She’s the Swedish diva who scored a Eurovision victory in 1991 with a song about a storm wind. But at a recent show, Carola found herself having an uncomfortable encounter with another element, when her dress caught fire from a hot stage light.
Carola was performing as part of her Naked: An Acoustic Hits Concert tour, in which she performs stripped-down acoustic versions of her songbook classics.
Carola shared a video of the dramatic moment on Instagram, which shows how the incident unfolded. She begins singing her Eurovision hit “Fångad av en stormvind”, seated near a bright stage light. As the song unfolds, light smoke can be seen at the foot of the stage, looking like a theatrical effect.
But there was no smoke machine to be found. Soon Carola looks down and realises that her long, billowing hot pink dress is starting to smoulder from the intense heat of the footlight. She gasps, stands up and walks away from the source of the trouble.
Being a professional, Carola isn’t about to let a little fire stop her. She continues to sing, while at the same time inspects her dress. After she notices the singed edges, Carola grabs a bottle of water and pours that over her dress, much to the delight of the audience.
Carola explained to Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet how she came to be sitting so close to the hot light. “[The footlights] were not in the place they usually are. It was both the first and last time that I didn’t double check everything before a concert,” she said.
Carola also revealed that while it was a scary moment, she reacted “quickly and instinctively”. She explained, “Lucky for me I found some water on stage so I could both extinguish and continue the concert.”
While the dress looks a little worse for wear, Carola is hopeful that it can be salvaged for her remaining tour dates. She said, “We will give it some love and hopefully it will be possible to save it by cutting off the burnt areas and sewing it together temporarily.”
The dress has been a feature of Carola’s summer shows. The chiffon gown was designed by Carola and the Swedish costume designer Margaretha Julle and includes 15 metres of fabric imported from England.
Carola’s Instagram features many recent photos of the dress in action. The gown was designed to look dramatic while flying in the wind — important for the queen of the wind machine — but sadly it was no match for fire.
Carola vs. the glass coffee table
This isn’t the first time Carola has faced peril in one of her live performances. In 2015, while performing on a Swedish entertainment show, Carola had an encounter with a glass coffee table.
While delivering a particularly impassioned performance of her hit song “Sanna vänner”, she decided to jump atop the table. However, the beleaguered item of furniture was having none of it and gave way under her weight. BAM!
But — as we’ve come to expect from Carola — she didn’t let that stop her and continued like the professional she is.
We wish Carola well with her rest of her Naked tour!
Those men are a shame for the word man.
She also took a flower that was in a flower pot and threw it at the audience while performing on Allsång på Skansen, a couple of years ago. She explained that she had been sick on the night of the performance and taken some medicine which made her “a bit crazy”…
No. And havent you ever done mistakes? Its SOOOO long ago now. Get over it
What a legend!
There were two men with her on stage, and they had no reaction. This is not decent or professional. Be a gentleman when it counts.
I think there’s some kind of Carola curse going on.
In 1983 her microphone didn’t work at first (much like for Laura in 2017).
In 1991 due to technical issues the audience in the studio couldn’t hear her performance.
In 2006 she had to cope with a severe throat infection, which made her lower her vocals for the last stanza.
Even as a part of interval act her only role was to be toppled by the wind machine.
Btw, I just LOVE your humour Robyn, now that’s the drama we visit Wiwibloggs for.
She’s the Wile E. Coyote of Eurovision