Mikory's ABBA-blog

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 gift, possums!

That's probably what Dame Edna would say if she was getting the same gift I got from my dear Greg and Pat in Australia. So what is this fantastic gift you may wonder? It's "The Dame Edna Experience - The Complete Collection". A fantastic 5 DVD box set.
     I remember watching these series religiously back in the 80's together with my roommate Ingrid Lee. We taped the shows and watched them millions of times. We instantly became Edna admirerers and we also had a very soft spot for poor little Madge, Edna's bridesmaid.
     Now I'm able to enjoy all those fabulous shows again - this time in perfect DVD picture quality! The guest list is almost unbelieveable:
      Mel Gibson, Jane Fonda, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Cliff Richard, Ronald Reagan Jr, Grace Jones, Liza Minnelli, Dolph Lundgren, Vivienne Westwood, Chubby Checker, Dusty Springfield, Demis Roussos, Douglas Fairbanks Jr, Larry Hagman, Tony Curtis, Joan Rivers, Lauren Bacall, Jason Donovan (Kylie Minogue's boyfriend in "Neighbours") Charlton Heston, Gina Lollobrigidia and Rudolf Nureyev. That's what a I call a guest list! And I think now that this final compete series has been released on DVD we can once and for all kill the rumour that was going around in the eighties that Björn Ulvaeus from ABBA once guested the show together with Marie Fredriksson from Roxette fame. It just never happened.
     The DVD is so well put together, animated screens, hidden "tracks", a "forbidden" Madge-badge, but if you're naughty and press it anyway you get to hear Madge SING (I don't think you get to see her even talking the whole series through). The extra material is enormous. Several hours of old shows, TV-interviews together with Whoopi Goldberg and Dame Edna performing her disco hit "Disco Matilda" on Top Of The Pops!
     Edna gets away with saying things to these celebreties noone else ever could. She is smart and very witty and varm and loving at the same time. We are also treated to the musical numbers of the shows. I remember Ingrid and me used to love the song and dance number Dame Edna does with Madge Allsop (her bridesmaid) called "My Bridesmaid And I". Ingrid and I used to run around and sing it like Edna. Especially these lines from that song:
"My Bridesmaid and I
together we try
"My Bridesmaid and I
"Kenny claims that she's BI!" (Kenny is Dame Edna's favourite child, a gay designer).

It is a very expensive box, but it has started to pop up on auction sites like eBay so I guess you will be able to get it for a good price. I whole heartedly recommend it to anyone who are in love with the very special comedy Dame Edna stands for. You can order the box at www.amazon.com!