BJorn Again in Russia

[From the sublime to the surreal, we follow up the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival posts with news from inside the Kremlin of a ABBA tribute band performance. Below, excerpted from the London Times Online is a report by Tony Halpin in Moscow. Thanks to KMcG in IC, IA for the scouting tip!]

Vladimir Putin flies in Bjorn Again for ABBA tribute concert

"The world knows Vladimir Putin as Russia’s judo expert Prime Minister and former KGB spy. Now it can add Super Trouper to his image after he reveled in a secret Abba concert arranged by the Kremlin.

...

The tribute group Björn Again was flown to Moscow from London, then driven 200 miles north by bus to a remote location near Lake Valdai, where they were kept at a military barracks. It was only as they prepared to perform in a tiny theatre the following night that they learned who would be in the audience.

Aileen McLaughlin, who performs as Abba’s blonde Agnetha Fältskog, said that Mr Putin and a woman companion were sitting on a sofa that was veiled by a lace curtain. Half a dozen other guests were present at the hour-long show on January 22 as the group sang 15 Abba hits including Waterloo, Gimme Gimme Gimme and Dancing Queen."

Full Article

[photograph from image search for "Bjorn Again."]