esctoday.com was invited to join this year's Georgian representative, Sofia Nizharadze, on her social trip. Sofia visited the Sandviksbukta skole, a practical primary school for children who don't fit well into a regular school system. Sofia received a warm welcome, whereafter she was invited by the students to join them for a boattrip on Vestfjarden lake. Right after, the Georgian hopeful was treated on a little lunch with homemade Norwegian waffles. Of course, Sofia took some time to talk to esctoday.com as well.

Sofia told us she was having a great time in Oslo, although she wasn't feeling well. ' I only slept for three hours last night, so I really should catch some extra hours this afternoon. I'm not complaining though, the people in Oslo are very friendly, we're having great weather and my first rehearsal went just fine'.

Sofia will dance as well during her performance of Shine. Sofia: 'It was hard for me when we started the first rehearsals, but I got used to it now. Of course I had to make sure to be in great physical shape, but I guess I'm well prepared. My good friend Redmit Bentifour is responsible for the choreography. We already worked together in 2004 when I played the role of Juliet in the musical Romeo and Juliet; I really wanted him to do the choreography, so I was delighted when he said yes!'

The cheerful Georgian singer also told us about her goals and expectations: 'For me the most important thing is to show what I want to say; I just want to pull off a great show. I want to make the Georgian people proud, as they demand a high quality performance. Unfortunately, we didn't participate in last year's contest so we're all very excited that we're back again. The Georgian people consider this as a comeback at the Eurovision Song Contest and I don't want to disappoint them. Even former representatives Diana Gurtskaya and Sopho wished me luck, so I can only say everybody is crossing fingers this year.'

We asked Sofia about her plans for the nearby future. Sofia: ' Right after the contest I will finish my 2nd album. I just finished some new songs andall 6 songs from the national final will be on it as well of course.Besides that, I will do some concerts abroad as well. I received some invitations from Turkey and Cyprus already and I'm really looking forward to it.'

Sofia also told us about her personal favorites in this year's contest: 'I really like Norway, because Didrik has an amazing voice. My other favorites are Turkey, Moldova and Denmark', Sofia concludes.