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Friday, February 9, 2001
A*Teens to unleash new album
By STEPHANIE McGRATHAllPop
The A*Teens made their mark doing updated versions of ABBA classics, but now the Swedish foursome is trying something new.
Calling from Stockholm, A*Teen singer Marie Serneholt sounds like she's more than ready to say goodbye to ABBA with their new album, "Teen Spirit" (out Feb. 27).
"I hope our fans are not sad or upset that we're not doing ABBA covers anymore," says Marie. "We really love this album, and we're really happy with how it turned out and we've been doing a lot of work on it and we hope our fans will like it, too. Also, we hope people who haven't really liked A*Teens will give it a chance."
Marie and her group mates -- Amit Paul, Dhani Lennevald and Sara Lumholdt -- have been singing ABBA covers for two years. Their last album, "ABBA Generation", featured covers of songs such as "Mamma Mia" and "Dancing Queen", and although it was a big hit in South America and in Sweden, the group didn't quite crack into the North American pop market.
Marie hopes the new music -- which features some classic European pop songs like the single "Bouncing Off The Ceiling (UpSide Down)" as well as some R&B influenced songs and a few slow-tempo pop ballads -- will attract attention in North America. The young singer is also counting on promotional appearances and performances to spark A*Teen interest.
"I think the best thing is to be there and show yourself, doing appearances all the time," she says. "Performance is the thing that affects people the most."
The A*Teens are currently working on perfecting their performance for a big show in Madrid, where they will showcase their new songs.
"I'm tired," laughs Marie. "These last two weeks have been really intensive. We had one week just choreography, learning new choreography for the songs, and then we had like four to five days just rehearsing the songs. Then we put the show together with singing and dancing at the same time. We're working day and night to get the show together. Now we have to remember everything."
The A*Teens have a wide range of performance experience. They've toured with Britney Spears and have seen first-hand the "hysterical" crowds at the *Nsync shows during a five-date tour with the boy band.
They've also witnessed wild crowds in Chile that weren't screaming for *Nsync but for the A*Teens themselves. "You really feel like you're a pop star there," says Marie.
Meanwhile, public appearances at home in Sweden will generate excited whispers and interested glances from their fans.
Marie thinks the A*Teens will invade the North American pop scene this spring. For now, she and her bandmates will continue to practise and dream of possible future performances with music stars like *Nsync and Michael Jackson.
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Wednesday, May 3, 2000
A*Teen member recovering
A collection of songs recorded by a very young Christina Aguilera will see the light of day after all.
After suffering an injury last month, the A*Teens' Dhani Lennevald is feeling better.
Dhani partially tore a ligament in his inner thigh while the group was performing at Disneyland's Tomorrowland Terrace in California and couldn't perform during the group's last two shows at the theme park, MTV reports.
"It [happened] at Disneyland when we did a performance there," Dhani told MTV. "It was in the last song, 'Mamma Mia,' during the last jump, when me and Amit [Paul] jump over the girls and land in a sort of split. And yeah, there is where it happened. Suddenly it was like my [leg] muscle had pulled off."
Dhani's injury might be a blessing in disguise, though. The A*Teens have been touring non-stop in Europe, Asia and America since releasing "The ABBA Generation" in Europe last fall.
"We were supposed to go to Asia [next]," said group member Amit Paul, "but thanks to Dhani, we have two weeks off."
Dhani is expected to recover just in time to tour with Britney Spears, starting on July 19 in Dallas, until Aug. 14.
"It's amazing to perform before her," group member Sara Lumholdt said, "because I really look up to her, and I think she's very good, and that it's really amazing that we got this. I was like, 'Oh my God,' [when I heard]."
The A*Teens will release their album, "The ABBA Generation" in North America on May 23. They plan to promote their single "Dancing Queen" during their sting as Britney's opening act.
Two other up-start pop groups, Innosense and BBMak, will also be touring with Britney.
-- AllPop
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Wednesday, April 26, 2000
A*Teens injured during performance
One of the A*Teens suffered an injury during a performance at Disneyland.
Group member Dhani Lennevald was injured on Tuesday in California as he and the rest of the A*Teens finished up their 15-minute set, AllStar reports.
Dhani's injury forced the group to cancel their second show scheduled for later that night. There's been no word on whether or not the injury will affect the group's upcoming tour dates.
The injury happened while the A*Teens were performing in Disneyland's Tomorrowland Terrace, where the stage rises out of the ground at the beginning of the show and sinks at the end.
As the group closed their show with their hit cover of ABBA's "Mamma Mia", they finished with a giant leap. When 15-year-old Dhani tried to get up after the jump, he reportedly looked like he was in a great deal of pain and was holding on to his hamstring. An adult touring with the A*Teens jumped onto the stage after the accident and tried to signal for the show to end.
Eyewitnesses said that Dhani didn't seem to have control over his left leg. Disneyland employees said that Dhani was taken to the hospital.
When the scheduled time for the A*Teens' second performance rolled around, the group's music was piped over the P.A. system and group members Marie Serneholt and Sarah Lumholdt signed autographs instead.
The group's next appearance is scheduled for Thursday (April 27) in Miami, followed by another performance in Plainville, N.Y. The A*Teens are then supposed to do a short European tour before joining Britney Spears for her U.S. tour in July and August.
There is still no word on Dhanni's injury.
-- AllPop
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