UK girl group Remember Monday say they “absolutely” believe they have what it takes to win this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, as they gear up to represent the UK in Basel, Switzerland, on Saturday evening.
The trio - Lauren Byrne, Holly-Anne Hull and Charlotte Steele - first met over a decade ago at sixth-form college and went on to build individual careers in musical theatre before forming the band.
Now, they’re preparing to take their high-energy entry What The Hell Just Happened?, a feel-good track about a wild night out, to one of the world’s biggest stages.
Speaking ahead of the Grand Final on Sunday, the group admitted it’s still surreal to imagine they could actually win, despite strong encouragement from their team.
“It’s really hard to imagine, because our team believe in us so much,” Hull told The Standard. “They're like, ‘Girls, you're winning it’, ‘You need to bring it home’. We're just like, ‘alright’.
“I genuinely believe we deserve to, but because we're in the world that we're in – performing, [we’ve] had so many no's, so many auditions we didn't get – we’re always protecting ourselves and our feelings, so it's hard for us to imagine that. I absolutely think we have the ability to, but who knows?”
As for their goal in the final scoreboard? “Single digits or above,” they shared. “Anything nine up or 10.”
The group, who have been getting support from their former Voice UK coach Jennifer Hudson and Dannii Minogue, also shared the simple but grounding pre-show rituals they rely on before hitting the stage, namely a bowl of pasta.
“Lots of water – we honestly just need a solid eight hours [of sleep] and a big bowl of pasta,” Byrne laughed. “Then we're normally good to go – a nice carby meal.”
Their main ritual, though, is emotional as well as practical Hull explained: “We always make sure the three of us have a moment alone, just us, to check in with each other and remind each other how far we've come and the amazing thing we're about to do. If our 16-year-old selves knew what we’re doing now, what would they say?
“It’s about remembering what we're doing and how amazing it is.”
Current favourites to win include KAJ, who are from Finland’s Swedish-speaking minority and will represent Sweden, with the upbeat comical Bara Bada Bastu – inspired by the Nordic sauna culture.
The hit is the first time the country, which is tied with Ireland for the most Eurovision wins, has entered with a song in Swedish since the 1990s, when the rules on competing in a country’s official language were relaxed.
Others in contention are Dutch entry Claude Kiambe’s C’est La Vie, Austrian singer JJ’s Wasted Love, and French singer Louane’s ballad Maman.
The Eurovision Grand final kicks off at 8pm on BBC One and BBC Radio 2, on Saturday, May 17
