Police expect the demonstration to be larger than the protests seen so far. "Some weekends we have had up to 20,000 people," said police chief Petra Stenkula.

"We're hoping that even if we gave a large number of protesters, they're going to follow the rules," says Per-Erik Ebbestahl, adding that previous protests have been well-organised and issue-free.

Among other demonstrations is a planned burning of a Quran, which police are yet to decide on. There is no law in Sweden that prohibits desecrating religious texts, but such acts have often provoked tension.

"It's something we work with all the time, but there have been some hard feelings before about these things in Malmo," said the city's police chief.

But despite the tension offstage, Eurovision will always remain Eurovision, with a raft of events including a special ABBA exhibition celebrating 50 years since the Swedish quartet stole the show with Waterloo.

"I really hope it's going to be a fantastic, joyful week here in Malmo," said Ebba Adielsson of Swedish TV. "Because there's so much love and passion for the Eurovision Song Contest."