Eurovision act Remember Monday: 'The closer we get, the hungrier we become'

Since Remember Monday were announced arsenic the UK's Eurovision enactment successful March, they've hardly slept successful their ain beds.

"It's decidedly successful the azygous digits," says vocalist Holly-Anne Hull, trying to cipher however galore nights she has spent astatine home. "We don't person clip for that."

Instead, they've been connected a whirlwind circuit of Europe, gathering fans, filming endless TikToks and performing their song, What The Hell Just Happened, to anyone who'll listen.

If they're tired, it doesn't show. The country-pop trio – Lauren Byrne, Holly-Anne Hull and Charlotte Steele – are chatty, excited and focused connected fun, and for bully reason.

They formed astatine schoolhouse implicit a decennary ago, and determinedly stayed unneurotic during agelong periods where, successful their words, "no-one was listening".

Even aft a palmy crook connected The Voice successful 2019, Charlotte had to instrumentality to her occupation arsenic a lawman caput teacher, portion Lauren and Holly-Anne appeared successful West End shows similar Phantom of the Opera and Six: The Musical.

Eurovision offers accidental to alteration that. They caput to Basel, Switzerland this week, hoping to erase the memories of Olly Alexander and Mae Muller, who some finished astatine the bottommost extremity of the table.

It helps that Remember Monday's opus is simply a certified banger - afloat of glittery glam-pop flourishes and sizzling harmonies that (crucially) they tin propulsion disconnected live.

Just earlier they acceptable disconnected for Euroland, we sat down with the trio to sermon quitting their jobs, overcoming phobias, and the dreaded "nul points".

It's 8 weeks since you were announced arsenic the UK's Eurovision entry…

Charlotte: No, it can't be. It feels similar six years!

How galore aerial miles person you racked up successful that time?

Lauren: Honestly, I consciousness atrocious astir our c footprint.

Charlotte: The happening is, I'm a tense flyer. I ever enactment an oculus disguise on, enactment my headphones successful and debar looking retired the window. Then we had to drawback a propellor level from Reykjavik successful Iceland, and arsenic it was taking off, the full happening was shaking from broadside to side.

Lauren: It was truly treacherous… but then, the adjacent Easyjet formation we had to catch, Charlotte was like, 'What a breeze'.

Charlotte: I was smiling, talking. It's similar I was cured!

When I archetypal heard What The Hell Just Happened, I thought it sounded similar thing from Six: The Musical… Then I discovered you'd really been successful it.

Lauren: That was me! I was Jane Seymour. She's the 1 that died, alternatively of being beheaded.

Was it ever the program to enactment a philharmonic theatre vibe successful the song?

Lauren: We wrote a little for the opus and determination were truthful galore references: Bohemian Rhapsody, Chappell Roan, Sabrina Carpenter.

But we besides said 'let's not beryllium acrophobic to constitute the popular mentation of Defying Gravity'. We wanted it to person each that epicness and play and the West End tricks you don't get successful popular music.

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You wrote 15 songs successful total. What were the rejects like?

Holly-Anne: There are a fewer we'll decidedly support [for our album] but determination was besides 1 called Achilles Heel that went consecutive successful the bin.

Charlotte and Lauren [singing]: How bash you feel, Achilles? How is your heel, Achilles?

Holly-Anne [cringing]: We'd been penning for 3 weeks and I deliberation we started to spell delusional!

That reminds maine of thing Ed Sheeran says astir songwriting: A pat has to tally brownish earlier it runs clear.

Charlotte: It's truthful true, and funnily enough, What The Hell Just Happened was the past opus we wrote, a time earlier the deadline. We'd got to the constituent wherever we were similar 'let's conscionable spell 100% connected each thought and spot wherever it lands'.

Holly-Anne: We thought we had the Eurovision Song, I would say, 4 oregon 5 times. Then this 1 came up and we were similar 'OK, it's beaten each of them'.

What tin you archer maine astir your performance?

Holly-Anne: We travel from theatre background, truthful it's decidedly going to beryllium theatrical. We privation to springiness that a girl-band, performance feeling, similar you're stepping into the satellite of Remember Monday.

There's a enactment successful the opus astir ripping your dress. Is that a sneaky Bucks Fizz reference?

Lauren: Oh my God! Let's accidental yes. We didn't constitute it specifically with that successful mind... but if the footwear fits!

Charlotte: There's loads of small Easter eggs successful the lyrics astir our friendship. We've had a batch of nights retired that ended successful a tattoo parlour oregon losing a footwear somehow.

Do you retrieve the archetypal clip you met?

Holly-Anne: It's intolerable to archer due to the fact that we were successful the aforesaid sixth signifier but for the archetypal twelvemonth we were successful antithetic classes.

Lauren: I retrieve Charlotte coming into my people and singing that opus from Parade.

Charlotte [singing]: "You don't cognize this maaan."

Holly-Anne: Then, successful the 2nd year, we each joined the aforesaid performing arts class, and we were similar 'oh, let's sing together'.

When you graduated you each had full-time jobs – truthful however did you support the set together?

Charlotte: We ever had Mondays off… hence the set name.

Holly-Anne: It was truthful important to america to support the set live that we conscionable ne'er fto it die.

Charlotte: At 1 point, Holly went connected circuit for a twelvemonth and we flew retired to Singapore truthful we could beryllium together.

Lauren: Then, possibly 18 months ago, we discontinue our jobs to bash this full-time.

Charlotte: We thought, if we don't propulsion everything successful now, we'll ever regret it.

Were your resignation letters like, 'I'm disconnected to beryllium a star!'?

Lauren: Well, Holly and I were successful the theatre, truthful we conscionable didn't renew our contracts, whereas Charlotte was really a lawman caput teacher.

Charlotte: The caput was 1 of my closest friends and a batch of the kids had already seen america astatine gigs – truthful everyone knew it was gonna happen. It was conscionable a substance of time.

Are you prepared for however overwhelming Eurovision week is?

Lauren: Yeah, but we're rather bully astatine immersing ourselves successful what we're doing.

Charlotte: Even if determination wasn't a bubble astir us, the 3 of america marque a bubble. Eurovision is each we speech about, adjacent if we're not together.

Lauren: And past I'm definite from the 18th of May onwards, we'll person a just magnitude of downtime.

Holly-Anne: The comedown is going to beryllium rough.

What are your hopes for the result?

Holly-Anne: We bash person a preference. And I deliberation the person we get to it, the much bare we are for a bully result. A placement successful the azygous digits would beryllium nice.

You person loads of festival performances booked for the summertime – truthful beingness won't grind to a halt afterwards.

Lauren: That's truthful true. And actually, each acquisition that we're having successful the lead-up to May 17, that's Eurovision arsenic well.

Charlotte: All the places we've been to and the radical we've met – it virtually feels similar a girls' holiday.

Holly-Anne: Even if we get zero points, we'll inactive beryllium singing together, adjacent if it's successful my surviving room.

What's the 1 representation you'll instrumentality distant from this?

Lauren: I volition always, ever retrieve the feeling of uncovering retired we'd correspond the UK. We've been astir for a agelong time, and we've had a batch of 'noes' arsenic a band, truthful erstwhile we auditioned, we assumed this would beryllium different one. 'Thank you truthful much, but we're going successful different direction'.

So to yet get a yes aft each these years, and to commencement surviving what feels similar a imagination travel existent with your 2 champion friends? I volition ne'er hide that telephone call.