The first rehearsals for the final of Melodifestivalen 2005 took place yesterday in the Globen Arena in Stockholm. It was Martin Stenmarck, Alcazar and Nanne who impressed the press and media most. Tomorrow, Alcazar will make their appearance in other suits and dresses than those from their semifinal performance.
Huge media attention
The interest was huge when the first rehearsals started yesterday. The international interest for the Swedish national final has grown. Not only the Swedish media was present. In the press centre at Globen, several European languages could be heard. Among the national and international press present are three of our esctoday.com editors.
The day started with all finalists giving a joint press conference. Everyone then had 30 minutes to rehearse their act, in Saturday's Melodifestivalen 2005 final running order. The 10 finalists weren't wearing their outfits for Saturday yet. Several artists nevertheless told esctoday.com that they will be wearing completely different outfits from the ones we have seen in the semifinal.
Change of outfits
Among those going for another dress is last year's runner-up Shirley Clamp. The Swedish press had a lot of comments about the way her breasts attracted all attention in her semifinal dress. “My breasts will not be so striking on Saturday as last time, but other parts of my body will be more visible instead,” was Shirley�s comment on her wardrobe changes. Also Alcazar will go for other outfits tomorrow. Magnus, Andreas, Tess and Annikafiore will be dressed in white outfits instead of the futuristic clothes they were wearing in the first semifinal.
Martin Stenmarck and Nanne Grönvall
Concerns had popped up about Martin Stenmarck's health. According to Swedish newspaper Expressen he had a serious flu and therefore he wouldn't be able to sing. Nevertheless Martin showed the media that he wasn't sick at all, delivering a stunning performance of his song Las Vegas at the rehearsals.
The last one to rehearse was Nanne, who's named as the favourite more and more each day. Nanne gave an energetic performance as if the final was already taking place. The media present in the hall agreed: Nanne Grönvall is the one to beat in the final of Melodifestivalen 2005.
Pay-TV comments
The girls from Pay-TV, participants in the first semifinal with the song Refrain, refrain, were present too. The girls are making expert comments about all entries for a Swedish radio channel. Their personal favourites are Alcazar. On the other hand they are very confident of the fact that the majority of Swedish televoters will not be voting for them.
Pay-TV also expressed their disappointment about how traditional the style of the songs has become in the line-up for the final, even though the semifinals had several songs in many different styles. “Sweden will probably again send a song with the traditional ABBA sound to the Eurovision Song Contest this year,” they told esctoday.com.
Tonight the first dress rehearsal with audience takes place. The final of Melodifestivalen 2005 takes place tomorrow and will be streamed live over the internet.
