Dispute over British Eurovision song

AN English songwriter has employed a "top musicologist" to compare one of his songs with this year's British entry for the Eurovision Song Contest.

Declan Cosgrove, from Manchester, claims he wrote his song Cry, which is about a former girlfriend from Monkstown, Co Dublin, about three years ago while he was staying in a Co Wicklow cottage.

His band, Vivid, was on an Irish tour at the time.

The song was to have been released last month by a Manchester label. However, the release was cancelled, he said, because of the song's resemblance to the British Eurovision entry and chart hit, Ooh Aah, Just A Little Bit by Gina.

The musicologist has "taken the two songs apart, piece by piece, analysed both and pointed out where they differ and where they are the same," Mr Cosgrove said.

The band, equipped with the musicologist's report, is to meet its lawyer today, and will afterwards issue a statement. "People say the songs are very, very similar that's all I'm saying at the moment," Mr Cosgrove added.

"We are not taking this at all seriously," said Ms Barbara Charone, press director with WEA, which owns the Eternal label on which the Gina G single was released. They are just looking for publicity.

Demo tapes of Cry were sent by Vivid to all the major labels, including WEA, during the band's attempt to have the song released. However, WEA says Ooh Aah, Just A Little Bit was written by Mr Simon Tauber who, to prove it was his song, sent a copy of it to his own address in a sealed registered letter before signing with WEA.

The former Vivid manager, Mr Fergus Geraghty, who is in Oslo where the Eurovision contest takes place on May 18th, said the story has been taken up by the Norwegian press and is causing major embarrassment to the British entry.