Unless you were living under a rock in 1999 you probably spent most of the summer with the annoyingly infectious Blue (Da Ba Dee) by Eiffel 65 stuck in your head. The track sold 8 million copies and topped the charts worldwide. It also led to the group winning the European Music Award as the Best Italian Artist In The World in 2000. Gabry Ponte, 52, made up one third of the chart topping band and a quarter of a century later he has swapped Eiffel 65 for the Eurovision Song Contest as he takes to the stage to represent San Marino with his track Tutta l'Italia.

Looking unrecognisable from his days in the trio he chatted exclusively to Express.co.uk ahead of the recent London Eurovision Party, where Gabry expressed nothing but gratitude for Blue and the effect it had on his career. "It's part of my history and I'm really grateful to Blue because it gave me the opportunity to turn my passion for music into my job. Back then there was no such thing as superstar DJs in the 90s. So before Blue, I wasn't even sure that I could make it my job and make a living with that," he said.

Gabry admitted he is a recent convert to the song contest having only begun watching in 2021 when Loreen won with ther track Euphoria. "I started watching Eurovision when Loreen was there the first time because I heard her song and I was like, 'Wow, this song is amazing.'

"Then I investigated and the song led me to the show. I didn't know about the show before and then since then I've been following it every year," he said.

Despite his appreciation for the contest he didn't seek out the oportunity to appear and instead it landed in his lap. "It was like pretty unexpected. I premiered my song Tutta l'Italia at the San Remo Festival. After that, a lot of people on social media were commenting: 'Please bring this to Eurovision. It's perfect for that.'

"A few days later, the invitation from San Marino came in and they invited me to participate in their contest and the winner goes to Eurovision, so the stars were aligning and it felt like the right thing to do," he recalled.

Gabry will take to the Eurovision stage on Tuesday, May 13 for the first semi final, whch airs on BBC One, in the hopes of making it through to the grand final on Saturday, May 17, and despite playing to huge crowds in massive venues during his career Gabry admits it is still nerve wracking appearing in the legendary competition.

"I mean, it doesn't matter how many things you do, how many shows you did in your life, it's, you know, it's a new challenge. It's always fascinating and exciting. So far I learned about the fan community which is huge and very passionate and I love that and I mean I cannot wait.

"What I'm sure of is that I'm gonna give my best to deliver a great show and this is what I'm working on night and day.

"I'm not obsessed about winning. I'm just really focused on putting together the best show possible," he said.

Eurovision Song Contest Semi-Final 2025 airs tonight on BBC One at 8pm