PRE-PRODUCTION UPDATE 6

Yo Music Lovers!

Another week in paradise has gone by, and I’m sitting with all suitcases packed, waiting for the cab to take me to the airport.

IT IS TIME TO MOVE TO MALMÖ!!!!!

And, as all you true geeks know, now it’s the time when I’ll go over to daily updates, unless I get trapped in a really dodgy bar way too late, if so, there might be a day skipped. Not saying it will happen, just giving you a heads up of the danger with Eurovision Song Contest!

Keep in mind that the daily updates will be done with a 24 hour delay. So, what happens tomorrow will be posted on Tuesday, and so on.

Lets get busy with some SCHLAGER!

Before we could finalize Eurovision, most of us had to go out on the Melodifestivalen tour. On paper, this was a great idea, in real life, not fantastic. But thanks to our Project Manager Maria Ilstedt, who is the blonde hottie who is the only one looking into the camera, we had a BLAST on daily basis. It’s a true honor going on tour with what is best described as ¨Sweden’s Finest.¨

Henric von Zweigberk ladies and gentlemen. Our legendary floor manager, dressed as ……………….Yohio???????

I’ve worked with many, many great floor managers in my days, but there is only ONE Henric! Of course he is joining us in Malmö as well, for his 7th Eurovision Song Contest! Great to have you back on board my friend. Henric is representing the modesty and silence in the production…………….. 🙂

The tour started with a week in Karlskrona, then we moved on to Gothenburg, before we landed in Skellefteå, where Fredrik found a pink muppet hat with the official logotype. Some people are just too easy to please!

And I found a pink Adidas shirt that went VERY well with my pee yellow jacket, my puke blue pants, and my AYFKM purple neon shoes.

Now, why would a tall handsome, perfectly normal guy like me dress up this silly, and wear the outfit, IN viewing room all day?

Maybe the reason was that I wanted to send a message to Bagdad Bob that it is NOT cool to wear adidas outfits on a regular basis! Bagdad Bob’s real name is Rennie Mirro, and he is our contribution producer. Besides being an awfully talented person, he is fun like shit, can I say shit in here? Well… I just did……. He is also a Eurovision Winner, since he was the choreographer for Azerbaijan in D-dorf back in 2011, and that is why we sometimes, when the sun is in zenith, and we are feeling extra mean, call him Bagdad Bob! Clear as sausage broth! Oh yeah! I almost forgot, he is also half brother to

And sometimes, when this happens………..

Next day, this happens. Still in an Adidas uniform………….

But most of us behave while out on tour. Like me and Christer for example. Always being the role models for the rest of the crew.

As you all know, brown is the color of love, and blue is the color of innocence!

Every now and then, especially on Thursdays, we also make sure that we get our proper vitamins, drinking herb exracts and stuff, just to make sure that we feel like a million dollars next morning.

If you ever come to Sweden, this is a MUST to try! MOSBRICKA! It’s a slab of mashed potatoes with a grilled sausage on top with ketchup and mustard. Some green salad (just for decoration) deep fried onions, and shrimp salad! HEAVEN! 5 weeks prior to the tour, I told Jessica Sangre’, our catering coordinator, that I had a mosbricka in my contract with SVT, and it should be delivered at 6PM every Friday. The scam lasted four weeks. Priceless!

I don’t get it! Is the production office inside the men’s room? I need to have a serious talk with the guy responsible for signage, since he will also do it on Eurovision.

So, herb extracts on Thursdays, Mosbricka on Fridays, and live broadcast on Saturdays. What we do on Wednesdays? Sport of course!

Every city we go to, we (the crew) play hockey on Wednesday evenings. Well……. it’s like hockey, only slower! As a SVT employee, I’m not allowed to play, so don’t tell anyone I’m breaking the law on Wednesdays…………

And who better to have as our referee then our Head Rigger Sören Durango. At least I thought so, but after blowing the whistle on me four times for off side, I think he blows. But for some odd reason, I still hired him as a Production Coordinator for Eurovision.Then again, by doing so, I set up the perfect trap for revenge!

Holy C! It’s time to run to the airport! See you on Tuesday!

Joan