SCHOOLGIRL singer MiMi came third in the race for Eurovision on Sunday and thoroughly enjoyed her day of fame.

The 16-year-old from Westbury sang live on the BBC's Song for Europe on Sunday and her song, Ever Since That Night, was placed third in a regional phone vote.

MiMi 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."

The youngster, who has just taken her mock GCSE exams at Matravers School, travelled to London on Friday so she could enjoy the sights before a day of rehearsals on Sunday.

She said: "I went shopping on the Saturday and had my nails done and went sightseeing.

"We stopped at some traffic lights in Kensington and Dec from Ant and Dec was in a Mercedes that pulled up beside us he gave us a big smile and a wave."

As well as a glimpse of the Geordie TV host MiMi also met Esther Rantzen, Jessica Garlick and Mel and Sue who were on the celebrity panel.

The voting was done in a regional format with celebrity guests representing each of six regions South, North, Midlands, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland giving 12, 10, nine or nil points to the four songs.

Every region put MiMi in third place, 14 points behind the winner, Liverpudlian duo, Jemini.

The teenager said she isn't disappointed she is not going on to the Eurovision Song Contest in Latvia in May and wishes Jemini the best of luck.

"I'd say to them, 'congratulations and just enjoy it. Go out and do your best, everyone is behind you'."

MiMi sang Ever Since That Night, a song written especially for her by Simon May, who wrote the theme tune to EastEnders, and John Brant, who engineered Cliff Richard's most recent album, Wanted. Her manager, Roger Nicholas of Project 404, said: "We had a great time and we got what we wanted out of the situation, which was a very positive national television experience and we saw just how well MiMi could handle it."

MiMi, who first came to prominence as the winner of the Starry Eyes Talent Contest in Trowbridge, is now working on an album due to be released in the autumn.

Meanwhile her growing army of fans in Wiltshire and beyond can look forward to the release of a new single in six weeks' time.