'Terry elevated Eurovision' Graham Norton pays tribute to his late predecessor
GRAHAM NORTON is commentating his first Eurovision following the passing of Sir Terry Wogan and he's very excited about the role.
Graham Norton praised Sir Terry Wogan for his work on Eurovision
Paying tribute to his predecessor, he commented: "Terry elevated Eurovision into the thing it is now and it is such a great gig to get.
"I'm personally really indebted to him for what he did to the role."
Addressing the politics of the former voting system, he told OK!: "I am a big defender of Eurovision. The best song does invariably wine. You never think that the song was robbed."
The competition rarely sees the UK place highly and has yet to win following Katrina and the Waves in 1997.
Graham said Sir Terry elevated the Eurovision song contest
Graham is taking over commentating the Eurovision following Sir Terry's death
Graham revealed he believes this is down to the amount of exposure each song has.
He explained: "Don't forget that in other countries, people have heard the song a lot before or know the guy singing it.
"I think part of the problem is that the UK entry can feel quite alone.
Eurovision UK hopefuls Joe and Jake rehearse their song
The presenter said he is a 'big defender' of the European singing competition
He joked that he doesn't believe Australia should be a part of the contest
"It would be great if they released the song first into the charts so people have heard it and can really root for the UK. It boosts your confidence."
Is there anything about the competition he would change?
"Get rid of Australia," he joked, "I really don't understand it. They aren't in Europe. Australia is on the other side of the world!"
Read the full interview with Graham Norton in this week's issue of OK!, out now.