The BBC apologised today for the blundering way the winner was announced in the phone-in to see who will represent Britain in the Eurovision song contest.
Confusion reigned on last night's show when Terry Wogan said soloist Cyndi had won the "sing-off" but then fellow presenter Fearne Cotton hastily corrected him and said the group Scooch had triumphed in the public vote.
The BBC later apologised for the gaffe and confirmed Scooch as winners.
"This is live TV and unfortunately sometimes these things do happen," the state-funded broadcaster said in a statement.
BBC Director-General Mark Thompson, alluding to a string of recent scandals about how trustworthy British TV phone-in shows are, quipped: "I think they were trying so hard to get the phones right that something else must have gone wrong."
"Whoever else's fault it was, I am sure it wasn't Terry Wogan's," he added.
Scooch's catchy song "Flying the Flag" and camp airline-themed dance routine beat off more fancied acts including former Darkness frontman Justin Hawkins and East 17 lead singer Brian Harvey. The "sing-off" was between Scooch, who dressed as air attendants, and Cyndi with her Celine Dion-styled ballad.
Scooch, made up of Caroline, David, Natalie and Russ, call themselves "this generation's Bucks Fizz". They broke up six years ago but reformed to fight for a place in the finals.
"We decided to do it because we felt it was our job to bring Eurovision back to its former glory," the band said. "The UK hasn't done too well of late and we're taking it back to pure pop music ... Pure pop is going to bring the Eurovision back to the UK."
Britain's entry last year, rapper Daz Sampson, came only 19th out of 24 countries, faring slightly better than Jemini's 2003 offering which failed to win a single vote.
This year's Eurovision Song Contest takes place in Helsinki on May 12th following Finnish band Lordi's win last year.
Ireland's entry 'They Can't Stop the Spring' was written by John Waters and Tommy Moran and will be performed by Dervish.
PA