A TEENAGE singer from Westbury has had a lucky escape after not representing the UK at the Eurovision song contest on Saturday.

Sixteen-year-old MiMi reached the final of the Song for Europe competition that decided who would go on to the contest but came third, losing out to duo Jemini, who scored a disastrous 'nil points' on the night.

Jemini had problems with their sound system but many people have blamed political voting in the wake of the Iraq war for their failure to get a single vote in what has become a notoriously biased competition.

MiMi's manager, Roger Nicholas, said: "My feelings are that we are delighted she came third in the run up to Eurovision.

"Personally I think MiMi would have scored some points, political voting or not, but whether she would have come in the top three, who knows"

MiMi, a pupil at Matravers School, came to prominence in Wiltshire through the Starry Eyes talent contest in Trowbridge and has since built up a strong army of fans.

She is currently working on her first album, due to be released in August, and did not let losing out to Jemini affect her.

At the time she said: "It was out of this world to go up there and sing live and I loved every minute of it. To come third out of so many entries isn't bad at all."

Simon May, one of the songwriters behind MiMi's song, Ever Since that Night, said: "They should take a leaf out of the book of the organisers of Pop Idol and be more careful about choosing the song and the performer."