Awards

Vote for Sommartider – the almost true story of Gyllene Tider!

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The Guldbagge Awards is an official and annual Swedish film awards ceremony honoring achievements in the Swedish film industry. Which films and who should be nominated for the Guldbagge Awards in different categories are determined by a nominating committee. It consists of 45 members who nominate three candidates in each category. The Committee members are active in the Swedish film industry and are appointed by their respective organizations or institutions, as determined by the Swedish Film Institute’s board of directors.

This year’s nominees were announced on 17th December and Sommartider, the almost true story of Gyllene Tider received only one nomination, Johan Palm in Best Cinematography category. Congratulations! The movie was a big hit this year, more than 208,000 people went to see it in the cinema, so we think it would have deserved more nominations. We agree with Jan-Olov Andersson at Aftonbladet that Valdemar Wahlbeck, as Per Gessle, should have been nominated for Best Leading Actor. Anyway, we keep our fingers crossed for Johan Palm to win. He and his team did an amazing job!

Sommartider has a second chance though, to win the Guldbagge Audience Award!

Voting for the most popular film of the year is now open. In the first stage – starting today, 18th December – the audience can vote for all Guldbagge-nominated feature films from 2024, a total of 50 titles. On 2nd January, the three films that will advance to the final will be revealed, and voting will continue until 8th January. The winner will be announced at the Guldbagge Gala on 13th January.

Vote HERE!

Everyone can vote for the Guldbagge Audience Award once a day, and those who vote can also compete for great prizes: tickets (including hotel) to the Guldbagge Gala, cinema pass (Biopass) and Guldbagge merch.

Good luck!

 

Roxette – Listen To Your Heart played 7 million times on US radio

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BMI is excited to celebrate their exceptional family of songwriters and publishers in the UK and Europe whose groundbreaking music is making an electrifying impact on the global music scene.

At the 2024 BMI London Awards last night they recognised the top UK and European songwriters, composers and publishers of the past year across US streaming, radio, film and television. The Million-Air Awards were also presented throughout the evening and among the hit songs honoured was Listen to Your Heart by Roxette. Per Gessle and Mats MP Persson appeared at the event to receive the award.

American radios played Listen To Your Heart now more than 7 million times! That means more than 67 years if it were constantly played! Pure awesomeness!

Roxette reached their 2nd No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with LTYH on 4th November 1989. In 1998 they received an award from BMI for this song being played over 2 million times on American radio. Phil Graham of BMI said it was very unusual for a song to get over the 2 million mark in such a short space of time. In October 2006, helped by DHT’s cover, Roxette were awarded again by BMI for the song’s 3 millionth broadcast on American radio. Per and MP got the Million-Air Award for 4 million plays in 2008 and for 5 million plays in 2014. Listen To Your Heart was covered by American hard rock band Through Fire and they put the song back on the US charts in March 2020. In 2020, PG and MP got the Million-Air Award for 6 million plays.

Congratulations to Per and MP for creating this most amazing, timeless gem and for reaching the 7 million mark! Neverending love to Marie Fredriksson without whom it wouldn’t have been possible!

Per says in the 10th December press release:

Every time I hear Listen To Your Heart, I think of Marie’s magical voice. Yesterday it was five years since she left us and without her contribution, Mats and I would never have received this fantastic award. 7 million radio plays in the US is hard to grasp. I’m super proud, of course.

Check out BMIs website HERE!

Check out more photos HERE!

Check out the highlights video from the event HERE!

He is Halmstad! – Per Gessle is awarded the cultural prize of Halmstad municipality

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Halmstad municipality’s cultural prize 2023 goes to Per Gessle. This was decided by the cultural committee at its meeting on 30th November. A grateful Per Gessle says that he is especially happy to have inspired others to create music.

Halmstad Municipality’s cultural prize has been awarded since 1967. This year the prize sum is SEK 30,000 and 55 cultural actors were nominated by the public.

This time, the cultural committee chose to praise a super-famous songwriter and artist who has been of enormous importance to the municipality for more than half a century and is still relevant.

Per Gessle says:

Many thanks for this great prize. It has been a long journey for me in the wonderful world of music. In the ’60s in front of the gramophone. In the ’70s in front of the microphone and in the rehearsal studio. Then it got rolling. Extra lovely if I and all my collaborators have succeeded in inspiring and engaging other people to fantasize, create and be creative. Nice. Thank you so much.

The cultural committee’s justification:

Per Gessle is the recipient of the Cultural Prize 2023. The Culture Committee considers this musician to be equal to Halmstad. He started his career by entertaining and playing at nursing homes and hospitals in the municipality and has since contributed to making Halmstad a music metropolis. We don’t think there is anyone in the municipality or in the country who can’t hum at least one of Per Gessle’s songs. He is a cultural personality who created an incredible song catalogue, and lyrics that have the ability to evoke all emotions at once.

Per Gessle is one of Sweden’s most successful artists and songwriters. He started writing songs as a child, breaking through with Gyllene Tider from 1978 and continued the successes with the duo Roxette, formed in 1986.

At the moment, among other things, he is involved with a newly written book about Gyllene Tider, a film about the same band with a premiere in the summer of 2024, and a newly written musical based on Roxette’s songs that will be staged at Malmö Opera with a premiere in the fall of 2024.

Per Gessle has always been loyal to his home municipality and he has received a number of awards. Among other things, he became an honorary citizen of Halmstad Municipality in 2007.

Facts regarding Halmstad municipality’s cultural award:

  • The prize sum this year is SEK 30,000.
  • This year, 55 different cultural actors were nominated by the public.
  • The prize is awarded in December each year to a person, group or organization that is recognized for particularly valuable contributions in the field of culture. The prize winner must be active in the municipality of Halmstad or, through their activities, have or had a close connection to the municipality.
  • The culture award is one of three different awards and scholarships awarded by the cultural committee in Halmstad municipality.

Photo by Anders Roos

Interview with Per Gessle after the Hallandian of The Year 2022 gala

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Hallandsposten did an interview with Per after the award ceremony and asked him about how it feels to be Hallandian of The Year 2022.

Since I live in Halmstad and love Halmstad, it feels fantastic. I was born here, so it’s my everything. It has shaped me. Although I have had an apartment in Stockholm since the end of the ‘80s, Halmstad is my hometown. Obviously, all of that shapes me – I’m a small town guy.

Regarding the intense year 2022, PG says:

It’s been a very intense year, but that wasn’t planned. I’m like that, I take it as it comes, as you do when you are as old as me. It started with the single with Uno (Svenningsson) in January and then my acoustic tour continued. It was postponed, partly because I got sick with tonsillitis in December, partly because there were new corona restrictions at the beginning of the year. So that tour didn’t finish until May.

He also released some previously unreleased songs, which he usually does on his birthday in January.

The pandemic also meant time to write more new music:

During this period when there were restrictions and I couldn’t tour, I took the opportunity to write and prepare Gyllene Tider’s new album that will be released next year. So that record was pretty much done by May. Then in summer it was quite quiet, then I prepared the release for PG Roxette, the English record that came out recently. And not to forget, this summer I also recorded the Christmas songs that just came out too. So it’s been quite a lot actually.

Per admits that after all this has been a “normal year” if you look at the workload.

I like to work. I’m so happy to have a job where I don’t feel like I’m “going to work”, but that it’s more of an extension of myself. So I love what I do.

If 2022 has been so active, 2023 will probably not be less busy. New music and a summer tour with Gyllene Tider await. Hallandsposten asked Per what the audience can expect.

A fantastic album! Uptempo, great energy. I’m really glad we made it and that it turned out so well. Anders Herrlin called me the other day, he had listened to it again and said “how the hell did this happen? How did we do this?”. It’s the kind of record that you get hooked on. And so I hope the tour will be amazing.

To the question why he still lives in Halmstad despite the fact that he also has an apartment in Stockholm he replied:

It’s because I like Halmstad, and I feel creative here. I have found a place where I live, on the coast, where I love to be. Then we have Hotel Tylösand, so that means we have a foothold here. Although I’m not involved in the daily operation, I’m still involved, and my wife not least. It also means a lot that we have succeeded in managing it and building it into something exceptional.

Hallandsposten says that the Halland of The Year award seems to be a great response to Per’s love for Halland.

It feels great, but I’ve always felt it. I’ve felt that the people of Halmstad are proud of Gyllene Tider, Roxette and me, so it’s nothing new. But it’s awesome and all the nominees are great, so it’s amazing to win something like this.

Regarding the large portrait that will hang at Halmstad City Airport PG says:

I don’t know if it’s good or bad. I say that’s the punishment if you win, that you get to hang there on a big picture in the arrivals hall.

More photos from the event by Jari Välitalo in Hallandsposten’s article.

Per Gessle is Hallandian of The Year!

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After being nominated for the fourth time in a row, Per Gessle has now won the title Hallandian of The Year! Congratulations!

The first 3 winners in 2019, 2020 and 2021 were Janne Andersson, Boris Lennerhov and My Feldt.

The prize is awarded by the Marketing Association in Halland in collaboration with Hallandsposten and Hallands Nyheter. Hallandians themselves were able to nominate people who they think have been good ambassadors for Halland 2022.

Voting ran until 30th November and the winner has been awarded at the Breakfast Gala this morning (14th December) in Halmstad Arena. For the winner, in addition to the honor, a place among the previous winners awaits at Halmstad City Airport. Per has also received a painting created by artist Dagmar Glemme.

Nominees this year were musician and songwriter Per Gessle, comedian and musician Krister Classon, writer Björn Hellberg, golf player Ingrid Lindblad, actress Madeleine Martin and memory master Martin Nilsson.

The jury’s motivation for nominating Mr. G:

Per Gessle is one of Sweden’s most successful artists and songwriters. He has put Halland on the world map for several decades with his music in various forms and constellations. During 2022, he has once again been widely noticed in all media after releasing previously unpublished songs, recording a duet with Uno Svenningsson and releasing a new record with both Gyllene Tider and PG Roxette. Per is also a co-owner of Hotel Tylösand, which has received many prestigious awards and annually attracts large numbers of tourists and conference guests and has Sweden’s largest art gallery.

Congrats once again and looking forward to bump into that pic at Halmstad City Airport!

 

 

Photos from Hallandsposten

 

Picture and video from Radio Båstad