Eight acts competed in the competition which consisted of a radio semi-final on 7 February 1997 and a televised final on 9 March 1997.

On 7 February, a semifinal was held on BBC Radio 2 at 09:30am, presented by Ken Bruce.

In addition to the four listed above, the following were included, although the 4 acts not shaded in orange were eliminated: The Great British Song Contest final was held on Mother's Day, Sunday 9 March 1997 and televised on BBC 1 at 15:30pm.

Each of the 4 finalists were featured each week on The National Lottery Live: Ahead of the contest, United Kingdom were considered one of the favourites among bookmakers to win the contest, featuring alongside the entries from Ireland, Italy, Germany and Estonia.

[3] Katrina and the Waves performed 24th in the running order on the night of the contest.