Apocalyptica, who will perform as the interval act in this year's Eurovision Song Contest final, had a chance to speak to the press today and answer questions about their participation in the show.

Thegroup isbilled as"the band which bridged the chasm between Shostakovich and Metallica", and theirmusic is characterised bya metal backbone fleshed out with rich classical elements. Eicca Toppinen andthe other band members have beenasked to perform an eight-minute medley at thefinal tomorrow, blendingmetal with orchestral magic,featuring old classics and tracks from theirforthcoming album.

Apocalyptica have a tradition of collaboration with other artists, and were asked about their favourite perfortmersat the press conference. Eicca Toppinen replied "It's impossible to name our favourite artists. But for the new album, there will be loads of international names. We've recorded around twenty songs with different people, for example, Slipknot's frontman. Out of these twenty, about ten songs will make it to the final album. But we were really glad to get singers we appreciate on board, and are confident that in the future we will get more people to work with us."

Would the band ever consider entering the contest itself? "Russia asked us a couple of years ago! But we didn't feel it was right. We wouldn't really be interested, as we've toured a lot over the years and already have a lot of fans in different countries. Participating in a contest like this wouldn't bring anything new to the picture, especially since we don't have a regular singer. We don't really see a point in competing, as we'd maybe lose if we did!"

"We have a strong connection to Russia, and lots of territories outside Europe. Every one of these cooperations takes a lot of time, and often schedule prevents those things from happening."

The band was asked to compare itself to other powerful Eurovision interval acts from the history of the contest, particular the 1994 Irish extravaganza. "I didn't realise Riverdance was in Eurovision!" admitted Eicca."At the time, that was something really new and fresh. It's great to take part in the contest as the interval act."

The band continue to work around a heavy schedule, which Eurovision forms just a little part of this year. "We have about fifty, mainly European concert dates booked for later this year after the album is released" explained the band, and after tomorrow night, there may well be a whole group of new fans ready to attend in person.

For more information about Apocolyptica, click here to visit their website.