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Fact #15342

When:

Short story:

Are You Sure by The Allisons is chosen on a pre-selection tv show as the UK's entry for the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest.

Full article:

John Alford (The Allisons) : Emile Ford came up to us after a gig and said he really liked our voices. We couldn't believe our ears. He had won his success and told us about a talent show at Olympia called the 'Boys and Girls Exhibition' and said we should enter.

Fontana liked one of my songs, Are You Sure, and sent it to the BBC to be considered for the Song for Europe show that chose the British Eurovision entry. They loved it and invited us down to perform it live.

This was crazy. A month ago we were two kids singing in the hall and now we were on our way to Shepherd's Bush and the BBC to go on live television.

To be honest, neither of us had televisions so we had never heard of the (Eurovision Song) contest before. It was a relatively new thing at the time and we were just so excited to have a deal that we just went along with it.

When we came home our parents' phones were going off the hook with press and media. We were suddenly in all the papers and the song started flying off the shelves.

It was a total shock but we were so young we didn't know what was happening.

We probably took about 10 per cent of what we earned. Compared to nowadays, there was very little promotion of celebrity as it has come to be known.

It was considered impolite to be boastful and to draw attention to personal achievements would be referred to as showing off.

I would have liked to have got my dad a car and my mum a washing machine or perhaps helped my two sisters and brother get a house. But life has had to be lived more modestly.

But we have always been very proud to have played a part in UK music history.
(Source : interview in GetWestLondon.co.uk, Apr 15, 2011)