Tittle-tattle lost the battle

A third controversy gripped MYMU winners Scooch today, and I couldn't help but feel partially responsible. I was intrigued to read on the front page of a fellow London commuter's Daily Mirror (I rarely buy my own when, due to the crowded nature of the capital's trains, you can hardly avoid having the tabloid rags pushed into your face) the headline "The Eurovision Song CON-test" trumpeting another supposed scandal surrounding the act selected to represent the UK in Helsinki.

On closer inspection, the thrust of the story was that Scooch were using two 'off-stage' backing singers to sing part of their winning entry to MYMU, 'Flying the Flag For You'. According to the Mirror, Justin Hawkins stomped off in a rage and all the other acts were b*tching about Scooch "cheating" to win. It was at this point that I remembered my blog entry from yesterday, speculating about the likelihood of Richard Madeley and Judy Finnegan appearing as backing vocalists for Scooch. Had I inadvertently stirred up some kind of scandal?

Of course not, Richard and Judy have better things to do on a Saturday night than to sing backing vocals on someone else's show. And this tabloid tale smacks of a cheap attempt to stir up a scandal in my opinion, so it hardly warrants blog space. The rules allow two off-stage backing singers, and it was quite clear that Scooch were singing live. I urge all fans to ignore suggestions otherwise. One wonders how exactly Scooch might otherwise have gone about singing three-part female harmonies with only two females on stage?