Scooch
Scooch |
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Scooch are a British bubblegum dance group, comprising Natalie Powers (b. 1977), Caroline Barnes (b. 1979), David Ducasse (b. 1978), and Russ Spencer (b. 1980).
Scooch will represent the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 in Helsinki with their song "Flying the Flag (for You)".
Formation
The foursome formed in 1999 after attending auditions for an "all-singing, all-dancing pop group" in front of the noted songwriters and producers Mike Stock and Matt Aitken and future manager, Steve Crosby. Signed to Accolade, the pop imprint of EMI-Parlophone, the group set about creating their image and sound.
The group's name 'Scooch' comes from a term used to ask someone to move up or along a bench or sofa.
Career
Scooch won a contest on BBC One's Saturday morning show Live & Kicking in 1999. They competed against a boyband to have their single released. Even though the bands were already formed, this contest was unique as it pre-dates the format of the first music talent reality show to air in the United Kingdom, ITV1's programme Popstars in 2000, from which the band Hear’Say was created.
Their debut single "When My Baby" charted within the Top 40. This prompted a tour supporting the Irish girlband B*Witched, and promoted their second and biggest single "More Than I Needed To Know". It entered the UK Singles Chart at number 5, and went on to see a global release (including Japan where it hit the top of the record chart).
A promotional support tour for boyband Five provided the group with the foundation for their third single "The Best Is Yet To Come" which charted at number 12 in the UK. The group recorded their debut album "Welcome To The Planet Pop" which was released to Top 20 success in Japan. "More Than I Needed To Know" reached number one in Japan, and due to its popularity there, it was featured in the video game DDRMAX2: Dance Dance Revolution 7thMIX.
Scooch's fourth and, until they reformed, final single came in the form of the flamenco-inspired "For Sure" which made number 15 in the UK. It was followed by the UK version of their album entitled "Four Sure" which peaked just outside the UK Top 40.
Re-formation
They reformed in January 2004 to perform at G-A-Y's Gone But Not Forgotten night in front of a crowd of excited fans. The success of this prompted the band to do a tour of several gay venues and events around the UK.
Other work
In 2006, Russ Spencer took part in the E4 reality show Boys Will Be Girls [1], in which he attempted, along with four other ex-boyband members, to pose as a girl-group. Spencer and his bandmates were given four weeks to record a single, make a pop video and play live, all the while posing as females. Predictably, this experiment was not a complete success. Spencer has also become a television presenter, and currently appears on The Great Big British Quiz.
Caroline Barnes and Natalie Powers have both had various parts on the stage in the West End. Powers has also released several solo singles and albums.
David Ducasse is training to be a teacher and currently helps in an academy for up and coming talent.
Eurovision Song Contest 2007
Eurovision: Making Your Mind Up
On 28 February 2007, it was announced that Scooch were to reform for a Eurovision Song Contest bid.
The group appeared in the UK selection competition Eurovision: Making Your Mind Up on BBC One on Saturday 17 March 2007, singing and performing their song "Flying the Flag (for You)". The show began with six songs, which were reduced to two songs after the public had voted, the four songs with the fewest votes leaving the competition. The remaining two songs went head to head in a "sing-off" and the public voted again for the outright winner.
The show ended in controversy as the final result was announced. Fearne Cotton revealed the winner to be Scooch while, simultaneously in a much louder voice, co-host Terry Wogan announced the winner to be fellow entry Cyndi. After several seconds of confusion, it was revealed that Scooch were the actual winners of the competition and were to represent theUnited Kingdom.[2] A confused Cyndi was hurried off the stage by Fearne Cotton so Scooch could perform the winning song once again.
Further controversy
Further controversy ensued when The Daily Mirror newspaper reported that the band had used two backing singers offstage as part of their performance on Eurovision: Making Your Mind Up, with the implication that this had given the group an advantage over rival entrants, and leading to accusations of miming.[3]
Rule 7 of Section 4 of 'The Extracts From the Rules for the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest' states that "Artists shall perform live on stage, accompanied by a recorded backing-track which contains no vocals of any kind or any vocal imitations." [4] However, it is common Eurovision practice to have additional singers offstage. For example, the Swedish entry in 2006 featured backing singers who did not appear onstage until the second half of the song. The rule is that a maximum number of six singers/performers can perform, but there is no rule to say that they must all be shown on stage.
In a video blog, released on Saturday 24 March 2007, singer-turned-TV presenter Charlotte Church claimed that Scooch were not worthy of winning Eurovision: Making Your Mind Up. Church referred to the UK's Eurovision entry, "Flying the Flag (for You)" by Scooch, as "absolute shit" and embarrassing for Britain. Church announced that she believed Cyndi should have won the competition instead. Natalie Powers of Scooch hit back saying, "As a mother of a young child myself I find her behaviour and language quite unacceptable. What kind of role model is this for a mum-to-be?" Russ Spencer added, "What a pity the voice of an angel has acquired the mouth of a sewer".[5]
On 28 March 2007, Swedish singer Pandora claimed that the chorus of Scooch's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest, is a clear cut case of plagiarism of the chorus in her song "No Regrets" released in 1999. With the help of the Swedish Musicians' Union she later contacted the EBU in an attempt to have Scooch's entry disqualified from the competition.[6]
In response to the plagiarism claim by Pandora, the BBC issued a statement confirming that Scooch's song is "an original" and the writers "were never aware of Pandora or her songs". The BBC confirmed that there had been no duplication of her work.[7]
On 3 April 2007, The Daily Mirror newspaper apologized to the BBC and EBU for an incorrect story it published stating that the EBU had confirmed that the BBC had breached the EBU's rules during the selection of the UK's Eurovision entry. The flawed story led to rumours of miming by Scooch on the Eurovision: Making Your Mind Up show and led to accusations of competition fixing by the BBC.[8]
At the end of April 2007, Scooch attracted some controversy on many internet forums, following the release of their Eurovision entry in several different languages. Despite claiming the voices in the tracks were themselves, many people felt that the voices were not the foursome, but native speakers of the languages.
Promotion campaign
On Monday 19 March 2007, Scooch appeared on Richard and Judy on Channel 4, revealing that their dance routine for "Flying the Flag (for You)" in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 in Helsinki will be "camper than ever before" and "may involve strings".
On Thursday 22 March 2007, the foursome appeared on This Morning on ITV1 and in the evening on The Graham Norton Show on BBC One, performing cut-down versions of the song.
On 17 April 2007, Scooch shot the music video for their Eurovision entry "Flying the Flag (for You)" in London. The video was released on 23 April 2007 and could be 'exclusively' seen on the BBC Eurovision 2007 website from 24 April 2007.[9]
On 18 April 2007, it was announced that Scooch had been signed to the Warner Bros. record label. [10] As part of the contract, Scooch recorded several different language versions of "Flying the Flag (for You)", in which the phrases in the song are spoken in French, German, Spanish, Bulgarian and Danish.[11]
Throughout early May 2007, the group appeared on several British television programmes and radio programmes and took part in numerous media interviews to promote the song and themselves further. A "child-friendly" version of the song was performed on CBBC's Blue Peter with several spoken lines changed to reflect the target audience. Changes included "Would you like a snack sir?" instead of "Some salted nuts Sir?" and "Would you like some sweets Sir?" instead of "Would you like something to suck on for landing sir?". The quartet also performed on the National Lottery Draw on BBC One and on the ITV show Loose Women.
Scooch rehearsed in Helsinki for the Eurovision Song Contest Final from May 6 to May 11 and altered several parts of their performance numerous times in the process.
Discography
Singles
| Cover | Title, Release Date, Peak Chart Position | Track Listings |
|---|---|---|
|
"When My Baby"
|
UK CD 1) When My Baby (Radio Edit) 2) Syncopated Rhythm 3) When My Baby (Almighty Radio Mix)
A) When My Baby (Extended Mix) B) When My Baby (Almighty Mix)
A) When My Baby (Radio Edit) B) Syncopated Rhythm | |
| File:Scooch More Than I Needed To Know.jpg |
"More Than I Needed To Know"
|
UK CD 1 1) More Than I Needed To Know 2) Don't Look Back 3) More Than I Needed To Know (Splash! Mix)
1) More Than I Needed To Know 2) When My Baby (Almighty Extended Mix) 3) More Than I Needed To Know (Slewfoot & Grinder Mix) + More Than I Needed To Know (Video & Photo Gallery)
A) More Than I Needed To Know (Splash! Mix) B1) More Than I Needed To Know (Slewfoot & Grinder Mix) B2) More Than I Needed To Know (Original Mix)
A) More Than I Needed To Know B) Don't Look Back |
| File:Scooch The Best Is Yet To Come.jpg |
"The Best Is Yet To Come"
|
UK CD 1 1) The Best Is Yet To Come (Radio Edit) 2) Maybe Tomorrow 3) The Best Is Yet To Come (Splash! Mix)
1) The Best Is Yet To Come (Radio Edit) 2) Thank You For Being A Friend 3) The Best Is Yet To Come (Doc 'N Saxman Mix)
A1) The Best Is Yet To Come (Splash! Mix) A2) The Best Is Yet To Come (Doc 'N Saxman Mix) B1) The Best Is Yet To Come (Radio Edit) B2) Maybe Tomorrow
A) The Best Is Yet To Come (Radio Edit) B) The Best Is Yet To Come (Radio Edit) |
|
"For Sure"
|
UK CD 1 1) For Sure 2) Forever We'll Be Strong + Exclusive Scooch Homemade Movie (Enhanced Portion)
1) For Sure (Radio Edit) 2) For Sure (Splash! Extended Pop 12") 3) For Sure (Motiv 8 Intrepid Vocal Club Mix) 4) For Sure (Motiv 8 Intrepid Radio Version) + For Sure (Video & Photo Gallery)
A) For Sure (Radio Edit) B) For Sure (Radio Edit) | |
|
UK CD 1) Flying The Flag (For You) (Eurovision 2007 Version) 2) Flying The Flag (For You) (Karaoke Version)
Audio Content: 1) Flying The Flag (For You) (Eurovision 2007 Version) 2) Flying The Flag (For You) (Karaoke Version) Video Content: 1) Flying The Flag (For You) (Video) 2) 'How To' Special Scooch Dance Feature
iTunes UK Single - Available Versions Flying The Flag (For You) (Eurovision 2007 Version) Flying The Flag (For You) (Karaoke Version) Flying The Flag (For You) (Mile High Remix) |
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Albums
| Cover | Title, Release Date, Peak Chart Position | Track Listings |
|---|---|---|
|
"Welcome to the Planet Pop"
|
Japan CD 1) For Sure 2) More Than I Needed To Know 3) One Of These Days 4) The Best Is Yet To Come 5) Zoom 6) Bird In Flight 7) Stay 8) The Next Step 9) Never Stop Believing 10) Syncopated Rhythm 11) When My Baby 12) Music To My Heart 13) Don't Look Back 14) Forever We'll Be Strong 15) The Best Is Yet To Come (Splash! Mix) 16) When My Baby (Almighty Radio Edit) | |
|
"Four Sure" |
UK CD 1) For Sure 2) More Than I Needed To Know 3) When My Baby 4) One Of These Days 5) Zoom 6) Never Stop Believing 7) The Best Is Yet To Come 8) Stay 9) The Next Step 10) Syncopated Rhythm 11) Music To My Heart 12) Third Time Lucky |
References
- ^ "Boys Will Be Girls". Channel 4. Retrieved 2007-04-22.
- ^ "Gaffe mars Scooch Eurovision win". BBC News. 2007-03-18. Retrieved 2007-03-18.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Winners had secret singers off stage". mirror.co.uk. 2007-03-20.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Extracts From The Rules For The 2007 Eurovision Song Contest 2007" (PDF). European Broadcasting Union. 2007-03-18. Retrieved 2007-03-18.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Scooch react to Church outburst". esctoday.com. 2007-03-25. Retrieved 2007-03-25.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Pandora rasar. De har snott min låt" (in Swedish). Aftonbladet. 2007-03-28. Retrieved 2007-03-28.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "'There is no plagiarism' We never heard of Pandora". esctoday.com. 2007-03-28. Retrieved 2007-03-28.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "'We were wrong' The Mirror apologises to BBC'". esctoday.com. 2007-04-03. Retrieved 2007-04-03.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/eurovision/2007/index.shtml?refresh
- ^ "Exclusive: Warner Bros sign Scooch, single out May 7th". esctoday.com. 2007-04-18. Retrieved 2007-04-21.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Exclusive: 5 language versions for Scooch". esctoday.com. 2007-04-20. Retrieved 2007-04-21.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help)
External links
Official websites
- Official Scooch Website (New)
- Official Scooch Website (Old)
- Official Natalie Powers Website
- Official Scooch MySpace (Scoochworld)
- Official Natalie Powers MySpace
- Caroline Barnes MySpace
- David Ducasse MySpace
- Russ Spencer MySpace
- BBC Radio 2 Eurovision: MYMU 2007 website
- BBC Eurovision 2007 website (with "Flying the Flag (for You)" music video)
Other websites
- - Learn the steps to Flying the Flag with Blue Peter
- oiktotimes.com - "Pandora's Accusations" story
- Official Pandora website (with "No regrets")