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Although Look Mum No Computer, real name Sam Battle, was announced by the BBC as the UK's representative for this year's Eurovision Song Contest in January. He had yet to take to the stage to showcase his song, Eins Zwei Drei, even though the public got a first listen on March 6. He rectified this by appearing as the headline act for the annual London Eurovision Party showcase, which took place in Outernet in the heart of London's West End on Sunday, April 19, and I was there for Express to witness his efforts. It is safe to say the UK are heading for "nil point" hell again unless something drastic happens before the final.

The 37-year-old, who recently became a dad for the first time, was beset by technical issues as he took to the stage. This forced some awkward interaction with the audience before it was sorted, and he was able to begin. He was clearly a little bit thrown by the glitch, but the predominantly British audience was very encouraging as he began.

Sadly, it fell very flat. A gentleman standing beside me was convinced he was miming, and indeed the vocals did seem a bit off. As he bounded across the stage, it appeared very unrehearsed and improvised, and looked awkward and unprofessional.

If anyone wonders, Sam is actually a pretty accomplished live performer and has even taken to the stage at Glastonbury as frontman of the band Zibra. Earlier this year did a tour of Germany. He is not a newbie with no experience of being in front of an audience.

Equally, the song is actually very catchy - infuriatingly so - and the kind of thing that tends to do really well at Eurovision. But it needs the right staging. On this occasion, the performance was a mess and the sound was awful. This simply will not cut the mustard in the Eurovision final in Vienna on May 16th.

His appearance wasn't helped by the fact that a couple of hours before he took to the stage, the Luxembourg entry Eva Marija had performed a stripped-back version of his song to a rousing reaction. The 20-year-old has been studying in London for the past two years and wanted to show her appreciation for her adopted country. It was a fantastic rendition, and the audience (and I) loved it.

Aside from Eva, there had also been some stunning performances from other entrants in this year's contest, including Italy, Finland, Switzerland, Austria, Malta, Germany, Norway, Poland, Latvia, Montenegro and Moldova. Any one of these would have been a tough act to follow. Each one was more polished than the last.

Sam also had to follow an appearance from pop legend Boy George, who is singing with the San Marino entrant Sineth on the track Superstar in this year's contest.

This shouldn't have been an issue if he had been prepared, but he simply wasn't. Given that the final is less than a month away, this was more like a first rehearsal than a serious competitive performance, whereas everyone else has a proper handle on how to present their songs.

I spoke to Sam a few hours before the show, and he was thoroughly nice and excitedly told me how he is currently building his set for Vienna at home. I would like to see him do well, but unless he focuses on the substance as well as the style, we are once again going to be in the nether regions of the leaderboard.