Interview

Sophie: Precious all met here in London. Jenny and I are from the north and we came down to find a management company so that we could put a band together. The management company auditioned the girls - and here we all are!

Kalli: Precious are five girls who like a whole range of different music styles. We're all from different backgrounds, but what we have in common is a liking for American dance music and R & B - and you'll find those influences on our album. Basically, we all like to have a good time together.

Louise: When we found out we'd won, we were absolutely over the moon. My mum especially was really excited, and we just could not believe it! It's a major exposure for us, so it really does give us a helping hand. We celebrated with champagne and we had the music pumping. We had the Precious vibe, you know! It was a really great atmosphere.

Anya: We were very surprised we won actually because we had very strong competition and, although Say It Again is an amazing song, it's not actually that Eurovision-y. So we were expecting someone else to win. When we found out, it was absolute disbelief. We've also signed an album deal with a major record company, who we're really happy with. So our future looks bright and we're very excited.

Anya: They're so proud for us to be at Eurovision. They're all having parties to celebrate. Hopefully, they'll really have something to celebrate come May!

Sophie: We feel really honoured to be representing Britain. We're very excited! It was my mum who said it's just like the feeling a sportsman gets when representing his country.

Sophie: Everything's changed a great deal since joining Precious. We're very busy, constantly on the go; we don't have time to sleep sometimes! We're recording our album, which will be released at the end of the year. Every minute is taken - we haven't even got time to go to the hairdressers - but we wouldn't want it any other way. We're doing what we love, which is making music. And people are starting to recognise us - taxi drivers know our name and someone recognised us in a shopping centre recently!

Kalli: Basically, making Say It Again was the same as what happened with most of our songs. We met Paul Varney, who wrote the song, at his studio and we were looking through his catalogue and we found Say It Again and thought it was absolutely brilliant, so we decided to record it. Of course, the record company helps out with choosing a producer. In the end we got Cutfather & Joe, who made it sound wicked. We've got two CDs coming out. One has Say It Again with remixes on the other side by Eric Morillo, so there'll be something to really get down to. And the other B-Side is a song we've written ourselves, called Essential Love, which also has a bit of a dance vibe, so it should be really cool.

Louise: We recently shot our video and, even if I say it myself, it was crucial! It features a cross between a seventies set and a modern one. It was great fun because they actually sped up the track! We had to do our routine really quickly, which was hysterical! So watch out MTV!

Louise: What I like about the song is that it's realistic. It appeals to real life and real life scenarios. You know, everyone's been in love. Well, I'm not talking about myself because I'm only eighteen and I haven't had any experience with boys and all that malarkey! But it's a great song and it's something everyone can relate to, which is a key factor. Maybe a number one, Say It Again!

Kalli: The wonderful thing about Precious is our varied musical tastes. Anya loves Eryka Badu, while Sophie's a big Bob Dylan fan. I'm sure Louise won't mind me saying she loves Whitney. Jenny likes gangsta rap and I'm the indie girl - I like Radiohead, the Beastie Boys, and that kind of thing.

Anya: Lots of great acts have come out of Eurovision, like Abba and Bucks Fizz. Loads of people have had great success and hopefully Precious will follow in their footsteps. I mean, 350 million people watch it and so if 350 million people buy our single, it would be great! We want to bring a trendy edge to Eurovision and hopefully other people will follow in our footsteps as well.

Sophie: The future's looking bright for Precious. We've got our first single coming out on May 17th. Then hopefully we'll be on tour over the summer, with a second single coming out around August. And all the time we are co-writing for our album, which hopefully will be released in mid-September with some great tracks and, who knows, a Christmas number one!

Anya: Taking part in the Eurovision Song Contest, and even visiting Jerusalem, is going to be such an amazing experience for all of us. We don't have a clue who's going to win, but we love Say It Again, and we hope everyone else will, and will vote for us.

Hi everyone! Please watch us on May 29th and buy our single on May 17th, and we promise to be as good to you as you are to us. Support Precious!