Sweden braces for Melodifestivalen final
Swedes around the country are readying for Saturday night's Melodifestivalen finale in Stockholm, where the nation will decide which act will represent Sweden at the Eurovision finals in Malmö in May.
The Melodifestivalen final is one of the biggest nights in Swedish television. Each of the past five heats has had at least 3.2 million viewers, in a country with a population still shy of 10 million.
On Saturday night, at least a third of the country are expected to tune in to SVT at 8pm to see the ten best acts from the past five weeks going head to head in one final extravaganza.
IN PICTURES: Click here to see the ten acts to hit the stage on Saturday night
Favourites include Yohio, the cross-dressing teenage boy who sings Heartbreak Hotel with his rock/pop band Seremedy.
"I'm a bit scared people will think I'm going to win and then forget to vote for me," he told the Metro newspaper on Friday.
He topped a social media survey carried out by the paper, with Ralf Gyllenhammar and his Bed On Fire rock ballad coming in close behind.
Another entrant, Sean Banan, has also caused a stir this week as a favourite of a different kind.
The singer, whose act is a tongue-in-cheek comedy number full of costumes and colour, topped a poll carried out by Swedish dating site Victoria Milan asking "Which Melodifestivalen singer would you most like to have an affair with?"
The rest of the 2013 playlist, meanwhile, is vastly dominated by male groups and singers, with only one female singer in the line-up - Louise Hoffsten, singing Only The Dead Fish Follow The Stream.
The Local/og
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The Melodifestivalen final is one of the biggest nights in Swedish television. Each of the past five heats has had at least 3.2 million viewers, in a country with a population still shy of 10 million.
On Saturday night, at least a third of the country are expected to tune in to SVT at 8pm to see the ten best acts from the past five weeks going head to head in one final extravaganza.
IN PICTURES: Click here to see the ten acts to hit the stage on Saturday night
Favourites include Yohio, the cross-dressing teenage boy who sings Heartbreak Hotel with his rock/pop band Seremedy.
"I'm a bit scared people will think I'm going to win and then forget to vote for me," he told the Metro newspaper on Friday.
He topped a social media survey carried out by the paper, with Ralf Gyllenhammar and his Bed On Fire rock ballad coming in close behind.
Another entrant, Sean Banan, has also caused a stir this week as a favourite of a different kind.
The singer, whose act is a tongue-in-cheek comedy number full of costumes and colour, topped a poll carried out by Swedish dating site Victoria Milan asking "Which Melodifestivalen singer would you most like to have an affair with?"
The rest of the 2013 playlist, meanwhile, is vastly dominated by male groups and singers, with only one female singer in the line-up - Louise Hoffsten, singing Only The Dead Fish Follow The Stream.
The Local/og
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