ABBAMANIA 2
ABBAMANIA 2 is the (probably not long-awaited) sequel to 1999’s ABBAMANIA CD. Like the original, it originated as a television special on the UK’s ITV network, with the music being released on CD.The first ABBAMANIA starred a list of British pop acts of the past (Culture Club, Madness), alongside contemporary artists (Steps, The Corrs, Stephen Gately) and television personalities (Martine McCutcheon, Denise van Outen), singing the standard roster of ABBA hits with varying degrees of success.
This 2004 update features stars from British television dramas Coronation St, Heartbeat, The Bill, Emmerdale, Hollyoaks, The Royal and Casualty, most of whom are probably unknown outside of the UK, singing pretty much the same selection of songs. Most of whom are better known as actors rather than singers, with one exception being ex-Nolan Sister Bernie singing a surprisingly disappointing version of ‘The Winner Takes It All’.Generally, the performances are okay. There are no real high or low points (except for maybe the aforementioned performance of ‘The Winner Takes It All’), the singers sing the songs adequately. But there is none of the originality that made a few of the songs in the original quite compelling. There’s a sameness to all the songs. And without the visual accompaniment, there’s none of the novelty of seeing these stars of television singing ABBA songs – with just the audio, the whole thing is fairly anonymous.
August 2005. CD supplied by Universal Music TV.
