Azernews.Az

The 2013 Eurovision Song Contest will take place in the southern Swedish city of Malmo organizers confirmed Sunday, with the news angering some fans who were set for a Stockholm final.

Ever since Sweden`s Loreen took home the Eurovision crown in Azerbaijan in May with her winning song ``Euphoria``, discussions have been running rife as to which location in Sweden will host next year`s competition.

Now organizers have confirmed that the Malmo Arena will hold the event between May 14th and 18th.

``The fact that we chose Malmo was thanks to the really good infrastructure and that we have had good experiences with the Melodifestivalen and even the Eurovision Song Contest in the city,`` said Martin Osterdahl, executive producer for the event, to the TT news agency.

However, not everyone is beaming about the news, with some eager fans disappointed that Stockholm was not selected as the hosting city.

Walter Louren?o, a 23-year-old die-hard Eurovision fan, had already booked his flights to Stockholm including hotel rooms.

``But why have they chosen Malmo? It`s completely crazy,`` he told the Aftonbladet newspaper, adding that his tickets couldn`t be refunded and he would have to seek alternate travel plans from Stockholm to Malmo.

According to organizers, Malmo was also chosen as the stadium itself suits the format of the show better than the second option, the new Friends Arena in Solna, north of Stockholm.

On top of this, Stockholm`s Globen Arena is booked at the time of the concerts with the men`s ice hockey world championships.

However, not all Eurovision fans are upset with the news.

``I think the most important is that it`s one hell of a party,`` Loreen told the Sydsvenskan newspaper, adding that her only advice was to ``have fun``.

Malmo mayor Ilmar Reepalu was in high spirits too.

``We now begin working towards creating a fantastic event for the biggest music festival in Europe. We are of course extraordinarily happy and proud today,`` he told Sydsvenskan.

Malmo is the third largest city in Sweden and one of the largest ones in Scandinavia with a metro population of 664,000 people. It has easy access to Denmark via the Oresund bridge which is the longest combined road and rail bridge in Europe.

Malmo has already hosted the contest once, back in 1992 after the Swedish pop-star Carola won the contest in 1991 with Fangad Av En Stormvind.

Malmo Arena where the contest will be held is a relatively new arena, inaugurated in 2008. It has a capacity of up to 15,500 for concerts but for the Eurovision Song Contest, the capacity will most likely be lower.

The semi-finals of the Swedish national selection for Europe`s favourite TV show have been held there since 2009. Malmo Arena is very similar to Hartwall Arena in Helsinki where the Eurovision Song Contest was held in 2007.

The arena is yet to be formally confirmed by the Reference Group of the Eurovision Song Contest.