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Abba fans go for 'world record' ahead of Eurovision finals

David Landes
David Landes - [email protected]
Abba fans go for 'world record' ahead of Eurovision finals

Swedish Eurovision fever spread across the continent on Thursday, as Abba enthusiasts gathered in London for a world record crooning Waterloo and a second Swedish vocalist helped Azerbaijan advance to the 2009 Eurovision finals.

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More than 150 flamboyantly dressed Abba impersonators gathered in London’s Leicester Square on Thursday night to sing the Swedish pop icons’ breakthrough single and 1974 Eurovision Song Contest winner, the Daily Telegraph reports.

The celebration of hot pants and bright colours was an attempt to set a Guinness World Record for “The Largest Amount of Assembled ABBA Impersonators to Sing At One Time” and was organized by the Betfair gaming company.

Ahead of the event, organizers said they needed “at least 50” sets of Abba impersonators to break the record. Despite the strong turnout, there is no word yet whether or not the gathering constitutes a world record Abba singalong according to the standards of Guinness.

Meanwhile, at the second semifinal heat in the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest in Moscow, the Iranian-Swedish raised pop star Arash ensured – along with his female counterpart AySel – that Azerbaijan advanced to the finals for the second year in a row.

Arash, who moved to Sweden at the age of 10 and has roots in Azerbaijan, was ecstatic upon learning he and AySel would be performing in Saturday’s final.

“It was so incredibly great to have our name called first. It feels fantastic,” he told the Aftonbladet newspaper after Azerbaijan was the first country announced as having made it through Thursday’s semifinal.

Arash will do his best to help Azerbaijan best its 8th place finish in the 2008 contest.

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