Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ

Alexis, 20

Alexis has always been a keen performer, but he has never worked professionally.

As a young boy he was in to acting. He considers himself to be a "showman" and has "no passion for anything else". He only fell in love with singing when he performed in his school's production of Grease.

Alexis believes his talent may come from his dad, who used to sing in various bands and gave Alexis lots of encouragement. He aims to emulate singers like Rod Stewart and Freddie Mercury as he was brought up listening to them.

Aged 18 Alexis attended the Kent and Surrey Academy Performing Arts for one year. There he was taught to act, sing and dance. His dance lessons included jazz, tap and ballet. At his final performance he was spotted by an agent.

Favourite Eurovision memory: Alexis has fond memories of watching Eurovision with his family when he was little.

Miss Fitz – Gemma, Maiken and Marina

This all-girl trio got together in London. They perform cover songs and give them their own stamp of jazzy, big band-style arrangements.

Gemma, 27

Gemma believes her talent comes from her mum, who was a keen amateur singer and dancer. She took Gemma to her first dance class, aged 18 months, and she went on to train in Performing Arts at East Berkshire Langley College.

She's grown up with reggae music and is a big fan of Motown, Seventies disco and Stevie Wonder – and boasts lots of LPs by Kylie and Jason in her collection.

Favourite Eurovision hit: Love City Groove from 1995, as well as Making Your Mind Up (Bucks Fizz) and Love Shine A Light (Katrina & The Waves).

Maiken, 23

Maiken comes from a town just north of Oslo, the host city for this year's competition. She had her first singing lesson aged 10 and ever since then has wanted to make it in the music industry, travelling to London several times to pursue her dream.

Aged 19, Maiken moved to the UK to study for a BA in music. While living in London she met the other girls in Miss Fitz at an audition for a jazz trio. Although they didn't have much luck with record companies at the time, the girls remained friends and decided to carry on as a band.

Favourite Eurovision memory: Maiken remembers watching the contest from a young age and being very disappointed when Norway got three points in 2004. Her favourite Eurovision song is Let It Swing, sung by Bobbysocks in 1985.

Marina, 25

Marina is a singer and dancer who can put her love of Eurovision down to her father Colin, who read out the UK results on Eurovision for 25 years. As a young girl she remembers watching with a pad and pen and marking the songs out of 10.

She started to sing in public aged 11 when a friend challenged her to perform, but she has never had any professional training.

Favourite Eurovision memory: her favourite Eurovision song is Charlotte Nilsson's Take Me To Your Heaven, from 1999. She gave it 10/10!

Josh, 19

Josh is a professional singer. He has performed with StageAbility, the after-school stage club, since the age of nine. When he was 15, Josh was given the part of Enjolras in the school production of Les Miserables. As he had never sung before he went to see a vocal coach. Josh instantly fell in love with singing swing and his coach encouraged him to put on showcases of his music.

Josh believes he has his mum's voice and his dad's confidence. He currently performs at charity evenings, festivals and sports events.

Favourite Eurovision memory: Josh's favourite was last year's Eurovision winner, Alexander Rybak's Fairytale.

Karen, 18

Karen is a professional singer who began performing at an early age but who has no formal training besides the occasional singing lesson. When she was seven, Karen started singing three songs repeatedly from a home cassette. Two years later her parents got her weekly singing lessons with a local teacher. Her friends used to force her to sing at Christmas and birthday parties to a karaoke machine.

Aged 16 Karen won Music Means Life, a competition in Durham for unsigned artists and bands which had 3,000 applicants. The prize was a management deal and time in a studio. One of her competitors was X Factor winner Joe McElderry.

Favourite Eurovision memory: Karen used to watch Eurovision when she was younger with her family. She enjoyed Jade's It's My Time because it was "so memorable" and she likes "that type of song".

UNI5 – Amy, Sam, Dani, Daniella and Lee

The UNI5 group have come together specially for the show.

Amy, 18

Amy has been singing since the age of seven. She inherited her talent from her mum who is a music teacher. Amy plays the clarinet, saxophone and piano and often gets together with her mum to perform duets. Her only other training comes from a summer's dancing term at Sylvia Young Theatre School.

Amy has an eclectic music taste and is influenced by artists ranging from Beyonce and Rihanna to Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra. Currently her favourite artists include Pixie Lott and Florence & the Machine. Amy is also a keen songwriter.

Favourite Eurovision memory: Amy used to watch the contest with her gran who is a massive Eurovision fan. The whole family would go to her house to watch the show and Amy remembers trying to copy the most over-the-top Eurovision dance routines.

Sam, 22

Sam is a professional dancer and singer whose first job was one of the workhouse boys on Oliver! The Musical aged nine. He claims to have no idea where he got his talent for performing from as he says his parents "can't clap in time" and "have two left feet".

Sam, who trained at Sylvia Young's from the age of 13, was in the same year as Jade Ewen, last year's UK entry. He has a history in musical theatre and has recorded two songs for the soundtrack to Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Two's comedy series Beautiful People.

Favourite Eurovision memory: Sam remembers watching Eurovision when he was young with his mum at home. Most recently he liked Jade's song It's My Time.

Dani, 22

Dani is a professional singer and dancer who grew-up surrounded by music... her father even went as far as turning their living room into a recording studio when she was little.

Like her siblings before her, Dani trained at the Brit School, which she followed by studying dance at the Bird School. Her first stage appearance was in Cats and since then she has had a variety of jobs as well as regularly working as a backing vocalist with her sister who is a professional singer.

Favourite Eurovision memory: Dani remembers watching Eurovision with her family from the age of seven. Her favourite song is Precious' Say It Again from 1999 because, she says, they were a girl band she thought were "cool".

Daniella, 19

At school, Daniella played at county level in hockey and athletics but, with the encouragement of her step mother, a professional dancer, she decided to give it all up in order to perform.

She attended Colins Performing Arts College, studying for a diploma in Musical Theatre which included singing, acting and all types of dance from jazz and ballet to tap and commercial dancing.

Favourite Eurovision memory: Daniella's earliest memory of Eurovision is dancing around the living room singing to Gina G's Just A Little Bit, aged six.

Lee, 25

Lee is a professional singer and dancer and was encouraged by his mum to audition for various musicals. He first started singing at a school competition, which he won, aged 11. Lee was trained at the Sylvia Young Theatre School and the majority of his work has been in musical theatre including roles in Oliver! The Musical and High School Musical, the tour.

Lee loves all art forms and considers himself to be "a jack of all trades" regarding singing, dancing and acting. His favourite current artists are Daniel Merriweather and Jason Mraz. He is also a keen sportsman and was captain of the rugby team at school.

Favourite Eurovision memory: Lee remembers enjoying Sonia's Better The Devil You Know from 1993, aged nine. He also likes Making Your Mind Up by Bucks Fizz.

Esma, 17

Esma has been extremely outgoing ever since she was a child. She grew up in Austria in a Kurdish family and started to sing Celine Dion songs before she could speak English. Esma attended Stagecoach aged nine and has had vocal training since the age of 14. She currently attends a sixth form college.

Esma's taste in music is diverse. She listens to jazz, rap, hip-hop, r'n'b as well as German, French, Arabic, Spanish and Turkish music. She takes inspiration from Aretha Franklin and Christina Aguilera.

Favourite Eurovision memory: Esma's family have followed Eurovision every year and she remembers watching and voting on the show from a young age. Her favourite performances are Ruslana's Wild Dance (Ukrainian winner of Eurovision 2004) and Javine's Touch My Fire.