(This article will be updated throughout the day)

0:33 (Felix)

So that was the Welcome Party! It’s not only Melodifestivalen that moved to a bigger venue – the Welcome Party also moved, but to a smaller venue. Rumour has it that Stockholm’s politicians didn’t want to give the City Hall over to an event that’s technically in a different city. The party at Café Opera was more… let’s say intimate than the one in the spacious Stadshuset. Occasionally it was hard to move, especially when you tried to balance your plate *and* your camera through crowds who don’t stand still either, and might move backwards at times… ANYWAY, we spotted nearly all of the contestants. Some  (like Robin Stjernberg) were more “around”, some others seemed more relaxed about everything.

Robin was simply the one with the best mood, does he ever *not* have a big happy smile on his face? I want his serotonin.

Whereas Robin looks a lot younger and more slim in person than on photos and videos, and David Lindgren looks more or less the same, Ulrik Munther looks slightly more grown up:

The buffet offered lots of different delicious food, though it seems the champagne didn’t survive the move from the City Hall to Café Opera.

It was a big pleasure to be at the party, but in the end my lack of sleep was partly responsible for me leaving for home quite early. Watch out for our new rolling blog for Thursday tomorrow, which will feature some news about the rehearsals and more!

19:33 (Felix)

As I’m in the middle of my preparations for the Welcome Party, I had a visit to Friends Arena this afternoon (see below), which was itself in the middle of preparations for tomorrow’s beginning of the rehearsals.

The most interesting prop of the whole final was the centre of my attention:

Ralf Gyllenhammar’s piano – now not on fire

…and as promised earlier, here comes the first video from our Stockholm 2013 coverage, with production leader Sofi Stridh talking about the advantages of Friends Arena, and the technician behind the show introducing us to the burning piano.

That’s all for now. I’m off to the Welcome Party – and hopefully returning with a satisfied stomach and more photos for you.

Stockholm, 15:47 (Felix)

Uff, what a day! Arrived safely but sleepwalking in Stockholm, where I took the subway, my own legs, and then finally a taxi to make it to the photo opportunity of the stage in time.

The outsides of Stockholm are still drowned in icy snow, and Solna’s Friends Arena is still drowned in construction sites, but eventually I made it there just in time to pick up my accreditation. Then I was allowed to enter the arena to take some photos (see the gallery to the right!). The inside is impressive, looks and feels as a new classy car, but feels somewhat cold.

Some light tests were going on as I was shooting my pictures, I was able to speak to the producer and a technician about a very hot prop, and you’ll see that all in the video in my next update!

Now: a well deserved nap, finally.

Berlin, 06:17 (Felix)

Right then, esc-chat.com is finally off again to another major Event! My flight to Stockholm goes in 3 hours, and I’m sitting here with a more or less strong coffee after literally 0 minutes of sleep. Frederikke – Jeg Har Hele Tiden Vidst Det comes over my not as tired speakers, trying to get me into the mood (which I am)!

Our editor Danny is the 2nd part of our Stockholm team this year. He’ll join me tomorrow at some point to rock that MF for you.

As mentioned in our teasers, watch out for the latest photos and videos on our right side, read our daily, updating blog posts from Stockholm, vote for your MF favourite in the poll, watch out for live blogging from the dress rehearsals, and don’t be too disappointed that the Chat Charts have a slight delay this week (I hope to get to them by tonight).

If time is not totally against me, I should deliver you some photos of the Friends Arena and the stage later this afternoon. Until then, I will have to take any opportunity to take a short nap.

But I am looking forward to this. And as my personal favourite of the last two MF years, The Moniker, sings:

“This is just the beginning”.