Take a chance on me: ABBA pass the torch on to avatars- ‘ABBAtars'

tech.hindustantimes.com:

In one of the longest awaited musical reunions, Swedish pop legends ABBA return to the concert stage on Friday in London but only as avatars of their 1970 selves shimmering with shiny costumes, glitter and platform boots.

While fans will hear the quartet's real voices, the band will not be on stage. Concert-goers will see "ABBAtars" projected as holograms, looking like they did at the peak of their fame.

"We put our hearts and souls into these avatars and they will take over now," 77-year-old band member Bjorn Ulvaeus told AFP in an interview in Stockholm ahead of the premiere.

Fans will once again be able to see Agnetha Faltskog, Bjorn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad -- whose first initials form the name ABBA -- perform hits from the 1970s and 1980s, as well as their recent comeback album, at the "ABBA Voyage" show in London.

The group announced the reunion in September last year, dropping the new singles "I still have faith in you" and "Don't shut me down".

They then released the 10-track album "Voyage" two months later and announced plans for the high-tech concert at a specially-built London arena.

Other attempts at concert holograms have received lukewarm reviews, but the group hopes fans will feel they're seeing the real deal.

"This is one of the most daring projects that anyone has done in the music industry ever," said Ulvaeus, who wrote most of the group's biggest hits with Benny Andersson.

"How it will be received by the audience, I don't have a clue," he said.

"But I think that they will feel an emotional pull from the avatars, they will see the avatars as real people."

In addition to re-recording their songs for the show, the quartet also spent hours in a studio dressed in leotards, having their