Jade chosen to represent UK in Eurovision Song Contest
Singing hopeful Jade Ewen was tonight chosen to represent the UK in the forthcoming Eurovision Song Contest.
She triumphed in a public vote in the final show of the BBC’s 'Your Country Needs You', beating two other hopeful acts.
The 21-year-old from east London, wowed the viewers with a heartfelt version of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s song 'My Time' penned especially for the show.
In an emotional final show Ewen battled it out with farmer's son and pantomime star Mark Evans, 23, from Wales and Sheffield twins Francine and Nicola Gledall, 20, to win the chance to sing for the nation in the contest in Moscow in May.
Each act sang two tunes of their own choosing as well as debuting the composer’s new song.
Lloyd-Webber told the contestants before the vote that he was glad he was not the one to choose as they had all made the song their own.
Pop stars Lulu and Duncan James of former boy band Blue, were both there to offer their professional opinion.
Lulu told the winner: “You tick all the boxes, you’ve got the whole package.”
Lloyd Webber laughed off questions about comments he made before the final claiming that he was worried that the public might choose the ``wrong'' contestant.
He said he was so pleased with the public’s choice that he would play the piano for Ewen during her performance.
He said: “The Eurovision show started Abba, it started Riverdance and it’s going to start the career of this incredibly talented young woman.”
Asked if she would be able to rise to the challenge the young performer said: “There is no way I’m going to waste this opportunity. I won’t let you down.”
She said that she had prepared herself for the possibility of losing the public vote. She said: “I tried to stay positive. I feel numb now. I’m almost waiting for someone to say it was all a dream and I didn’t win.”
The ambitious young woman said that after Eurovision she planned “loads of tours, albums – world domination basically”.
Lloyd Webber said that he was confident that this year he could persuade the Eurovision countries to vote for the song and not the politics. He said: “A lot of the countries felt that we had been taking the mickey out of them particularly the eastern Europeans. In the past they had thought we hadn’t taken them seriously.”
But he said: “I know Jade will give 150%.”
