Pete Waterman was one third of the legendary Stock Aitken and Waterman partnership that churned out dozens of hits for the likes of Kylie Minogue, before working with Simon Cowell as a judge on TV talent show Pop Idol. Now Pete’s turning his attention to Eurovision.

Aren’t you writing and producing this year’s UK Eurovision entry with your old mate Mike Stock?
The last few years I took a sabbatical. The way my personal life was, I just didn’t feel that I could take the challenge of the music industry so I just kept away for a while. Mike and I have always stayed in touch. A couple of years ago we looked at a musical and decided not to do that, but we have always wanted to get back and write again. We looked at a couple of projects late last year, and nothing excited us. Funnily enough, Eurovision seemed the ideal opportunity.

Didn’t you have trouble getting started on the song initially?
When we started working on ideas we beat ourselves up quite badly. Literally the light must have gone on to both of us roughly at the same time. I said, ‘Hang on a minute. This is crazy. We never used to do it like this. Let’s go back to the old way. This is the way we do it.’
Some days we would write three hits and we took it for granted. We took it for granted when Kylie Minogue’s manager would call us and we hadn’t got a song when she got in the car. Mike would say, ‘Right, down in the loo. Come up with the titles. See you in 20 minutes.’ I’d lock myself in the loo and come back in 20 minutes with some barmy ideas. Mike would sit down and go, ‘Oh there’s the title. Better The Devil You Know. Here’s the story for the title,’ then go away and come back in 20 minutes, and we’d have a song.  I said to Mike, ‘That’s what we always do, and that’s what we have got to do again.’

You’ve said Eurovision is the one thing Simon Cowell would love to do. Have you spoken to him since you landed this gig?
No, because he’s doing American Idol. I’ve spoken to a few of my mates and got an amazing reaction. They all said you should have done this five years ago — you guys were made for this.

Who have you spoken to?
One person I’ve spoken to, because I have been working with him a lot, is Peter Kay. Peter thought it was a great idea because he is into his music, he’s passionate about Eurovision, and I trust his ears.

Is Eurovision still relevant as a competition?
Entertainment is always relevant. This is a pretty tough world we are living in at the moment, and anything we can do to brighten it up for an hour-and-a-half, even with what might be described as frippery, can only be good. The Guardian once accused me of writing candyfloss. My retort was very simple. There’s nothing wrong with candyfloss. It’s a magical sugary substance, and as long as you don’t make it your diet and clean your teeth afterwards, it’s gives you a wonderful lift.

What are your Eurovision memories?
I love Puppet On A String because it was part of that time when I would sit down with my mum, dad and grandparents and watch the show. When the old European broadcast sign came up in black and white, it was magical. I was one of those kids who was really into The Beatles, but sneakingly I watched Eurovision because I liked the songs.

Wasn’t there a Eurovision precedent at your school?
My music teacher actually wrote Sing, Little Birdie, the Eurovision entry in 1959 sung by Pearl Carr and Teddy Johnson. It was a big thing at my school, but I thought it was bloody dreadful!

By Nick Fiaca