Remember Monday: Meet the Eurovision hopefuls who sing their trollers’ insults
You have to have a thick skin to take part in Eurovision which might be why last year’s UK entrant, singer Olly Alexander, has already reached out to this year’s hopefuls to talk about the pitfalls of putting yourself out there.
Lauren Byrne, Holly-Anne Hull, and Charlotte Steele – members of the country-pop girl group Remember Monday – say they plan to get a drink date with the Years And Years singer before they perform in the contest in May.
Lauren says they had a “lovely chat” with Olly, and “drinks are pending” after he “reached out to us and has sent his well-wishes and given us some advice”.
(L-R) Charlotte Steele, Holly-Anne Hull and Lauren Byrne of Remember Monday are this year’s UK Eurovision entrant
Olly Alexander at the MTV Europe Music Awards 2024 in Manchester. File pic: PA
Of course, positivity is a must if you are the UK’s Eurovision entrant (Olly only managed 18th place) and thankfully Remember Monday have quite a history of setting their critics to music, performing medleys on TikTok of some of their trolls’ funniest comments.
“Some people, you just won’t be their cup of tea, so, yeah, we started kind of singing those insults,” Lauren explains.
Holly-Anne says the overall reaction to their song What The Hell Just Happened has been “overwhelmingly positive”, admitting they have been “taken aback by how kind and positive everyone’s been”.
So who are this trio? Well, they have a background in musical theatre and have known each other for years.
As Holly-Anne explains: “We met at sixth form college, we were all in the same performing arts class.
“We were kind of known as the three girls that constantly sang every genre, everything, and I guess that’s kind of still what we’re doing.
“Our teachers constantly would knock on the door. I think we had an A level final paper due or something… which was not even slightly a priority. The priority was getting an incredible cover of My Milkshake Brings All The Boys To The Yard down pat,” she laughs.
Like former UK runner-up Sam Ryder, they have already got a huge fanbase of over half a million followers on TikTok, which has to be a help in terms of winning votes.
Remember Monday said they would be singing at school even if ‘we had an A level final paper due or something’
Although the girls are big fans of Bucks Fizz’s “iconic” 80s performance, they say they’ve no plans to rip off their skirts on the big night.
Charlotte refuses to say much about the staging itself, but adds that “we are all from theatre backgrounds and I think that you can definitely expect some theatrics”.
Holly-Anne says they have “some incredible people working with us in terms of creative direction and styling.
“We just can’t wait for everyone to see it.”
The UK’s Olly Alexander performing during the 2024 Eurovision semi-final. Pic: Reuters
Eurovision being non-political did not stop politics creeping its way into last year’s event with several of the finalists referring to ongoing global disputes in the build-up.
This year, between the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, it’s hard to imagine we will not see similar scenes.
But Lauren hopes the peaceful message at the show’s heart remains the focus, as Eurovision “was designed to bring people together and bring countries together and celebrate artists from all around the world.
“So we’re just really looking forward to doing that and celebrating, you know, the music and the artistry that we get to kind of witness.”
Around 200 million viewers are expected to watch the competition, which is taking place in the Swiss city of Basel, where Remember Monday take on 36 other hopefuls.
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The band has two months to hone their performance and perhaps the faces they will have to make when the votes come in, too.
While they look cool, calm and can’t stop singing now, Charlotte says to start worrying if they go quiet nearer the time, as the marker of them feeling nervous is “we go completely silent, like right before we go on stage.
“If we’re nervous, you will be able to tell…but hopefully not on stage.”
Donald Trump has said he is considering “taking away” the US citizenship of actress and comedian Rosie O’Donnell, despite a Supreme Court ruling that expressly prohibits a government from doing so.
In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, the US president said: “Because of the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship.”
He also labelled O’Donnell, who has moved to Ireland, as a “threat to humanity” and said she should “remain in the wonderful country of Ireland, if they want her”.
O’Donnell responded on Instagram by posting a photograph of Mr Trump with Jeffrey Epstein.
“You are everything that is wrong with America and I’m everything you hate about what’s still right with it,” she wrote in the caption.
“I’m not yours to silence. I never was.”
Rosie O’Donnell moved to Ireland after Donald Trump secured a second term. Pic: AP
O’Donnell moved to Ireland with her 12-year-old son in January after Mr Trump had secured a second term.
She has said she’s in the process of obtaining Irish citizenship based on family lineage and that she would only return to the US “when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America”.
O’Donnell and the US president have criticised each other publicly for years, in an often-bitter back-and-forth that predates Mr Trump’s move into politics.
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This is just the latest threat by the president to revoke the citizenship of someone he has disagreed with, most recently his former ally Elon Musk.
But the two situations are different as while Musk was born in South Africa, O’Donnell was born in the US and has a constitutional right to American citizenship.
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Amanda Frost, a law professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, said the Supreme Court ruled in a 1967 case that the fourteenth amendment of the constitution prevents the government from taking away citizenship.
“The president has no authority to take away the citizenship of a native-born US citizen,” he added.
“In short, we are nation founded on the principle that the people choose the government; the government cannot choose the people.”
The Salt Path author Raynor Winn’s fourth book has been delayed by her publisher.
It comes amid claims that the author lied about her story in her hit first book. Winn previously described the claims as “highly misleading” and called suggestions that her husband had Moth made up his illness “utterly vile”.
In a statement, Penguin Michael Joseph, said it had delayed the publication of Winn’s latest book On Winter Hill – which had been set for release 23 October.
The publisher said the decision had been made in light of “recent events, in particular intrusive conjecture around Moth’s health”, which it said had caused “considerable distress” to the author and her family.
“It is our priority to support the author at this time,” the publisher said.
“With this in mind, Penguin Michael Joseph, together with the author, has made the decision to delay the publication of On Winter Hill from this October.”
A new release date will be announced in due course, the publisher added.
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Winn’s first book, released in 2018, detailed the journey she and husband took along the South West Coast Path – familiarly known as The Salt Path – after they lost their family farm and Moth received a terminal health diagnosis of Corticobasal Degeneration (CBD).
But a report in The Observer disputed key aspects of the 2018 “true” story – which was recently turned into a film starring Jason Isaacs and Gillian Anderson.
Raynor and husband Moth (centre) with actors Jason Isaacs (L) and Gillian Anderson (R). Pic: Steve Tanner/Black Bear
Experts ‘sceptical of health claims’
As part of the article, published last weekend, The Observer claimed to have spoken to experts who were “sceptical” about elements of Moth’s terminal diagnosis, such as a “lack of acute symptoms and his apparent ability to reverse them”.
In the ensuing controversy, PSPA, a charity that supports people with CBD, cut ties with the couple.
The Observer article also claimed the portrayal of a failed investment in a friend’s business wasn’t true, but said the couple – whose names are Sally and Tim Walker – lost their home after Raynor Winn embezzled money from her employer and had to borrow to pay it back and avoid police action.
Anderson played Winn in a movie about the couple’s journey. Pic: Steve Tanner/Black Bear
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It also said that, rather than being homeless, the couple had owned a house in France since 2007.
Winn’s statement said the dispute with her employer wasn’t the reason the couple lost their home – but admitted she may have made “mistakes” while in the job.
“For me it was a pressured time,” she wrote. “It was also a time when mistakes were being made in the business. Any mistakes I made during the years in that office, I deeply regret, and I am truly sorry.”
She admitted being questioned by police but said she wasn’t charged.
The author also said accusations that Moth lied about having CBD/CBS were false and had “emotionally devastated” him.
“I have charted Moth’s condition with such a level of honesty, that this is the most unbearable of the allegations,” Winn wrote on her website.
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