ABBA The Museum to open in Stockholm

SWEDEN: Fans of the legendary Swedish disco group ABBA can hardly wait: in just a few weeks, Stockholm will open the doors to the world's first museum dedicated to the iconic foursome.

After "ABBA The Movie" in 1977, the "Mamma Mia" musical and movie, and a 2010 travelling museum exhibit, the world's first permanent ABBA museum will open in central Stockholm on May 7.

"We're going to offer visitors a unique experience," museum director Mattias Hansson tells AFP, revealing that they may even get a chance to speak live with a band member.

After months of construction, the modern, blonde wood building in the leafy Djurgarden neighbourhood is nearing completion.

As opening day looms, convoys of trucks roll up to the site to deliver the furnishings and items that will make up the collection: flamboyant sequined costumes, gold records, and recreations of their recording studio and dressing rooms, among other things.

Workers bustle to finish what will be a temple to the creators of some of the biggest hits of the 1970s, including "Voulez Vous", "Dancing Queen" and "Waterloo", the song that won the band the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest and thrust them onto the international scene.

Through the museum's big windows, passersby can catch a glimpse of a large main room. Few people have been authorised to enter the premises, as organisers are intent on keeping things under wraps until the official opening.

But they have let slip a few details. For example, fans who have dreamt of becoming the fifth member of the band will be able to appear on stage with the quartet and record a song with them thanks to a computer simulation.

AFP