Olivia and Abba on Olivia's TV special
Translation:
Young, guitar under her arm, pacing nervously back and forth, Annafrid, all in white, examines herself in the mirror while her makeup is being touched up. Benny is grinning amused as costume designer Fleur Thiemeyer test-sews the belt of his jacket, and Olivia Newton-John runs around with curlers, while Agnetha hands over a large bouquet of roses in the name of Abba.
Preparations for the Newton-John specials for American television are in full swing.
Viewers have been waiting for over four hours at the Columbia studio in Hollywood to be admitted to the live broadcast.
For the past few days, Olivia has been rehearsing non-stop with her guest stars Abba and Andy Gibb. From early in the morning until late at night, everyone was in front of the TV cameras. The overtime was necessary because Steve B, producer and director, is a perfectionist. And that was exactly what Abba wanted from their guest appearance, because they hoped their performance on Olivia (around 50 million Americans saw the show) would be their final breakthrough in America.
The USA is the only country where the four Swedes are not so well known. Then it finally starts! The invited audience applauds. Abba and Olivia stand in the spotlight. Andy Gibb walks behind them with his white vest and sighs: “Oh, I’m so new.”
And then everyone sings the Cat Stevens song “Old Schooly” together. Everyone has their say. This, and Andy’s stage fright soon disappears.
Abba then presents “Mamma Mia” and “Dancing Queen.” Andy and Olivia sing along. Andy performs his hit “Just wanna be your everything” and Abba and Olivia accompany in the background.
Of course Olivia’s hits also get the guests in the mood for the next scene of the show, everyone is sitting comfortably in a circle and chatting about their careers.
Baku Sefert sings the old Beach Boys song Barbara Ann. Frida opens, Andy is joined by the other singers. He is asked “Don’t you have a famous brother? Didn’t they just want to release a record?” They mean the Bee Gees, whose Saturday Night Fever album was not going to beat the sales calendar.
Then it continues with the Abba hits “Money, Money, Money” and “Take a Chance”.
As a farewell, everyone sings “Thank you for the Music” together.
No sooner has the last spotlight gone out than Abba rushes off to the recording studio. The four of them work hard until the next morning. On the same day they return to Europe to perform in the Star Parade in Germany.
Due to scheduling issues they have to cancel a party at the Swedish Embassy with President Carter. With their three songs, Take a Chance, Eagle and Thank you for the Music, Abba then thrill all the spectators of the Star Parade.