Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin, who is known for his hardman image, has a softer side too -- he is an ardent Abba fan.
Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin, who is known for his hardman image, has a softer side too -- he is an ardent Abba fan, a British daily has claimed.
In fact, Putin is so obsessed with Abba that he even summoned the tribute band Bjorn Again to his homeland for a private concert last month, and only nine people were at the gig, according to
The Daily Telegraph.
At the event which took place in the snowbound resort of Lake Valdai, nine hours outside capital Moscow, on January 22, Putin came with a "female companion" and even "belted out the lyrics to Honey Honey and danced with Kremlin officials".
Bjorn Again's founder, Rod Stephens, was quoted as saying: "I got a phone call before Christmas. The voice on the end of the phone said, 'Kremlin... Russia... Moscow... we want your band'.
"I could tell that he was translating someone else's words. I thought it was someone in the band winding me up and told them to send me an email."
But, the offer was deadly serious. And, the four band members and their crew flew to Moscow, where they were taken on a nine-hour coach journey to the "mystery" location at Lake Valdai.
"We arrived at a building which looked like a big stronghold with metal security gates. We had to put all our belongings through an X-ray machine. They took us to a guest house for the night and the next day we were taken for lunch at a canteen full of security guards and soldiers."
"The room where we performed had a stage with three sofas in front of it. That was it. Two of the sofas had white net curtains in front of them. The prime minister was sitting behind one of the curtains with a woman who was wearing a long, cream dress. She had short, fair hair."
"The prime minister was wearing a tuxedo and bow tie. The others were all men and wearing tuxedos too. They must have been security people. The prime minister didn't stand but he and his wife, or whoever it was, were jigging about on the sofa and singing the words to Honey Honey."
"All his officials were singing away and doing a finger-pointing dance. They really got into it, even though there were only nine of them. At the end, the prime minister shouted 'bravo, bravo' and gave us great applause," Jennifer Robb, who performs as Anni-Frid, was quoted as saying.
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