Official song for the World Table Tennis Championship by Per Gessle

Per Gessle’s new song, Name You Beautiful is the official song for the World Table Tennis Championship in Halmstad. The song premiered on February 27th during the European Championships qualification match between Sweden and Denmark (3-1). The game was played in Halmstad Arena.

We thought this really catchy hit song would be available digitally right after its premiere, but it seems we have to wait a bit more for being able to listen to it on the usual digital platforms. The good news is that it won’t be released digitally only, but as Per informed today, there will be 500 copies of 7″ vinyl singles. Woohoo! Can’t wait for the release date! Update on 1st March: there will be 500 blue copies & 500 yellow copies. How cool is that!

Official press release in English:

Per Gessle from Roxette writes official song for the World Table Tennis Championship in Halmstad

Halmstad native Per Gessle, with a track record of 80 million albums sold worldwide, is supporting the World Table Tennis Championship in Halmstad with a song composed especially for the event that will be seen by 350 million viewers all over the world.

Over 100 nations from all corners of the globe will visit the coastal city when the LIEBHERR World Team Table Tennis Championships descends upon Halmstad Arena between April 29th and May 6th 2018. On top of experiencing world class table tennis, visitors will also be able to enjoy world famous artist Per Gessle’s music, as he is behind the official WTTC-song “Name You Beautiful”, performed together with Helena Josefsson.

– When I was asked to write the official song for the tournament I didn’t hesitate. I was really up for the challenge. I wrote it together with some other local Halmstad-musicians, namely the guys from Galavant (Sebastian Atas and Victor Sjöström). Their super talented friend Viktor Broberg also contributed. We had lots of fun, says Gessle in a statement, adding:
– The song isn’t really a net ball, more like a killer smash in the backhand corner!

Johnny Ewerstein, project manager of the 2018 WTTC, is happy and pleased that Gessle chose to contribute a song to Sweden’s biggest sporting event 2018:
– This is absolutely fantastic! Gessle is a world renowned artist, and the fact that he stems from Halmstad makes it all the more special and an honor for us as hosts. We’re very glad and grateful for this song, which fits in excellently with a sporting event of this scope and importance.

The WTTC-song will be played publicly for the first time during the European Championships qualification match between Sweden and Denmark. The game is played in Halmstad Arena on February 27th at 18.30. Entry is free of charge, so don’t miss this opportunity to combine world-class table tennis with a brand new song from Per Gessle. The song will be available shortly on both Spotify and iTunes.

LIEBHERR World Team Table Tennis Championships 2018 is held between April 29th and May 6th in Halmstad Arena. The championship will be followed by 350 million viewers from around the globe, and will be monitored from approximately 350 journalists on location. 72 men’s and 72 women’s teams from around 100 nations are participating. Hosts are the International Table Tennis Federation, the Swedish Table Tennis Association and Destination Halmstad.

Photo: Anders Roos

What is Per Gessle cooking?

David Guetta, Per Gessle, Christoffer Lundquist in the studio - pic was posted on Roxette Official by Per
David Guetta, Per Gessle, Christoffer Lundquist in the studio – pic was posted on Roxette Official by Per

Since that studio photo of Per and Chris with David Guetta was posted on Roxette Official 2 days ago, tons of fans started discussions about what this new project could be. Well, yeah, we are discussing this topic continuously, whenever PG is in the studio. But is it a remix album in progress now or something completely new? Is it related to Roxette or some Per solo stuff?

Mr G said it even in one of the Nordic Rox shows that it’s easy to get stuck in your own style, so for example, he tries writing in keys that he doesn’t know that well. Why not a new genre then?

You might remember our earlier article about Per Gessle featuring Galavant, a house duo from Halmstad. They were together in the studio on 19th September 2013. It’s still not known what they recorded there, but that work must be also related to this new project.

 

Sebastian Atas, Per Gessle, Victor Sjöström - pic was posted by the guys from Galavant at their Instagram profile
Sebastian Atas, Per Gessle, Victor Sjöström – pic was posted by the guys from Galavant at their Instagram profile

One month later, on 24th October 2013, Per posted a selfie from a helicopter, saying he ”talked a lot to DJ Balthazar. Such a generous and talented fella.” DJ Balthazar is a Bulgarian DJ, whose music is something unique between techno and progressive house.

One month passed and Mr G posted a question on 18th November 2013 on Roxette Official:

Had a big “remix-discussion” over dinner….. Do you like remixes of our songs? If so, any favourites from the jolly and colourful Rox-past?

When it comes to remixes, fans are divided into 2 bigger groups. One part of them likes or even loves most of the remixes, the other part is never listening to them. I’m personally not much into remixes, but my ears say Bassflow did magic to ”The Sweet Hello, The Sad Goodbye”. One thing is sure: almost everyone agrees on that anything can be better than ”Dance Passion” (1987).

So now here is this David Guetta piece of info some months later and we still don’t know what it is all about. I think via remixes, PG’s music can reach and be more appealing to the younger generation, so it’s fine to spread the word that way, too. But who knows if it’s really about remixes?

 

© Per Gessle
© Per Gessle

Surely this is not the only project Per is working on, since he was also posting a lot about vintage synthesizers, studio sessions in AGM and T&A studios and all this DJ info. He said it in interviews that he is also working on a soundtrack for a new Jonas Åkerlund film (which Jonas starts shooting this spring) and we know new Roxette material is also in sight in a near or a more distant future.

Hard to be patient when there are so many exciting bits and pieces of news, but again, Roxers are the best at waiting. Hope to hear the outcome of the project(s) quite soon.

 

Galavant feat. Per Gessle?

Galavant is a young house duo (Sebastian Atas and Victor Sjöström) from Halmstad. You might know this song from them, as it has become a hit: Tonight

They already told in May, when they were interviewed by NRJ that they don’t know Per Gessle personally, but were talking about calling Per to do something together. It seems that this something is on its way, as yesterday they tweeted:

Studio session imorgon med levande legenden Per Gessle!!! Let’s make them hits!

They were indeed together in the studio today, as you can see on this photo:

Galavant_and_Per_Gessle_20130919 © Galavant

 

So, now we just have to wait for what kind of project it is and when the result is out. Sounds exciting!