The Latvian entry was the winner with 176 points, after a running battle to the very end with Malta, with 164 votes.

Swansea-born Jessica received 111 points, joint third with Estonia, with her song Come Back.

The song was penned by Birmingham airline pilot Martyn Baylay.

The Latvian entry - I Wanna, performed by Marie N - proved popular with judges and telephone voters in the 23 other countries taking part in the contest, just beating Malta's entry 7th Wonder, performed by Ira Losco, to the top slot.

After the British entry, Terry Wogan, providing the British commentary as usual, said Jessica "couldn't do better than that".

"That's our best song for many a year I'd say," he added.

But despite those positive comments, the 21-year-old's song managed only to earn the top 12 points from Malta, with five countries giving it no points at all.

The Pop Idol finalist will sing Come Back as the UK entry in the contest being held in Estonia.

She says her mum is organising a special Eurovision party to celebrate.

"I talk to Will a lot. He is the person who I have asked for advice while I've been preparing for Eurovision and promoting the single," she said.

But she says she was teased at school about it.

The Pop Idol singer is representing Britain in this year's Eurovision Song Contest which takes place in Estonia on May 25.

She told OK! magazine: "Though I did get hassled about it at school, it has never really bothered me that much and, over the years, I have grown to love it as it's so unusual."

And she says Will Young has been giving her advice on coping with fame game.

"We talk a lot, especially now I'm promoting my first single and with Eurovision coming up. He is definitely the person I turn to for advice. I also became close to his family after I was eliminated from Pop Idol - they are lovely."

Jessica's debut single Come Back is released on May 13.

Thousands of fans greeted the pair as they performed a string of hits on the first date of their nationwide tour at London's Wembley Arena.

After performances from the other eight finalists from the TV series, including Aaron Bayley, Korben and Jessica Garlick, Gareth came on stage to perform his single, Unchained Melody.

The 17-year-old followed that up by taking to the piano for a slushy duet with Zoe Birkett.

There were rumours of romance between them after Gareth broke down in tears when Zoe was voted off the show, but the pair insist they are just good friends.

That performance was followed by the main event when Will came on stage to an ecstatic welcome from the 11,000 strong crowd.

He opened with Doors classic Light My Fire, then a rendition of his number one hit, Evergreen.

Will, 23, admitted last week that he was gay but judging by the screams from the predominantly female audience the disclosure has done nothing to dent his popularity.

His single, a double A side with Anything Is Possible, looks set to hold on to the number one spot for a third week and has shifted more than 1.5 million copies so far.

The crowd at the sellout show ranged from the very young to the middle aged and the banner-waving fans looked evenly split between Gareth and Will.

England are being represented by Pop Idol star Jessica Garlick singing Come Back.

The event is due to take place in Estonia on May 25.

She beat Song For Europe finalists Tricia Penrose from Heartbeat, Jonathan Maitland and boy band Level Best.

Jessica revealed Will Young had taken time out from celebrating his number one to send her a message congratulating her on her success.

"I got a text message from Will saying how delighted he was for me. He'd just found out he'd sold over 1.1 million records and said we were both winners."

She said her victory had still not sunk in. "It feels absolutely mad. I can't really describe it but my face is aching because I can't stop smiling," she said.

"I've always loved Eurovision and it's always been an ambition of mine to appear on - now I can't believe it's going to happen. If you had told me year ago I would have been in the final of Pop Idol and then been chosen to represent the UK in Eurovision I wouldn't have believed you. It's all been so amazing."

Jessica has now been made the 8-1 favourite to win Eurovision by bookmakers Coral.

Spokesman David Stevens said: "Following the massive interest in the Pop Idol show, punters are sure to follow Jessica's progress with interest and we expect this year's Eurovision to be the busiest ever in betting terms."

The winning song, Come Back, which was written and composed by Birmingham airline pilot Martin Baylay, will be released on Sony records on April 22.

It has been produced by Bill Padley and Jeremy Godfrey, the hit-making team behind Atomic Kitten's Whole Again and other chart hits from Blue and Samantha Mumba.

She is up against Song For Europe finalists Tricia Penrose from Heartbeat, Jonathan Maitland and boy band Level Best.

William Hill are offering odds of 15-8 on Jessica winning the public vote on BBC1 this Sunday.

Level Best and Jonathon Maitland are joint second favourite at 2-1 with Tricia Penrose as the outsider at 5-1.

BBC1 viewers will phone-in their votes during Sunday's live show, with the winner announced at the end of the programme.

Presenters Claire Sweeney and Christopher Price will show comedy moments from previous Eurovision Song Contests while the votes are counted.

The winner will go on to perform their song as the UK entry for The Eurovision Song Contest 2002 in Estonia on May 25.

Song For Europe is on BBC1, Sunday at 4.45pm.

She will perform Come Back on Song For Europe on BBC1 on March 3.

The three other tracks chosen are DJ Romeo, I Give In and Never In A Million Years.

They were voted the best quartet from a shortlist of eight songs by listeners of Ken Bruce's show on Radio 2.

The winner will go on to perform their song as the UK entry for The Eurovision Song Contest 2002 in Estonia.

The finalists are:

Come Back - sung by Jessica Garlick, written by Martyn Baylay

DJ Romeo - sung by Tricia Penrose, written by Bea Eden, Simon Stirling and James Gordon

I Give In - sung by Surf N' Turf, written by Jonathan Maitland, Jackie Collins and Peter Maitland

Never In A Million Years - sung by Zee, written by Mark Jiggens and Zee Asha.

The track, Come Back, will be played on Terry Wogan and Ken Bruce's shows on Radio 2 this week.

The winner will go on to perform their song as the UK entry for The Eurovision Song Contest 2002 in Estonia.

Come Back producer Rick Blaskey says he chose Jessica after seeing her in the finals of Pop Idol.

He told Ananova: "I loved her performance on the show - not just vocally but her personality as well. We had 10 days to find a singer so I asked Pop Idol's voice coaches David and Carrie Grant to give her a call.

"Jessica came into the studio and recorded the song last week. It's a really strong song. She sings it beautifully. I've got very high hopes for her and would love to help her produce an album."

Jessica's entry will be played on Ken Bruce's show on Wednesday January 30 at 10.30am and on Terry Wogan's show on Thursday January 31 at 8.20am.

Radio 2 listeners will be able to vote for their favourite song on Friday February 1, when all the entries will be played again.

Four finalists will then be invited to perform on Song For Europe on BBC1 on March 3.

The Song For Europe finalists are:

Weekend press reports indicated Kym wanted to leave the band, but they are yet to be officially confirmed.

According to the Pop Idol website, Jessica is amongst those being considered as possible replacements.

She told the Pop Idol site: "It's lovely that I might be considered for the job. I met Hear'Say on GMTV recently and they seem really nice - very polite and pleasant."

"Although they can all sing, Kym was definitely the voice of the group so hers will be a great position to fill."

Since leaving the show, Jessica has sung on several shows but not received a record deal.

"I've never imagined myself being in Hear'Say but it's definitely something I'd think seriously about. So we'll have to see what happens. I'll keep you posted!"

Jessica had gone along to offer her support to the remaining eight contestants.

But she was banned from going into the contestants area by security guards.