Molly Smitten-Downes was sceptical about taking part in the Eurovision Song Contest.
The 27-year-old singer-songwriter is Britain’s entry for the annual European competition this year, but she’s admitted she initially turned it down when BBC producer Guy Freeman – who is in charge of the British selection – asked her to represent the nation.
Molly told The Times newspaper: "I had a preconception about what Eurovision was and didn’t see myself in it.
"I was flattered, but for the past four years I’ve not been courting the world of celebrity so I explained that it was a nice pat on the back but it wasn’t for me."
However, when Molly – who will sing her anthem ‘Children of the Universe’ in Saturday (10.05.14) night’s final – heard that Guy was looking for a musician rather than a well-known artist, she was swayed.
She added: "He said that they didn’t want a household name and they wanted a songwriter. That changed things. I put the phone down and thought, ‘I should go for this.’ "
The brunette beauty, who was working at Topshop at the time, confessed she still couldn’t believe it when she received the call saying she’d been selected to sing at the final.
She added: "I was actually on the bus and I had to do some restrained screaming on the top deck. It was like: clock off at Topshop, represent the country at Eurovision.
"And I wasn’t allowed to tell anyone about it apart from my boyfriend. I did think, is this real?"
Molly Smitten-Downes wanted to turn down Eurovision
