Martin (13:40)
The Euro Fan Café had already established itself as a fixed part of the Eurovision 2013 party scene, but it’s really starting to come into its own now that non-accredited fans are flooding into Malmö for the shows themselves. Every friendship group consists of both accredited and non-accredited people, and the Fan Café offers a place where they can party together, rather than the more exclusive EuroClub.

Added to that, the entertainment offered by both is largely similar – stage performances and specialist Eurovision DJs every night. Last night was no exception, with the main stage at the Fan Café featuring no fewer than 14 performances from ESC artists, ranging from Roberto Bellarosa (boy, is he growing in confidence!) to Dina Garipova and the omnipresent Albanian duo. In an added bonus, the area outside the back of the Moriskan venue – which opens out right into the middle of Folkets Park – has now started playing Eurovision music itself, offering a separate bar, DJ, tables and a dancefloor under an open-air canopy. We were there until the small hours of the morning, enjoying the outdoors vibe and singing along to Eurovision classics past and present. A stroke of genius, and rather more than the Slagthuset building at Central Station can manage in its guise as EuroClub. Is anyone even still going there?

Thursday is sunny (again!) and our new apartment basically overlooks Folkets Park, so we intend to go exploring and see what randomness we can find. (Before stocking up the fridge for tonight’s semi-final, Hurrah!)

Martin (15:20)
The “Talk Show” series at the Euro Fan Café continued today with Eurovision’s current reigning champion songwriter, Thomas G:son. Although the pleasant weather meant attendance was sparse – I’m typing this from the Moriskan terrace, and I swear it feels like Eurovision Saturday already, what with the number of people milling around in the sunshine – there were plenty of interesting insights from a man who is gradually establishing himself as a bit of a Eurovision legend.

Talk initially (and understandably) focused on “Euphoria”, the song that brought us here. G:son confirmed that it was originally written with Danny Saucedo in mind, but denied that the song was conceived as a hardcore schlager before getting a dance makeover. All the same, he conceded that Loreen’s “realness” brought something very different to the song even if it remained in the same style.

Having brought the contest to Malmö, G:son was full of praise for the host city, and particularly its success in organising the opening party – unlike the “crappy” event in Baku where delegatons had to wait for hours on buses in 30-degree heat.

I hadn’t realised G:son has had 65 national final entries, 11 of them in Spain – he even sings the backing vocals on his Spanish songs despite not speaking a word of the language! Spain is also the scene of his biggest regret: in his view, “En una vida” by Coral is very much the one that got away.

Our friendly host asked G:son how exactly one evolves from a linchpin of the Skövde heavy metal scene – accompanied by a clip of his 1990s hair rock band Masquerade – into someone responsible for writing this:

I liked his answer, which was that metal and schlager have a lot in common in terms of their over-the-top stage routines and melodramatic melodies – plus he dressed Kikki in leather for the occasion, thereby giving the whole thing a “metal crossover” touch. (Kind of.)

The interview concluded by talking about “Waterfall” and the background to his involvement in this year’s Georgian entry. The people responsible at Georgian television contacted him directly, and as well as liking the sound of Sophie and Nodi’s voices, he was attracted by the  opportunity to write a song directly for Eurovision without having to go through a national final.

G:son won’t be making an appearance on backing vocals at tonight’s second semi-final – but we’re sure to see his smiling face and flowing locks in the green room when Georgia qualify for the final, and there could be some douze points moments on Saturday night too!

Martin, Felix & Danny (15:40)
Our on-site contributors had some success in predicting the qualifiers on Tuesday night – although a score of less than 4/10 would have been impossible! – so let’s see how we do when it comes to tonight’s second semi-final. These are the countries we expect to see coming out of the virtual envelopes: