ABBA NIGHT ON THE OCEANIA RIVIERA

???  Yes, that Swedish pop group, because it was featured last night in Horizons of the Oceania Riviera.  Is it that or ABBA?  Doesn't matter.

Here is video of ABBA night on the Oceania Riviera.

Perhaps the most energy-intensive one event yet on this ship.  Not only the Four Corners band singing, but the six entertainers from the theater show.

ABBA:

• 
  Is a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1972, the year I received my PhD and began teaching at the University of Hawaii.
• Of course no one knew who they were back then, until they became Sweden's first winner of the Eurovision Song Contest in 1974 with Waterloo. 
• When they won, Agnetha Faltskog was 24 and Bjorn Ulvaeus was 29, they were married, and Benny Andersson was 27 and Anni-Frid Lyngstqd was 29, the other couple, only going with each other.
• If you look closely, ABBA came from the A and B from the first name of the first couple, and B and A from the second couple.
• 
  Read about how these two marriages and divorces split the group apart for nearly 40 years.
• The group dominated for a decade.
• They split in 1983 after both couples divorced.
• Just around the time they broke up, ABBA released The Winner Takes It All, with Agnetha singing Tell me does she kiss like I used to kiss you?, written by Bjorn.
• From around 1999, the group, after nearly 17 years of separation, were again seen in public together at the launch of the Mamma Mia musical in the Prince Edward Theater London and later in 2001 at the Winter Garden Theater on Broadway,
• In 2005, Waterloo was chosen as the best song in the competitions' history as part of the 50th anniversary celebration.
• Mama Mia!, the film, came in 2008, with Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth and others.  Rotten Tomatoes, 55/66.  Not so good, but earned $601 million worldwide.
• 
  35 years after the break-up, in 2018, they recorded a couple of new songs.
• Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again also was released in 2018.  Added Andy Garcia, Cher and more.  Watch Cher sing Fernando near the finale.  And in case you never figured it out, Cher was Meryl Streep's character's mother.  Grossed $402 worldwide.  Rotten Tomatoes, 80/66.

ABBA's top 20.  You can't see the year in the old version of this blog.  Click on that link.

ABBA's Official Top 20 biggest songs

POS	TITLE	PEAK	YEAR
1	DANCING QUEEN	1	1976
2	SUPER TROUPER	1	1980
3	KNOWING ME KNOWING YOU	1	1977
4	TAKE A CHANCE ON ME	1	1978
5	FERNANDO	1	1976
6	THE WINNER TAKES IT ALL	1	1980
7	MAMMA MIA	1	1975
8	THE NAME OF THE GAME	1	1977
9	CHIQUITITA	2	1979
10	GIMME GIMME GIMME (A MAN AFTER MIDNIGHT)	3	1979
11	WATERLOO	1	1974
12	I HAVE A DREAM	2	1979
13	ANGEL EYES / VOULEZ VOUS	3	1979
14	DOES YOUR MOTHER KNOW	4	1979
15	ONE OF US	3	1981
16	MONEY MONEY MONEY	3	1976
17	LAY ALL YOUR LOVE ON ME	7	1981
18	SUMMER NIGHT CITY	5	1978
19	S.O.S.	6	1975
20	THANK YOU FOR THE MUSIC	33	1983

And, yes, all ABBA's hits were written by Bjorn and Benny.

ABBA demanded Donald Trump stop using their music in 2024.  Boy will they be in trouble if they ever return to the USA  But why bother coming here?

Some other films using ABBA songs.

• Summer of Sam (1999),  Fernando and Dancing Queen.  Killings occur and their music in the background.
• The Hangover, Part II (2011), One Night in Bangkok.  Not really their song, but watch for Mike Tyson,
• Go to this article for five more.

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