In reality, the bookmakers had bet on the British singer Olivia Newton-John. She was already a star at that time and his clear favorite. The singer Gigliola Cinquetti, who had already lifted the trophy with Italy in 1964, also had good chances. And Sweden? This country had never won this contest. And no one believed that was going to change.
The Abba group was unknown outside their country. The previous year they had already tried to win Eurovision with Ring Ring, but they failed in the preliminary round. In 1974, everything went well. At the “Melodifestivalen,” as the Swedish preliminary round is known, the quartet won with the song waterloo and was allowed to travel to England to represent Sweden. The rest is music history.
Napoleon’s Waterloo as a love song
32 countries participated in the contest, which at that time was still called Grand Prix Eurovision de la Chanson. When Abba’s performance is announced as the eighth of a total of 17 that night, a man dressed as Napoleon enters the scene, his name being Sven-Olof Walldoff. He directed the song that would make Abba world famous. Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad followed in bright clothes, velvet trousers and very high platform shoes.
The song was written by the band’s manager Stikkan “Stig” Anderson, who hummed it to Björn and Benny over the phone and they composed the music in a secluded spot in the wilderness on the Swedish island of Viggsö. This one was about love: surrendering as the French general Napoleon once did at the Battle of Waterloo. In addition to this song, the band also thought of the title “See you tomorrow,” but Stig responded, “Let me decide which song we should use. If everything goes wrong, they can kill me later.” No one had to be killed, on the contrary, Abba won the musical contest with 24 points, ahead of Italy, with 18.
£120 bet
For Anderson, victory was not the most important goal. He wanted to introduce Abba to about 500 million viewers and then sell a lot of records. Still, he was hopeful and bet £120 on victory.
The song lasted no more than two minutes and 45 seconds, and after 90 minutes Abba was declared the grand prize winner. But the awards ceremony is delayed because an event worker did not want to let Björn Ulvaeus on stage, he could not believe that the man in the strange shiny suit was participating in the contest. In retrospect, this is understandable for the Swede. “No one has ever gone on stage looking as ugly and poorly dressed as we do,” he admits.
“Waterloo” sweeps the charts
Immediately after the Grand Prix Eurovision de la Chanson in Brighton, “Waterloo” is released as a single in 54 countries and reaches the top 10 of the charts in almost 20 of them. In Germany and the United Kingdom, Abba made “Waterloo” the first big hit of many that would follow. The song was recorded in Swedish, English, German and French, and became a best-seller. The single sold more than five million copies. In 2004, the song reached number 20 in the British charts when it was reissued for its 30th anniversary. On October 22, 2005, “Waterloo” was chosen as the best song in the history of the contest, in the 50th edition of Eurovision.
Eternal Abba, even virtually
At first, the Swedes were thought to be a one-hit wonder whose fame would soon fade, Anderson later recounted. But he was wrong. In the following years, Abba sold 400 million records and scored 17 hits, including The Winner Takes It All, Dancing Queen, Thank You For The Music and Gimme, Gimme, Gimme. He also produced the musical Mamma Mia, which has been successfully performed for more than 20 years. The fact that the group disbanded in 1982 did not affect its success. For decades, fans have been waiting for a return, and in 2021 the time has come. The Swedes returned with the album voyage and a virtual concert, called ABBAtare. And of course, waterloo was back on his playlist.
