Bonnie Tyler, the champion of the power ballad, carries the hopes of the United Kingdom into the Eurovision song contest in the Swedish city of Malmo this weekend.
The Welsh superstar is now 61 and about two decades past the high point of her career.
Still, if she can get anywhere near the quality she achieved with her great 1980s hits Total Eclipse of the Heart and Holding Out For A Hero, she must be in with a chance.
It may be more than a little disconcerting, but who can ever forget the Total Eclipse video of a slightly deranged-looking Tyler, dressed in a long white dress and with big hair, moving through a Gothic-type building. It is apparently night time but teenage boys, many scantily clad, indulge in a range of school activities. Some even have shining eyes.
If she does win the Eurovision contest on Saturday (local time) with the song Believe In Me, it will be the UK’s first victory since Katrina and The Waves sang Love Shine A Light in 1997.
But winning the long-running and still hugely popular television contest requires clever politics as well as good music.
“It’s a tricky one . . . because it’s not all about the music, is it” Tyler said in a recent interview with MailOnline.
She also acknowledged she could be at a disadvantage if sex appeal was is a factor.
“Some of the videos … I’ve just been shown a few and I can’t compete with some of them stripping off,” she said.
The Guardian hoped Tyler could be a canny choice to represent the UK, as she regularly tours in Scandinavia, Germany, France and Russia.
