Eurovision songwriter ‘exhausted’ from contest excitement

A songwriter from Dorset whose work will be performed at the Eurovision Song Contest has said she is “not sleeping” amid the excitement.

Emma Gale’s song, Poison Cake, will be sung by Croatian pop star Marko Bosnjak in the semi-finals in Basel on Tuesday.

It is the first of two semi-finals, each featuring 15 performers who will be whittled down to 10. The second semi-final takes place on Thursday.

Ms Gale said: “To get as far as we’ve got, I feel like we’ve won already, but to get to the final – that would be a massive dream come true.”

Speaking ahead of her flight to Switzerland, she said: “I’m not sleeping at the moment – I’m exhausted from Eurovision fever. It’s all very exciting.

“It will be my first experience of going to Eurovision and it’s something we’ve been working towards all year.”

Speaking of Bosnjak, she said: “He’s done an incredible job – I’m really happy, I’m ecstatic.

“He had flu at Dora (Croatia’s Eurovision selection contest) and, despite winning, he cracked a note at the end and all the fans said his singing wasn’t good.

“Every second is analysed of every step, and every interview.”

The grand final on Saturday will feature 26 nations, made up of the top 10 countries from each semi-final, along with United Kingdom, Spain, Germany, France, Italy, and host country Switzerland.

The first semi-final will be broadcast on iPlayer and BBC One, Radio 2 and BBC Sounds from 20:00 BST on Tuesday 13 May