KRISTIANSTAD - The Swedish tabloid newspaper Expressen has published a couple of articles about how some potential guests have come forward to say they were requested to lie on TV3’s “Ricki Lake”-inspired show “Hannah”.

  The last one to make such an accusation is Michael Garderud, 30, an IT professional from Kristianstad.

  “I was contacted by one of Hannah’s researchers through the ’net. Since I look like Per Gessle, and in the late 90s I did an imitation of Per on ZTV, playing the song “Joyride,” they wanted to have me on a program with the title “I am obsessed with my idol”, he explains.


  “When I said that I wasn’t obsessed with Per Gessle at all, they asked me if I couldn’t pretend that I was. Furthermore, they wanted me to ask my friends to play along as well, and pretend that I was a crazed fan that liked Roxette… the purpose was to show me as being strange.”

  The program’s host, Hannah Widell, denies that guests are encouraged to lie, as does TV3’s spokesperson.

• TV3’s website
• Expressen’s article (with a photo of the ’look-alike’)

VIENNA - Stuffed with over 1,500 messages from fans around the world, including many from readers of The Daily Roxette, the “e-Wishes” guestbook created online by Judith Seuma has been printed out and bound into a book. It will be airmailed to Marie Fredriksson tomorrow.

  As if to prove the fact that Marie’s career has brought her international fame, the guestbook entries read like a lesson in world geography: Australia, South Africa, Latin America, US, Canada, Turkey, India, Indonesia, U.A.E., Iran, Pakistan, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand, and just about every country in Europe.

  The cover (see picture) shows a rose and a quote from Emily Dickinson, while the introduction reads as follows:



Dear Marie,

  As you know, you have fans not just in Sweden, but all over the world.

  Enclosed are over a thousand “Get Well” messages sent to you via a Web site created just for this purpose… printed out so that you can read them more easily.



We’re all wishing that soon

you’ll be up and about

and wishing that soon

you’ll be getting out

and

Doing the things

you’re so longing to do

And seeing us all…

who’d love to see you!

With love and deep admiration from ALL of your fans!

NEW YORK - Fans around the world reacted with shock, disbelief, and immediate concern upon learning that Marie had suffered a concussion. Those feelings have only intensified since learning the reason that Marie fainted in the first place.

  “I am shocked and can’t believe it really happened… I hope she’s soon fine again,” said ’gyllene_tjej’, just one of our readers who used TDR’s SmallTalk section to share their feelings.

  Melissa-Marie wrote for everyone when she said, “Really, get well soon! We all love you so much!”

  Once it was revealed that Marie had a tumor, Both Christos Skendras and Vicky Mankelow wrote to say that they had friends who also had such brain tumors and survived. Many fans echoed those thoughts, writing to say there was plenty of room for optimism.

  “Pray for Marie please, pray for her health,” asked ’Jc-Gina’, a reader from Peru.

One fan in particular, Judith Seuma, who has long served as a TDR reporter and was one of the founders of RoxSpain, has taken the time to translate articles appearing in the Swedish papers and to also create a site to send e-wishes to Marie. Many have written to thank her for her efforts to keep everyone informed.

  But it’s the collective love and concern for Marie that seems most remarkable. People have sent cards, many handmade, via the Fan Club. Not just on the pages of TDR, but on dozens of other websites, many based in countries where English is not the native language, fans have been expressing their concern and sending messages of faith and hope in Marie’s direction.

  In an attempt to encapsulate those best wishes, Marie Davis in Australia has started a prayer circle of sorts.

  “When I initially heard about her head injury, I was
worried but I thought she would be fine. When I heard
about the tumor, I really panicked. I was so worried
about her and I was crying a lot at first, but then I
knew I had to think positively or I’m not helping
anything,” she told TDR.

  What she came up with was a “prayer chain.” Davis explained, “I got the
idea from the Oprah Winfrey (TV) show. She used a prayer chain to help a sick little boy,
and it worked. I thought that at the very least, it will give us
something positive to do rather than sit around and
worry. I really believe that positive thoughts and
energy can help a person, and it would be nice if
Marie hears about the chain and feels really good that
there are so many people who care about her.”

• Prayer site
• “Get Well” wishes site

Two dutch fans, Daniël and Jaap, are organising a roxette fanmeeting on November 27th in Rotterdam, Holland, before the Night Of the Proms concert of that day. No further decisions about the meeting are made yet, but the organisers are encouraging fans to buy tickets to the standing places so that all fans gather together also during the concert.

• Fanmeeting website
• Night of the Proms

BONN - It took some time, but it’s online now: The TDR-supported demos-from-fans project known as “Fanism!”

  The idea, born here in The Daily Roxette’s “SmallTalk” section, was that fans wanted to record their own demo versions of Rox-songs as a very special tribute to Per and Marie. Bands like Gladstone, Kix and Melancholodic communicated via the pages of TDR. The result is a collection of 14 songs from Roxers all around the world!

  While the project was originally intended to be released on CD, the high cost of distribution made the musicians decide to create a website instead where all of the songs are available for high-quality download.

  The readers of TDR suggested names for the project and after a comment from Per, “Fanism” was chosen. Besides the songs and pictures of all of the artists, there is an opportunity to give a feedback by signing the Fanism online-guestbook. We invite you to take a look at www.fanism.org and listen to songs like “Here Comes the Weekend”,
“Sommartider” and “First Girl on the Moon.”

• “Fanism” site

The Austrian Roxette Fanclub has launched a Flash-animated website, offering news, a complete discography, photographs, and more.

  In the media section, you can find private pictures of Roxette taken by the Fanclub, with more to be added.
There is a funny video greeting of Roxette there too.

• Austrian Fanclub Site (In German)

It’s an idea that pops up every year or so amongst the musically talented Roxette fans who are connected with each other online… but it seldom gets very far. This time, one of our readers seems prepared to actually make it happen.

  TDR’s SmallTalk forum has been the launching pad for a project that will compile fan-produced versions of Roxette songs and put them onto a CD.

  The compilation album is the idea of René Jepsen (TDR: AppleInTheMud) who has his own recording studio in Germany. “Every fan can send us their personal demo, of any Roxette song they want,” he said. “The 15
best – or most loveable – will be put on the CD.”

  Once the CD is ready, TDR will deliver a copy to both Per and Marie. René and his partner Jan Petersen in Denmark have offered to send the CD to readers of The Daily Roxette for free. We’ll provide details about how to get your copy at a later date.

  If you have a recording that you’d like to be considered, send it to Studio (C) Production; c/o René H. Jepsen; Charlote Niese Weg 6; D-253 55 Barmstedt, Germany. The deadline for submissions is July 15th.