When Carola celebrates forty years since "Stranger", it is with a party worthy of a queen. The evening offers a Carola exhibition, pre-party with Carola karaoke and after-party with DJ but above all: A two-and-a-half-hour concert with cake, Ja må hon leva, guest artists and a track list ranging from the 80s to the 00s.
Carola enters in a hot air balloon, waving like royalty to us down in the arena. But the beginning suffers from poor sound and retro songs like "On Your Own Feet" and "Gloria" do not become the bang start they should have been.
The selection of 80's songs is also well mastered and without particularly innovative arrangements. With the exception of the sing-along on "Tommy Likes Me", the first half of the concert often feels like a transport route, despite laser, dirty dancing dancers and guitar solos.
When Benjamin Ingrosso appears on stage for the duet "To love somebody" and changes the lyrics to "The way I love Carola" so that the cheeseometer really hits the ceiling, it is after all a nice breath of present and surprise.
Carola is a well-mannered and professional perfectionist, polished on the verge of impenetrable. So when she misses the beginning of "In the Middle of an Adventure" and the band has to start all over again, that's exactly what is needed to take the evening to the next level – a touch of vulnerability.
From that moment on, the roof lifts with "Caught by a Storm Wind" as the given highlight. The fans are rolled in, the choir delivers a sucking pressure and the song is perfect for Carola's voice with both power and high notes.
Otherwise, the singing is sometimes neglected and far too much of the lyrics are left to the audience. It's a shame, because the Carola voice is one of the reasons why many of us are there.
But once she gets up to speed, in the hit songs and hits from the 00s, and gets that look that only Carola can get, as if the flower pots can come flying any second, then she is the queen that the audience has come to see.