STOCKHOLM - Earlier this fall Per Gessle opened a door toward participating in the Swedish leg of the Eurovision Song Contest. "Why not," he said, "that may be fun now that I'm older!" Swedish Television were overjoyed at the possibility of getting the world famous star as one of four jokers in the contest.

  Now Per has changed his mind and closed the door. "No I'm not interested. What if I write a song and don't win? I don't need that kind of stress," he says to Aftonbladet. "It's like Michael Schumacher joined a go-cart race. And lost! Everybody would think 'damn, what a loser!'."

  Thomas Hall, project manager at SVT, is still hopeful: "I can see how he feels he has done enough this year, but maybe another year?"

  Photo: Thomas Evensson for TDR.

• Aftonbladet's article (In Swedish)