Sweden: Eric Saade breaks the glass!

Eric and his elaborate dance-routine

The differences in the Swedish rehearsals today compared to the first try-outs several days ago were minimal. Eric and his three dancers and two backing singers deliver a spectacular show with a lot of speed. Synchronised dancing was used during big parts of the song, and the chemistry among the Swedish team looked very good.

As for the vocals, Eric seemed to save his voice for the big night. "I have sung the song so many times, so I know what to do" was what he said when Eurovision.tv talked to him.

On stage today, Eric changed his black jacket to a dark red one, while his backing group was still in black.

Compared to the first rehearsal, the special effect with breaking glass at the climax of the song was tried out today, which looked extremely spectatular on stage.

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Backstage with Eric

The special effect of the breaking glass has been causing the Swedish delegation a headache. It's carried out by the organisation in Düsseldorf, who hasn't got it to work properly until in a special, extra rehearsal yesterday.

"It didn't work on the first rehearsal, and it's important in one way, even though the song and performance is the most important part. But we did it yesterday, and I'm relieved that it works now," says Eric Saade.

The rehearsal in the evening of Friday didn't include singing and was a compensation for the mistake from the hosts.

"It was just for the glass to make sure that it works. Today, we have a real rehearsal with viewing room, and we wanted to know that we got to see the glass working there."

"I'm kind of tired, I need to sing a bit before I go onto the stage," he admitted.

Fredrik Kempe is the songwriter of Popular. He has a magnificent track record in making it to the Eurovision Song Contest.

"It's my fourth year in a row, so it's great fun. Someone said that it's just me and Ralph Siegel that has had songs four years straight. It's a difficult selection process in Sweden, so I don't know what I do to get this kind of success," Fredrik says.

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The press conference

Last year Eric Saade announced the Swedish votes at the Eurovision Song Contest and this year he's performing for Sweden., so what could he do next year? The Swedish head of delegation, and former Swedish participant Christer Björkman in 1992, replies: "All you have to do is win for us!"

Being one of the favourites it was clear that his press conference would be well attended, but Eric was shocked when he entered the press conference room. "I didn't expect the crowd". Still they are cautious about their chances, as last year they didn't even made it to the final, so for the Swedish delegation that's the main concern right now.

Much attention was given to the problems caused by the breakage of the glass cage. First he stated that he took the inspiration from a Jonas Brothers' performance and then Björkman explained that when they moved the cage to the stage, some wires that cause the explosion moved a little bit and that's why it didn't break. What if the glass doesn't break after all? "I'm gonna be so angry then that I will kick it down!"

Eric Saade's girlfriend, Molly Sandén, also represented Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest, it was at the Junior edition in 2006 and she came 3rd. Molly gave him some advice? "No, not really, we do different things and the rest is private".

A Lithuanian journalist then awarded Eric with a trophy for already being #1 in the Lithuanian charts.

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