Germany's Roger Cicero takes the simple stage and converts it into a big band swing hall.

Again. Cicero leaves very little to write about. He brings no big surprises, but he stands on stage and does well what he does well. He belts out a swinging tune.

There is a grand piano on stage (and keeping with the theme of no surprises no ballerina pops out of it). The other members of the swing band use the space on the stage well – so that it appears grander then it has for other acts.

When the rehearsal begins a group of German fans nearby in the hall stand up to scream and wave large flags. Were the German fans always so nationalistic? We're thinking they've become prouder of their colours since they hosted last year's World Cup.

The Germans experiment with backgrounds as well. In the end they seem to settle on a starry field which suits the song. Our big concern is that Roger is really belting itout in rehearsal, but we trust he saves enough for Saturday night when it really matters.

And yes. As reported a few weeks ago, Cicero performs the final refrain in English – giving the song a nice Save all your kisses for me-style final tag.

Press conference

Cicerowas confrontedfor changing the last refrainto English but he defended himself by telling that the international audience has to understand the lyrics, at least a litte bit. "For my feeling it's not bilingual, it's just 10% of the song but it felt good to sing the last chorus in English." He added that this song is about his life as 'women rule his world' since he was young. "I always sing my songs for the women I like."

The Head of the Delegation said that this is their 25th anniversary of the last German victory and they think Cicero is the perfect singer to repeat that. "I really concentrate on my performance on Saturday and I'm not thinking more ahead. Winning the German final was already a victory for me," Cicero added. The press conference was ended by him singing his entry followed by a big applause from the people attending the press conference.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LawPgoCk7nY