United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010

Selection process

After the United Kingdom's 5th place finish in the 2009 Contest, thanks to Andrew Lloyd Webber and Jade Ewen, there was wide speculation on how the BBC would select the 2010 entry. The first news on the selection came in November 2009, when Jayne Collins Casting, the company which was responsible for the auditions for Eurovision: Your Country Needs You in 2009, again called for singers to contact them for taking part at the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 auditions on Twitter. The casting company also tweeted that a new songwriter, rather than last year's Andrew Lloyd Webber, would be responsible for writing the UK's entry for Oslo.

On 24 November 2009, British and Irish media reported that the BBC were in talks with Blue singer Duncan James and Take That singer Gary Barlow for the 2010 entry for the United Kingdom. Barlow was named as a composer while James would perform the song in Oslo. However, news of castings for this year's Eurovision entry suggested that these rumours were unlikely to be correct.

In January 2010 the BBC continued to be tight-lipped over its selection for 2010. A teaser on the BBC Eurovision indicated that an announcement would be made soon. On 29 January it was finally announced that Pete Waterman would write the British song for 2010. Waterman is known for having worked with such acts as Kylie Minogue, Steps and Westlife, creating over 200 hits and 22 number ones in the UK, and as a member of the famous Stock Aitken Waterman recording trio. He is also known as one of the judges of the original Pop Idol and Popstars The Rivals. Waterman had previous Eurovision experience, having produced the 1984 Cypriot entry, "Anna Marie Lena". The executive producer for the BBC on Eurovision 2010 Phil Parsons said: "This year, with an extremely successful pop writer, the aim is to build on the UK's success while moving on in style and doing something different." On 19 February the BBC confirmed that Mike Stock would join his Stock Aitken Waterman partner in co-writing the British Eurovision entry for 2010.

Eurovision: Your Country Needs You 2010

The United Kingdom national final took place over one night - 12 March, and contained six acts, hosted by Graham Norton from the BBC Television Centre in London, the 2010 Eurovision was judged by Pete Waterman, Jade Ewen and Bruno Tonioli. An expert panel in the studio reduced this number to three, who then performed different versions of the Stock Waterman written Eurovision entry, with the viewers deciding the winner. When interviewed Waterman confirmed the song contained a key change and described the title as "obvious" he also said "It's like entering a competition every time you write [a pop song]. You're after a number one, not a number two."

Both Eurovision 2009 winner Alexander Rybak, and the group Sugababes, who include the United Kingdom's 2009 entrant Jade Ewen, performed during the show. The Sugababes performed their newest single, "Wear My Kiss" The show was only watched by 2.9 million people, 4 million less than the 6.9 million who watched the programme last year.

Results

On 4 March the BBC introduced the six Your Country Needs You finalists on the website, and also revealed the line-up for the expert panel: last year's UK entry Jade Ewen, Pete Waterman, and Strictly Come Dancing judge Bruno Tonioli. The six acts each performed a Stock Aitken Waterman classic, as well as a group medley of ABBA songs "Take A Chance On Me" and "Dancing Queen". Waterman then selected his three favourite acts from the six: Alexis Gerred, Esma Akkilic and Josh Dubovie. These three acts went on to sing the Eurovision song - "That Sounds Good to Me" - with a public televote selecting the winning performer - Josh Dubovie.

Revamp of the song

On 15 March co-writer Mike Stock confirmed that the version of "That Sounds Good To Me" performed at Your Country Needs You would not be the version presented by Josh Dubovie at Eurovision, but "would be significantly different from what has already been served up", and completely revamped to suit Dubovie's voice more. On his official website he said the song was remixed on 26 March, suggesting the new, yet to be released version was more suited to Dubovie. He suggested the focus was now on rehearsals and the performance and said "But for the song itself, that's all over and completed; I can do no more."

A studio version of "That Sounds Good to Me" was broadcast on Swedish radio on 22 April. However this was not the final version of the song, which was premiered on 24 April at the Eurovision in Concert preview concert in Zaanstad, the Netherlands.

Promotion

On 24 April Dubovie appeared at the Eurovision in Concert preview concert in Zaanstad, the Netherlands, performing alongside 16 other contestants in this year's Eurovision Song Contest and performing the final version of "That Sounds Good to Me". The following day Dubovie appeared on private channel RTL 4, where he again performed his song.

Dubovie also performed at the UKEurovision Preview Party in London on 2 May alongside representatives from Iceland, Ireland and Romania.

At Eurovision

As a member of the "Big Four", the United Kingdom automatically qualified for the final on 29 May. It came last, with ten points.

Paddy O'Connell and Sarah Cawood provided commentary for the semi-finals, with Graham Norton doing likewise for the final. Ken Bruce provided commentary on the final on BBC Radio 2.

The United Kingdom votes were announced by BBC Radio 1 DJ Scott Mills.