Thank you for the Music, Sweden

Most people identify Sweden's music with 70s sensation ABBA, yet what lies unknown is that Swedish musics speaks through many international artists's chart successes nowadays.

Swedish talents have topped the charts all around the world regardless of music genre. For instance, you will find Avicii (dance), Robyn (pop), Ann Sofie von Otter (opera), In Flames (metal), E.S.T. or Esbjörn Svensson Trop (jazz) and The Hives (rock).

These days we hear Swedish House Mafia's single Don't You Worry Child playing on the radio more often than not, we watch its music video playing over and over on TV, and unfortunately we put up with our colleagues' irritating voices and their painful attempt at fame while singing the catchy tune and trying their luck.

But... is there a reason why Swedish House Mafia was the first electronic dance act to sell out (or even play) the iconic Madison Square Garden in New York City in December 2011? Is there a reason for Swedish music to be so successful also outside of the Scandinavian country?

According to Elisabet Widlund, CEO at the association Musiksverige (Music Sweden), the Swedish industry success is a result of the education system to some extent. It starts in early years when you to to school and have access to instruments and music classes. For those who develop an interest as they grow older, there is access to rehearsal rooms, coaching and also a very professional music industry.

However, the main reason for international success of Swedish acts is due to to their own talent and hard work. Swedish society encourages individualism and creativity and independence, Widlund says. We have a lot of potential musicians that are creative and have their own way of expressing themselves.

Sweden has also been successful from behind the scenes. Songwriters and producers like Max Martin, RedOne (Nadir Khayat) and Andreas Carlsson have written hits for the music icons like Britney Spears, Madonna and Céline Dion. Namely, RedOne won a Grammy Award in 2010 for Best Dance Recording for the production of Lady Gaga's megahit Poker Face.

Swedish songwriter Negin Djagari -the one responsible for mega hits in Japan and North America- said that the success of Swedish songwriters has a lot to do with our heritage from folk music. That is what has given us all these strong melodies.

The Hobbit Ring put on Show

One Ring to rule them all. One Ring to find them. One Ring to bring them all, and in the darkness, bind them. Yes, my precious! The ring that may have inspired J.R.R. Tolkien's One Ring - the Ring that features in The Hobbit, the one that triggers the plot and is central to the story in The Lord of the Rings, is on display.

The tales from Middle Earth may have been the result of J.R.R. Tolkien's fascination with a real-life cursed ring story. Accordingly, The Lord of the Rings author was researching the story of the curse of a Roman ring for two years before writing Bilbo Baggins tale.

A very odd gold ring glitters on a revolving stand in what was once the housekeeper's office of a Tudor mansion in Hampshire. In chapter five of The Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins finds a ring in the darkness of Gollum's cave. This ring was exceptional. One very beautiful thing, very beautiful, very wonderful. He had a ring, a golden ring, a precious ring.

A new exhibition at The Vyne explores the possibility that a Roman ring found at an archeological site in Silchester inspired Tolkien to write The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

There's more to the story than the ring: an iron/age site with ancient mine workings known as the Dwarf's Hill, a Roman tablet inscribed with a curse on the man who stole it, and a strong link to Tolkien himself.

Tolkien was a professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford and he certainly knew the story of the curse and the ring. Two years before he began work on The Hobbit, Tolkien was researching the subject on the Roman Ring.

The ring is now on display with a first edition of The Hobbit and a copy of the curse. The exhibition also contains memorabilia from The Tolkien's Society's own archive, children's resources and dressing up clothes.

Venice's Top 5 Events

A city like no other... Venice is a water world, a paradoxical yet harmonic symbiosis of architecture and water. Instead of cars and roads, this European romantic city has canals, gondolas and vaporetti (water buses).

Undeniable, Venice is unique and its events are extraordinary in their own way. Here are a the top events you don't want to miss to travel to this Italian city.

1) Carnevale: The Carnival of Venice is an annual festival famous for its distinctive masks and elaborate costumes. The ribaldry lasts 10 days and it ends with Lent, forty days before Easter on Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday.

2) Venice Biennale: a major contemporary art exhibition of international visual arts staged every odd-numbered year from June to November. This year the Venice Biennale International Art Exhibition celebrates its 55th anniversary from 1June to 24 November. The artistic director is Massimiliano Gioni and the title of the exhibition is The Encyclopedic Palace

3) Festa del Redentore: is held on the third weekend in July. The festival's popularity among Venetians is due to its combination of a religious theme with a spectacular celebration that attracts thousands of visitors. Lights and fire paint the city with splendid bright colours. At dusk, the centennial tradition continues and several small boats decked out with balloons, decorations and brigthly coloured lanters, beging to flock into St. Mark's Bay and the Giudecca Canal. The festivities climax with a spectacular fireworks display that lights up the spires, domes and bell towers of the city. This year, the festival starts on Saturday -July20th- with the opening of the Thanksgiving Bridge, connecting the Zattere to the Church of the Redentore on the island of Giudecca. The fireworks will take place at 11.30pm in St. Mark's Bay. The festival ends on on July 21st with the Redetore Regattas in the Giudecca channel.

4) Regata Storica: costumed parades precede gondola races on the Grand Canal. These are held on the first Sunday in September.

5) Palio delle Quattro Rupubbliche Marinare: Venice, Amalfe, Genoa and Pisa take turns to host this historic regatta. It will take place in Venice in 2015 in late May to June.

London's Top Current Productions

1) The Book of Mormom: is a religious satire written by South Parks' creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, and Avenue Q's co-writer and co-composer Robert Lopez. It tells the story of two Mormon missionaries who move to a dangerous region in Uganda to spread's God's word. The musical opened on Broadway in March 2011 and has been acclaimed by both critics and audiences. The production has received numerous theatre awards including nine Tony Awards, one of which was for Best Musical, and the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album. It is now playing in London at Prince of Wales Theatre and runs until 11 January 2014. It is a must-see production full of life, with hilarious scenes,

2) Mies Julie: is an explosively sexual adaptation of August Strindberg's Miss Julie in the remote, black beauty of the Easter Cape Karoo. The production is set in post-apartheid South Africa and tells the story of love, lust and social tension. It runs in Riverside Studios until May 19.

3) Old Times: a revival of Harold Pinter's 1971 play Old Times, directed by Ian Rickson. Kristin Scott Thomas, Lia Willians and Rufus Sewell star in the production, which runs in Harold Pinter Theatre until April 6.

4) The Man Who Plays the Piper: GB Stern's 1931 play tells the story of 18-year old Daryll Fairley, who announces her determination to be financially independent. A decade passes by and Daryll has the power to vote, a thriving creative business, a faithful boyfriend, yet she wonders if she is satisfied with her life. A play that tells about female liberation. It runs in Orange Tree Theatre until April 13.

5) Macbeth: BAFTA winning and Olivier and Golden Globe nominated actor James McAvoy stars in Macbeth, Jamie Lloyd's post-apocalyptic production. It plays in Trafalgar Studies until April 27.