ABBA - Mamma Mia (B. Andersson, B. Ulvaeus, S. Anderson) ~ 7 yr. old ~ Emersen Lazaro EL022

It's time to introduce another pianist in our family.  Cat and I are so proud that Ever and Emersen are doing so well learning the exquisite language of the piano.  Cara has already begun learning, as well.  Our boys work hard every day.  Ever and Emersen, each spend 60-75 minutes practicing every day, fine tune their skills.  Of course, this is on top of everything else.  We have no down time in our family, not until 8 p.m. on Friday evening, when Ever and Emersen finish their piano lessons with their awesome instructor, Thu Ly.  But, Saturday morning starts with piano, before any play time.  It's an everyday gig!  No rest for the weary.  Like I said, Ever and Emersen work hard every single day.  It's amazing what they've learned, thus far.  Emersen started tapping those keys in the winter of 2007.  He is approaching his third recital, which will take place on June 26, this year.  Ever will join him, of course.  This year, all of the students were given the opportunity to choose a popular song for their recital piece.  This opportunity gave them a chance to choose music that they truly love, for which they already have an appreciation.  Emersen chose Abba's "Mamma Mia".  This stems from the fact that the 2008 movie Mamma Mia! is our children's favorite movie.  Emersen wanted to show everyone that he had memorized his recital piece this year.  He insisted that I video tape him without his music in front of him.  He is very proud of this fact!  Without further ado, here's Emersen Lazaro's YouTube debut with "Mamma Mia"!

From Wikipedia:
"Mamma Mia" is a song from ABBA's 3rd album, ABBA, written by Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus & Stig Anderson, with the lead vocals shared by Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad.  The song's name is derived from Italian, where it is an interjection.  "Mamma Mia" has been called "the song that saved ABBA".  It was the last track recorded for the album "ABBA" and was one of the four songs from the album to have a promo clip made to promote the album.  The song, however, was never intended for release as a single.  Around this time, many artists were recording ABBA songs (such as "Honey, Honey" and "Bang a Boomerang"), similarly, ABBA offered "Mamma Mia" to British pop group Brotherhood of Man, who turned it down.  When "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do" topped the Australian charts for 3 weeks, the Australian public was hungry for more ABBA - the beginnings of ABBAmania. It was the promo clip for Mamma Mia that was proving the most popular after repeat screenings on Australian television, notably Molly Meldrum's Countdown.  ABBA's Australian record company, RCA, asked that Mamma Mia be released as a single but Polar Music refused.  However, in the end Stig Anderson agreed & "Mamma Mia" was released in Australia where it spent 10 weeks at #1.  After this success in Australia, Epic Records in Great Britain took notice of ABBA for the first time since Eurovision and "Waterloo".  From then on, Epic began to heavily promote ABBA's singles with the immediate result of "S.O.S." reaching the Top 10 in the important British market, their 1st hit since "Waterloo".  "Mamma Mia" soon followed, reaching #1 on the British charts in early 1976, the 2nd of ABBA's 18 consecutive Top 10 singles.  In most countries, the B-Side to "Mamma Mia" was Intermezzo Number 1, however ABBA's British label Epic used "Tropical Loveland" on the UK release as the B-Side, as they thought it would promote the ABBA album, as it showed a different style of music and they thought it would be better than an instrumental song.  In the UK Singles Chart of January 1976, "Mamma Mia" replaced Queen's song "Bohemian Rhapsody" at the number 1 position.