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Daz Sampson and his dancers

The power of Daz

How does it feel to be representing the UK?

"It’s amazing. When I entered the contest to represent the UK, I always knew I’d win it. That’s not arrogance, just my Mancunian charm. We live in a country where a non-celebrity can win Celebrity Big Brother, so we know that the British public back the underdog. I just knew they’d back me.

"I’m going to the musical equivalent of the World Cup. There’ll be ten million British eyes watching me and hoping that I do well."

Why did you want to go to Eurovision?

"I know I come from a dance music background and I’m a Manchester chav, and it’s not cool to like Eurovision, but I’m a huge fan. I’m going back to the values of the 80s where we used to sit round and enjoy it together as a family.

"That’s what got me into it. I want to get back to that. The best part used to be the voting because it was so unpredictable. Now, it’s just Eastern Europe voting for Eastern Europe, Scandinavia voting for Scandinavia, and we get no votes simply because our government got us into a war that we really didn’t want.

"So I’m going out there to build a few bridges and say ‘look, we’re just decent people like yourselves that love this competition. Give us a chance and play fair by us.’

"I’m not saying that some idiot from Manchester with a very good song is going to be enough to shift political ideas, but unless someone does speak out and try, then we’ll never get anywhere. That’s why people are backing me even if they don’t like the song, because they can see I’m passionate and that I love the programme."

What are your chances?

Daz Sampson

"I’m going there to win it. I know it will be tough. It’s like England playing Brazil and they’ve had two men sent off in the first minute. That’s how difficult it will be, but where there’s a will, there’s a way. I’m certainly going to try as hard as I can."

What are your favourite Eurovision memories?

"Obviously, I enjoyed Samantha Janus (laughs). No, really, I loved Katrina in 1997,Ìý which got first place, and I loved Bucks Fizz, but what pains me is that we’re still talking about it. It’s like going on about winning the 1966 World Cup. Why are we talking about a Eurovision from 25 years ago, surely we should be talking about Daz Sampson in 2006!"

So will you be calling it a day with your band Uniting Nations and starting a solo career?

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"Not a chance! Obviously, I’m not going to say I wouldn’t love to have a hit single, but at the moment I have one Daz Sampson record written and that’s going to Eurovision.

"I’m not about to go rushing into the studio to launch an album on the back of it, because that would be cheating the people who voted for me to represent the UK.

"Of course, the music business is a business and if the record does well, I might think about releasing a couple more singles, but my priority is Eurovision."