Benny at the Swedish Derby

 

video and photo: Svensk Galopp

- Pensé que estaría nervioso, pero no lo estaba, dijo Benny, sosteniendo la corona gigante de la victoria. Confié en Jessica, Oliver [Wilson que montaba] y sabía que teníamos un buen caballo.

Benny me dijo que le gustan las carreras, pero que le fascina aún más la cría. Para seguir las líneas de sangre, elige un semental y luego espera.

La entrenadora Jessica Long ha trabajado a propósito con el Derby Sueco como el gran objetivo. Siempre ha tenido claro que todo ha ido exactamente según lo previsto. Y ella tenía razón.

- Está claro que trabajamos durante mucho tiempo para esto, pero finalmente encontramos el caballo adecuado.

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Benny told me that he likes racing, but is even more fascinated by breeding. To follow the bloodlines, choose a stallion and then hope.

Trainer Jessica Long has worked purposefully with the Swedish Derby as the big goal. She has always been clear that everything has gone exactly according to plan. And she was right.

- It is clear that we worked for a long time for this, but we finally found the right horse.

Ayani is big, strong – and fast. Now he outclassed everything in Scandinavia, but there is probably even more development considering that he has only made five starts (winning four of them). And Jessica Long has a plan.

Massivt jubel när Ayani triumferade i Svenskt Derby

16 juli 2023 22:09

Tränaren Jessica Long mötte ägaren och uppfödaren Benny Andersson i en lång kram. Sagan fick ett lyckligt slut, Ayani vann Svenskt Derby och jublet på Jägersro var massivt.

– Jag trodde jag skulle vara nervös, men det var jag inte, sa Benny och höll i den gigantiska segerkransen. Jag litade på Jessica, Oliver [Wilson som red] och visste att vi hade en bra häst.



På förhand var Ayani favorit, men löpningen bedömdes vara vara öppen och svår, Men när det väl blev allvar så fanns det bara en häst på banan – Ayani var helt överlägsen.

– Vi har känt ett stort och massivt stöd, så det var väldigt skönt att det lyckades, kommenterade en tagen tränare.

Löpningen tar bara ett par minuter, men det här var resultatet av en lång och systematisk satsning från Benny Anderssons sida.

– Jag har haft hästar här nere i 40 år, berättade Benny. Då var Jessica [Long] två år.

Han ropade in Ayanis mormor på auktion, har avlat vidare på den stammen och nu fick han en fullträff.

– Jag har varit med och vunnit ett par derbyn i Köpenhamn, men det här är ännu större.

Hur stort?

– Hmm. Det är stort, men att få barn är ju större. Det är top-tio i alla fall. Det här var en fantastiskt fin seger och jag är väldigt glad för Jessicas skull.

Benny berättade att han gillar racing, men är ännu mer fascinerad av uppfödningen. Att få följa blodslinjerna, välja hingst och sedan hoppas.

Tränaren Jessica Long har jobbat målmedvetet med Svenskt Derby som det stora målet. Hon har hela tiden varit klar med att allt har gått precis enligt plan. Och hon hade rätt.

– Det är klart att vi jobbat länge för det här, men äntligen hittade vi den där rätta hästen.

Ayani är stor, stark – och snabb. Nu utklassade han allt som fanns i Skandinavien, men det finns nog ännu mer utveckling med tanke på att han bara gjort fem starter (vunnit fyra av dem). Och Jessica Long har en plan.

– Släpp ut honom på en stor gräsbana så tror jag att vi hittar en växel till i honom.

Sedan Ayani, Jessica Long, Benny Andersson och Oliver Wilson skapat feststämning på Jägersro var det förstås dags för det egna firandet.

– Jag har väl varit med på en eller annan fest, så nu hänger jag med hem till tränaren. Så går det till i den här branschen. Och jag tror att det blir bra, avslutade Benny Andersson.

16 juli 2023 22:09

https://www.svenskgalopp.se/nyheter-och-media/massivt-jubel-nar-ayani-triumferade-i-svenskt-derby/

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https://www.svenskgalopp.se/nyheter-och-media/benny-anderssons-drom-slog-in-hans-ayani-vann-svenskt-derby/

How ABBA Voyage and other avatar or 'hologram' concert performances evoke fans' real responses

https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/abba-voyage-other-avatar-hologram-174714631.html

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How ABBA Voyage and other avatar or 'hologram' concert performances evoke fans' real responses

Fans outside the ABBA Arena in London, a venue built for the ABBA Voyage concert, in May 2022. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali) At ABBA Voyage, a 90-minute long digital concert event, ABBA’s Benny Andersson looks over the crowd and addresses them reassuringly: “This is really me, I just look very good for my age.” Andersson, of course, is not physically present in the arena, but rather is a digitally animated avatar. ABBA Voyage is a new type of concert experience, where avatars of the pop stars are accompanied by live musicians. This performance is hosted in a 3,000-seat custom-built concert venue in London. Unlike earlier digital avatar performances (sometimes referred to as “hologram” concerts), ABBA Voyage plays out on 65-million-pixel LED screens. In previous shows featuring the likes of Roy Orbison and Whitney Houston, performers’ avatars were projected onto a band of translucent plastic. In both formats, an animated two-dimensional image on a screen gives the appearance of a lifelike, 3D performer. Recent research on K-pop performances with digital avatars has shown that these digital performers can in fact create a sense of co-presence and immediacy with a live audience, and ABBA Voyage concerts do the same. Voyage blurs the boundaries of what audiences understand as a live performance, contributing to a century-long conversation about the complex relationship between technology and performance in the arts. It raises questions about whether digital avatar concerts can meet audiences’ expectations in a live concert experience. Skeptical about aims Many fans and critics were skeptical about ABBA’s virtual return, which was preceded by a new record release, also titled Voyage. Reviews of the digital concert experience frequently use language that paint the experience as hyper-real and somewhat uncanny. Reviewer Niall Byrne of the Irish music site Nialler described the show as featuring ABBA “cryogenically frozen as their younger selves.”

Members of ABBA, from left, Bjorn Ulvaeus, Agnetha Faltskog, Anni-Frid Lyngstad and Benny Andersson, arrive for the ABBA Voyage concert in London in May 2022, before the virtual version of the band began a series of concerts. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali) But 1.3 million ticket sales later, the show’s success speaks for itself. However, the fixation on whether or not ABBA Voyage is a “real” concert takes attention away from a far more interesting conversation: how an avatar performance evokes very real responses from an audience sharing a physical space and an emotional experience. Fans prepare and invest In 2022, my research assistants and I conducted interviews with audience members ranging in age from their early 20s to their late 50s who had travelled to ABBA Voyage from five different countries in North America and Europe. One of the themes concertgoers were most eager to describe was their preparation for the concert. Attendees discussed in detail the plans they had drawn up for their trip — sometimes nearly a year in advance. They described the long wait and anticipation they felt, the outfits they had prepared and the way they had re-listened to ABBA’s music — all in an effort to feel ready to participate in an event that they hoped would be meaningful and memorable.

A fan shows off an ABBA tattoo while awaiting the ABBA Voyage concert in London in May 2022. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali) Fears about technology, emotional payoff Our interview subjects commonly experienced apprehension at the beginning of the show, owing to the amount of preparation they had invested as concertgoers. For some, it was anxiety about the extensive use of technology and the ways it might hinder the experience. For others, it was simply a nervous hope that the show would live up to their expectations. One interviewee from Bristol, England, found that they were unable to relax into enjoying the show until they had overcome these anxieties: “You kind of invest so much into it and you so much want it to be brilliant and you’re kind of a bit worried that you might feel let down. So it wasn’t until the first 10 minutes was over that I found that like: ‘Oh, I can relax now. It is really brilliant so I can enjoy it!’” Despite fears about technology and the show’s emotional payoff, every interviewee who expressed these reservations later affirmed that their expectations were exceeded by the concert. Creating lasting memories Audience members reported that they left the venue with a sense of connection to those with whom they shared the experience — a finding that echoes recent research into fan experiences at other digital concert events.

Fans await the ABBA Voyage concert in London in May 2022. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali) Some participants noted that they felt unexpectedly emotional participating in this group dynamic, including a middle-aged man: “It’s kind of like shock and awe isn’t it? …. I felt quite emotional at times through the concert, and you’re thinking: ‘Well, why are you emotional? It’s technology that’s like, reproducing this for you….’ I know there were people around me that were feeling the same way as well, and how often does that happen, you know?” Voyage works on an emotional level because it encourages audience preparation and anticipation, and then delivers a collective experience of live connection, surprise and wonder. Human connection Audiences bring a performance — holographic or otherwise — to life with their attention and investment, and ABBA Voyage serves as a clear demonstration of this effect. These interviews demonstrated the ways that the audience’s preparation positions them to have a meaningful experience, and how the carefully designed elements of the show ease anxieties about potential disappointment or alienation during the pre-programmed concert. The audience at Voyage can experience a sense of community and feelings of personal meaning, regardless of whether the performers are bodily present. As music researcher Christopher Small has argued, experiences of identity and meaning in a musical experience are co-created by all of its participants, including the audience. The new performance practices at ABBA Voyage — and audience members’ responses to them — offer important insights into the inner workings of live audience engagement, particularly as we move further into an age in which human and technological elements are becoming increasingly intertwined. Research assistants John Glanville and Anna Konrad co-authored this story. This article is republished from The Conversation, an independent nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. If you found it interesting, you could subscribe to our weekly newsletter. It was written by: Alyssa Michaud, Ambrose University.

https://theconversation.com/how-abba-voyage-and-other-avatar-or-hologram-concert-performances-evoke-fans-real-responses-206961