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19 November 2005

Two new Christmas compilations are out in Sweden and both contain a Peter song. Nothing new - both tracks are from Peter's Christmas album "Jag kommer hem igen till jul", first released in 2002.

"Absolute Christmas" contains "Guds frid I gode vise män", a Swedish version of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen".

"En bukett med julblommor" (A bouquet of Christmas flowers) contains "Snön föll" (The snow fell) with music written by Peter himself.

12 November 2005

Apologies to American fans but I have only just seen this at the official site. Peter is currently in the US performing in a mini tour of Robert Wells' "Rhapsody In Rock". The dates are:

After these shows, Peter will go to New York for a few days to meet his agent and do some Christmas shopping.

Peter has said that he will not be appearing in any Christmas shows this year since he will be busy with rehearsals for "Cabaret". He expects to be in Stockholm for at least six months with "Cabaret".

Click on the above image for a gallery of photos of Peter's concert in Bergen, Norway back in May. Thanks to an anonymous tipster.

Aftonbladet have an interview with Peter about "Cabaret". Thanks to Annette for the link. In the interview, Peter says that although he looks nice, he also has a dark side. He gets to play an insidious, devilish but also fun character. Peter has worked with Sara Lindh (who plays Sally Bowles) before, about ten years ago in "Grease".

29 October 2005

There is now a web site for the Swedish production of Cabaret starring Peter and Sara Lindh. Click on the image above to visit it. It is all in Swedish but if you explore the links you will find pictures (bilder) under "Bakom kulisserna" and "Press".

A DVD of this year's "Rhapsody In Rock" concert tour is being released on 23 November in Sweden. Peter is featured prominently in the concert and his picture is on the cover (click on image above to see a larger version of the DVD cover).

Today is the 8th anniversary of the "Jöback Now!" website. It's incredible to think that we have been around for 8 years. Obviously I would like to thank Peter for continuing to be a source of inspiration but I would also like to thank some special people, without whom much of this site would not be possible. Siv, Annette, Ann-Marie and Gustav have been especially supportive and generous over the last 8 years. There have been a host of others as well as all of you who visit the site. Thanks and hugs to you all.

6 October 2005

There was a press conference held this week to launch the Swedish production of "Cabaret", due to open in Stockholm on 20 January 2006.

It appears that Peter was the driving force behind the project. He proposed the concept, chose the director and followed the auditions for everyone in the ensemble, according to the press coverage of the press conference.

Peter will be working with his brother, Mikael, for the first time in 10 years. Mikael will be conducting the orchestra.

You can see a short interview with Peter in Swedish at the Arbetarbladet website. Under the heading "Se video", click on either Windows Media Player or Real Player.

Peter was asked about the American production of "Kristina". He confirmed that he had auditioned to recreate his role as Robert but thought it was unlikely that he would get the role since it was an American production and it would probably go to an American.

The following are the press photos for "Cabaret" featuring Peter and Sara Lindh (playing Sally Bowles). You will notice that Peter has a completely different look to the Danish production from 2003.

The musical opens 20 January 2006 at the Tyrol, Gröna Lund in Stockholm. Performances start at 8:30pm and will run Wednesday to Saturday. The door opens at 6:00pm for food and drink. Tickets are now on sale through www.ticnet.se for performances up until 1 April 2006.

Thanks to Siv.

20 September 2005

Peter's "Storybook" album recently enjoyed a seven week return to the Swedish charts, reaching number 24, no doubt due to his raised profile and rave reviews from the Rhapsody In Rock tour. Well done, Peter.

Earlier this year, "Storybook" also did well in the Norwegian charts, reaching number 3 in May. The album stayed in the charts for 3 months.

Speaking of "Storybook", don't forget that Peter is performing his "Storybook" concert in Gävle this Friday.

The Gallery page has been updated with pictures from Rhapsody In Rock and Sverigegalan. A big thank you to Siv for these images.

21 August 2005

The duet that Peter recorded with Danish singer Julie called "Here And Now" has been getting radio airplay in Denmark. A promo single has been issued to radio stations (cover above) but it is not yet known if it will be released commercially as a single.

According to http://gerda.skutminnen.se, Peter will not be appearing at the Gerda concert on 1 October (see previous news item dated 17 June).

On 23 September, Peter will be performing the Storybook concert in Gävle with the Gävle Symphony Orchestra. Tickets are available at www.ticnet.se.

The Rhapsody In Rock tour is almost over. Reviews in the Swedish press have been very good and Peter has been singled out for his performance. Tony Becker from ABBAMAIL saw the show in Båstad and had this to say:

Tonight, Tuesday 19th of July, I went to Båstad for this great four hour concert. The weather was not good at all, only 15 degrees, windy, plentty of showers, but also occasional sun. The rain was pouring for an entire hour just until the concert started, and then there were a couple of short but heavy showers during the show, so I had to wear my raincoat the entire evening.

The first part of the concert started with Mr Wells playing his Rhapsody In Rock #6. This was followed by Shirley Clamp (Melodifestivalen 2004 and 2005) singing "Min kärlek" and "Att älska dig" (her Melodifestivalen entries). Peter Jöback was next, singing the Aznavour hit "She", followed by Nanne and "Håll om mig". Gunilla Backman performed two songs from Mamma Mia: "En av oss" and "Vinnaren tar allt" ("One of us" and "The winner takes it all"). "Vinnaren tar allt" turned out to be a real show stopper with standing ovations for more than a minute. Gunilla continued with "The music and the mirror" from "A chorus line". This was followed by Peter Jöback, this time with the song "Sometimes I feel like a motherless child". During part one there were also classical compositions from Brahms, Beethoven and Grieg, as well as a couple of medleys with all the artists on stage at the same time.

After the break they started with a 15 minute medley with songs from the 30's and 40's, with all the artists on stage. Nanne then sang "Avundsjuk", followed by a rock medley by Mr Wells and a couple of the musicians. During this performance it started raining heavily, and the rain continued when Shirley Clamp entered the stage, followed by Peter Jöback. Peter gave us one of the greatest moments for the night performing "Sommarens sista sång" and "En sång om oss". The rain was pouring, Mr Wells was sitting under a big garden umbrella playing the piano, and Mr Jöback was standing under another garden umbrella singing these two songs - a magic moment to be remembered forever. The second part of the concert also offered a short medley of early 60's songs, for example "Baby love". The concert ended with about 20 minutes of disco from "Saturday Night Fever", although it started with the earlier mentioned disco version of Beethoven. A few of the songs performed during the disco medley were "Staying alive" and "Jive talking" (both performed by Peter Jöback), and "Tragedy" by Gunilla Backman. Finally, the encore was a rock medley by Status Quo, where all the artists sang "Rocking all over the world", "Caroline" and "Whatever you want".

A second concert will take place in Båstad on the 20th of July, and then they move on. On the 13th of August they perform in Stockholm.

Here are some pictures of Peter in action during Rhapsody In Rock. The woman on stage with him in the fourth picture is Nanne Grönvall and the man in the last picture is Robert Wells..

A big thanks to Siv and to Tony.

17 June 2005

A new CD has been released which features a song by Peter. The CD is called "Gerda - En Sångsaga". It consists of songs from a yet-to-be staged musical by Bo Wastesson and Gudrid Hansen (see news item dated 23 April 2004).

There is a website dedicated to the project - http://gerda.skutminnen.se. It is in Swedish but you can hear a long snippet of Peter's song "Som att i ett hjärta bo". Click here and then underneath track 2, click on "Lyssna". It is a very beautiful song and Peter sounds fantastic.

On 1 October in Norrköping, there will be a concert to present the songs from "Gerda". It is not yet confirmed if Peter will be appearing.

Thanks to Siv for this information.

The Discography page has been updated.

16 June 2005

Peter's official site reports that Peter will be recreating his role as the Emcee in a Swedish production of "Cabaret". Peter previously won rave reviews for his performance in the Danish production of the musical in 2003.

The musical opens 20 January 2006 at the Tyrol, Gröna Lund in Stockholm. Performances start at 8:30pm and will run Wednesday to Saturday. Tickets are now on sale through www.ticnet.se for performances up until 1 April 2006.

The musical is being directed by Rickard Günther and will also star Sara Lindh as Sally Bowles and Rasmus Troedsson as Cliff Bradshaw. Peter's brother, Mikael, will be conducting.

Peter with Sara Lindh and Rickard Günther

In other news, Peter will be appearing on the popular TV show "Allsång på Skansen" on 26 July 2005 along with other performers from the "Rhapsody In Rock" tour.

Nanne Grönvall with Peter in a publicity shot for "Rhapsody In Rock" (click to see larger image)

Expressen reports that Peter will be putting on a Christmas show with well-known Swedish singer Nanne Grönvall. The show will be put on in Stockholm and Gothenburg at the end of this year and will also feature Loa Falkman, Petra Nielson and comedian Janne Bylund. The content of the shows has not been finalised but Nanne is reported as saying that there will certainly be several duets with Peter.

As some of you would be aware, "Rocket To The Moon" was a song recorded at the same time as Peter's "Only When I Breathe" album. The song was ultimately left off the album but could be heard for a limited time via the internet. Peter performed the song during his "Only When I Breathe" concert tour in 2001 but otherwise, the song was thought to be dead and buried.

The first single from "Only When I Breathe" was "Higher" which was released as a two track single in Sweden. Rumours of a three track single featuring "Rocket To The Moon" surfaced but there was no evidence that it was ever actually released.

It has now been confirmed that the three track version of the single was indeed released in Poland and possibly other European territories too. The catalogue number is COL 669 606 2. The tracks are listed as follows.

1. Higher 3.46
2. Rocket To The Moon (demo version) 3.59
3. Searching For Love 4.22

The single may still be available at www.music-cave.com - the site is in English.

With thanks to Gustav Sandberg, Siv Permiaho, Thomas Gröndahl and Linda Granqvist.

26 March 2005

A reminder that Peter's "Storybook" concert is being broadcast on Sweden's SVT-1 at 9:30pm tonight.

On Monday 28 March, TV-2 in Norway will broadcast their Artist Gala and Peter is a guest, along with the likes of Sissel and Espen Lind.  The Gala is to raise money for the Stromme Foundation, an organisation committed to eradicating poverty in Third World countries.

During the summer, Peter will be touring around Sweden with Robert Wells on his Rhapsody In Rock Summer Tour along with Nanne Grönvall and Shirley Clamp. The tour starts 8 July 2005 and finishes 11 August 2005. For more information, check the tour plan at Robert's site www.wellsmusic.se.

The media have picked up on the plans for an English language production of the musical "Kristina" to probably be staged on Broadway in 2006. Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet reports that Peter has been asked to sing in the American production. This is not confirmed as yet and anything can happen. Peter is reported to be keen on the opportunity.

Tina Björklund has kindly supplied some photos from Peter's "Storybook" concert in Göteborg last November. Check the Gallery page by clicking on the image above. Many thanks to Tina for these amazing shots. Please do not use these pictures without permission.

8 March 2005

Quite a few TV and concert appearances coming up.

On 18 March, Peter will be appearing on the 100th show of "Så ska det låta", the popular Swedish music quiz TV show.

On Easter Saturday, 26 March, at 9:30pm, SVT will broadcast a 90 minute special of Peter's "Storybook" concert filmed at Globen last November.

On 2 April, Peter will be a guest at the Rhapsody In Rock concert being staged in the Royal Albert Hall in London.

On 15 April, Peter starts on a 12-date concert tour of Norway. The concert will feature material from his last two albums, "Det här är platsen" and "Storybook".

Thanks to Bror in Norway for the concert information.

Peter attended the premiere of the Swedish production of Mamma Mia in Stockholm on 12 February. Thanks to Dora O'Rorke and Ice for the following photos.

The following picture appeared in Expressen and features Peter with his partner, Oscar.

Swedish gay magazine QX holds an annual gay gala and present a variety of awards for achievements. Peter was awarded the top honour - Homo of the Year. Peter was very honoured to receive the award but felt that there were more deserving recipients. At the gala, Peter performed "Är det här platsen".

Finally for today, thanks to Ice, check the Gallery page for some screen captures from the recently released "Melodifestivalen 50 År Favoriter" DVD (see news story under 19 January 2005) featuring a very young Peter.

19 January 2005

A new DVD and video are being released on 9 February 2005 called "Melodifestivalen 50 År Favoriter". It is to commemorate 50 years of Melodifestivalen, the Swedish heats for the Eurovision Song Contest. Peter is featured singing his 1990 entry, "En sensation". It is not clear at this stage if it will be his whole performance or just a snippet.

2 January 2005

Peter finished 2004 with some decent chart action.

His new album "Storybook" entered the Swedish charts on 18 November at number 3. The following week, it hit the coveted number 1 position. It is currently number 17 and has been certified gold.

The DVD of his Christmas concert debuted at number 1 on the music DVD chart on 25 November.

Peter's acclaimed Christmas album entered the Mid-Price charts at number 6 on 18 November. The following week, it climbed to number 2 and then number 1 where it has stayed for five weeks. The album has been certified double platinum.

The "Storybook" concert in Stockholm was filmed for possible TV broadcast and DVD release. Nothing is confirmed as yet but as soon as more is known, it will be reported here.

Peter performed with Sissel at a New Year's Eve concert held at Skansen and broadcast on Swedish Television. They performed a Swedish language version of "The Prayer", the song made famous by Andrea Bocelli and Celine Dion.

Peter has been nominated as Swedish Male Artist of the year in the Rockbjörnen awards, voted for by readers of Aftonbladet. The gala is on 16 January.

Peter has been named as a Hans Christian Andersen ambassador for 2005, the 200th anniversary of the famous author's birth. Ambassadors will work to promote awareness of Andersen in their respective countries as well as represent the HCA 2005 Foundation which has been set up to address illiteracy problems around the world. Peter is one of four Swedish ambassadors. You can read more about the Foundation at the website www.hca2005.com.

Special promotional CDs for Peter's two 2004 albums were produced. Both CDs contain four tracks and different covers. Click on the images below to see bigger versions.

The version of "Sommarens sista sång" is about 20 seconds longer than the version finally released.

The official site has been redesigned and updated. It is looking better and is much easier to use. There is a good range of wallpapers that you can download. Unfortunately, it is now only in Swedish.

The Biography and Discography pages have been updated.