IT was the song that won ABBA the Eurovision Song Contest 50 years ago and helped the group become international superstars.
But it turns out Waterloo isn’t a favourite tune for writer Bjorn Ulvaeus five decades on.
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At a special Q&A at the ABBA Arenain East London,when asked which songs get stuck in his head, Bjorn replied: “Waterloo can be quite painful.”
His bandmate and co-writer Benny Andersson added: “When you’re working with a song, and you go into the studio and you spend days and days and days [in there], before that song is finished, [that’s when] it goes round and round in your head. Once it’s in the can . . . it’s like it’s not ours any more, it’s yours.”
Among the crowd at the event wereSaltburnactress Rosamund Pike, singer Rick Astley, national treasure Joanna Lumley and comic Matt Lucas – who proved his superfan status by wearing an Abba jumper.
Sir Paul McCartney was also spotted watching the avatar show this year, which is going on tour in 2025, with Bjorn explaining he and the former Beatle were pals.
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Sir Paul McCartney was also spotted watching the avatar show this year, which is going on tour in 2025, with Bjorn explaining he and the former Beatle were close pals.
He recalled: “I met Paul in the lounge at Heathrow.
“We were going to the same island, Barbados, for a holiday.
“They said they were renting a house and we were staying at Sandy Lane Hotel and they said, ‘Come up and have lunch’, and we did.
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“We had a lovely day with Paul, Linda and the kids.”
While the group don’t get together often, Benny revealed the pair were seeing Agnetha Faltskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad on Friday.
And hopefully they’ll get round to discussing Glastonbury, as Bjorn said it would be a “brilliant idea” for the Abbatars to perform at Worthy Farm.
Eurovision fans left furious as they are 'tricked' into thinking Abba would perform
Benny added: “If they go to Glastonbury, I think they’d need an extra piano player…”
Why not go the whole hog and do it together as a band?
For the fans, please, I beg you.
SNAPPER’S EXHIBITION GETS TOP RANKIN-G
HE was at the forefront of Cool Britannia and now fans of photographer Rankin can get up close to some of his greatest snaps of some of the world’s biggest stars.
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The exhibition at London’s 180 Studios on The Strand opens today and celebrates his work with Dazed & Confused, the magazine he helped launch a decade ago.
The show, titled Back In The Dazed: Rankin 1991-2001, includes work from his 200 shoots for the mag, including images of Helen Mirren, and Rolling Stones drummer, the late Charlie Watts.
Rankin, left, said: “Those early years were great for experimentation.
“For me, just starting out, I was like a blank canvas. Because we were pretty naively fearless we did things that ended up really changing culture.”
I went along yesterday and it’s definitely worth a visit.
The exhibition is open until Sunday, June 23, and tickets are available from 180studios.com/rankin.
JORDAN’S NIGHT ON THE NIALLS
JORDAN NORTH led Niall Horan astray during an impromptu night out ahead of his US tour, which kicks off in Florida tonight.
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The Capital Radio DJ explained on his show how he bumped into the Slow Hands singer, pictured, at a London boozer at the weekend.
He said: “He was only going out for half (a pint) because he had the car.
“And then I said, ‘Let me get you a pint’, and he went, ‘Oh go on then, one more’.”
That was at 4pm, but they continued drinking Guinness until late into the night.
Jordan continued: “I played it really cool. And last orders went in my local, it’s 11 o’clock, and I was like, ‘Come back to ours’, and he was like, ‘I can’t, I fly tomorrow, I’ve gotta go’.
“To try to persuade him to come back to ours, I was like, ‘Come back to ours. I’ll make you a picky tea’.”
That offer of some Potato Smiles and co*cktail sausages didn’t work on Niall – but it definitely would have on me.
TWENTY ONE PILOTS are on course to score their first No1 album this week.
Clancy, the US duo’s seventh LP, follows three Top Five releases and is currently in the lead, according to midweek data from Official Charts.
They have edged ahead of Paul Weller's 66, which is at No2.
Bring Me The Horizon's latest album, Post Human: Nex Gen, is at No5.
GLASTO’S DJ ANNIE TRIBUTE
ANNIE NIGHTINGALE will be celebrated with a series of events at Glastonbury next month.
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The Radio 1 DJ, who died aged 83 in January, will be honoured on Thursday, June 27, with sets at The Glade main stage and the BBC Introducing stage.
She played at Glastonbury multiple times and regularly did her show from The Glade on the Thursday of the festival.I’ll look forward to commemorating her life.
Shocks in the city
SARAH JESSICA PARKER looks just as shocked about Taylor and Olivia’s new row as us.
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Theactress– wearing a teal dress with diamantes to play fashion-daft Carrie Bradshaw in Sex And The City spin-offAnd Just Like That– looked aghast during filming in New York.
Work is under way on the third series, which is set to debut next year, and will feature US comedian Rosie O’Donnell as a new character.
SJP threw herself into working on the project as soon as she returned to the States following a stint in London’s West End.
She had been starring in Plaza Suite opposite her husband Matthew Broderick until last month, when she jetted back across the pond and got cracking on the telly show.
I hope she gets a day off soon.
LEGEND TOM DID FOR DAN
HE might be a pensioner, but don’t underestimate Sir Tom Jones's ability to drink anyone under the table.
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The Script frontman Danny O'Donoghue,has revealed he was once rushed to hospital amid a heart scare after boozingwith the Welsh music icon.
He explained: “It was after one show on The Voice and we were in the Lowry [hotel] up in Manchester.
"We went drinking that night and he was telling me all these stories about Elvis and the Rat Pack. And every time the champagne got to, like, a certain level, he’d be clicking to get another bottle.
“And he said, ‘You can’t leave the table until the champagne is done’. And it just wouldn’t stop.
“We’re probably there six hours or something, from 12 o’clock to six in the morning.”
Danny added that when he woke up hours later, his heart “had flipped into a different rhythm”.
The singer was a coach on The Voice at the time but had to miss filming.
He said: “I didn’t know what was going on so I went to the hospital.
“I got atrial fibrillation from drinking nothing but champagne for six hours.”
GIRLS GOT PROP-ER FRIGHT
GIRLS ALOUD have revealed they were nearly killed when a stage prop they were on malfunctioned.
The group are currently on a nationwide reunion tour and told how a previous jaunt nearly ended in disaster.
Nadine Coyle, said: “We almost died.” While Kimberley Walsh added: “It was like a cage/platform thing, but one side lowered and the other didn’t.”
Nicola Roberts, also in the group with Cheryl Tweedy, continued: “The music was so loud, we were screaming but it was lowering behind the curtain and nobody could see what was happening.”
Kimberley said: “I was literally holding on to Nicola like she was going to fall out of my hands.”
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In an interview on Radio 2, Nadine added: “It was really bad. We were just attached by tiny seatbelts, holding on to tiny bars as we were dangling for our lives, thinking, this is it, this is where it ends.”
I can see why they avoided bringing that back for their new show.
