ABBA On The Web - March 2007
This issue’s featured site has made a name for itself as one of the leading sources for breaking ABBA news.icethesite is created and maintained by British ABBA fan and fan club magazine contributor Dominic “Ice” Wallis. Like many people on the net, Ice is better known by his nickname than by his real name.
icethesite concentrates on current happenings in the extended ABBA world. It is self-described as “a website devoted to all things Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus with particular (but not sole) emphasis on the brilliant musicals Chess and Kristina från Duvemåla”, but that barely covers everything that the site gives the visitor. It also focuses on the current activities of all four ABBA members, associated artists (notably Anders Glenmark, who rates his own news page), and even has a brand new section featuring news on the forthcoming ‘Mamma Mia!’ movie.It’s a clean looking site, with easy navigation to all the contents on the left of the screen, and quick links to the latest news items on the right. These simple navigation bars appear on every page, so you can always click from page to page with ease.
One novel feature is the head banner at the top of each page, which is changed every month. There’s a history of recent banners included, with a story behind the original photographs, many of which Ice has taken himself in Sweden.Each of the major sections – ABBA, Chess, Kristina från Duvemåla – starts with a News page, followed by several pages on related topics. For example, the ABBA section has separate pages for Agnetha, Benny, Björn and Frida; the Chess section has pages for various productions, reviews, and interviews, and so on.
icethesite has had the honour to break several exclusive news items. It was the first website to have a full English translation of Björn’s interview with Humanisten magazine; the first to feature the English translation of ‘Du måste finnas’ from ‘Kristina’, ‘You Have To Be There’; and has been first to report on casting news of the highly-anticipated American production of ‘Kristina’ and the film version of ‘Mamma Mia!’. There’s also an exclusive interview with Gunilla Backman, Donna from the Stockholm production of ‘Mamma Mia!’.Its biggest scoop to date was the first report on Agnetha’s unexpected appearance at the final performance of ‘Mamma Mia!’ in Stockholm, including the elusive information on what song she sang with Tommy Körberg at the after-show party, and the exclusive source of photographs of her at the party (as featured in this very magazine).
There are also several of Ice’s private ABBA-related videos, including a tour of Stockholm, one of his encounters with Benny, and the 2004 International ABBA Day. Elsewhere you can see Ice’s own video footage from the Stockholm ‘Mamma Mia!’ premiere, including Agnetha’s surprise arrival, and a snippet of Karin and Anders Glenmark in concert.Originally icethesite featured more of Ice’s favourite artists, before changing to concentrate on Benny and Björn’s projects. Remnants of the original site can still be found in the News archives and Links page.
So, if you’re looking for the latest ABBA news or some unique features, icethesite is one of the sites that you should be visiting regularly.