooting music videos on Ibiza or Majorca, but this is not the same like here, because there, it’s really packed," he said. "You have so many people on the beaches, and here you’ve got the white sand and everything is bigger. And this is so great for pictures. I hope that we can do more of these kind of projects here."