LONDON: It’s 50 years since ABBA won a major battle with “Waterloo.”
A half-century ago on Saturday, the Swedish quartet triumphed at the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest with the peppy love song, which opens: “My my, at Waterloo, Napoleon did surrender, and I have met my destiny in quite a similar way.”
The song rang out again Saturday at London’s Waterloo railway station — also named after the 1815 battle that dealt defeat to the French leader — where a choir belted out a rendition for commuters.
In the English coastal town of Brighton, where the 1974 competition was held, fans were staging a flashmob dance and silent ABBA disco to mark the anniversary.
Eurovision victory turned ABBA into a pop juggernaut, by far the most successful band to win the pan-continental music contest, which will hold its 68th edition in May in ABBA’s home country, Sweden.
ABBA’s melodic disco pop sold hundreds of millions of records worldwide. The stage musical “Mamma Mia!” based on its songs is 25 years old and spawned two movies.
The band members have not performed together live for four decades, but released a comeback album, “Voyage,” in 2021. Every day, fans attend a concert by digital “ABBA-tars” at the hit show “Abba Voyage,” which opened in London in 2022.
In a thank-you message to fans on Saturday, the four band members said it was “slightly dizzying and deeply humbling” to know that their songs had been passed down the generations and “still resonate around the world.”
“Music you discover and learn to love when you grow up or even later in life has a way of staying with you forever,” said Agnetha Faltskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. “We share that experience with you and to know that our music has become a constant in your lives is a wonderful thing.”
This year’s Eurovision final will take place May 11 in Malmö, after Swedish singer Loreen won last year’s competition with “Tattoo.”
Happy ABBA-versary, fans mark 50 years since ‘Waterloo’ took the world by storm
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Happy ABBA-versary, fans mark 50 years since ‘Waterloo’ took the world by storm
- The song rang out again Saturday at London’s Waterloo railway station
- In the English coastal town of Brighton, where the 1974 competition was held, fans were staging a flashmob dance and silent ABBA disco to mark the anniversary
First lady Melania Trump to preview new film at private White House screening
- Film offers rare behind-the-scenes access to Melania Trump
- First lady to ring NYSE opening bell to promote film
WASHINGTON: First lady Melania Trump will host a private White House screening on Saturday of a new film documenting her life in the 20 days leading up to President Donald Trump’s second inauguration, an adviser said.
The movie, “Melania,” is set for a global release on January 30. Saturday’s showing will be the first time the president, her family and close friends see the film in full, said Marc Beckman, the first lady’s outside adviser and agent.
The film offers rare behind-the-scenes access to the first lady, who has kept a low public profile during her husband’s second term. The trailer opens on Inauguration Day in January 2025, showing her donning a navy wide-brimmed hat for the ceremony at the US Capitol. It also depicts her role as an adviser to the president, including a moment in which she encourages him to emphasize “peacemaker and unifier” in his inaugural address.
Beckman, who produced the film, oversaw the $40 million movie deal with Amazon’s MGM Studios, plus a follow-up documentary series set for release later this year focusing on some of Melania Trump’s priorities, including children in foster care.
“This is not a political film at all,” Beckman said in an interview, adding that the first lady spearheaded the film’s creative direction.
The movie highlights her fashion choices, diplomatic engagements and the operations surrounding her Secret Service protection. Beckman said viewers also will see moments that capture the president’s sense of humor.
Ahead of the public theatrical release of the film next week, the president and first lady will attend a premiere on Thursday at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, renamed the Trump-Kennedy Center by the Trump-appointed board of directors.
The first lady is also scheduled to ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday to promote the film, Beckman added.
