If they weren’t happy about the many years of failure in the Eurovision Song Contest, heaven knows they must be miserable now. Things have got so bad that the BBC has asked Morrissey for help.

The corporation decided that if the United Kingdom could not beat even the Estonians with cheesy Europop, it should take up the offer of the former Smiths frontman, who, it turns out, is a fan of the contest.

The BBC has confirmed that it is in talks with the “Pope of Mope” and that his song could be entered in the public voting process to decide the UK’s Eurovision entry.

“I was horrified but not surprised to see the UK fail again,” Morrissey said after Daz Sampson finished fifth from last in Athens last year. “There’s one question I keep asking myself: why didn’t they ask me?” It could be that it never occurred to the guardians of A Song for Europe that the singer of Girlfriend in a Coma and Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now could whip up a ditty like Save Your Kisses for Me.

The BBC believes that Morrissey, 47, would prefer to write a song for someone else to sing. He could renew his partnership with Sandie Shaw, the 1967 winner with Puppet on a String, who performed Hand in Glove with the Smiths in 1984.

Morrissey advertised his admiration for the Eurovision contest last year in the video for his single, You Have Killed Me, which featured a 1970s pastiche of the competition. Italy’s 1974 entry is played to fans before the Mancunian singer takes the stage at gigs.

The singer also shares a record label with Lordi, the Finnish heavy metal monster group who were last year’s shock winners. It was their victory that provoked a rethink within the BBC.

A spokeswoman for Morrissey said that he was considering his response.

Nevertheless, the favoured choice to create a surefire winner in Helsinki this year is Brian Higgins and his Xenomania production team, who have created acclaimed hits for Girls Aloud, Sugababes and Kylie Minogue.

Britain’s last Eurovision triumph was Love Shine a Light, the 1997 entry by the American band Katrina and the Waves.

The competition rules stipulate that the songwriter must be British, although the performer need not be.

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