Warren Joins Lloyd Webber For BBC's Your Country Needs You

During the first live show on Saturday 10th January, it was announced that world-renowned lyricist Diane Warren would be joining the Eurovision: Your Country Needs You team, providing the lyrics to the song that will be written by Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Andrew excitedly welcomed Warren on board. "I am very excited to be working with Diane Warren, one of America's greatest songwriters. This is a massively new direction for me and I cannot wait to get started," he said.

Diane has been writing songs for internationally famous artists since the early 1980s. She's written for artists as diverse as Aerosmith, Elton John, Tina Turner, Barbra Streisand, Aretha Franklin, Patti LaBelle, Eric Clapton, Roberta Flack, Celine Dion, Whitney Houston, Roy Orbison, and Lenny Kravitz.

Recently, Diane has worked with Britney Spears, The Pussycat Dolls, Joss Stone, Daniel Bedingfield, Christina Aguilera, Kid Rock, Enrique Iglesias, Kelly Clarkson, Jessica Simpson, Mary J. Blige and Leona Lewis.

Some of Diane's most famous songs include: "Don't Turn Around" - Ace of Base; "How Do I Live" - LeAnn Rimes; "Un-Break My Heart" - Toni Braxton; "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing" - Aerosmith; "Because You Loved Me" - Celine Dion; and "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" - Starship.

"I am thrilled to be working with Andrew Lloyd Webber," said Diane. "He is a legend, and I am honoured to write with him for the Eurovision Song Contest artist. I hope that a song from Andrew Lloyd Webber and me will spell a change of fortune for the UK at Eurovision. We will write the best song possible for the event and for the artist. I am excited to be a part of this event with Andrew."

Andrew Lloyd Webber is the composer of The Likes of Us, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor® Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar, By Jeeves, Evita, Variations and Tell Me On A Sunday later combined as Song & Dance, Cats, Starlight Express, The Phantom of the Opera, Aspects of Love, Sunset Boulevard, Whistle Down the Wind, The Beautiful Game and The Woman in White. He composed the film scores of Gumshoe and The Odessa File, and a setting of the Latin Mass Requiem.

In 2004, he produced a film version of The Phantom of the Opera directed by Joel Schumacher and in 2009 he will premiere his sequel to The Phantom of the Opera which will be directed by the award-winning director Jack O'Brien.

In 2006, he oversaw a new production of Evita in London, a unique version of The Phantom of the Opera in Las Vegas and pioneered television casting for musical theatre with the hit BBC series How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria? which searched for a Maria in The Sound of Music. The series won an international Emmy. He repeated his success with Any Dream Will Do which cast the title role of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and the musical Oliver! for the BBC.

His awards include seven Tonys, three Grammys including Best Contemporary Classical Composition for Requiem, seven Oliviers, a Golden Globe, an Oscar, two International Emmys, the Praemium Imperiale, the Richard Rodgers award for Excellence in Musical Theatre and the Kennedy Center Honor.

He currently owns seven London theatres including the Theatre Royal Drury Lane and the London Palladium. He was knighted in 1992 and created an honorary life peer in 1997.

Photo by Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.