WHO will represent the UK at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest?

Eurovision: Your Country Needs You offers a chance to play a part in choosing the act.

Considering the hit-and-miss – with the accent on miss – performances of recent years, it’ll take a miracle for a British act to clinch victory in a few weeks’ time. Tactical voting has been the name of the game for years now, with countries often voting for their neighbours, regardless of an artist’s quality.

Britain entered Eurovision’s musical arena in 1957 and has won a mere five times, coming rock bottom in 2003 and 2008.

Graham Norton welcomes the wannabe entrants who hope to make beautiful music in Oslo with a track penned by Pete Waterman.

The latter admits that composing a tune for the event is no easy task. “It’s hard enough writing a hit song in the first place, let alone a Eurovision winner,” he says.

But with more than 200 hits to his name, including 22 number ones, he has come as close as anyone to mastering the art. “You need to come up with something simple and catchy; people think it’s easy but it’s not.

“When the BBC called to ask if I would do it, I had two questions,” he says. “The first was to ensure that I had a free hand, musically, and the second was to ask my old partner Mike Stock to help me.”

For three weeks, the pair have been creating a tune that will work for the UK, and hopefully impress people from Sheffield to Sarajevo.

The five finalists will perform in front of judges, but a public vote will choose the winner and the UK entry for this year’s contest.