Sweden's Robin Bengtsson back up on the treadmill

Sweden’s Robin Bengtsson landed in Kyiv last night and barely had the change to settle down before he had to head out to the International Exhibition Centre for his first on-stage rehearsal. His treadmills have already been around for quite some time — they traveled from Sweden a month ago, which means that Robin has only been able to practice one time since his winning performance in Melodifestivalen. "I hope I will remember everything," Robin said before taking the stage this morning.

Busy schedule

Sweden's hopeful only had three days off since he won Melodifestivalen in mid-March. For the past few weeks, Robin Bengtsson has been traveling to attended four Eurovision pre-parties around Europe, as well as several gigs in Sweden. "That has been my way of preparing. I haven't been rehearsing so much on the performance itself," Robin said to Eurovision.tv.

Check out our photo gallery of Robin's first rehearsal:

Robin: "It's a cool act"

Sweden's acts hasn't changed much since his winning national final performance, which is exactly the way Robin Bengtsson wants it. Two dancers have been replaced; Alvaro Estrella and Patrik Riber, who both participated in the Eurovision Song Contest before, joined Lamin Holmén and Kevin Foo, who also accompanied Robin in Melodifestivalen.

"I think it’s a cool act. Something that we haven’t seen in Eurovision before and it really works with the song. My favorite part in the act is the backstage bit, although I also love the treadmills."

The act is mainly the same but some things have changed. from the original performance. To start with, two of the dancers have been replaced. This because of some rules that apply in the Melodifestivalen but does not work in Eurovision Song Contest. The two new dancers are Alvaro Estrella and Patrik Riber, both of whom have participated in Eurovision Song Contest earlier. Lamin Holmén and Kevin Foo is the other two dancers, who were Robin’s dancers in Melodifestivalen. "I feel very comfortable with all four of them," Robin says.

Other minor changes have been made to the graphics, colour setting, clothes. For practical reasons, the backstage part of the choreography is on the side of the stage instead of behind it.

Mission: Top-five

"It was a lot to take in with a new stage and camera angels. But I think it went well," Robin evaluated his own rehearsal. He will get another chance to rehearse on Thursday, and then compete on the 9th of May during the first Semi-Final. His mission: To reach the Grand Final and make it to the top-five. Just like last year's contestant Frans, who actually came fifth in the 2016 Grand Final.