Very elusive with this type of meetings, The group had already assured that it would not attend the appointmentbut some was expected surprise at the last moment by the opportune coincidence that the round birthday of his fetish theme took place in the Swedish headquarters.
Instead, it has been a trio of former champions of Eurovision who have performed the song: the Swedes Carola and Charlotte Perrelli and the Austrian Conchita Wurst.
The last time that the four members of this Swedish benchmark appeared together was in May 2022, when they presented the band’s latest album, ‘Voyage‘, and the London show starring their “abbatares” holographic.
Precisely this has been the mechanism that ABBA has used to return to public life also this Saturday at Eurovision 2024. With the real voices of the four members of the group, their avatars They have revived their memories of what that emblematic victory was like and what it meant, the first for their country of the seven they currently accumulate.
‘Waterloo‘ won the victory in 1974 in Brighton (United Kingdom) with a proposal that set the tone for what from then on began to be considered “Eurovision”.
Supported by a conductor dressed as Napoleon, in honor of the protagonist of the battle that served as a sentimental metaphor for the song, they presented a modern and contagious production, with a simple but iconic choreography, a star-shaped guitar conceived for the occasion and a colorful costume.
“That locker room was so tight!” Fältskog’s avatar complained when remembering the moment of victory.
Of #Eurovision2024 I’ll just say that this was the best of the night. 50 years ago #ABBA won with #Waterloo and today his well-deserved tribute was paid to him.
❤️🥰🫶🏼 pic.twitter.com/bAWUF8JSTu— 🥑 (@eldapice) May 11, 2024
That was also the first year in which Eurovision allowed participating countries to sing in a language other than the official language of their territories. They chose to perform the song in English, reaching number 1 in countries such as the United Kingdom or federal Germany and repercussions in territories as far away from the festival as South Africa or the United States.
They had already released two albums, including the self-titled ‘Waterloo’ (1974) shortly before, and in the following seven years they released another six with hits such as ‘Mamma Mia’, ‘Dancing Queen’, ‘Take A Chance On Me’, ‘Super Trouper’, ‘Chiquitita’ or ‘The Winner Taked It All’.
As of 1982 they announced their separation, but they had already sown the seed of exporting Swedish talent to the rest of the world, with Roxette, Europe, The Cardigans, Ace of Base, Robyn, Swedish House Mafia, Lykke Li, Avicii or the producer Max Martin, something that precisely celebrated the start of this Saturday’s gala.
In it there has been another reappearance of justice, that of the veteran Björn Skifs, from the group Blue Swede, to sing his version of the song ‘Hooked On a Feeling’, with which they achieved the first number one with a dry label in the US. precisely the same year as the ‘Waterloo’ victory, which partially silenced the dimension of this feat.
#ABBA #reappears #Eurovision #50th #anniversary #triumph #Waterloo.. #holograms
