Mikory's ABBA-blog

Let's Dance, girls!

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.

Go and see "ABBA - The Movie" this Sunday!

Svenska Filminstitutet (The Swedish Filminstitute) arrange Den Stora Biodagen (The big movie day) this coming Sunday, 24 April 2005 at Borgvägen 1 in Stockholm. This year "ABBA - The Movie" is the big final film of the day. I assume it's going to be the new restored version that we all are looking forward to on DVD later this year. The program includes classic Swedish movies like "Fimpen", "Blåjackor" and "Fröken Chic". And also the big Afro American version of "The Wizard of Oz", called "The Wiz", with Diana Ross as Dorothy and Michael Jackson as the scarecrow. "ABBA - The Movie" starts at 9.30 pm. Tickets cost only SEK 20, and you can buy them from 11.30 am in Filmbutiken. Click on the picture for more details.

Oscar Night!

I love to watch the Oscars. I know, it can be very loooooong and sometimes boring. Allthough I must say that they have been speeding things up quite a bit in later years.

Back in the dark age when I was young, we never got to see the Oscars here in Sweden. But that's different now. Swedish films and Swedish moviemakers have been nominated and actually won every now and then. For example Lasse Hallström's movie "My Life As A Dog" was nominated for best picture. Lasse Hallström was of course the director of "ABBA - The Movie". On a sad note regarding Lasse Hallström, his former wife Malou Hallström, who alsow worked on the ABBA movie was found dead in a hotel in Stockholm last week. It's still not decided wheter it's a crime or a suicide. And then, of course, there's Ingmar Bergman who has been nominated - and won - a lot of times.

I have another favourite that has managed to get the golden statue. Barbra Streisand for example who got an Oscar for best Actress for her role as Fanny Brice in "Funny Girl" in 1969. Seven years later she got an Oscar for best song in a movie "Evergreen" from the movie "A Star Is Born". But when she presented her masterpiece "Yentl" which she adapted, starred in and directed she was snubbed by the Academy. I read to my joy that "Yentl" will be released on DVD in July this year! It's 22 years since it had it's premiere, and I and many with me was waiting for a 20th Birthday release of that movie. But I guess there has been some delays. I hope it's packed with extra material and never-before-seen photge.

The two Swedish movies Agnetha and Anni-Frid acted in were not exactly Oscar material... but Agnetha was very good in "Raskenstam" in 1983. She had a much bigger role than I expected her to have. Frida only had a small role in the quite depressing realistic Swedish drama movie "Gå På Vattnet Om Du Kan". But, hey, you can't be the  best at everything, can you?

I look forward to sitting up late, here it starts a long time after midnight and goes on all through the night. It's become a tradition for me to watch it. I have loved Billy Crystal as the host for many years. And I'm one of the few who enjoyed David Letterman hosting the Oscars. Most people hated it. I will never forget his idea of how to introduce Oprah Winfrey to Uma Thurman: "- Oprah! - Uma!" Hilarious! Tonight it will be comedian Chris Rock who will be hosting, could be good.
So Happy Oscar to all of you - ABBA-fans and others.