"Flying the Flag (For You)" is a song performed by British bubblegum pop dance group Scooch. The official single version was available from 30 April 2007[1] and was released as a physical CD single in the following week, on 7 May 2007.[2] The song debuted on the UK Singles Chart at No. 5 and peaked at this position. It also charted in Ireland at number 48.
Scooch had reformed in hope of performing at the Eurovision Song Contest 2007, and the song was specifically written for the contest; Eurovision rules state that the song must be an original composition and released no more than seven months before the contest.[4] Spencer, as the captain, opens and closes the song with captain's announcements. Powers and Barnes sing the vocals of the song, as Ducasse offers passengers confectioneries. The lyrics are heavily based on actual experiences of flying.[5] The song contains a liberal amount of sexual innuendo,[5] the most overt being "...and blow into the mouthpiece" and "would you like something to suck on for landing, sir?" (the latter was omitted or changed for some tea-time television performances). The camp style was both praised and criticised – The Guardian noted that the song was, in terms of Eurovision, outdated and similar to Bucks Fizz's winning entry in 1981,[5] while Tim Moore called the song "a fine song in Eurovision tradition".[6]
Music video
The original music video was their final performance on Eurovision: Making Your Mind Up; Scooch recorded a new version once their contract with Warner Bros. had been signed.
Following the lyrics, the second video starts with the quartet in the front of the aeroplane, with Spencer as the captain. The video continues with all of the members as stewards walking up and down the plane, with a cameo appearance from Sister Mary McArthur, who was invited to take part after the band saw her lip sync video.[7] Later in the video each member of the band is seen dancing in front of the flags of selected countries that are all participating in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007, in addition to the flag of Europe.
Scooch performing "Flying the Flag (for You)" for the United Kingdom.
"Flying the Flag (For You)" was the nineteenth song to be sung during the Eurovision Song Contest.[8] The song scored only nineteen points: twelve from Malta, and seven from Ireland,[3] two nations known for awarding points to the United Kingdom – although according to the Head of the Maltese Delegation, Malta voted twelve partly in protest to regional block voting which, had made the contest "not about the songs any more",[9] an opinion shared by "five or six other countries". Due to the low score that Scooch had received — only the Irish entry "They Can't Stop the Spring" was lower on the scoreboard[3]— the song received negative press by newspapers, in particular by The Sunday Mirror who stated that the song made the United Kingdom "the laughing stock of Europe",[10]The Sunday Times referred to the song saying "it wasn't a disaster – more of a crash landing".[10][11]
International promotion
On 18 April 2007 it was announced that Scooch had been signed to the Warner Bros. label.[12] This would help them to promote and release their single to a broader range of fans in the United Kingdom and abroad. As part of the contract, Scooch recorded certain phrases of the song in French, German, Spanish, Bulgarian, and Danish.[11]
^"Eurovision Song Contest"(PDF). p. 3. Archived from the original(PDF) on 7 May 2007. Retrieved 14 May 2007. The entries (lyrics and music) must not have been commercially released and/or publicly performed before 1 October 2006.
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