The colourful all girl group Nonstop were back rehearsing on stage this afternoon. Like several of the other performers, the second rehearsal was an improvement on the first rehearsal, and it received a rapturous applause from the Portuguese fans present in the hall.

The four girls appeared at the nearby press conference centre shortly afterwards to answer questions from fans and journalists, accompanied by one of the composers. He was particularly keen to promote his country, and proceeded to give a list of famous Portuguese singers, including Sara Tavares and Dulce Pontes, before going onto Portuguese footballers, and athletes.

Then it was time to get on with some questions. The first concerned the Popstars phenomena that is going on successfully around the world. What was it like forthem? It had beengreat, of course they had been a lot younger then, but it was always their dream to be singers and it was their first professional experience, so it was really good for them.

Inevitably it was pointed out that Portugal has never made the top five in the contest, never mind winning, why did they think this had been the case, did RTP want them to win,and what does Eurovision mean to the younger people in Portugal. They assured the audience that Portuguese television wants them to win, and of course so do the group. Maybe Portugal just "wasn't that lucky, but there is always a first time for everything", they wish change the attitude of the people in Portugal towards the contest, it used to be a muchstronger than now, but they hoped to change that.

What did they expect the contest to do for their careers? Perhaps to improve the idea that in girl groups, maybe only one person or maybe even no one in a group can sing. They had been fighting that notion for about five years, and want to show they can sing live, that they believe in their work and make a career internationally, and make the world know about the work and voices of Nonstop.

As a group, did they ever have disagreements? Of course, as they had been together for five years, as does anyone after that time, but in the end they loved each other and any disagreements were minor. "We are Nonstop..and we hope not to stop!"

That concluded the press conference, which had also featured the presentation by OGAE Greece. The group members had also sung briefly a couple of their songs from their album. There was also good luck wishes from the moderator and a photo session.