In less than three weeks time, Edsilia Rombley will take the stage for the second time in the Eurovision Song Contest. In 1998 she achieved a fourth place in Birmingham in the Eurovision final. On May 10th, her goal is to reach this year�s final. Edsilia talked exclusively to esctoday.com and our Dutch partner website eurovisionartists.nl about her preparations for Helsinki.

First of all, Edsilia, how are you doing? Are you ready for Helsinki?
I am doing great. I am very busy with the preparations for the Eurovision Song Contest and I am really looking forward to it. I am so excited! This semi final is really important. I'll do my best to get through that.

Nowadays, you really have to catch the eye and ear of the European televoter in order to make it to the final. You have a good song and a great voice but that isn't sufficient. Your stage-act will be very important as well. What will the act be like?
Well, we will put up a real show without too much hoo-ha. I don't want to reveal everything about the show yet but I will be accompanied by four girls who will sing and dance (Martine Hauwert, Merel Schaftenaar, Charida Jonkhart and Thirza Solcer) and by a male dancer (Bram Blankestijn) as well. On May 10th, you will all know how it will look like.

Did you think up the choreography yourself?
No, I didn't. The choreography was done by Gerald van Windt who teaches dance classes at Moves (in Focus in Amsterdam). He knows much more about choreography than I do, he is very good at it.

Another important thing is your appearance. What will you be wearing?
My clothes, I did think up myself! In 1998 the clothes were chosen by somebody from the NOS and I wasn't very happy about that choice so I really wanted to do it myself this time. I talked to several designers who made drawings for me in several styles. Eventually I picked a drawing made by Tycho Boeker, who than made the clothing to measure. But I won't tell you what it is going to be like, it is a secret (but isn't that always the case?).

Have you heard the songs from your competitors yet? What do you think about them, who are your favourites?
Yes, I heard all of the 41 other songs and I especially liked the songs from Hungary, Belgium and Russia. I am not sure if these songs are in the final already but I am sure that they will do well. For the rest, I heard so many songs that I already forgot about most of them. But that is okay, I think that I should focus on my own song and performance. If I perform well, I think that I will have a chance of going through to the final on Saturday.

What will happen to you after May 12th?
No matter what the result will be in Helsinki, I will go on promoting my new Dutch album, Meer dan ooit. I have a lot of performances scheduled for the period after the Eurovision Song Contest so I will be very busy no matter what happens.

Edsilia, on behalf of the visitors of ectoday and eurovisionartists.nl, I would like to both thank you for this interview and wish you good luck in Helsinki!
Thank you very much! I will do my utmost and I hope that people all around Europe will appreciate that.