Cowell 'wants to pen Eurovision track'

Pete Waterman has claimed that Simon Cowell has always wanted to write a Eurovision single.

The former Pop Idol judge said that his involvement in this year's Song Contest would "needle" Cowell.

"I have a sneaky suspicion this will needle him more than anything else I've done. The one thing he's always wanted to do is Eurovision," he told the Radio Times.

The 63-year-old songwriter confirmed that he was penning the UK's track last month. He follows on from Andrew Lloyd Webber, who achieved a fifth place finish with a Jade Ewen collaboration last year.

"I wouldn't be doing it this year if it wasn't for him," said Waterman. "At least he failed - I can't do any worse than he has."

The act that will perform Waterman's song will be selected in a one-off episode of BBC One's Your Country Needs You.

Eurovision 2010 will take place in Oslo, Norway in May.