Scooch bandmates Russ Spencer and Caroline Barnes represented the UK with their camp cabin crew anthem Flying The Flag (For You) in 2007. Now, they tell new how they found romance as well as fame after their Eurovision performance in Helsinki.
Chatting about their lasting love, Caroline says, “We both had other partners during Eurovision, but I think we eventually just came to the realisation we were in love with each other. A year later we were a couple.”
“We’d had other boyfriends and girlfriends and probably got a lot of stuff out of our systems. I went through this ridiculous thing of planning to go away with a boyfriend and then we’d split up, so I’d call Russ and go, ‘Do you fancy coming on a holiday with me?’ So we started off as really good friends and it blossomed from there.”
Caroline and Russ, both 44 and now living together in Bournemouth, admit that teaming up in life as well as on stage was a risky decision.
“Initially, our Scooch bandmates David [Ducasse] and Natalie [Powers] were like, ‘Oh, my God. Wow, are you sure?’” recalls Russ. “It was a big deal because it was only a year or so after Eurovision and we were still a band and doing lots.”
“There’s always a concern that you don’t want it to be awkward,” Caroline agrees. “We didn’t want to mess it all up and make it horrendous, so we really talked about it first.”
And more than 15 years later, the duo are still together. Like anyone who’s bonded after sharing a life-changing experience, Russ and Natalie agree the “crazy times” they had at Eurovision only brought them closer together.
Russ remembers, “We landed in Finland a week before the grand finale, and the airport was filled with Eurovision superfans. They were screaming, grabbing us for photos and autographs, and were just generally so excited to see us.
“When we were in the taxi to the hotel, which was exclusively filled with Eurovision competitors, we noticed our faces on screens dotted around the city.”
“We felt like proper A-Listers… for one week,” smiles Caroline. “Our performance on the night all went to plan and the crowd erupted. We were all so giddy. There was a small part of us that thought, ‘Maybe we could win this.’”
“After the first few countries voted, it became clear that it wasn’t going to happen, so we started hitting the champagne hard,” laughs Russ. “When Malta announced they were giving us the maximum 12 points, we celebrated like we’d won the whole competition. We were cheering, hugging and jumping round the room.”
When the band’s new-found popularity didn’t transfer to votes, their air steward pop anthem finished joint 22nd out of 24 entries.
“At Eurovision, there are no real rules. In fact, they encourage you to go big and camp,” says Russ, who also wrote the lyrics for Flying T...
Chatting about their lasting love, Caroline says, “We both had other partners during Eurovision, but I think we eventually just came to the realisation we were in love with each other. A year later we were a couple.”
“We’d had other boyfriends and girlfriends and probably got a lot of stuff out of our systems. I went through this ridiculous thing of planning to go away with a boyfriend and then we’d split up, so I’d call Russ and go, ‘Do you fancy coming on a holiday with me?’ So we started off as really good friends and it blossomed from there.”
Caroline and Russ, both 44 and now living together in Bournemouth, admit that teaming up in life as well as on stage was a risky decision.
“Initially, our Scooch bandmates David [Ducasse] and Natalie [Powers] were like, ‘Oh, my God. Wow, are you sure?’” recalls Russ. “It was a big deal because it was only a year or so after Eurovision and we were still a band and doing lots.”
“There’s always a concern that you don’t want it to be awkward,” Caroline agrees. “We didn’t want to mess it all up and make it horrendous, so we really talked about it first.”
And more than 15 years later, the duo are still together. Like anyone who’s bonded after sharing a life-changing experience, Russ and Natalie agree the “crazy times” they had at Eurovision only brought them closer together.
Russ remembers, “We landed in Finland a week before the grand finale, and the airport was filled with Eurovision superfans. They were screaming, grabbing us for photos and autographs, and were just generally so excited to see us.
“When we were in the taxi to the hotel, which was exclusively filled with Eurovision competitors, we noticed our faces on screens dotted around the city.”
“We felt like proper A-Listers… for one week,” smiles Caroline. “Our performance on the night all went to plan and the crowd erupted. We were all so giddy. There was a small part of us that thought, ‘Maybe we could win this.’”
“After the first few countries voted, it became clear that it wasn’t going to happen, so we started hitting the champagne hard,” laughs Russ. “When Malta announced they were giving us the maximum 12 points, we celebrated like we’d won the whole competition. We were cheering, hugging and jumping round the room.”
When the band’s new-found popularity didn’t transfer to votes, their air steward pop anthem finished joint 22nd out of 24 entries.
“At Eurovision, there are no real rules. In fact, they encourage you to go big and camp,” says Russ, who also wrote the lyrics for Flying T...
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New UK (Digital) - 1 Issue, May 15, 2023