A one-time Eurovision Song Contest entrant has confessed he still gets paid royalties for his song almost 20 years after it came second-to-last on the show.
In recent history, only Sam Ryder has come anywhere near the top of the leaderboard, though Olly Alexander is this year hoping to claw it back. However, it seems even failed entries can still enjoy a bit of a cash flow at this time of the year.
Back in 2007, the United Kingdom’s entry was Scooch, with the cheesy song Flying The Flag (For You). At the time, the bubblegum pop song was described as a “crash landing”.
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But Scooch member Russ Spencer has revealed he still gets some royalty payments each Eurovision season as people go mad for the old tracks.
(Image: AFP/Getty Images)
Speaking to Spin Genie, Russ, who was one of the writers of the songs, explained he even manages to splash the cash because of it – but not hugely.
He said: “There’s an uptick [this time of year] but I can get myself a meal every year or something – a nice meal, but it’s nothing to write home about. I’m useless with all that but there’s a little bit of money that trickles in, but it’s not going to buy me a house.”
(Image: Twitter)
In the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest, only two countries awarded the UK any points – Malta (12 points) and Ireland (seven points). It performed slightly better in the charts, peaking at No5 in the UK Singles chart.
But Russ added: “I’m not a millionaire off of Flying The Flag!”
That year, only Ireland came out worse than the UK, with Dervish’s They Can’t Stop The Spring getting just five points. France was in joint second-to-last with the UK, with Les Fatals Picards’ L’Amour à la française.
This year, Years And Years singer Olly Alexander hopes to bring it home for the UK. Sadly, his semi-final performance of the song, Dizzy, didn’t go too well.
During the performance, which sees him and dancers in a rotating box, Olly’s microphone pack fell, forcing him to think on his feet. Viewers complained that his vocals sounded off, but Olly soon spoke out.
He said on ITV’s Lorraine: “I had a slight wardrobe malfunction – my mic pack fell off – and had to improvise but that’s fine – it’s live TV, it happens.”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
