STOCKHOLM - Ricky Martin accepted his invitation last summer, making a special trip to Sweden just to do so. Marie Fredriksson was there too. This year, Lasse Berghagen, host of the popular show “Allsång på Skansen,” has let it be known that he wants to see two stars in particular on his open-air stage: Per Gessle and Rod Stewart.

  “I’d like to see Per Gessle singing “Gå & Fiska!” with the audience”, Lasse said.

  A lot of well-known Swedish artists have appeared on this show that is televised from Skansen, a combination ecopark and entertainment area that isn’t far from the Gessle family’s apartment on Strandvägen.

  We’ll have to wait and see if Per decides to accept. He has declined to appear on some other shows like this. For example, he has never appeared on “Så ska det låta” (even though we’ve been told his mother really wants him to).

• Swedish Television’s “AllsÂng” site (In Swedish with pictures)

NEW YORK - CDs priced at $9.99 may soon be a standard offer at music stores as U.S. retailers slash prices in bid to battle the scourge of online music piracy.

  “It looks like it will be another year of flat CD sales and I think to some degree that’s got to be attributed to the fact that there’s so much music available online,” Tom Adams, president of consulting firm Adams Media Research said.

“I also think (the price cutting) is also as much to do with the fact that the economy is terrible and holiday sales were off overall,” he told Reuters.

  The situation in the U.S. is similar in most other markets, and this same development is expected to affect retail prices worldwide. Read more…

STOCKHOLM (UPDATED) - The British High Court of Justice will decide whether or not Roxette’s 1994 hit “Sleeping In My Car” is plagiarism. Swedish songwriter Stephan Malmstedt living in London says that SIMC is a copy of his song “Jenny and I” which was sent to EMI on a demo cassette. Niklas Strömstedt, Per’s close friend, also received a copy of the cassette”.

  Malmstedt started his fight against Per and EMI in 1994, but the Swedish court decided not to prosecute. The decision from the British court is expected in October 2002.

  “I’m not fighting for the money,” Malmstedt said to Svenska Dagbladet’s reporter. “I’m fighting for justice.”

  Update: In Aftonbladet’s report about the case, they reveal that Per’s lawyers have tried to stop the legal process because Malmstedt has not complied with the court’s order to pay 1,850 British pounds (3,033 euros) after an unsuccessful trial in which Malmstedt tried to stop distribution of “Sleeping In My Car”. However, this was not deemed a reason big enough to stop the process. Aftonbladet also listed other cases where Per has been accused of plagiarism: “Listen To Your Heart” and “What About Love” by Heart, “The Look” and “U Got The Look” by Prince, and “Dressed For Success” and “Wild Thing” by Troggs.

  It also seems that Stephan Malmstedt has appeared on at least two records with Per and Marie: “Radio Parlophone - andra sändningen” (Malmstedt performed “It’s Gonna Take A Long Time” with Marie on backing vocals, also included songs by Gyllene Tider and Per Gessle) and “Hi Fidelity” (Malmstedt with “The Red Light”, included songs by Gyllene Tider and Marie), both released in 1983.

  Mari, Tia, Darya and Laura contributed to this article.

• Svenska Dagbladet article
• Aftonbladet article
• Malmstedt’s “Jenny and I” song (Real Player)

STOCKHOLM (UPDATED) - The concert recorded here at The Globe will be re-webcast by Telenordia today and again on February 9th. Rather than send this video stream out at a specific time, Telenordia informed The Daily Roxette that the program will be available all day long, beginning just after midnight.

• Telenordia Events (Click on the UK flag for instructions in English)

LONDON - Commentary by Per and Marie is included in a documentary about the members of ABBA produced for BBC radio in the U.K.

  The program attempts to reveal the secrets of the Benny Anderson and Björn Ulvaeus songwriting partnership, one of the most successful in the history of pop. While various ABBA releases still sell around 3,000 copies worldwide per day, Benny and Björn have gone on to write for the stage. “Mamma Mia!”, a musical based around ABBA songs, is a current smash hit in London, Toronto, and New York.

  The program airs on BBC Radio 2 beginning on Tuesday, January 8th.

• BBC Radio’s Program Notes

We would like to wish all our readers a peaceful Christmas!

  Thanks for visiting our site. It’s been a great year for The Daily Roxette. This online “newspaper” is more popular than ever, and it’s all because loyal subscribers like you have made it a “must read.” We wouldn’t have this site if our readers weren’t also sometimes our writers. Our sincere thanks to everyone who has submitted an article this past year.

  Read on for TDR’s “Year in Review,” written by Visa Kopu (roxeteer), our Editor-in-Chief. Read more…

ST. PETERSBURG - About a month has passed since the official release of “Milk & Toast & Honey” as a single in Russia, and now it’s a #1 Hit, at least on Russia’s Europa Plus radio station broadcasting from St. Petersburg. A recent survey indicated that Europa Plus is the most listened-to radio station in Russia.

• Radio Europa Plus (In Russian)

SYDNEY - In an attempt to get the most out of their advertising and promotion budget, EMI has decided to delay the release of Roxette’s new DVD here to coincide with a company-wide DVD release campaign they intend for March.

  Graham Ashton, EMI Oz’s Label Manager, told TDR that they wanted to be able to market several new EMI-labeled DVDs at the same time – including Roxette’s – and hope that by pooling the promo budgets of each title, that the combined campaign will attract more attention than had they each been marketed seperately.

STOCKHOLM - Produced by Gyllene Tider’s Anders Herrlin – who also happens to be her boyfriend – Jennie Löfgren’s debut album, “Meant to Be,” is scheduled to be released on Janury 21. The new single from this album, “Believer,” is doing well on the Swedish charts (#28 and climbing at press time).

• Hitmakers (Read her biography here for more details)

STOCKHOLM - Does he really dress that bad?

  Aftonbladet, in conjuction with Elle magazine’s Swedish edition, is conducting poll to determine who the Swedes think is the best- and worst-dressed celebrity. Per’s made the list of nominees for “worst-dressed.”
  As we go to press with this report, 22,968 people have already participated in the poll, and Per has 8.5 percent of the vote.

Aftonbladet’s photo caption describes Per as “black, somber and wrinkled.” Click to enlarge.