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EUROVISION

Stockholm mayor jumps at Eurovision chance

The mayor of Stockholm has jumped at the possibility of hosting next year’s Eurovision in Stockholm, claiming that the financial benefits are obvious for the entire local tourism industry.

Stockholm mayor jumps at Eurovision chance

When Eurovision-mania comes to town, it’s a lucrative possibility for both politicians and business people.

After Loreen’s victory on Sunday night, Stockholm’s mayor Sten Nordin made an effort to ensure the capital city would host the event in 2013.

“Welcome to Stockholm 2013,” he wrote in a press release, also noting that the city had reserved 3,000 hotel rooms “according to EBU’s prerequisites”, wrote the TT news agency.

“Our experience is that these types of events are profitable for the city’s tourism industry, especially in the long run. We’ve seen this with the Crown Princess’s wedding. People became curious about Stockholm after seeing pictures of the wedding and we’re still seeing the effects of it now,” said Nordin to TT.

While it’s difficult to say how much the event would earn for the city, research indicates that Stockholm pulled in 77 million kronor ($10.8 million) when the Globe theatre hosted Eurovision in 2000.

Comparatively, the tourist economic turnover after the royal wedding made some 713 million kronor for Stockholm.

While business professor Tommy D Andersson points to Norway’s winter Olympics in 1994 as an example of a financial disaster for the event organizers, he explained that sometimes the public can react positively nonetheless, which can make the event worthwhile.

“A politician’s job is also about enhancing the population’s quality of life and make sure people think that life’s fun in general,” he told TT.

TT/The Local/og

twitter.com/thelocalsweden

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EUROVISION

Sweden among favourites after leaping through to Eurovision final

Cornelia Jakobs, Sweden's entry to the Eurovision Song Contest, burst into tears and jumped onto presenter Mario Acampas, after shooting through to the final on Thursday night.

Sweden among favourites after leaping through to Eurovision final

Jakobs was emotional at the press conference after her victory, telling the story of her progress from an “largely unknown” indie artist to the Eurovision stage. 

“There are a lot of feelings right now in this little body, an extremely large amount of feelings that can’t really fit in, so they’re exploding,” she said, before beginning to cry. “But I’m so happy and overwhelmed by all the support I’ve got from all these fantastic countries.” 

When the time came to pick lots for which half of the final she would appear in, she leapt onto Mario Acampas, the presenter asking questions at the press conference, wrapping her legs around his waist and clasping herself tightly to his torso. 

He then walked her over to the bowl where the lots were lying. 

“I want you to choose the second half,” she said to him. “Imagine that I have a pistol here and on the count of three I’m going to shoot you if you don’t choose.”

He refused to pick for her so she took one herself and got the second half. 

Jakobs, with her song, “Hold me closer”, was the clear favourite to go into the final, and will go through alongside Finland’s The Rasmus, and his song Jezebel, Serbia’s Konstrakta with “In corpore sano”, as well as entries from Belgium, Czechia, Azerbaijan, Poland, Estonia, Australia, and Romania. 

You can see her performance on Thursday in the video below. 

In the final, she will meet the other favourites, which include Ukraine, Italy, and the United Kingdom. 

The final will be shown on Sweden’s state broadcaster SVT at 9pm on Saturday. 

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