Spagetti on toast

Marriage proposal

2007-10-17T10:18:00.000+02:00

Varberg 2003 – a sweating Per Gessle on stage was eaten alive by mosquitos. The bites were visible on the pictures we took of him while he signed authographs. My friend Linda whispered she was gonna ask Per for a hug when he came out after the show. She was not the only one – a few girls next to her asked the same and all got what they wanted. A young girl with a cute voice said something in Swedish and people laughed. Linda translated for me. The girl, about 13-14 years old, had asked if Per wanted to marry her. He had answered politely “I’m sorry, but I am already married,” and signed the next authograph…

Are you .. Finished?

2007-10-05T09:06:00.000+02:00

i have so many great memories from the tour , alot of favourites, but one of my favourites is the night Per and Bo played a joke on me.

I was doing a meet and greet in Helsinki and Marie was talking to the fans, Per and Bo was standing to the side and i was standing a bit away from them, watching the meeting and waiting for my meetandgreet people to finish up, it was a very relaxed moment and marie was in a great mood so i didnt really want to bother them, she didnt see to mind.

Per came up to me and said the following

Per : " are you finish ? "
Cis : "Yes, we are done"
Per : "no , are you finish?''
Cis : " .... yes ? " ( am i forgeting something ...? )
Per : your not finish
Cis : yes i am
Per : FINISH?
cis : rolls eyes, thats not funny , smile
Per and Bo , burst out laughing

I laughed with him, he thought it was very funny indeed

for those who dont get it, we where in finland... and he was asking if i was finish.

The Karlstad Story

2007-10-01T01:36:00.000+02:00

The dream which wasn't a dream

I took the train to Stockholm on 13th of November, my 22nd birthday! It became a disaster with Dutch trains here in Holland but I’ll spare you the details. I arrived the next morning about six the next morning, seven hours later than planned. I had to wait for my friends to arrive with the boat from Helsinki at about 10.00, so I caught up on some sleep in the Stena Line lobby. First we went to Sarah’s apartment to drop off some luggage, next was the train to Karlstad.

I stood on the track with Sarah; the train was already waiting for us. The rest came a few minutes later and in those minutes… I spotted Christoffer Lundqvist walking around at the front of the train. I told my friends and we watched him and then saw Jonas Isacsson… Clarence öfwerman… OMG I thought, this can only mean one thing! They are ALL on the same train with us... and yes, there we saw Per and Marie and Åsa. Then the other people of our party came up, after they had picked one up from the airport. Belinda was in Sweden for just a couple of hours and there she saw Roxette already! We got into the last compartment of the train, to be sure not to bug them and since they were all the way at the front, we were sure it would work. We didn't know we were sitting next to the only coffee corner on the train. Suddenly I saw a familiar shirt… and Per and some band members came walking past. We were sitting in 2 closed compartments with the sliding doors a bit open. Pelle Alsing looked inside and told my friend Nienke that she looked pretty (she was doing her make up). I saw Per too, with the most amazing smile on his face. Of course we stressed out, Sarah and I were giggling as if we were 13 allover again. All we could do was laugh, probably our nerves! On the train station we did our best to avoid them but I almost walked into Jonas while they were getting into their van. He smiled at me, raising his eyebrows as if he was saying 'You again?!' I had seen about 9 shows at that point and I met him in Brussels. Ever since he always recognized me in the audience, even if I was standing on the other side.

After dropping off bags etc. at the hostel, we took a cab to the venue. Buses were impossible in Karlstad. But if you can squeeze 7 people in one cab, it's not so expensive... The show was amazing of course, a real blast. Marie was looking at us a few times. We stood at the catwalk, our friends on the other side which was perfect! We had made it our goal to get Per's attention so we kept screaming for him all the time. We got hand-claps from both Per and Marie and while walking away, Per glanced into the audience. I don’t think he was looking at anyone in particular, it just happened to be my eyes he looked in… *bats lashes*

Afterwards we met the band outside the venue and talked to them. It seemed Marie had already left and was on a plane before we even left the venue, or maybe she left later – I don't remember. I stood back when Per came out because he was getting attacked by a mug of people, having trouble to get into the mini-van waiting for him.

We then took a cab to the center of the town because we heard there would be a fans-after party!! Best thing to keep the concert vibe alive for a few more hours. The adrenalin you get from those shows is amazing. The music was perfect: only Rox! While we were dancing and jumping to Real Sugar, I looked around the pub and almost got a heart-attack.... I saw this gorgeous man Gessle at the other end, just walking in and getting rid of his jacket... I screamed at Sarah and Cis, trying to speak but I couldn’t. It seemed as if they would go to the VIP lounge but... no, no no... yes. They were coming our way. Nienke and Belinda had been standing at the door and saw them come in. Pelle Alsing recognized Nienke and greeted her. She said, “Where are you going, the party’s over here!”, because they wanted to go to the VIP lounge. Almost the whole band walked past a circle of fans. Only Marie and Mats weren't there. Also there were Åsa, Li Eriksson from EMI, and Jan-Owe Wikström from the local newspaper (and he wrote a book about Gyllene Tider). So there we were, in the same bar as Per Gessle and still a few hours to go. Needless to say we went crazy! This was just too good to be true. They stayed all night, Per just looking fantastic, standing at the end of the bar. He was talking to many people, people took pictures with him and had long conversations. He drank wine first and later changed to beer. Sarah and I just stared at him all the time. Of course he got the idea he was being stared at and he looked in our direction a couple of times.

Ok. We were clearly never going to leave this pub again. We stayed until they left as well. Mr. Gessle got pleasantly intoxicated. Åsa told him it was really time to go and she pulled his arm. Cis later told me they also kissed but I missed that. I just couldn't get myself to go and talk to him, I really still regret that... MD tried to talk me into it. She is more a Marie fan and had less trouble going to him. When she came back she was glowing, telling he had put his hand on her back and that he smelled so good...

So that's the Karlstad story! I kept thinking about that for weeks, no, months... in fact, I am still thinking about it... When he left he said “B-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-bye bye” looking at someone else standing around him at every 'b', also Sarah and me. Cis shook his hand and said hi but she was also slightly drunk so she got no further than that.

Next day, train station. Bags everywhere, fans everywhere, everybody looking at the GREAT pictures in the newspaper. Then the band entered the train station. At one point I got outside for a smoke, I was so afraid Per would be offended because I was staring at him or something... because I did, honestly I couldn't help myself (of course he was not taking notice of me at all). On the train, oh on the train... the story is not over yet. When we got to the compartment (we had reservations for the X2000 but it was not there so we got first class seat reservations) we were not sure about our tickets and had a huge discussion going on in English, when suddenly some of my friends switched to Dutch. Per walked in, just like that... OMG. I stood in the path, my back to a chair were I had put my bag, people all around me putting bags away and taking their seats. Then he walked past and stopped right in front of me because he couldn’t get through. Imagine being stuck in between Per and a train seat... I was unable to say anything, I felt too stupid. And then the question again: what is it with this man that I turn into a toddler when he's around? Can someone please explain this?

Stockholm, station. I was the first one to get out of the train and waited on the track for the others. The whole band passed me, Per looked at me and I turned bright red but he walked fast enough so I could only hope he didn't see that. On the escalators I stood behind Åsa who was holding Gabriel. In the hallway downstairs, there were two Danish friends waiting for us. They just stared with their mouth wide open when they saw us coming off the train walking in the middle of Per Gessle, his family and his band.

The one where Sweden's cutest boy asked if I was ok

2007-10-01T00:40:00.000+02:00

It was 30 July 2004 (yeah, I looked that up)... and I was in Växjö (Sweden). We had been standing, walking, sitting, sleeping in the sun all day long in order to get to the front row of Gyllene Tider's concert.

The whole waiting-in-line-business is pretty boring but apart from that, it also just drains your body from energy. We had been eating and drinking alright but not in the last hours before the show – you certainly don't wanna give up the front row spot to go to the toilet!! And a GT-show is just not the best place to leave the front row...

Anyway, so we made it to the front alright, the sun shining right into our faces. We had a good spot right in front of Mr. Anders 'Sweden's cutest Boy '78' Herrlin. I'm sure he remembered us from previous shows but I don't quite remember the details. I don't remember much of this show at all, even looking at the photos not much is coming back. Perhaps this gap in my memory is caused by my near-breakdown halfway through the show – I don't even remember how far along the show was, actually... I felt weak, dizzy and extremely tired all of a sudden. I wanted to jump into a cold lake, or maybe I wanted to throw up. Don't remember... I told Sarah that I needed a moment of peace. She held her hand on my shoulder while I crouched down, holding the fence with my hands. It must have been a slow song they were playing because the audience around me was pretty calm. I took a few deep, shaky breaths. Closer to the ground it's a little bit cooler, and Sarah got a glass of water from the security guy.

The moment I come up, I know I'm alright. Security asks if I want out but I shake my head – I'm ok! I'm ok! Let the party continue! When I look up at the stage, Anders is right in front of me and meets my eyes. He looks serious, checks me out – 'Everything ok?' he seems to signal with one hand. Oh please, let there be a hole in the ground beneath me right now... please... let me disappear... I nod, everything's ok... just play the damn song...