Frida about holograms

Abba-Frida about the project
Abba has today recorded two new songs and worked hard on the project of four digitally produced "abbatar" in front of the group's hits. But the project has not really gone as planned according to the singer and the Abba member Anni-Frid Lyngstad.

"We are continuing our project so we'll see where it's carrying us somewhere. So far, maybe it has not become as we thought, we're working on it all, says Abba-Frida.

The star star also tells her what she likes about the new Abba songs that the band has recorded together.

Abba-Fridas mystiska ord om comebacken
Publicerad 19 aug 2018 kl 15.01


I våras offentliggjordes Abbas återförening – gruppen har spelat in två nya låtar och är aktuella med en avatar-turné.

Nu berättar Abba-medlemmen Anni-Frid Lyngstad att arbetet inte riktigt har gått som planerat.

– Det är ju spännande för att vi redan hunnit spela in två låtar som är väldigt bra, säger hon.


För 35 år sedan splittrades Abba. Men i våras berättade Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, Anni-Frid Lyngstad och Agnetha Fältskog att Abba skulle återförenas i ett nytt projekt.

Det är en turné där Abbas musik kommer framföras av ett liveband, och där digitala kopior av bandmedlemmarna syns på scen – och till det skrevs det två helt nya Abba-låtar.

”Beslutet att sjösätta det spännande Abba-avatar-projektet fick en oväntad konsekvens. Vi fyra kände att det efter 35 år kunde vara roligt att jobba ihop igen och gå in i studion. Så gjorde vi det. Och det var som att tiden hade stått stilla och att vi bara hade varit borta på en kort semester. En extremt glädjande upplevelse!”, skrev medlemmarna i ett pressmeddelande.

Abba-Frida om projektet
Abba har i dag spelat in två nya låtar och arbetat hårt med det projekt där fyra digitalt framställda ”abbatarer” framför gruppens hits. Men projektet har inte riktigt gått som planerat enligt sångerskan och Abba-medlemmen Anni-Frid Lyngstad.

– Vi håller ju på med vårt projekt så vi får se var det bär oss någonstans. Än så länge så har det väl kanske inte blivit så som vi tänkte, vi jobbar på det allihopa, säger Abba-Frida.

Världsstjärnan berättar också vad hon tycker om de nya Abba-låtarna som bandet har spelat in tillsammans.

– Det är ju spännande för att vi redan hunnit spela in två låtar som är väldigt bra, tycker jag själv, säger hon.

Benny Andersson har tidigare berättat att gruppen har mycket arbete framför sig tillsammans då Abbas avatar-projekt ska ut på världsturné 2019, och därför ses med jämna mellanrum.

– Vi ses ju då och då. Framför allt nu när vi har det här avatar-projektet framför oss. Vi har många möten framför oss. Det är kul att det är i sån teknisk framkant. Det ska bli intressant, säger Benny Andersson.

Björn Ulvaeus berättade om glädjen att gå in i studion tillsammans.

– Det har varit jättegod stämning i studion. Vi var tillbaka där vi en gång slutade, egentligen på nolltid, säger Björn Ulvaeus.



Abba-Frida dök upp på Ledins bröllop
Under lördagen var Abba-Frida på plats, bland flera välkända personer, då John Ledin gifte sig med grevinnan Alexandra Hamilton i Heliga Trefaldighets kyrka i Kristianstad.

– Bröllopet var så förtjusande, och avspänt tycker jag med alla de här små söta brudnäbbarna som dansade. Och lyckligt, det är alltid lyckligt med bröllop, man blir glad. Atmosfären gör en glad. Jag hoppas att det blir ett lyckligt liv för dem, sade hon.


updated

Men of Abba trust each other 100%

Men of Abba trust each other 100%



Benny Andersson (left) and Bjorn Ulvaeus.PHOTO: REUTERS
Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus, who worked on Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, still meet every week to collaborate
Meher Tatna
Entertainment Columnist
Reporting from Stockholm
Aug 06, 2018 06:00 am

If you are of a certain age, you must have boogied to Dancing Queen, SOS, Voulez-Vous and Waterloo from the mega successful Swedish pop group Abba.

Benny Andersson, Bjorn Ulvaeus, Agnetha Faltskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad sold more than 370 million singles and albums worldwide before they split up in 1982. The men later collaborated on stage musicals - Chess in the 80s and Mamma Mia! in the 90s.

Ten years ago, a huge resurgence in the popularity of Abba songs was brought about by the hit musical film Mamma Mia!, based on the musical.

With the sequel Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again opening here on Aug 9, tons of journalists made the trek to Abba's home country to interview creative forces Andersson, 71, and Ulvaeus, 73.

The duo could be mistaken for two grandfatherly gentlemen, a far cry from the 70s pop stars in their outrageous costumes.

Their involvement in both movies includes choosing and rearranging the songs for the new voices in the films and writing a couple of original ones for the sequel, as well as cameo appearances.

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But Andersson said at the Grand Hotel in Stockholm that they were both initially hesitant about working on Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, which sees Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) learning about her mother Donna's (Meryl Streep, with Lily James playing the younger version) past through flashbacks while pregnant.

"(Film studio) Universal Pictures, immediately after the first one, was keen on doing another one. It did not give up, did it? And when (English writer-director) Ol Parker came with the script, we said, 'Yeah, well, maybe it will be fun. It has been 10 years, why not?' So we finally threw in the towel," he said.

On why the female half of Abba - also their ex-wives - were not part of the publicity tour for the movie, Andersson said: "It is based on the music and lyrics and not on them as artists, so that is the reason why they are not here. They were the faces in Abba, definitely."

Ulvaeus added with a laugh: "They still are. And this is what you get when you can't get them."

There are no plans to get back together as Abba, even though there were rumours of a billion-dollar offer to reunite.

But according to Ulvaeus, "it is not out of the question that we would write a couple of new songs to record with Agnetha and Anni-Frid".

After 35 years, the foursome are collaborating on an international hologram tour where digital avatars of each will perform, and a TV version is set to air next year.

Said Andersson: "We spent two days with the girls in the studio. We meet occasionally, but we have not worked together for such a long time and we all felt good about it. And they can still sing."

Ulvaeus added: "It was a great experience. You could feel that in that room, the four of us, that there are special bonds, having gone through what we have."

The conversation turns to Abba's legacy and Ulvaeus turned thoughtful.

"Almost every day, someone comes up saying, 'Oh, you cannot imagine what your music has meant in some way or other.'

"Intellectually, of course you can look at numbers of sold records and stuff like that, but to emotionally understand what that means is difficult, but it is humbling as well. And I am grateful every time," he said.

In terms of their personal relationship, the men meet every week due to their string of projects.

Andersson said: "It feels good actually to have someone who is exactly on the same track, who knows the history that we have shared for 50 years.

"It is like having a brother, you know? It is good to have someone you can trust 100 per cent."

Ulvaeus agreed: "There are no doubts about that."


https://www.tnp.sg/entertainment/movies/men-abba-trust-each-other-100

Björn och Benny: Därför gör vi ny musik med ABBA

Björn och Benny: Därför gör vi ny musik med ABBA




Benny Andersson och Björn Ulvaeus.
NÖJEi dag 01:30
LONDON. Benny Andersson och Björn Ulvaeus har premiär i London. ”Chess” spelas åter och schack-musikalen syns på många håll under 2018.
Men bandet de var med i före ”Chess” har också skapat nya rubriker. På många vis. Utställningar. En film, ”Mamma mia! here we go again”, och två nya sånger inför nästa års digitala turné.
– Vi gjorde det för vi tyckte det var roligt, säger Benny Andersson om nya ABBA-låtarna. Vi tänkte att blir det bra så kan vi använda det och blir det inte bra använder vi det inte.


Det blev bra.
Det lustfyllda har fått styra. Så var det när Björn Ulvaeus och Benny Andersson började jobba med ”Chess”, när samspelet i ABBA blivit mindre inspirerande. Med ”Chess” kunde de ta ut svängarna, och skapade en musikal som fått långt liv genom sina sånger.

I år har den spelats i Danmark och Washington och får premiär på svenska i Helsingfors i höst.

De har själva varit engagerade nu i London.

– Jag har kollat ljudet och det låter jättebra, säger Benny Andersson. Det är 50 man i orkestern och en superbra dirigent, John Rigby.

”Chess” spelas på Londons största teater, Coliseum.

– Producenterna i The Shubert organization ska titta på uppsättningen och såg även den i Washington, säger Benny Andersson. Vi får se om det blir Broadway igen för ”Chess”.

Musikalen fick urpremiär i London och gick bra med Tommy Körberg i en av huvudrollerna.

– Det var lustfyllt, att skriva liksom de första inspelningarna med Tommy och Björn Skifs, säger Björn Ulvaeus. Det var inte lika lustfyllt i New York.
Där försvann ”Chess” fort efter en förödande recension.


– Allt var inte så kul i London heller, säger Benny Andersson. Det var innan vi hade en hum om att sätta upp en musikal på scen. Det var ett dråpslag att regissören Michael Bennett blev sjuk och Trevor Nunn var tvungen att ta över hans cast. Det var strongt av Trevor att genomföra det.

Teknik som strulade 1986, oklara ideer. Andrew Lloyd Webber har nyss gett ut sina memoarer om liknande upplevelser i teatervärlden.

Siar om framtiden
Är ni sugna på ett skriva självbiografi?
– Nej. Kommer han ihåg? säger Björn Ulvaeus. Varför ägna tre år av sitt liv att sitta ensam i en stuga och skriva. Jag fattar inte det. Om det är lätt för en och man minns, kanske, men inte om man måste anstränga sig och fråga andra om minnen.

– Nej, jag vill inte skriva memoarer, säger Benny Andersson. Och gör man det måste man vänta tills de andra tre gjort det...

I Londons ”Chess” hörs för första gången ”He´s a man, he´s a child” som skrevs för svenska uppsättningen. Men det finns andra nya låtar av Björn och Benny som skapat uppståndelse. Fredagen den 27 april skickade de fyra i ABBA ut ett pressmeddelande att de spelat in två nya sånger tillsammans.
Det blev en världsnyhet.

– Det är otroligt vilken studs det blev, säger Benny Andersson. Det ska man inte vara så säker på. Skälet att vi skickade ut pressmeddelandet var att NBC ville göra en release om tv-programmet, så vi ville själva berätta först.

”Det är en popdänga”
När spelade ni in de två sångerna?
– I juni förra året, med Frida och Agnetha.

En av dem heter ”Don´t shut me down”.

– Det är en popdänga, säger Benny Andersson.

Den andra ”I still have faith in you” är ganska...

– Det är inte bra att kategorisera den, säger Björn Ulvaeus.

– Det är 6/8-delstakt, så man kan inte dansa disco till den, säger Benny Andersson.

”Ska aldrig säga aldrig”
Hur blir den kommande turnén med digitala ABBA?

– Det är olika teknologi. Det blir inte att vi står på en scen i ett hörn och spelar låtar. Mer speciellt, en upplevelse., säger Benny Andersson.

– Det första ni får se är i tv-programmet i december, säger Björn Ulvaeus. Jag fick mitt digitala huvud i ny version härom dagen. Det börjar bli kanonbra, men lite kusligt. Det är mycket arbete kvar att göra trots att det är ett år tills det är premiär.


Man ska aldrig säga aldrig. Det verkade osannolikt även med en uppföljare till ”Mamma mia”-filmen.

– Vi var rätt motsträviga i nio år, säger Benny Andersson. Nya filmen är ganska kul, lätt och luftig. Roligt med låtar som många kanske inte hört, som ”Kisses of fire och ”Angel eyes”. Soundtracket blev klart i fredags. Alla sjunger bra. Lily James jättebra, Amanda är tio år bättre än förra filmen, Meryl är en ängel.
– Jag skulle säga att textmässigt går sångerna i varandra nästan bättre än i första filmen, säger Björn Ulvaeus.

Ni har väldigt mycket på gång.

– Det ska man ha när man är 71 år... eller 73, säger Benny och pekar på den äldre Björn.

Som skrattar. Leklustan finns kvar efter 52 års samarbete.

https://www.aftonbladet.se/nojesbladet/a/8wonjE/bjorn-och-benny-darfor-gor-vi-ny-musik-med-abba

‘Like no time had passed’ for Abba when recording new music

Entertainment Music Tuesday 1 May 2018
‘Like no time had passed’ for Abba when recording new music
Last week, Abba fans welcomed the announcement that the band have reformed and recorded new material.

By Sian Harrison, Press Association

May 1 2018 10:24 PM





Abba songwriters Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus said the secret of their long partnership is still being excited by working together after more than 50 years.

The duo spoke after the press night of their hit musical Chess, which has returned to the West End 32 years after its stage debut.

The show, which the pair wrote with Tim Rice, stars Alexandra Burke and Michael Ball and tells the story of rival chess players competing for Russia and the USA during the Cold War.


Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson from Abba (Yui Mok/PA)
Stars turned out in force for the show, with guests including actors Joe McFadden, Luke Evans, Mark Gatiss and Tom Conti, comedian Rory Bremner and singer Chesney Hawkes.

Elaine Paige, who was in the original West End cast, also attended on Tuesday.

The revival received a standing ovation from the audience, as Benny, Bjorn and Tim Rice joined the cast at the curtain call.

Speaking after the performance Michael Ball described the show as a “spectacle” and said it has an “epic score”.

ipanews_17aa6408-82aa-4aa2-865f-9363ff2b9fac_embedded236213588
ABBA new music
Last week, Abba fans welcomed the announcement that the band have reformed and recorded new material.

Benny and Bjorn said it was “wonderful” to be back in the studio with their former bandmates, Agnetha Faltskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad, adding it was like “no time has passed”.

“It took moments and then we were back.”

Asked about the secret of their success, Bjorn said: “We’re still curious, both of us. Trying new things is still exciting.”


Benny quipped: “Recording an Abba song is not really new but it felt good anyway.”

Chess first premiered in the West End in 1986 following its release as a concept album two years earlier.

Tim Howar, who plays American chess champion Freddie Trumper in the show, hit the headlines after he had to leave a preview performance last week during the interval after his wife went into labour.

Chess is running on at the London Coliseum in St Martin’s Lane.

Press Association

https://www.independent.ie/entertainment/music/like-no-time-had-passed-for-abba-when-recording-new-music-36864916.html

Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus reveal special 'moment' from ABBA's shock reunion

30 April 2018 at 9:58pm
Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus reveal special 'moment' from ABBA's shock reunion




Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus relive their reunion. Credit: ITV News
ABBA may have stunned their fans with their first songs in more than three decades - but the return of the pop quartet surprised the band members too it seems.

In an ITV News exclusive, Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus said getting together with Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad rekindled an instant chemistry.

"I had this moment in the studio, when there were the four of us plus the sound engineer and I was looking, you know, I remember this, this is so familiar," Ulvaeus said.

Abba record new music: ‘We may have come of age but the song is new’
Andersson added: "It's really like it says in the press release, it was like yesterday.

"And we all four felt ... it was like yesterday, although it was 35 years ago we were in the same studio."

ITV News Entertainment Editor Nina Nannar sat down with the Swedish duo and their fellow song maestro Sir Tim Rice to discuss another significant cultural revival: the hit 1980s musical Chess.

Watch the full interview below:

The world sends an S.O.S. and ABBA answers

The world sends an S.O.S. and ABBA answers
It’s impossible not to feel happy when hearing “Super Trouper” or “Chiquitita.” So the news of new ABBA songs is exactly what we needed.




By VINAY MENONEntertainment Columnist
Fri., April 27, 2018
ABBA is releasing new music and the world is a better place.


On Friday morning, amid a sudden burst of happy news from around the globe — “The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are delighted to announce that they have named their son Louis Arthur Charles,” “North and South Korea vow to end the Korean War in historic accord,” “Bill Cosby found guilty of sexual assault” — the biggest jolt of pure delight came from Stockholm.

What? Are you kidding? ABBA has recorded two new songs?

I haven’t been this overjoyed since my kids were born.

The first track, the aptly named “I Still Have Faith in You,” is due in December. NBC and the BBC will broadcast the song as part of ABBA’s upcoming virtual tour, one that stars hologram versions of the band’s founding members.

“The decision to go ahead with the exciting ABBA avatar tour project had an unexpected consequence,” the real members said in a statement on Friday. “We all four felt that, after some 35 years, it could be fun to join forces again and go into the recording studio. So we did. And it was like time had stood still and that we only had been away on a short holiday. An extremely joyful experience!”


For them and, eight months from now, for us.

Stop. No, no. Don’t even think about getting cynical in the face of this glorious news. This divided world needs ABBA more than ever. All these years later, the pop group still has the ability to slice across demos and unite people from all walks of life inside a thumping cocoon of sonic warmth.

To hear an ABBA song is to tap your foot and shake off your troubles.

ABBA is the soundtrack to coming together and forgetting our differences.

You know why you’ve never met anyone who absolutely hates ABBA? Trick question: it’s impossible to absolutely hate ABBA. It can’t be done. With their ridiculously catchy melodies, hypnotic chord-changes, timeless beats, soothing harmonies and universal lyrics, the group has transcended time and place.

I have heard ABBA songs in Barcelona cafes and Jaipur hotels. I have heard ABBA songs in German train stations and Mexican airports. I have heard ABBA songs at proms, birthday parties, weddings and every other ritualized celebration we soppy humans are hardwired to enjoy when we let our guards down.

In fact, not hearing an ABBA song is a great way to realize you’re not supposed to be in a festive mood. Visit a Service Ontario outpost and you’ll never hear “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!” Get stuck in the hell of a customer service phone queue and the hold music will never include “S.O.S.” or “Chiquitita,” even if you’re calling Chiquita with a banana emergency.

Which is crazy because ABBA is musical Prozac. It lifts our spirits.

From road trips to doing the dishes, there is nothing ABBA can’t make better.

If you’ve never felt the blinding urge to jump up and dance upon hearing the first cascading bar of “Dancing Queen,” you may be dead inside. If you’ve never cranked up the volume when “Super Trouper” unexpectedly rumbled to life, you don’t know what it’s like to get truly lost in a moment of sheer musical bliss.

About 46 years after they formed in the glittering disco era of platform shoes and wide collars, that’s what ABBA is still about. This bubblegum pop sticks to our ears because it remains, first and foremost, about feeling good.

And feeling good is no easy thing these days.

We may disagree over politics, religion, culture, society and Kanye West, but start playing “Waterloo” or “Mamma Mia” and watch as the discord morphs into an impromptu dance party. You can be poor and still gleefully belt out “Money, Money, Money.” Even a loser like me can appreciate “The Winner Takes It All.”

Thank you for the music, ABBA, and for knowing me, knowing you.

“We may have come of age, but the song is new,” the band said on Friday, in a statement that should have come from the UN. “And it feels good.”

It does. But why stop at two new songs?

Since winning the Eurovision Song Contest in 1974, ABBA has always been greater than the sum of its Swedish parts. The four members, whose names still sound suspiciously like Ikea test products — Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, Anni-Frid Lyngstad — should stay in the studio and keep making new music.

What’s the name of the game? Does it mean anything to you?

Exactly. Now that you’re back, ABBA, we need you to stick around.

https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/music/opinion/2018/04/27/the-world-sends-an-sos-and-abba-answers.html

'Magical': What happened inside the recording studio with ABBA

'Magical': What happened inside the recording studio with ABBA
By Neil McMahon28 April 2018 — 5:18am

ABBA’s return to the recording studio is one of the most long-awaited, surprising band reunions in music history - and here’s what to expect from their "magical" reconciliation and their first song in 35 years.
In an exclusive Australian interview with Fairfax Media, long-time ABBA business partner and confidante Gorel Hanser, who was in the studio for the reunion recording session, reveals: It’s a ballad.
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Unmute
The Swedish pop legends say they've recorded their first new songs since 1982.

The song, I Still Have Faith In You, was specifically written for this reunion by the ABBA men - Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson - and is not a dusty composition pulled from the bottom drawer from the 1970s.
It’s sung together by the ABBA women, Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad, re-igniting their instantly recognisable vocal duel but with neither taking a solo lead.
And the making-of story behind this reunion was a warm, emotional affair when the four band members - two pairs of former spouses - finally came together again to record their first music since 1982.
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"It was wonderful," Hanser says. "It was magical. It was a very warm, relaxed, happy atmosphere, no hard feelings, no stress… it was like 35 years hadn't passed. Like back in the old days. It was very emotional."

The band left the studio "very happy, all of them".
In a statement, the ABBA members said: "We all four felt that, after some 35 years, it could be fun to join forces again and go in to the recording studio. So we did. And it was like time had stood still and that we only had been away on a short holiday. We may have come of age, but the song is new. And it feels good."
The recording session was driven by a semi-reunion project flagged two years ago, a vaguely defined show involving ABBA reproduced as digital avatars. That ABBA-avatar project is still going ahead but now with this new original music attached, Hanser says.
"Along the way, Bjorn and Benny talked about maybe it would be good to have a couple of new songs included in this show… and then they wrote some new songs for this show. This was something that gave them the idea of writing something new for ABBA, for a special cause, for a special project."
ABBA's reunion in the studio was warm, relaxed and happy, their longtime confidant Gorel Hanser told Fairfax Media.
ABBA's reunion in the studio was warm, relaxed and happy, their longtime confidant Gorel Hanser told Fairfax Media.

Photo: AP
The band has recorded two new songs: I Still Have Faith In You, which the world will hear for the first time when the avatar show is revealed in a TV special in December, and another song, Don’t Shut Me Down, that is likely to follow as a single release when it premieres on the avatar tour.
"The first song is more of a ballad, the second song is more of an up-tempo song,” Hanser told Fairfax Media.
And how did the band go about matching the ABBA sound of the 1970s and 1980s to a new era?
"I think you do it the same way as you have always done it - the best you possibly can," Hanser said.
"They have always done it their own way. They did it today the way they always did. The way Benny writes music. And the lyrics are more mature... the way they are today."
You will recognise ABBA, no problem - but it is ABBA 2018."
As to the question fans worldwide now want answered: Does this mean a possible on-stage reunion? Hanser has bad news.
ABBA famously knocked back an offer of $1billion to reunite for a world tour and apparently it’s the same response now.
"No," she says. "They will not be performing as a group again."
That leaves the avatar tour as the only live hope for the ABBA faithful, and that tour is certain to include Australia, where the band first exploded as a music force in 1975.
"Australia is a dear, dear country to ABBA, absolutely," Hanser said.

https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/magical-what-happened-inside-the-recording-studio-with-abba-20180428-p4zc5y.html

Abba announce first new music since 1982

Abba announce first new music since 1982
By Mark Savage
BBC Music reporter
27 April 2018

Agregar leyenda

Pop group Abba have returned to the studio to record their first new music since the 1980s.

The Swedish quartet said the new material was an "unexpected consequence" of their recent decision to put together a "virtual reality" tour.

"We all four felt that, after some 35 years, it could be fun to join forces again and go into the studio," the band said on Instagram.

"And it was like time stood still."

No release date has been set for the new songs - but one of them, titled I Still Have Faith In You, will be performed in December on a TV special broadcast by the BBC and NBC.




Abba's spokesperson Gorel Hanser told the BBC the atmosphere in the studio was "magic".

"It was like no time had passed at all," she said. "It was like the olden days. They were happy, it was easy and warm-hearted, and it was actually quite moving. I wasn't the only one with tears in my eyes."

But she said said the group would not perform live, other than as holograms in the forthcoming Abba Avatar tour.

"It's a studio moment, I can promise you," she said. "Don't expect too much."

Image Copyright @BBCPM@BBCPM
Report
The band have resisted pressure to reform since they stopped recording together in 1982, despite a reported $1bn (£689m) offer to tour in 2000.

In an interview with the BBC in 2013, Agnetha Faltskog said she preferred to leave the band in the past.

"It was such a long time ago, and we are getting older, and we have our different lives," she explained.

News of the new material comes in a bumper year for Abba fans. An immersive exhibition based on the band's career is running on London's South Bank, while Chess, the musical Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson wrote with Sir Tim Rice, is being revived in the West End.

Will Abba's new music ruin their legacy?
Abba give first performance in 30 years
6 shocks from the Mamma Mia 2 trailer
Abba's Agnetha comes out of retirement
A sequel to the film version of Mamma Mia!, starring Amanda Seyfried, Lily James and Cher, will be released on 20 July.

Speaking to BBC News, Rod Stephen, founder of Abba tribute act Bjorn Again, described the new material as "a whole new beginning".

Image copyrightSHUTTERSTOCK
Image caption
Bjorn, Anni-Frid, Agnetha and Benny pictured at the Swedish production of Mamma Mia in 2016
"I heard about Abba releasing new songs and I was instantly, like everyone else in the Abba community, really excited to know what the songs were and how they're going to sound. Will it have that 1970s sound or will it be up to date?

"It's brilliant really, because we love Abba's music to death. I just hope they're great songs, I hope they're equivalent to Dancing Queen or Mamma Mia."

He added: "I know Benny and Bjorn wouldn't release something in this way unless they were good songs."

Speaking to the BBC's Adam Fleming last week, Ulvaeus had hinted that there could be new material. Here's what he said:


Media captionBjorn Ulvaeus hints there could be new ABBA material
How did the Abba avatar idea come about?

We were introduced to an idea by Simon Fuller who is, as you know, an entertainment entrepreneur - [creator of] the format of American Idol and manager of the Spice Girls and so forth.

He came to Stockholm and he presented this idea to us that we could make identical digital copies of ourselves of a certain age and that those copies could then go on tour and they could sing our songs, you know, and lip sync. I've seen this project halfway through and it's already mind-boggling.

What does it actually look like? Does it look like a younger you?

Yes. Real. And they say once it's finished you'll never see that it's not a human being. And what attracted me personally to this is of course I'm always curious, scientifically-curious and this is new technology and we are pioneers. So I thought, 'Yeah let's go for it,' and you know the other three went for it as well.

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What is the actual format of the tribute show going to be? Is it going to be these Abba-tars all the way though?

No, other people as well. And as for the format I'm not entirely sure what it's going to look like but some sort of tribute show with these Abba-tars for want of a better word as the kind of centrepiece.

Will you write new material for it?

We don't know what the Abba-tars will sing yet but there's lots to choose from of the old stuff and yeah, I'm not ready to say that yet.

So there could be new songs…

I'm… it's up in the air.

Stay tuned…

Yeah.

Why not reform and have a reunion? The real you, rather than the virtual ones.

Yeah, why not? Well… it never seemed like a good idea. It's not that we haven't had offers over the years. But somehow we always thought that the Abba that people have in their minds are the once-young and energetic group from the '70s. And we just never felt the urge to go on tour, I guess.

On the whole we toured very little. We had like 10 years together and of those 10 years maybe we toured, like, seven months. Not more than that. So to go on tour as a geriatric, I don't know!

Formed in 1972, Abba were essentially a Swedish supergroup, consisting of songwriters Ulvaeus and Andersson from The Hep Stars and singers Faltskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad, who had scored success as solo artists.

But their joint project completely eclipsed their previous successes. After winning the Eurovision Song Contest with Waterloo in 1974, the band sold almost 400 million singles and albums around the world.

Mamma Mia!, the musical based on their hits and produced by Ulvaeus and Andersson, has been seen by more than 50 million people.

During their most successful period, the band survived marriage break-ups between Ulvaeus and Faltskog, and Lyngstad and Andersson, but they finally called it a day in 1983.

Their final recording sessions, in 1982, produced the hits Under Attack and The Day Before You Came, which featured on the compilation album The Singles.

Their last public performance came three years later, on the Swedish version of TV show This Is Your Life, which honoured their manager Stig Anderson.





http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-43924609

ABBA reunion: Swedish group announce first new music in 35 years

ABBA reunion: Swedish group announce first new music in 35 years
Group posted a joint statement that was echoed by their manager, announcing an upcoming ‘Abbatar’ tour and two new songs
ABBA have announced they are set to release new music for the first time in 35 years.

Posting a statement on the official ABBA Instagram account, the band wrote: “The decision to go ahead with the exciting ABBA avatar tour project had an unexpected consequence.

“We all four felt that, after some 35 years, it could be fun to join forces again and go into the recording studio. So we did. And it was like time had stood still and that we had only been away on a short holiday. An extremely joyful experience!”


The statement continued: “It resulted in two new songs and one of them ‘I Still Have Faith In You’ will be performed by our digital selves in a TV special produced by NBC and the BBC aimed for broadcasting in December.


https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/abba-reunion-new-music-songs-sweden-group-release-uk-latest-news-a8325296.html

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Abba announce first new songs for 35 years
Swedish four-piece take to Instagram to announce two releases that will form part of an ‘avatar tour project’

Alexis Petridis: Abba’s return will be either genius or disaster – but nothing in between
‘I Still Have Faith In You’ - What do you think Abba’s new song will be like?



Abba have announced that they have written and recorded their first new songs since they split in 1983.

The Swedish four-piece, who had nine No 1 hits in the UK between 1974 and 1980, and who have sold hundreds of millions of records worldwide, announced on Instagram that they had recorded two new songs for a project in which avatars of the band will perform.

Abba's return will be either genius or disaster – but nothing in between
Alexis Petridis
Alexis Petridis
Read more
The band said in a statement: “The decision to go ahead with the exciting Abba avatar tour project had an unexpected consequence. We all felt that, after some 35 years, it could be fun to join forces again and go into the recording studio. So we did. And it was like time had stood still and we had only been away on a short holiday. An extremely joyful experience!”

One of the two new songs that resulted, called I Still Have Faith in You, will feature in a TV special to air in December.

The statement concluded: “We may have come of age, but the song is new. And it feels good.”

Abba’s Björn Ulvaeus revealed details of the band’s forthcoming project in Brussels earlier this week. The centrepiece is the two-hour TV show co-produced by NBC and the BBC, which will see the band perform as computer-generated avatars. Ulvaeus said the band had been digitally scanned and “de-aged” to look like they did in 1979, when they performed their third and final tour.

The avatars are then set to tour the world from next year.

Abba formed in Stockholm in 1972. They comprised two couples: Ulvaeus and Agnetha Fältskog; and Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad, all of whom had enjoyed musical careers in Sweden. The group burst on to the international stage after winning the Eurovision song contest in Brighton in 1974 with their song Waterloo.

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From the mid-70s until they split, Abba built up a formidable arsenal of global hits including Knowing Me, Knowing You, Take a Chance on Me, Dancing Queen and The Name of the Game – all of which reached No 1 in the UK.

Fältskog and Lyngstad were the lead singers; Andersson and Ulvaeus composed the songs. Never less than impeccably produced and performed, Abba’s records were critically disdained at the time, but their popularity has endured. Their 1992 compilation Abba Gold has sold 30m copies – more than 5m of those in the Britain – and .

Their jukebox musical Mamma Mia! debuted in the West End in 1999 and is still running both in London and worldwide; its website claims that it has been seen by 60 million people in 440 cities.


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The stage show was adapted into a film in 2008, which grossed $615m (£447m) worldwide. A sequel, Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again, will be released in June. The actor Lily James – who is set to appear alongside the cast of the first film including Meryl Streep, Amanda Seyfried and Colin Firth – : “There’s lot of songs in there, lots of new ones. Lots of ones, actually, that weren’t in my repertoire of Abba and I think they’re going to be huge hits again, and reawaken the love of Abba.”

Abba’s split in 1983 followed the divorces of both couples. Ulvaeus and Andersson went on to write two musicals, including Chess – a revival by the English National Opera opens on Friday in London – before largely devoting themselves to Abba’s legacy. Fältskog and Lyngstad have kept much lower profiles, though Fältskog – long claimed to be a recluse – returned to pop music with an album, A, which was released in 2013.

The group have long held out against lucrative offers to reform – they were reported to have been offered $1bn to play a concert in 2000. In 2014, Ulvaeus told Billboard: “you will never see us on stage again … we don’t need the money, for one thing.”

Peter Robinson, editor of Popjustice, described the announcement as “the biggest pop news of the 21st century. Most fans grudgingly admired Abba’s refusal to record new music, but I think we all sometimes daydreamed about the band possibly, maybe, one day having a rethink at the right time, on the right terms and for the right reasons, which seems to be what’s happened here.” He added: “It’s a pop miracle.”

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/apr/27/abba-announce-first-new-songs-for-35-years


---------------------------------------------

ABBA to release first new material in 35 years
By Michael Idato27 April 2018 — 10:35pm


It may be incorrect to say that the Swedish supergroup ABBA have got back together; for many years they took great pain to point out that they had never formally broken up.
And yet news that they have reformed to record two new songs has been greeted around the world like the second coming, albeit one seasoned in blue eyeshadow and a little bit of glitter.
ABBA will release new material for the first time in 35 years.
ABBA will release new material for the first time in 35 years.

Photo: AP
The four members of the group - Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad - have announced they have recorded two new songs.
The first is titled I Still Have Faith in You, and will be released in November as part of an already announced digital concert television project in which computer-generated "Abbatars" of the group will perform with a live band.
The second is still unknown.
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"The decision to go ahead with the exciting ABBA avatar tour project had an unexpected consequence," a statement from the group said.
"We all four felt that, after some 35 years, it could be fun to join forces again and go into the recording studio. So we did."

The group described the experience as "extremely joyous".
"It was like time had stood still and that we had only been away on a short holiday. We may have come of age, but the song is new and it feels good."
Though they are one of the most successful groups in the history of pop music, there has always been something very simple and organic about their process.
Ulvaeus and Andersson famously wrote the group's best music in a little cottage on an island in the Swedish archipelago and, despite the musical complexity of the songs, did not put music notation to paper.
Benny and Frida were the first off the plane to wave to fans at Melbourne's Tullamarine Airport in 1977.
Benny and Frida were the first off the plane to wave to fans at Melbourne's Tullamarine Airport in 1977.

Photo: The Age
They also famously experimented in the studio, recording the same song in several styles, and sometimes with different lyrics, until they were happy with a final version.
The timing of the announcement cannot be discounted - a week ahead of the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest in Lisbon, Portugal. ABBA's big break came at 1974's Eurovision, at The Dome, in Brighton, in the UK, when they sang one of their biggest hits, Waterloo.
What followed was stunning, transforming them into a worldwide phenomenon, as hit piled on hit: Mamma Mia, Fernando, SOS, Dancing Queen, Chiquitita and more. As with success came Money, Money, Money.
The recipe was curiously European but nonetheless infectious: the gentle flirtation between the couples - Fältskog and Ulvaeus, Lyngstad and Andersson - the often eccentric wardrobe, the easily mimicked choreography. And those tearaway cat dresses, oh my.
For eight years they topped the charts, and then came divorce, tension and, ultimately, dissolution.
Though it was never an explicit part of their songwriting style, ABBA's most complex songs did seem to bring an echo of their real-world experience into their music.
Slipping Through My Fingers came straight from Bjorn and Agnetha's heartbreak as their daughter Linda grew up. I'm a Marionette talked to the exhaustion of their touring fame, and of course The Winner Takes It All as their marriages - and the band - began to disintegrate.
They group last appeared together - formally, as ABBA - on Britain's The Late, Late Breakfast Show on December 11, 1982.

The rebirth of the band - if they ever truly went away - was kicked off in the 1990s with the release of ABBA Gold in 1992, and two Australian films in 1994, Muriel's Wedding and The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. Fitting perhaps, as Australia had been one of the first coutries outside Europe to embrace them.
And then Mamma Mia, the monstrous Broadway hit, which places a collection of their songs into the loose framework of a Greek romantic comedy, came in 1999; the appearance of all four members of ABBA at the 2008 Swedish premiere of the musical was properly historic.
A film version came out in 2008, and a sequel is due later this year.
The question of whether they would ever reform is more complex. For many years all four were adamant they would not. Though Ulvaeus and Andersson continued working together, Fältskog and Lyngstad had moved on.
Former ABBA members Bjorn Ulvaeus, left, and Benny Andersson with actress Catherine Johnson at a performance of the musical Mamma Mia! in London.
Former ABBA members Bjorn Ulvaeus, left, and Benny Andersson with actress Catherine Johnson at a performance of the musical Mamma Mia! in London.

Photo: AP
"I think we have to accept that it will not happen, because we are too old and each one of us has their own life," Fältskog, by a noticeable measure the most reclusive of the four, said in 2013. "Too many years have gone by since we stopped and there's really no meaning in putting us together again."
And then a year later, she said: "As long as we can sing and play, then why not? I would love to, but it's up to Björn and Benny."
Though The Way Old Friends Do was not their last recorded song, it seems now to sit in their own musical history, a curious pivot between the group's original repertoire and this strange moment of historic reconnection.
After fights and words of violence / we make up with each other / the way old friends do, it goes. Times of joy and times of sorrow / we will always see it through / I don't care what comes tomorrow / we can face it together, the way old friends do.
It makes the choice of title for their first new release in 35 years all the more signficant: I Still Have Faith in You.
As their fans always, unwaveringly, had in them.

https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/abba-to-release-first-new-material-in-35-years-20180427-p4zc5s.html

Digital avatars will allow Abba to tour again

Digital avatars will allow Abba to tour again
Matthew Moore, Media Correspondent
April 24 2018, 12:01am, The Times
Old Abba stars never retire, they just get digitally regenerated 40 years later to perform to a television audience of hundreds of millions around the globe.
Virtual “Abbatars” representing all four members of the Swedish pop group will be revealed for the first time this autumn at a show that could clear the way for other maturing artists to go on tour without leaving the comfort of their sofas.






The Abba star Björn Ulvaeus, 72, revealed event details during a speech in Brussels, promising a “global television moment” to rival the Eurovision Song Contest. The two-hour show is expected to be broadcast by the BBC in Britain and simulcast across the globe. A world tour will follow in 2019 or 2020, which industry insiders say could generate hundreds of millions of pounds in ticket sales.
Ulvaeus and his bandmates have been scanned using high-tech imaging equipment and “de-aged” to appear as they looked at their musical peak in 1979. “We thought we looked good that year,” Ulvaeus said.
Silicon Valley experts are using archive video footage to replicate how the band danced, dressed and sang so they can be programmed to perform classic Abba hits such as Waterloo, Mamma Mia and Dancing Queen.
The effect is “simply mind-boggling”, according to Ulvaeus. “You’ll hear the voices of Abba coming out of the mouths of the Abbatars,” he said. “You won’t be able to see that they’re not human beings. It’ll be spooky, I assure you, but great fun and no one has done it before.”
The television special is being produced by the American network NBC and sold across the world by BBC Studios, the national broadcaster’s commercial arm.
The technology has already been used to recreate Elvis and to help Narendra Modi address party rallies in India
Details of the show, including its location, are still under wraps but it is understood that other famous acts will perform Abba tributes before the Abbatars take to the stage to sing one classic track as the finale.
Abba sold more than 400 million albums but have not sung together since 1986, apart from at a private party in 2016. The four members — Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, 71, Anni-Frid Lyngstad, 72, and Agnetha Faltskog, 68 — have resisted previous attempts to organise a reunion but gave their full consent to the Abbatar project, which has the potential to be hugely lucrative. If the technology is embraced by fans it will allow artists to stage concerts anywhere in the world without the trouble and expense of travelling. U2’s 360° tour in 2009-11 made a record £453 million, ahead of the Rolling Stones’ A Bigger Bang tour (£397 million in 2005-07) and Coldplay’s A Head Full of Dreams tour, which ended last year with total revenues of £396 million.
Virtual touring may prove particularly attractive to rockers of a certain vintage, such as Mick Jagger, 74. Promoters could also stage concerts long after their performers have died.

Ulvaeus said that “techno artists” from the US had scanned all four members of Abba last year. “They photographed us from all possible angles, they made us grimace in front of cameras, they painted dots on our faces, they measured our heads,” he told broadcasting executives last week. “Apparently, a cranium doesn’t change with age the way the rest of your body falls apart.”
The singer acknowledged an “existential dimension” to the project, as the band explored what it would be like to be young again: “The wisdom that we hopefully possess now in combination with the youth of the Abbatars.”
Musicians including Tupac and Michael Jackson have been brought back to life as holograms for one-off performances, to mixed reviews, but the technology behind the Abbatars is understood to be more advanced. It is being developed by XIX Entertainment, the company established by the British pop impresario Simon Fuller who launched the Spice Girls and the reality television show Pop Idol.


https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/digital-avatars-will-allow-abba-to-tour-again-m8khkg6ss?_ga=2.249467655.1632363264.1524574818-353718805.1524574818

https://www.facebook.com/notes/abbaregistro-page/digital-avatars-will-allow-abba-to-tour-again/610501282631693/

ABBA to come back in a virtual show!

ABBA to come back in a virtual show!
Björn Ulvaeus was speaking at the EBU Media Summit

ABBA's Bjorn Ulvaeus addresses first EBU Media Summit in Brussels




published on 19 Apr 2018 • Department / Unit Media Radio

Author / Speaker

Björn Ulvaeus

Source / Event

Media Summit 2018 - 19 April 2018 - Brussels

BJÖRN ULVAEUS KEYNOTE TO MEDIA SUMMIT 2018
I probably wouldn’t be standing here before you today if it wasn’t for the magnificent flagship of European Public Broadcasting, the Eurovision Song Contest. As most of you know I was in the winning team way back in 1974. Which, incidentally, means it took you all of 44 years to invite me to speak at this event. But, what a launching pad that was. The Eurovision Song Contest is a big deal. Some people want to make it less of a big deal. They frown and look down on it and the say it’s shallow and devoid of deeper meaning and thus, they say, it doesn’t belong on Public Service Media.

I’m sure it won’t come as a surprise to you when I say I disagree. It would, of course, be monumentally stupid to start this speech in front of this audience by criticizing the Eurovision Song Contest, but that apart, I honestly disagree because I think the ESC is exactly what Public Service Media can and must be - among a host of other things, which I will come to. It’s entertaining, broad and inclusive. And no commercial network could ever do it as well as the EBU. I would say, in all its glory, those bright hours of fun somehow give us a sense of Europeanness, if there is such a word. If there isn’t there should be.

I am unashamedly grateful for having been born in this part of the world, this Europe, where, despite all the setbacks with wars and other atrocities, the Greek and Roman philosophers, the Renaissance, the Scientific Revolution, the Enlightenment and much, much more has paved the way for the liberal, secular democracies we live in today. I won’t say that I’m proud of it because I had very little to do with how this European history developed, but I will say that I count myself lucky to be able to enjoy the benefits.

I have to admit that I wasn’t always a fan of Public Service.

I know I look very young, but I grew up before television. There was only one radio channel. One public service radio channel and they played one or two pop songs a week in ONE show on Saturdays. I was starved. Then a pirate radio station popped up, Radio Nord, and they played pop all day long, interspersed with commercials.

I loved Radio Nord, even the commercials, so when the Swedish Parliament shut it down I consequently hated Public Service Media. I was only seventeen. But even though I felt that way about PSM back then, there was never a shadow of a doubt in my mind that every word uttered in those Swedish Radio programs was true. The people of Sweden trusted this wonderful institution one hundred percent.

Sadly, that trust seems to be slipping. A fresh survey by SIFO shows that trust in Swedish public service media, especially television is going down and has slowly been going down since 2010. It may be different in some of your countries – and you all know what you are up against in your own countries, I’m just using Sweden as an example to make a point

I find this very disturbing and worrying. And why is it, as it seems to be, that trust is on a slippery slope? Well, there are of course many reasons, but I think one could be that fierce competition with commercial broadcasters sometimes may lead to, shall we say, a different journalistic ambition. An ambition to make every program, whatever the content, broad and entertaining.

Recently I had an experience that terrified me. I was the target myself and what I saw from inside was SVT - Swedish Television - acting like a tabloid. A show called “Mission Scrutiny”. They interviewed me, so I knew for sure they had all the relevant facts available in this particular matter, but they chose to select only those that fitted their preferred angle. And they painted a false picture, in which I was a decidedly shady character. Clearly to maximize ratings and clicks.

I was hurt. Of course, I was. But believe me, that’s not why I’m telling you this. It’s because it scares me as a citizen. I’ve been an inside witness to something, which I think is the absolute opposite of what public service media should be. Short term sensationalism is bound to erode long term trust. There are fundamental values at stake here and if they’re lost they’ll be very, very hard to regain.

The former, sacked CEO of Cambridge Analytica, Alexander Nix, said: Things don’t necessarily need to be true as long as they’re believed. I say, we need sources we can trust more than ever. We need you.

You’ve no doubt noticed that Mr. Xi of China has come to the conclusion that elections are cumbersome and unnecessary when you know who’s best suited for the job anyway. May I hazard a guess that Mr. Putin, Mr. Orbán and Mr. Erdoghan are feeling inspired by his example. Will they follow in his footsteps? Mr. Trump recently joked: “Maybe we’ll give that a shot.” I’m not so sure it was a joke. But American democracy is robust. Thanks to those enlightened men, who wrote the American constitution. If there is a god, may he bless them.

They must have thought long and hard about how to pass their values down the generations. George Washington said it beautifully: “What could be more important than to pass civic values down to the future guardians of the liberties of the country?”

It seems a lot of young people nowadays take democracy for granted, and what else can you expect when it has been around all their lives. It’s like an old arm chair to them. They’re also disappointed by it. So, it’s not surprising that some of them should be attracted by the old ideologies close to fascism and communism. But, these young people have no idea of what it would be like to live in such a political system.

I was born in the 1940s and when I was about five or six I got hold of a book I wasn’t supposed to see. The pictures are still engraved in me. The death camps, emaciated human beings. My parents talked a lot about the war. I hate fascism with every fiber in my body.

Growing up with the Soviet Union looming large and ominous close to Swedish borders, I learned to hate communism too. It was a real and tangible threat. I used to think to myself: What would I do if the Soviets invaded us? I came to the conclusion that I would rather die than live under the communist yoke.

But how do we convey this to younger generations who seem ready to experiment again? To try the same useless ideologies once more. We need you.

Civic education in public broadcasting has always been at the core of the European democratic project. Certainly, when I grew up. I might have found it boring sometimes, but it was always there. And I know it still is, but now there are so many other things competing with it today.

Nevertheless, it is crucially important that public broadcasting never ceases to point out and to show again and again that ideological alternatives to liberal democracy, from fascism to communism and from autocracy to theocracy, are as abominable today as they were in the past.

I have stood on many a taped white cross on studio floors in TV studios all around Europe, miming to the latest ABBA single. Those were the days. You only had to appear once in the biggest local show and the next day everybody would have heard your song. My colleagues today have to work much harder.

Well, it seems I will visit your TV channels again. In digital form this time. We have a new project together. Well, at least some of you are already involved. I’m talking about a big ABBA tribute show this autumn with artists from all parts of the world.

Frida, Agnetha, Benny and I had visitors from Silicon Valley last June. Techno artists, they call themselves. They photographed us from all possible angles, they made us grimace in front of cameras, they painted dots on our faces, they measured our heads. Apparently, a cranium doesn’t change with age the way the rest of your body falls apart. The measurements together with old videos and photos makes it possible for these IT wizards to create perfect copies of ABBA 1979. We thought we looked good that year.

It’s still work in progress, but they’ve come a long way and what I’ve seen so far is simply mind-boggling. These ABBAtars will sing one of Benny’s and my songs. You’ll hear the voices of ABBA coming out of the mouths of the ABBAtars. Lip synch. And you won’t be able to see that they’re not human beings. It’ll be spooky, I assure you. But great fun and no one has done it before. There is an existential dimension to explore as well. What would it be like to be young again. The wisdom that we hopefully possess now in combination with the youth of the ABBAtars.

NBC in America in partnership with the BBC have both global reach and experience of managing projects on a huge scale and they’re distributing the show. The plan is to make it a global television moment and they are now reaching out to top national and regional broadcasters like yourselves, who can be part of making it a shared experience all around the world - with simulcast transmission wherever possible. I can’t help thinking – it would be a bit like the Eurovision Song Contest. It sounds incredible, but they say it’s absolutely doable.

And what will the ABBAtars sing? I’m afraid I’m not at liberty to say, but let me give you something to talk about, a clue. The title could have been the heading for this speech. You’ll understand when you hear it.

I’d like to end this speech with a plea. Trust is hard currency in this era of fake news. You have more trust than most other institutions. People believe that you’re telling the truth to the best of your abilities. Please don’t devalue that, please continue to be an institution that we can hang on to in this age of confusion

Only public service media can guarantee fair and trusted content because of the unique way it is mandated and funded. True public service media needs to be independent from commercial and governmental influences.

Continue to develop and produce broad, entertaining shows like the Eurovision Song Contest and the ABBA show I just mentioned, but never forget to educate, give insight and try to explain complex matters in an honest and scientific way. I know it’s not easy, but you guys, you - in this room. You’re the ones who can do it. You decide. We need you more than ever. Democracy itself, whatever future form it takes, needs you to promote and to defend it.

Thank you!

https://www.ebu.ch/publications/bjorn-ulvaeus-keynote-to-media-summit-2018



“#ABBA will be back in digital form in a big tribute show distributed by @BBC - a global television moment - a shared experience all around the world - a bit like @Eurovision Song Contest” - Björn Ulvaeus reveals new #VR project @ #EBUMedia Summit #Eurovision
https://twitter.com/EBU_HQ/status/986877020373159936

“#ABBA will be back in digital form in a big tribute show distributed by @BBC - a global television moment - a shared experience all around the world - a bit like @Eurovision Song Contest” - Björn Ulvaeus reveals new #VR project @ #EBUMedia Summit #Eurovision pic.twitter.com/jco1qCeCvw

— EBU (@EBU_HQ) 19 de abril de 2018

Björn in new interview about the "ABBA-tars

Abba återförenas – som ”abbatarer”
Abba.19 apr 2018
FOTO: IBL FOTOWARE
Abba.
NÖJEmindre än 2 tim sedan
I höst återförenas Abba i en stor global tv-show. Men det är inte Björn, Benny, Agnetha och Anni-Frid själva som står på scenen – utan fyra digitalt framställda ”abbatarer”.

– Vi gör det för att det är så spännande och kul, säger Björn Ulvaeus till TT.


Under årens lopp har det gång på gång spekulerats om att Abba ska återförenas. I höst blir det alltså av, men i en något annan form än vad Abba-fansen kanske hade trott.

– Vi håller på att skapa "abbatarer" just nu, berättar Björn Ulvaeus på telefon från Bryssel där han har berättat om projektet för radio- och tv-unionen EBU.

Mätte skallarna
Brittiska BBC och amerikanska NBC planerar en tv-sänd hyllningsshow till Abbas ära i höst. Tanken är att de fyra digitala kopiorna ska framträda under showen med en av gruppens låtar. I juni förra året fick Annifrid Lyngstad, Agnetha Fältskog, Benny Andersson och Björn Ulvaeus besök från Silicon Valley i USA. Sedan vidtog något som närmast kan beskrivas som avancerad skallmätning.

– Våra huvuden har mätts på alla håll och kanter och av det skapar man ett bibliotek av ansiktsmuskler. De som gör det kallar sig för technoartister och kommer från filmbranschen och it-branschen. Det som är spännande är att det blir ett slags digitala kopior av oss från 1979.


Varför just det året?

– Vi var tvungna att välja ett år och vi tyckte väl att vi såg bra ut det året, säger Björn Ulvaeus och skrattar.

”Helt mindboggling”
1979 var året då Abba släppte skivan ”Voulez-Vous” och påbörjade sin sista stora konsertturné över världen. Björn Ulvaeus konstaterade i sitt tal till EBU att den existentiella dimensionen av ”abbatarerna” också känns spännande att utforska. Hur är det att vara ung igen? Och hur kan man ”kombinera den visdom som vi förhoppningsvis besitter nu med 'abbatarernas' ungdom?”

– Vi har sett lite "work in progress" för ett tag sedan – och det är helt mindboggling! säger Björn Ulvaeus. Man kommer inte att kunna se att det inte är riktiga människor. Det är spännande att vara delaktig i ett projekt som ingen har kunnat göra tidigare.

Nu gör ni det i tv, men kommer man att kunna turnera med ”abbatarerna”?

– Ja, det är tanken, att det ska komma något halvår, kanske tre kvarts år efter showen. Men då kommer vi att använda olika teknologier. Dels den vi utvecklar här, men i en livesituation kanske man också använder hologram någonstans och body-doubles. Man kan göra en massa roliga grejor.

Det låter som att du har gått all in i projektet?

– Ja, det har vi alla fyra gjort. Verkligen. All in, kan man säga.

Kända artister gästar
Ännu så länge är mycket hemligt kring projektet. Det finns ännu inget datum utsatt för konserten och Björn Ulvaeus vill inte avslöja vilken Abba-låt det är som kommer att framföras i tv-showen, vilken också kommer att gästas av flera kända artister. Genom talet i EBU ger han BBC och NBC lite hjälp på traven med att locka fler tv-kanaler i Europa att sända showen.

Är det här början på en framtid där den nya tekniken ger fansen möjlighet att se fler nedlagda band och döda artister framträda ”live”?

– Jag vill inte spekulera i det. Vi gör det och det är jättekul och vi är pionjärer. Men hur det här kommer att användas, där finns det bara en gräns och det är fantasin, säger Björn Ulvaeus.

https://www.aftonbladet.se/nojesbladet/a/ngJJAm/abba-aterforenas--som-abbatarer

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traslation: facebook Micke A Andersson

Björn in new interview about the "ABBA-tars"
This fall, Abba reunites in a major global television show. But it's not Björn, Benny, Agnetha and Anni-Frid themselves who are on stage - without four digitally-produced "abbatar".
"We do it because it is so exciting and fun," says Björn Ulvaeus to TT (Tidningarnas Telegrambyrå).

Over the years, it has been repeatedly speculated that ABBA will be reunited. In the fall, it will happen, but in a slightly different form than the ABBA-fans might have believed.
"We are creating" ABBATAR" right now, explains Björn Ulvaeus on a telephone call from Brussels where he has reported on the project for the Radio and Television Union EBU.

British BBC and US NBC are planning a television broadcast tribute show to ABBA'shonor this fall. The idea is that the four digital copies will appear during the show with one of the group's songs. In June last year Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Agnetha Fältskog, Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus received a visit from Silicon Valley in the United States. Then took something that could be described as advanced balding.
"Our heads have been measured in all directions and edges and create a library of facial muscles. Those who make it call themselves techno artists and come from the film industry and the IT industry. What's exciting is that there will be some kind of digital copies of us from 1979.

TT: Why that year?
"We had to choose one year and we thought we were looking good that year," says Björn Ulvaeus, laughing.
1979 was the year when ABBA released the "Voulez-Vous" record and commenced their last major concert tour of the world. Björn Ulvaeus noted in his speech to the EBU that the existential dimension of "ABBATAR" also feels exciting to explore. How is it to be young again? And how can we "combine the wisdom we hopefully possess now with the" ABBATAR" youth?"
"We've seen a little" work in progress "a while ago - and it's completely mindboggling! says Björn Ulvaeus.
"You will not be able to see that there are no real people. It's exciting to be part of a project that nobody has been able to do before.

TT: Do you do it now on television, but will you be able to tour with the "ABBATAR"?
- Yes, it's the idea that there will be half a year, maybe three quarters of a year after the show. But then we will use different technologies. Partly the one we develop here, but in a living situation, one might also use hologram somewhere and body doubles. You can do a lot of fun stuff.
TT: It sounds like you've got all the way into the project?
- Yes, we have done all four. Really. All in, you can say.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10155539489770765&set=a.62337300764.75305.659900764

Björn Ulvaeus at the Salesforce Sweden annual Conference in Stockholm

Björn Ulvaeus at the Salesforce Sweden annual conference in Stockholm.
10 04 2018
From The Official International ABBA Fan Club: "Full speach Björn gave at the Salesforce Sweden Annual User Conference in Stockholm. He speaks about several of his ventures, including Pop House Hotel and ABBA The Museum. He is also very excited about the progress on 'digitizing' the 1979 versions of the four ABBA members and confirmed that these would go on a world tour with a live band in 2019".

https://www.facebook.com/officialabbafanclub/videos/10156559642137780/

ABBA tight-lipped over name of their comeback game

ABBA tight-lipped over name of their comeback game
By Neil McMahon17 February 2017 — 9:23am




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Forty years on from the legendary visit that stands as ABBA's biggest and Australia's craziest concert tour, band legend Frida Lyngstad says the Swedish icons will be back. But is it a reunion? She calls it "a new ABBA creation" – but if history is any guide, we'll lap it up whatever it is.
In a rare interview with Good Weekend to mark the anniversary of the 1977 tour, Lyngstad confirms she and bandmates Agnetha Faltskog, Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson are busy with … something.
ABBA arrive at Tullamarine Airport in Melbourne in 1977, when fans regularly crowded to get a glimpse of the band.
ABBA arrive at Tullamarine Airport in Melbourne in 1977, when fans regularly crowded to get a glimpse of the band.

"We have just started to explore a new technological world, with virtual reality and artificial intelligence at the forefront," Lyngstad says. "Our fans are always asking us to reform and so I hope this new ABBA creation will excite them as much as it excites us."
Lyngstad reveals nothing else about the new project, but it's safe to say nothing in the virtual realm will ever match the flesh-and-blood fervour of that 1977 tour, in which the band played 11 concerts in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth across two weeks remembered for fan and media hysteria wherever they went.
Lyngstad remembers the fortnight in fond detail, including the first concert in Sydney that was nearly abandoned due to torrential rain. Lyngstad famously panicked fans and promoters when she fell over on the wet stage, which was also invaded by bugs.
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An "unforgettable" concert, says Lyngstad, while also recalling quiet moments away from the tour spotlight.
"We had a few days off, and were taken to a beautiful national park outside Sydney, and enjoyed a boat trip on the waters outside Melbourne, even swimming together with seals in a bay I do not remember the name of. A very special experience, to say the least."
The Melbourne leg of the tour is remembered for fan crushes on the streets at their hotel, the Old Melbourne Motor Inn in Flemington Road, and in Swanston Street where they greeted fans from the Town Hall balcony.
Alan Johnson, manager of the hotel at the time, remembers the constant crush of fans. "There was literally thousands of people at the Old Melbourne to welcome them when they arrived. We had the mounted police out the front to stop the crowd. We had additional security because there were so many people trying to get access to their suites. They were captive … because there was so many people outside."
Promoter Michael Chugg, then a tour manager for Paul Dainty, remembers the chaos of the Sydney show. "The Sebel Townhouse got the shits with us because we took every white towel they had to keep drying the stage. But they played in the rain, the audience turned up in the rain, they just absolutely loved it. It affected everybody from toddlers to grandma and grandpa. It was incredible to look into the audience and see the spread of the demographic."
That generation-crossing devotion is confirmed by musician Kate Miller-Heidke, who wasn't even born during ABBA's heyday but who is working on a keenly awaited ABBA-related project – writing a stage musical production of the ABBA-laden movie Muriel's Wedding, which premieres for the Sydney Theatre Company in November.
"They have basically formed part of the soundtrack to my life, their music is everywhere," Miller-Heidke says. "The songs are undeniable. As a songwriter I would never say that they were of no lasting value … just the way they put lyrics and melody together in a way that burns into people's minds."


https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/abba-tightlipped-over-name-of-their-comeback-game-20170216-gueszi.html

Björn Ulvaeus: "We are working on a project in the virtual world" 25102017

Bild: Henrik Montgomery/TT | Christer Fogelmarck, vd för Parks & Resorts (Gröna Lund), Karin Wanngård (S), finansborgarråd Stockholm stad, och Björn Ulvaeus presenterar en satsning på området kring Allmänna gränd på Djurgården.
Bild: Henrik Montgomery/TT | Christer Fogelmarck, vd för Parks & Resorts (Gröna Lund), Karin Wanngård (S), finansborgarråd Stockholm stad, och Björn Ulvaeus presenterar en satsning på området kring Allmänna gränd på Djurgården.
Miljardsatsning på Djurgården
(TT) Djurgården i Stockholm är redan ett populärt turistmål, men nu gör Björn Ulvaeus tillsammans med Stockholms stad och Gröna Lund en stor satsning på att lyfta Djurgårdens attraktionskraft ytterligare. Sammanlagt satsas drygt en miljard kronor.

Peter Challis/TT16:05 | 2017-10-25
Hyde Park och Central Park är ingenting mot Djurgården, fast det vet de inte i utlandet. Vid min ålder gör jag bara det jag brinner för och jag brinner för att vara med och utveckla musik- och nöjesutbudet här och hjälpa till att marknadsföra Djurgården som en av världens mest spännande upplevelsedestinationer, säger Björn Ulvaeus.
ABBAMUSEET EXPANDERAR
Abbamuseet med tillhörande hotell, kallat Pop House, expanderar och tar ett språng in i den nya tekniken. Den nya delen, med entré mot Allmänna gränd, ska öppna våren 2019. Investeringen beräknas uppgå till 350-400 miljoner kronor.

Vi håller på med ett projekt i den virtuella världen. Vi håller på att förflytta Abba in i den virtuella världen, det vill säga teknologier som virtual reality, augmented reality, digital humans och artificiell intelligens, säger Ulvaeus.
Stockholms stad satsar 340 miljoner kronor på att bygga ut Liljevalchs konsthall.


FANTASTISK TILLGÅNG
Djurgården är en fantastisk tillgång för Stockholm och för besöksnäringen. Att utveckla Djurgården gör att ännu fler besökare får möjlighet att komma hit men också få en positiv erfarenhet av Stockholm. Att vi samarbetar med det privata näringslivet ihop med kommunen gör att det kommer att bli väldigt bra, säger Stockholms finansborgarråd Karin Wanngård (S).
Samtidigt ska Gröna Lund byggas ut genom att en stor parkeringsplats i granntomten tas i anspråk. Just nu pågår också en renovering av en del av nöjesparken, en satsning på 400 miljoner kronor. Expansionen, som beräknas inledas 2020, kommer att kosta minst en miljard kronor.

FAKTA
Fakta: Södra Djurgården
Södra Djurgården är sedan gammalt ett av Stockholms mest besökta rekreations- och förlustelseområden, och här ligger flera restauranger

Det inre av ön är ett parklandskap med Karl XIV Johans lustslott Rosendal. Den bergiga delen i väster upptas av Skansens friluftsmuseum och djurpark. Väster om det ligger bland annat Nordiska museet, Biologiska museet, Vasamuseet och Liljevalchs konsthall samt på öns sydvästra del Gröna Lund och Djurgårdsstaden, med delvis bevarad trähusbebyggelse från 1700-talet.

Södra Djurgården har utnämnts till riksintresse för kulturmiljövården och är en del av den 1994 grundade Kungliga nationalstadsparken.

Källa: Ne.se

http://www.corren.se/nyheter/miljardsatsning-pa-djurgarden-om4866269.aspx

Benny Andersson told about ABBA Vitual and his Album Piano

Abba-låtarna Benny ångrar att han gjort

Publicerad 24 sep 2017 kl 08.27

Svenska popundret Abba är mer aktuell än någonsin.

En återförening i form av en digital Abba-turné är på gång, tolkningar till nya "Mamma Mia"-filmen och Benny Andersson har precis spelat in en ny soloskiva.

Men när Benny Andersson blickar tillbaka i karriären finns det stunder från bandets långa karriär som han kan ångra.

– Vi har gjort låtar med Abba som vi inte skulle ha gjort, säger han i en intervju med Aftonbladet.



Benny Andersson får ständigt frågan om när popgruppen Abba kommer att återförenas. Och på senare tid har han kunnat ge ett besked.

2019 planeras premiären på en digital Abba-turné, som han just nu arbetar med.

Det handlar om en turné där Abbas musik ska framföras av ett liveband och där digitala versioner av bandmedlemmarna kommer att projiceras framför publiken.

– Det kommer att ta lite tid, det tar tid att digitalisera ett ansikte. Det är kul att det är i sån teknisk framkant. Det ska bli intressant, har han tidigare berättat för Expressen.

Sången kommer vara från gruppens gamla inspelningar, antingen från soloskivorna eller från livekonserterna.




I en intervju med Aftonbladet berättar nu artisten att han kanske tidigare inte trott att han skulle jobba fullt så mycket efter 70-årsdagen.

– Jag hade tänkt jag kunde ta det lite lugnare nu när jag har fyllt 70, berättar han.

Och förutom den digitala turnén är Abba-låtarna aktuella i den nya filmen "Mamma Mia: Here we go again" där låtar som "Dancing queen", "I wonder", "Why did it have to be me", "Angeleyes" och "When I kissed the teacher" får nytt liv.

– Det är kul, för dem som inte är hardcore-Abba fans kan det vara lite okända låtar, säger han till Aftonbladet.



Abba-stunder Benny Andersson ångrar
Men det finns även stunder i karriären som han inte är riktigt lika stolt över och som han kan ångra att Abba gav sig in på.

– I efterhand kan man se at vi gjorde saker på 1960- och 1970-talet som vi kunde avstått ifrån. Man har rätt att inte vara på topp jämt. Vi har gjort låtar med Abba som vi inte skulle ha gjort. Vi skulle ha avstått från att försöka vara rock'n'roll som i "Watch out". Men det kändes rätt och var kul då, säger han till Aftonbladet.



Benny Anderssons pianoskivan ”Piano” släpps den 29 september. Skivan innehåller bland annat "Thank you for the music”, ”The day before you came” och melodier från både ”Chess” och ”Kristina från Duvemåla”.

https://www.expressen.se/noje/abba-latarna-benny-angrar-att-han-skrev/

google translate

Publicado el 24 de septiembre de 2017 a las 08.27



El pop sueco Abba está más actualizado que nunca.



Una reunión en forma de una gira digital Abba está en marcha, las interpretaciones de la nueva película de "Mamma Mia" y Benny Andersson acaban de grabar un nuevo disco en solitario.



Pero cuando Benny Andersson mira hacia atrás en su carrera, hay momentos de la larga carrera de la banda de los que puede arrepentirse.



"Hemos hecho canciones con Abba que no hubiéramos hecho", dijo en una entrevista con Aftonbladet.



Benny Andersson cuestiona constantemente cuándo se reunirá el grupo pop Abba. Y últimamente ha podido dar un mensaje.



En 2019, el estreno está programado para una gira digital de Abba, en la que está trabajando actualmente.



Se trata de una gira en la que la música de Abbas será interpretada por una banda en vivo y donde se proyectarán las versiones digitales de los miembros de la banda frente a la audiencia.


"Llevará algo de tiempo, lleva tiempo digitalizar una cara. Es divertido que esté en esa parte técnica. Será interesante, le dijo previamente a Expressen.


La canción será de viejas grabaciones del grupo, ya sea de discos en solitario o de conciertos en vivo.


En una entrevista con Aftonbladet, el artista ahora dice que tal vez no pensó que trabajaría mucho después de los 70.


"Pensé que podría tomarlo con más calma ahora que llegué a los 70", dice.


Y además de las canciones digitales gira de Abba en cuestión en la nueva película "Mamma Mia: Aquí vamos de nuevo", donde canciones como "Dancing Queen", "Me pregunto", "¿Por qué tenía que ser yo", "Angel Eyes" y "Cuando besé al maestro" tiene una nueva vida.



"Es divertido, para aquellos que no son fanáticos incondicionales de Abba, puede haber algunas canciones desconocidas", dijo a Aftonbladet.


Abba-veces Benny Andersson lamenta

Pero también hay momentos en su carrera de los que no está tan orgulloso como puede arrepentirse de la afirmación de Abba.


"En retrospectiva, podemos ver que hicimos cosas en los años 60 y 70 que no pudimos resistir. Usted tiene derecho a no ser de primera categoría. Hemos hecho canciones con Abba que no hubiéramos hecho. Nos habríamos abstenido de tratar de ser rock'n'roll como en "Cuidado". Pero se sintió bien y divertido entonces ", le dijo a Aftonbladet.


El lanzamiento de "Piano" para piano de Benny Andersson se lanzará el 29 de septiembre. El disco incluye "Gracias por la música", "El día antes que viniste" y melodías de "Chess" y "Kristina de Duvemåla".