Lycka till Sverige!

May 18, 2013 By 1 Comment
Robin Stjernberg, Martin Rolinski, Shirley Clamp and others at the opening of The ABBA Museum in Stockholm

It's no wonder Sweden won last year. Loreen had a great song in "Euphoria" which she performed very, very well. In ten or twenty years time, I'm pretty sure it will be regarded as one of the "great moments" of Eurovision. Even though "You" by Robin Stjernberg isn't in the same league, of course I'll be supporting Sweden in this year's contest. I figure following Eurovision is like following a footy team - you choose your team and you stick with them through good and bad. It's not that … [Read more...]

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Eurovision Song Contest & Sweden

May 15, 2013 By 4 Comments
Army Of Lovers at Melodifestivalen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RkzsUIoEz0 As we count down to this weekend's Eurovision Song Contest, I'm still a little disappointed Sweden didn't have the guts to choose Army Of Lovers as their entrant. The song is only three minutes long, but so much happens in that time: blatant lip-syncing, lewd gestures, overly padded crotches, Lion King costumes, a same-sex kiss, a bizarre bit of spoken word lyric, and more. The song is also very catchy. Now the contest is dominated by "Idol" and … [Read more...]

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Back in Sydney

May 9, 2013 By 5 Comments
Central Station, Sydney

"It's such a long way to Australia", people kept telling me as I travelled around Europe over the last two months. "It's only twenty-four hours in the plane, and I made it", I kept telling them. Having now arrived back in Sydney after what seems like days of travelling, I'm beginning to see their point. After the excitement of the ABBA Museum Opening on Monday night, the morning after headlines were very much about the non-appearance of Agnetha Fältskog. On the red/pink carpet, Frida took a … [Read more...]

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ABBA Museum Opening

May 7, 2013 By 7 Comments
Fireworks for the ABBA Museum Opening

It's late Monday night, my final night in Sweden (sadly), and I've just arrived home from the music, fireworks and celebrity-spotting of the official opening of the long-awaited ABBA Museum. The idea for a permanent ABBA Museum in Stockholm has been around since the end of 2006. The original idea was for the museum to inhabit the space now occupied by the city's Fotografiska Museet. When that didn't prove to be economically viable, the organisers launched a number of short-term exhibition … [Read more...]

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Stockholm Sunrise

May 6, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Stockholm Sunrise

I'd like to say I was "up early" to see the sunrise over Stockholm, but actually I was "out late". It all started early-ish on Sunday evening when I thought it might be fun to end the weekend with a dance at the Stockholm nightclub, Patricia. Patricia, by the way, is boat moored near Slussen. They have a restaurant, several bars, and a few dance floors. Every Sunday night they have a "gay night" where they play lots of terrific dance tunes. I've been several times before, and have always … [Read more...]

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Systembolaget Saturday

May 5, 2013 By 5 Comments
Systembolaget Södermalm

If I was back in Sydney, it would have been easy. In Surry Hills, I'm surrounded by bottle shops which are open every day (except Good Friday and Christmas Day) and which trade right up until midnight. If I was home and going to a dinner party, I would have simply picked up a bottle of something on the way there. But in Sweden, you don't have that option. In Sweden, there's a government-owned monopoly bottle shop chain called Systembolaget, which operates with restricted hours. On weekdays, … [Read more...]

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