“Ordinary” Per may be singled out as extraordinary in Halland’s history
Written by Lars-Erik_Olson on January 31, 2004 to Per Gessle.
HALMSTAD - 
As reported earlier this week, Per Gessle has been nominated as “Hallander of All Time” (Tidernas Hallänning). This contest-of-sorts is being promoted by both of the newspapers serving the Halland region. It is designed to create interest in a new exhibition on the cultural history of the region that will open at the Museum of Halland on February 29th. This is the same museum the will house a Gyllene Tider exhibit this summer.
The six nominees are:
• Bockstensmannen (1300’s, first half) A man who lived in Halland in the 14th century. His well-preserved corpse was found by a farmer in Varberg in 1936.
• Olof Von Dalin (1708-1763) Journalist, historian, poet and illustrator.
• August Bondeson (1854-1906) Doctor and writer who portrayed the lives of common people.
• Beda Hellberg (1869-1945) Created the May Day flower campaign to benefit tuberculosis treatment and research.
• Ernst Wigforss (1881-1977) Politician, professor and writer.
• Per Gessle (b. 1959) Artist and songwriter.
Among the finalists nominated, Gessle is the only one still living, while the nominee who dates back the furthest is “Bockstensmannen,” a man who lived in the early 14th century and whose well-preserved remains were discovered in a local bog in 1936 by a father and son out on a hike.
Ballots have appeared in the newspapers, with readers encouraged to mail in their selection to the museum. The winner will be revealed at the opening reception.
When Mårten Samuelson, Hallands Nyheter’s reporter contacted Per just over a week ago, he was involved with the recording of Gyllene Tider’s new record and in a very good mood.
“He he he, what a gang!” says Per when informed as to who the other nominees were. “It is of course flattering to be named along with the Bockstensman. The others I’ve heard about, but who is Beda Hellberg?”
Ted Holgersson and Judith Seuma contributed to this article.
- Museum of Halmstad (Limited content in English)
Hallands Nyheter: What do you think about having been nominated as the Hallander of All Time?
Per Gessle: It sounds like a rather strange contest…but you’ve got to take it for what it is: entertainment.
HN: You’re the only living person whose been nominated. Do you think you should take advantage of that and vote for yourself?
PG: Yeah, that what I’ve gotta do next. Ha ha ha!
HN: You’re one of Sweden’s most written-about celebrities. Is the media’s picture of you something near to the truth or do you believe that people have a misconception about you?
PG: I don’t know. It’s hard to say. What is the picture of me? In any case, I don’t really feel misunderstood. Yet there are some clichés like that I sit and read Billboard word-for-word every week. I quit doing that ten years ago… too much hip hop. But in principle, it probably appears I’m a rather ordinary guy who likes his job and what I do. For the most part, that’s probably true. At the same time of course, I live a rather privileged lifestyle and don’t need to think so much about a paycheck coming on the 24th of every month. But my approach to things is quite ordinary.
HN: Who do you think is the Hallander of All Time?
PG: I have no idea… A fantastic Hallander who’s alive is Bengt Johansson. I think he’s done fantastic things as the leader for the national handball team. That’s the only one I can think of. Besides my mother of course.
Other articles with the same topic
- Happy birthday, Per (January 12, 2011)
- Per tells TDR that he and Marie are "thrilled" with what's to come in 2011 (January 3, 2011)
- Radio Halland’s annual interview with Per Gessle today (December 28, 2010)
- Macca at the Apollo (December 14, 2010)
- Per Gessle one of Sweden's most played songwriters (October 8, 2010)
48 comments
Jud (moderator) said on January 31, 2004 10:46:
Hallander = citizen from Halland, a region in Sweden such as Skåne, Gotland, Småland etc :)
roxeteer (moderator) said on January 31, 2004 10:47:
Hallander = a person living in the Halland area
(Haha, Judith, you were faster than me!)
daniel_alv said on January 31, 2004 12:23:
Bockstensmannen is a man who died a long time ago and was found in a perfect condition under ground... you can see him in a museeum in Varberg...
Denstandigaresan said on January 31, 2004 16:27:
The one of Bockstensmannen is hilarious... *biggrin*
Na, it’s not stupid, it’s one for the books eh! Nothing no-one else living will have! Beat that. ;)
Max-Tob said on January 31, 2004 18:21:
Ha!Ha!Ha!
They must put there a black&white Gessle picture to fit in the scenery!!
If I were Per, I’d answer the reporters that I’ve just voted with that lady who invented the May Day so that I (He) have (has) something to write and sing about!!! He-he-he...(I think “Varmt Igen” has some flowers in it)
This contest is nice.
Let’s bet - who’s going to win? Is it the Lady with the flowers? Or Per with the songs? Or maybe the doctor? I’d say... Von Dalin.
Max-Tob said on January 31, 2004 18:24:
...NO! Wait! I go for the skeleton guy! He’s quite an entertainer, isnt’ he?
Bunio said on January 31, 2004 18:43:
Of course Per will win this contest.
Because without him this contest would be very unpopular. Who loves so much Bockstensmannen to vote for him??Or is there any newspaper which would write sth about this contest when only people like that were nominated?
Nomination of Per works as advertisement of this silly contest!
Bunio from Poland
(sorry for my english:) )
gyllene_tjej said on January 31, 2004 18:50:
The contest is quite hilarious. Instead of Bockstensmannen i would nominate the Varberg guy who actually found his remains :D seriously people - go and show’em all who’s the one...GESSLE FOR PRESIDENT!!! :)
Jud (moderator) said on January 31, 2004 18:51:
well.. and then *somebody* has to pick the prize up, it’s not as exciting when a far far relative picks it up.. I wonder how they would find a relative to the B-man :D
The woman should win, just because she is a woman (my feminist side here ;)) and because then they will write more about her - so ppl in Halmstad will actually get to know who she IS :D:D
Lars-Erik_Olson (moderator) said on January 31, 2004 19:28:
TDR has published two articles about this not-so-serious “contest.” If you read what Per had to say in both of them, it’s clear that he doesn’t think the contest makes much sense. He points out that it’s as silly as trying to compare Picasso to Rembrant, and that it only has “entertainment” value (like a contest where you vote for “Best Love Ballad Ever”... these contests are only for fun). The only reason for the contest is to create publicity for what otherwise might be dismissed as just one more boring history museum display. Since Per understands that, it would be actually be rude of him to ’drop out’ as one reader above suggested.
Max-Tob said on January 31, 2004 19:53:
OK, OK...let’s all bet on Per. He has to win. He’s alive. At least he can pick the price and then be interviewed about how it feels to challenge some dead people and then - of course - to win the contest.
Mari said on January 31, 2004 21:27:
Hard to say...Maybe Per or Beda Hallberg. Everybody in Nordic countries knows “firstmayflower”.. And Beda was a woman.
roxtexanet said on February 1, 2004 01:54:
I don’t think it’s THAT stupid that Per was nominated for this rather silly honour... besides making people the world over happy for his music, think of the economic impact Per has had on Halland... thousands of fans descending on Halmstad over the years, making the ’pilgrimage’ to Tits ’n’ Ass studio (remember when it was scheduled for demolition and the fans rallied to have it spared as a historic site??! That’s impact!)...
I was actually wondering the other day just how much of an impact Roxette have had on Swedish tourism... surely no other Swedish band has drawn as many tourists from around the world to Sweden?? Did people flock to see ABBA or any of its members when they played in Sweden? Surely not as many as came to see GT and Marie??? Interesting, anyway.
Ferdan said on February 1, 2004 09:18:
Per should grab Bockstensmannen’s skull and play some Shakespeare with it. And there you have
Mari said on February 1, 2004 10:27:
Bunio, I’m sure Per knows the flower, but not the designer of the flower. I also didn’t know that.
Loki said on February 2, 2004 10:50:
Don’t you think that this lovely idea (the contest, I mean) suits perfectly to Per’s weird sense of humour? Seems like he could invent such a thing by himself ;). Ferdan, I support your idea about Shakespeare! BTW, this lovely red-haired skull could belong to Mr. G’s ancestor...
Max-Tob said on February 2, 2004 12:37:
Yeah, I like that skull! If I would have been from Halmstad and I would have had enough sense of humour, I would have liked to vote for the “wild skull” - What a beutiful hair!! Who cares for Per? He already won everything!! The skull must have the prize!
Jud (moderator) said on February 2, 2004 22:05:
LOL –> I really had a laughing attack!!!! I hadn’t payed attention to the skulls hair LOL
Ferdan said on February 3, 2004 01:33:
oh yeh, the hair=ADN.... they could clone him so he can get his prize in person and alive and kicking
ATLTK said on February 3, 2004 12:31:
there was a new article published in this subject today
about german fans who vote
http://www.hn.se/m_arkiv_sok.php?id=269561&avdelning_1=109&avdelning_2=2...
Starrox said on February 3, 2004 13:37:
I wonder which German fanclub they’re talking about - there is none!
Jud (moderator) said on February 3, 2004 18:13:
exactly... I mean.. is this the Expressen from Halland or what? ;)
***What we REALLY have:
a thread in a fansite /forum (roxetteforum.com) with a translation of the article with Per’s phone interview + a link to the voting for that IS also available in the article. if u read the thread carefully, most of the posts are from people saying thanks for the translation...
And the fact of the translation is not even special because of this “contest”, many articles are translated into German and posted in the forum for other German fans to understand...
***What the great reporter MADE OUT of it all:
The German Fanclub starts a campaign to vote for Per!!!!!
The article even says that the use of the article but in German is plagiarism (!!!!) but that they “won’t do anything about it”. DOH!!!!
So all in all, there is NO German Fanclub neither a website with a campaign!!! I miss some smiley here :D
Advice:
- RESEARCH before writing an article
- Learn German or ask somebody who speaks it to see what is really written there..
- GET THE FACTS RIGHT!!!
Kiwein1 said on February 3, 2004 18:26:
Wow, I didn’t recognize that they accuse us of plagiarism! The person who translated the article even referred to the original article!!! Ah, I can’t believe it.
I already sent an eMail to the author of that article. I really hope that Per didn’t read that crappy stuff..
Jud (moderator) said on February 3, 2004 20:14:
Genom att planka texten har Roxettes beundrare gjort sig skyldiga till ett klart brott mot upphovsrätten. Men det tänker tidningens ansvarige utgivare se mellan fingrarna med och inte bråka om.
>> plagiarism or copyright infriction... take what you want :S
here it says something that by copying or using the text as it is the Roxette fans have infringed the copyright law. But the publisher thinks of just “ignore” the fact and don’t cause trouble.
What the hell, you CAN use text or pictures if it is in order to INFORM and as long as you tell who the source is / original article/publication is...
let us know if the “reporter” replies :D
Jud (moderator) said on February 3, 2004 22:05:
thanks for your message, Mårten :) Also thanks for the article - phone interview :)
I guess the Spanish translation is from Roxspain ;) (thanks Rosa for the work :D)
Kiwein1 said on February 4, 2004 08:39:
I got a reply from the chief-editor from HN and I really don’t get what it’s about with that copyright thing. I mean, we linked the article correctly and mentioned more than once that it is from HN. If that is abusing a copyright what is TDR doing all the time??
“By the way, you our not allowed to publish articles by copyright law. But in this case its okey for us.”
Jud (moderator) said on February 4, 2004 15:35:
in the end they will just take .se emails, problem is that telia emails are ended with .com :D:D
Bunio said on January 31, 2004 10:40:
Who is Hallander?