Londoners get chance to sing with Abba
Source: Agencies |
January 28, 2010, Thursday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
IF singing along to Abba classics on the "Mamma Mia!" soundtrack is not enough, fans have the chance to perform alongside 3D, holographic versions of the Swedish quartet at a new exhibition dedicated to them.
Abba World, which opened at London's Earls Court yesterday, aims to cash in on the Abba craze, with "Mamma Mia!" already Britain's biggest-selling DVD and a musical of the same name filling theaters around the world.
Two members of the band at the opening said the 25-room display, featuring original costumes, film footage and memorabilia from their heyday, was more "down to earth" than some visitors might expect.
"It's unexpected, it's less glamorous, I think, than people probably expect but very true to the story," Bjorn Ulvaeus said.
Anni-Frid Lyngstad agreed. "It's very down to earth in a way which I like really because it's like how we started, humble people, doing the things we liked a lot and eventually had a great success with," she said. "It's nice to kind of come back to where it once began."
With the backing of the band, which has declined to reform and tour since they broke up in the 1980s, the exhibition will tour the world.
The choice of London as a launch point is partly explained by Abba's enduring popularity in the country.
Exhibition organizers said the group went global in Britain, rather than their native Sweden, with the triumph of their song "Waterloo" at the Eurovision Song Contest in Brighton in 1974.
Abba's music plays throughout, with hits like "Dancing Queen" and "The Winner Takes It All" reminders of what made the band one of the most successful acts in pop history with sales approaching 400 million records. The band broke up in the 1980s.
Abba World, which opened at London's Earls Court yesterday, aims to cash in on the Abba craze, with "Mamma Mia!" already Britain's biggest-selling DVD and a musical of the same name filling theaters around the world.
Two members of the band at the opening said the 25-room display, featuring original costumes, film footage and memorabilia from their heyday, was more "down to earth" than some visitors might expect.
"It's unexpected, it's less glamorous, I think, than people probably expect but very true to the story," Bjorn Ulvaeus said.
Anni-Frid Lyngstad agreed. "It's very down to earth in a way which I like really because it's like how we started, humble people, doing the things we liked a lot and eventually had a great success with," she said. "It's nice to kind of come back to where it once began."
With the backing of the band, which has declined to reform and tour since they broke up in the 1980s, the exhibition will tour the world.
The choice of London as a launch point is partly explained by Abba's enduring popularity in the country.
Exhibition organizers said the group went global in Britain, rather than their native Sweden, with the triumph of their song "Waterloo" at the Eurovision Song Contest in Brighton in 1974.
Abba's music plays throughout, with hits like "Dancing Queen" and "The Winner Takes It All" reminders of what made the band one of the most successful acts in pop history with sales approaching 400 million records. The band broke up in the 1980s.
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