MADISON Taylor hopes to follow in the footsteps of Sir Cliff Richard, Sandie Shaw and Bucks Fizz - and represent Britain in the Eurovision song contest.

She will be competing against five other acts on prime-time television for the honour of representing Britain in the 49th Eurovision Song Contest in Turkey on May 15.

The 18-year-old from Risca, who is managed by a London-based company, was placed on the shortlist after Sony approached her with a demo of It Just Gets Better.

After listening to the song and taking an instant shine to the positive lyrics, Mad-ison decided to throw her hat into the Eurovision ring.

"Ever since I was tiny I have had my heart set on performing and the first time I can remember getting up on stage was as a ballerina at Ty Isaf Infants school" said Madison.

"My mother reckons I could sing before I could talk!"

If she triumphs in a public vote next weekend against stiff competition - including Fame Academy star James Fox, of Bargoed - Madison says she is not concerned about following in the footsteps of Britain's last entry, Jemini, who received no points.'

"Jemini was last year and this is this year" said Madison.

"The competition in Brit ain has come a long way since then with all the effort they have put in this year. My song is better and I can sing in tune, so I don't think I will be going down the same road as Jemini if chosen."

Madison, who began her love affair with performing at the tender age of seven when she joined Shanie's Academy of Dance, can also add intelligence to her list of talents as she got 12 A or B grade GCSEs at Risca Comprehensive school.

She added: "I've been told that the potential audience for the Eurovision song contest is one billion. If I win the British heats I'll try not to think about that because I can't imagine that many people - I'll just have to think I'm singing to myself in the shower!"

This year's television final, Making Your Mind Up, will be live on BBC 1 on February 28.