Abba

It takes a tough woman to sing a tender song. Dimi mint Abba, the star of Mauritanian music, according to her brother, demonstrated high levels of both emotions during her Saturday night show at International House. On the prayer "Ya Allahu, Ya Allahu," the well-controlled voice of the round-faced traditional singer rumbled from alto to a high, clear register on soaring, quarter-tone wings. The song is a beseeching request for divine intervention. But Abba, seated traditional-style and playing the Moorish ardin, a lute related to the West African kora, sang many of the verses as a demand, as if she fully expected the cooperation of Allah.

You do not comprehend Mamma Mia! as much as surrender to it. This is an improbable, nigh on to impossible, concept for a musical. Even the name's absurd. Mamma Mia!, opening Valentine's Day at the Forrest Theatre, is not set in Italy but on a Greek island, where not one inhabitant appears to be Greek. The sitcom-worthy plot is about a rebellious mother, a traditional daughter, and the three men who could be her father. The 22 songs, in English but not necessarily lucid, were recorded a quarter-century ago by Abba, the Swedish pop quartet once ranked as that nation's second-wealthiest corporation, after Volvo.

Though born with the gene for loving musicals, I lack the DNA sequence that allows for ABBA appreciation. Never got the Swedish quartet famous for its marimba-madcap music, Conehead lyrics, and Holiday Barbie costumes. Having seen Mamma Mia! , Phyllida Lloyd's screen rendition of Judy Craymer and Catherine Johnson's $2 billion-at-the box-office-and-still-counting stage phenom, I still don't get it. But I have developed the grudging respect, if not the taste, for the ebullience - ABullience ?

Radio Disney brought a whopping five groups in three hours to the Theatre of Living Arts on Tuesday and, in true Disney fashion, entire families came out to enjoy Play, LMNT, Jump 5, Baha Men, and A Teens. The half-filled venue, choreography gaffes and sound problems made the event seem more like a practice for these stadium hopefuls. Yet they made an earnest effort, and the mainly preschool to preteen fans were witness to star power without stage effects. Most of LMNT's members should look familiar to viewers of Making the Band, the ABC reality series about the formation of boy band O-Town.

"I've abandoned hipness altogether," says Paddy McAloon, lead singer and songwriter of the British group Prefab Sprout, shrugging. "And once I gave up the ghost, I was much happier. " How's that for a celebrity admission? These days, it's ho-hum news when a star talks about the struggles of overcoming drugs and drink. McAloon, whose band is a hit in England but unknown in America, has made a far rarer commitment. His decision to give up trying to play it cool is beyond post-modern.

WHAT'S on your iPod? It's a great way to get a quick snapshot of somebody's cultural temperature and political leanings. Bach or Beck? Franz Schubert or Franz Ferdinand? Moby or Toby Keith? Tell me, and I can size you up . . . in an iPod-nanosecond. Show me a guy whose playlist is weighted with Rascal Flatts and Vince Gill, and I think can predict his choice for president. And I'd wager that the guy who has downloaded the entire Jay-Z catalog is not likely to be ga-ga for Sarah.

Basia isn't a household name - yet. But surprisingly, the Polish-born songstress with the unwieldly last name (Wrzetrzelewska) has sold nearly two million records in this country, and her latest album, London-Warsaw-New York (Epic), rocketed to No. 1 on Billboard's contemporary jazz chart. All pretty amazing considering that Basia's brand of English as a Second Language pop owes as much to Swedish superstars ABBA as it does to Astrud Gilberto's bossa nova. It's also amazing considering that Basia eschews the standard roles of vixenly diva or come-hither ingenue for a wholesome girl-next-door image that seems honest and authentic.

Supermodel Claudia Schiffer will wear a "classical, almost fairy-tale dress" by Valentino for her wedding today to British film producer Matthew Vaughn. The haute couture designer had dressed the model in many wedding dresses for catwalks, but this was different, he said: "There is so much emotion. " Schiffer and Vaughn, both 31, upset Suffolk County villagers in eastern England after an ancient pathway near Schiffer's mansion was closed on the eve of the wedding reception in her home, Coldham Hall.

You may find that the movie version of "Mamma Mia!" brings out your inner Simon Cowell. It's likely to happen any time Pierce Brosnan gets his mitts on a melody. "You no longer have a license to kill, Mr. Brosnan, and someone should revoke your license to sing. " Hiss if you must, but be warned: Brosnan will kill you, and not very softly, with his songs in "Mamma Mia," the film version of the wildly popular stage show constructed around all of ABBA's hits from the Seventies, plus several songs that did not become hits, for reasons that become fathomable as you watch.

Pricey Dickens toothpick: $9,150 How much would you pay for Charles Dickens' toothpick? Try $9,150. That's what an anonymous bidder paid yesterday for an ivory and gold toothpick that belonged to the great writer. The tiny utensil, which bears Dickens' initials, was put on sale yesterday at Bonhams New York (www.bonhams.com/newyork). The object came with an authentication letter from Dickens' sister-in-law Georgina Hogarth that says he used the toothpick "when traveling and on his last visit to America.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Hamas on Sunday endorsed a proposal by Qatar that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas assume the role of prime minister in an interim Palestinian unity government that would prepare for general elections in the West Bank and Gaza, according to two officials close to the contacts. Such an arrangement, proposed by Qatar's emir, would help Abbas and his main political rival, the Islamic militant organization Hamas, clear a major hurdle in slow-moving attempts to reconcile.

VIENNA, Switzerland - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday set May 4 as the date for general elections aimed at ending a long-standing rift that has left his people divided between rival governments. The Palestinians have been split since Hamas militants overran the Gaza Strip in 2007. Hamas controls Gaza, while Abbas' Palestinian Authority governs in the West Bank. Abbas, on a state visit to Austria, had mentioned May before as the likely month for the vote, but Monday was the first time he set a specific date.

RAMALLAH, West Bank - Jordan's King Abdullah II paid a rare visit to the West Bank on Monday to show support for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, as the two moderate leaders try to engage with previously shunned Islamists now on the rise in the region. Abbas is holding power-sharing talks later this week with Khaled Mashaal, the top leader of the rival Islamic Hamas. The two will try to end a bitter split caused by Hamas' violent takeover of Gaza in 2007 that left Abbas' government in control only of the West Bank.

UNITED NATIONS - Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas strongly suggested Saturday that he would reject a peacemaking blueprint put forward by international mediators, saying he would not agree to any proposal that disregarded Palestinian conditions for the resumption of peace talks. Abbas, who returned to the West Bank on Saturday after submitting a statehood bid at the United Nations a day earlier, told reporters accompanying him that he was still studying the proposal by the peacemaking quartet - the United States, European Union, United Nations, and Russia.

UNITED NATIONS - Scrambling to head off a U.N. showdown, the United States warned world leaders Wednesday that trying to create a Palestinian nation by simple decree instead of through hard negotiations was bound to fail as a shortcut to peace with Israel. Europeans worked to defuse the dispute, too, with France urging new talks within a month. Undeterred, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas pressed toward a formal bid for U.N. recognition that could bring the issue to a head Friday.

NEW YORK - Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas reaffirmed his determination Monday to seek full U.N. membership, spurning the latest attempt by White House negotiators to avoid having to block the move, which could inflame anti-American anger in the Middle East. With the Obama administration having sided with Israel in pledging to veto the Palestinian statehood bid, mediators from the United States, Europe, Russia, and the United Nations worked feverishly in closed-door meetings to find a formula to restart long-stalled Israeli-Palestinian talks and prevent a confrontation this week that could plunge the region deeper into turmoil.

CAIRO - Fifteen Palestinian factions, including extremist Islamic groups, endorsed a reconciliation deal Tuesday meant to end a four-year rift between the two major Palestinian political movements, Hamas and Fatah. The declaration paved the way for the two groups to sign the deal Wednesday, then form a unity caretaker government to prepare for national elections next year. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a last-minute appeal to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to cancel the impending deal, which he called a "hard blow to the peace process.

RAMALLAH, West Bank - Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas offered Wednesday to form a government jointly with his bitter rival, Hamas, in an effort to satisfy demands by Palestinian demonstrators for reconciliation between the two factions. The Western-backed Abbas also offered to go to the Gaza Strip, which he has not visited since the extremist Islamist group overran his forces in 2007 and left his Palestinian Authority in control only of the West Bank. Tens of thousands of Palestinians have held demonstrations, inspired by the pro-democracy uprisings across the Middle East, urging the two sets of political leadership to compose their differences, which they believe would remove a key hurdle to establishing an independent state.

Pricey Dickens toothpick: $9,150 How much would you pay for Charles Dickens' toothpick? Try $9,150. That's what an anonymous bidder paid yesterday for an ivory and gold toothpick that belonged to the great writer. The tiny utensil, which bears Dickens' initials, was put on sale yesterday at Bonhams New York (www.bonhams.com/newyork). The object came with an authentication letter from Dickens' sister-in-law Georgina Hogarth that says he used the toothpick "when traveling and on his last visit to America.

WHAT'S on your iPod? It's a great way to get a quick snapshot of somebody's cultural temperature and political leanings. Bach or Beck? Franz Schubert or Franz Ferdinand? Moby or Toby Keith? Tell me, and I can size you up . . . in an iPod-nanosecond. Show me a guy whose playlist is weighted with Rascal Flatts and Vince Gill, and I think can predict his choice for president. And I'd wager that the guy who has downloaded the entire Jay-Z catalog is not likely to be ga-ga for Sarah.