Mikory's ABBA-blog

Björn to attend debate at the Modern Museum, Stockholm today

Björn Ulvaeus, in his new capcity as spokesman for the Humanists of  Sweden,  will parttake in in a panel discussion about humanism, religion and politics, this morning at Moderna Museet in Stockholm, starting at 9.30. Other panelists are the following:

• Eva Dahlgren, singer/song writer
• Åke Ortmark, journalist
• Nyamko Sabuni, Minister of integration, Sweden
• Sven Hagströmer, entrepreneur

Moderator is Christer Sturmark, chairman of the Humanists.

Linda Ulvaeus in »Steel Magnolias«

A lot of us probably remember when Julia Roberts got her first Oscar nomination for her part in the Hollywood movie »Steel Magnolias« from 1989.  Originally it was a play, written by the debutant Robert Harling and performed on stage in New York for the first time in 1987. A Swedish version of the stage play will open at Vasateatern in Stockholm on 16 October 2008. One of the women is portrayed by no other than the Fältskog/Ulvaeus daughter, Linda Ulvaeus. The others are: Pernilla August, Suzanne Reuter, Gunilla Nyroos, Melinda Kinnaman,  och Cecilia Nilsson.
     Tickets available through www.ticnet.se

Björn on Swedish TV

Tonight Björn was the guest on the TV program "Rakt på med K-G Bergström". He spoke mainly about his involvement with the Humanists and said that he doesn't believe that God exists. The usual question "will ABBA ever reunite" was of course asked - and it got the same answer... He also managed to plug the Mamma Mia! movie, 30 million people (unbelieveable!) have seen the stage version around the world. ABBA keep selling a couple of million records every year.
     You can watch the show here. Click on the Play logo.

Former ABBA stars reach settlement over script of "Kristina från Duvemåla"

     — Former ABBA stars Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson said Monday they have reached a settlement with a Swedish playwright in a copyright dispute over one of their musicals.
     In a joint statement, the two musicians and Carl-Johan Seth said they had requested the case be recalled from an appeals court that was supposed to hear it this week.

Both sides had been feuding over who wrote the script for the musical "Kristina from Duvemåla", which has been seen by more than one million people in Sweden.

Seth appealed a lower court ruling last year in favour of Andersson and Ulvaeus, who rejected Seth's claims that he was the main writer of the script.

However, both sides agreed to drop the case after reaching a settlement that made it possible to "move on as friends," Monday's statement said. It did not give other details.

Seth's lawyer, Staffan Michelson, said his client's reputation as a playwright has been "completely restored" and that the scheduled court hearing this Wednesday had been cancelled.

The musical is based on novels by Swedish writer Wilhelm Moberg, which depict the journey by Swedish emigrants to the U.S. in 1850.

ABBA, which also included singers Agnetha Faltskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad, gained worldwide fame in the 1970s and early 1980s.

What a great job...

This ad was printed in the Stockholm paper Dagens Nyheter in the spring of 1975. I was only 11 at the time and I was pretty sure this family were looking for someone older with more experience....

The ad reads in English:
Nanny or Manny
Preferrably over 18 years old, for Linda 2 years old. Lighter house keeping, flexible working hours. Private room with separate entrance.
Agneta Fältskog och Björn Ulvaeus
Please call 63 03 10 during office hours and ask for Görel Johnson.

Is Björn going green?

In Aftonbladet today there's an article about Björn selling his motor boat - because it uses too much diesel. A good thing to do for the environment, but Aftonbladet puts a spin on it and points out that Björn might be selling his boat, but he still owns a private jet, that uses between 600 and 800 litres jet fuel per hour. Björn's financial advisor, a Mr. Lars Högberg, explains that Björn had to buy the private jet after 9/11 - it got so annoying and time wasting to get through all the security check points at airports. However, Görel »no comment« Hanser comes to the rescue and says that Björn is going to sell his private plane, it's just a little harder to find a buyer. Ah, well, it's a bitch to be rich... ;)

Merry Christmas and a Happy 2008

Dear readers,
Thank you for all your mails, criticism, cheers friendship I have received this year. I'm proud to tell you that this blog now has reached 300.000 hits since the start in 2005. We certainly aren't a very little group of ABBA fans. The interest is higher than ever before. I'm sure Agnetha, Björn, Benny, and Frida are all really proud that people still care so much for their music.
     To get you into the Christmas mood here are four songs from Agnetha and Frida that have connections to the holiday.    

     Thank you for this year and let's all hope for an even better 2008!Love, Mikael
     SONG 1 SONG 2 SONG 3 SONG 4

Great interview with Frida & Björn

A huge thank you to Torgen in Berlin, who kindly sent me the link to his fantastic interview with Frida and Björn. It's great to see someone who is a fan getting the chance to talk to them.

Fun fact: I didn't know Frida made the 1973 Melodifestival outfits (remember the "tent" the highly pregnant Agnetha wore and Frida's canary yellow outfit)! Then again Björn didn't know either, but does he ever? ;)

Björn and Frida in Germany

As most of you know by now, Björn and Frida attended the opening of "Mamma Mia!" in Berlin. Here's a great picture of the pair when they took their walk from Brandenburger Tor to the Reichstag.
     A big thank you to Thomas in Germany for the photo.

Björn starts atheist publishing company

According to Kulturnyheterna on SVT Björn has started a publishing company for atheistic literature.
     Lately has the relations between the secular and the religious, freedom of speech and freedom of religion has become important in the debate. Kulturnyheterna met Björn Ulvaeus, who together with Christer Sturmark (the president of the Swedish Humanists) has started a publishing company for atheistic literature.
     - The question of religion is one of the most important of our time and if I can do something to help get an open and straight, intellectual debate about the role of the religion, I'm willing to do that, says Björn Ulvaeus.
     The publishing company, which is called Fri Tanke (Free Thought), will publish books that deals with faith and knowledge. And it doesn't have to be a profitable business.
     - That's not necessary, but we hope that it will go break even at least, says Ulvaeus to Kulturnyheternas reporter Elisabet Åsbrink.
     According to Sturmark, the publishing company will offer atheistic literature in Swedish. Today there's a lot of religiously coloured literature according to Sturmark.
     - The religious books used in the Swedish schools are actually more influenced by christianity than they should be in a multcultural society.
     Sturmark also adds that it's possible that the new publishing company will publish books about religion, aimed at students.