JOSH Dubovie only has to look to the fortunes of Plaistow singer Jade Ewen to see how representing Great Britain in the Eurovision Song Contest can change your life. Josh, 19, who lives in Basildon and went to school in Billericay and Stageability Dance S

JOSH Dubovie only has to look to the fortunes of Plaistow singer Jade Ewen to see how representing Great Britain in the Eurovision Song Contest can change your life.

Josh, 19, who lives in Basildon and went to school in Billericay and Stageability Dance School in Brentwood, won BBC 1's Your Country Needs You Competition on Saturday - thanks to a public vote - and the right to sing pop mogul Pete Waterman's song That Sounds Good To Me at the Eurovision finals in Oslo in May.

Since representing the UK last year, Jade has gone on to join multi-million selling girl band Sugababes and was one of the judges who put Josh through on the live final.

We caught up with Josh on Monday. He said: "The minute I heard Pete's song, I thought that is definitely a winner and I'm so happy that I'm going to get to sing it in Oslo.

"The main thing I'll remember from Saturday is seeing my mum and dad in the crowd when I had won. It really choked me up, but I told myself 'c'mon, keep composed, I'm on the TV, I'm not going to cry'.

"I really want to say a huge thank you to everyone who voted for me...the support has been absolutely amazing."

Known on the London circuit as a swing singer, Josh has only been performing professionally for three years, appearing at the last two Havering Festivals and last summer's BasFest with the Bootleg Beatles.

But he may be about to leave the world of cover versions and he can't wait to get to grips with the Euro song.

For UK entrants, the Eurovision gig has often been a poisoned chalice, with accusations that tactical voting by other countries means we have little chance of emulating the success of the likes of Bucks Fizz ever again.

But Josh could be the first Brit to benefit from a new voting structure at this year's finals.

He said: "I'm trying not to get involved in the politics of it all...and now the voting structure had changed this year and it's half audience votes and half panel votes. hopefully that will make a difference to Great Britain's chances."

And while Waterman's cheesy Euro effort may be a little outdated for the UK charts right now, it's perfect for Eurovision and a grower if ever there was one.

Jade adds: "My advice to Josh is to try not to think about how many millions of people are watching the final when he's performing and concentrate on the three minutes he has to perform."

- MATT TROLLOPE