ABBA followers mark ‘Waterloo’ Eurovision hit at 50 : NPR

Members of the Mark de Lisser Singers carry out the long-lasting ABBA music ‘Waterloo’ at Waterloo Station in London on Saturday, April 6, 2024.

Alastair Grant/AP

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Alastair Grant/AP

Members of the Mark de Lisser Singers carry out the long-lasting ABBA music ‘Waterloo’ at Waterloo Station in London on Saturday, April 6, 2024.

Alastair Grant/AP

Followers of the Swedish supergroup ABBA gathered Saturday in England, Sweden and elsewhere to have fun the hit music “Waterloo” on the fiftieth anniversary of its victory on the annual Eurovision Tune Contest.

Swedish Tv hosted En Fest För ABBA (A Social gathering For ABBA), a tribute live performance in honor of the band, in Stockholm on Saturday night. The king and queen of Sweden have been in attendance, although not one of the band members have been there.

Earlier within the day, singers and a pianist regaled commuters with a tribute to the music at Waterloo practice station in London.

Followers additionally gathered for a flash mob dance in Brighton to mark the event. The English coastal metropolis hosted the 1974 Eurovision Tune Contest.

ABBA carried out “Waterloo” that day with glitter and gusto. One member (conductor Sven-Olof Walldoff) was even dressed as Napoleon.

The group’s win was the primary for Sweden within the historical past of the Eurovision Tune Contest. The comPetitors was first staged in 1956 in Lugano, Switzerland.

Telling the story of somebody who “surrenders” to a lover, the music references Napoleon’s give up on the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.

“My, my / At Waterloo, Napoleon did give up / Oh, yeah / And I’ve met my future in fairly an analogous manner / The historical past e book on the shelf/ Is at all times repeating itself / Waterloo / I used to be defeated, you received the coNFLict / Waterloo / Promise to like you forevermore…”

“Waterloo” went on to promote hundreds of thousands of copies, and topped the charts in a number of nations, together with the U.S. High 10.

It additionally propelled the band to world success. ABBA has by far outstripped each different Eurovision winner on this regard, with platinum-selling albums, tribute reveals just like the immersive ABBA Voyage expertise in London, and flicks like MaMMA Mia! starring Meryl Streep.

This yr’s Eurovision contest will happen in Could — fittingly — in Malmö, Sweden. However the alternative of host nation has nothing to do with ABBA’s victory 5 a long time in the past. With uncommon exceptions, Eurovision is at all times hosted by the nation that received the earlier yr’s contest. Swedish singer Loreen received the 2023 comPetitors with “Tattoo.”