Russell Spencer (born 1 March, 1980) is an English singer and television presenter.

Scooch

Originally formed in 1998, Spencer first gained prominence as a member of pop group

Scooch Scooch is a British pop group, comprising performers Natalie Powers, Caroline Barnes, David Ducasse and Russ Spencer. Scooch represented the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 in Helsinki with their song "Flying the Flag (For Y ...

, who signed to EMI and gained four top-twenty hits, including their top-five single "

More Than I Needed to Know "More Than I Needed to Know" is a song by British pop group Scooch. The song was written by Mike Stock, Matt Aitken, and Steve Crosby and was produced by the former two. It was released on 10 January 2000 as the group's second single from thei ...

", as well as the album ''Four Sure''. Worldwide, Scooch scored number one singles in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. Scooch was dropped by EMI and the group disbanded after disappointing sales of ''Four Sure'' in 2000. In 2007, Scooch reformed after seven years, to participate in the famous European television talent contest '' Eurovision: Making Your Mind Up'', a

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

television contest to determine the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

's entry in the 2007

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

. They were chosen as the UK's entry, beating, amongst others, Justin Hawkins and

Brian Harvey Brian Lee Harvey (born 8 August 1974) is an English singer from London. He was the lead singer of pop group East 17. The later incarnation of the band, E-17, had two top 20 singles on the UK Singles Chart between 1998 and 1999, with the album ...

. Russ co-wrote the song "

Flying the Flag (For You) "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 and was released as a physical CD single in the following week, on 7 May 2007. The song de ...

", signed to

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...

and released the song to the UK chart. The UK Eurovision entry automatically goes to the final, where the song received only 19 votes, coming joint 22nd out of 24 entries. However, the single was the highest charting Eurovision song in the UK since 1997 when ''

Katrina and the Waves Katrina and the Waves were a British Rock music, rock band formed in Cambridge in 1981, widely known for their 1985 hit "Walking on Sunshine (Katrina and the Waves song), Walking on Sunshine". They won the 1997 Eurovision Song Contest with the ...

'' last won the contest for the country, reaching the number five position.

Television

Spencer has hosted shows such as the ITV game show '' Make Your Play'' and presented three nights a week for '' The Great Big British Quiz'' on Channel 5. Other presenting credits include

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

Disney Channel Disney Channel is an American pay television television channel, channel that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company ...

, Quiz Call, Quiz TV and '' Glitterball'' for ITV. He has also appeared on ''

Never Mind the Buzzcocks ''Never Mind the Buzzcocks'' is a British comedy panel game show with a pop music theme. It has aired on Sky Max since September 2021, having originally aired between November 1996 and January 2015 on BBC Two. The original series was first host ...

'', ''The Most Annoying Pop Moments... We Hate to Love'' and ''Generation X'' for the BBC. For

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism for Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global's networks division based in New Y ...

he has appeared in ''Wannabe'' and ''Radio Ga Ga''. Television acting work includes guest roles in series six of '' Shameless'' on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

and '' Footballers' Wives'' on ITV. Spencer starred in the E4 series '' Boys Will Be Girls'' where a new band was formed, but the members had to pass themselves off as being female. Early in 2010, Spencer appeared alongside fellow ''Scooch'' band member and partner Caroline Barnes on the Channel 4 series '' Coach Trip''. They were red-carded on day 36, after 19 days on the coach, for having broken the rules by asking others to vote them off.

Theatre

Spencer trained at Laine Theatre Arts, and appeared in the original West End cast of ''

Nine 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Hindu–Arabic digit Circa 300 BC, as part of the Brahmi numerals, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bot ...

'' and on the UK tour of ''

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang ''Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'' is a 1968 children's film, children's Musical film, musical fantasy film directed by Ken Hughes and produced by Albert R. Broccoli. It stars Dick Van Dyke, Sally Ann Howes, Lionel Jeffries, Gert Fröbe, Anna Quayle, ...

'' as The Child Catcher. He created the role of Ricky St Clair in the UK tour of '' The Extra Factor'', and appeared in ''Santa Claus – The Musical'' at the Alexandra Theatre in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

. He has also been in ''Wayne Sleep's Explosive Dance'' and ''Andrew Lloyd Webber's Birthday Celebration'', both at the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...

, and a world tour as lead vocalist with the

New Zealand Symphony Orchestra The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (NZSO) is a symphony orchestra based in Wellington, New Zealand. The national orchestra of New Zealand, the NZSO is an autonomous Crown entity owned by the New Zealand Government, per the New Zealand Symphony ...

and the Hawaii Symphony. Since 2016 Russ has been associate director of ''Dirty Dancing - The Classic Story On Stage'', while also acting as Company Manager for ''Dirty Dancing The Classic Story On Stage'', Sting's ''The Last Ship and the 2024 production of ''Spirited Away'' at the London Coliseum''.

Radio

In 2008, Spencer was a DJ on the

independent local radio Independent Local Radio is the collective name given to commercial radio stations in the United Kingdom. As a result of the buyouts and mergers permitted by the Broadcasting Act 1990, and deregulation resulting from the Communications Act 2 ...

station 107.8 Radio Jackie.

References

External links

Russ Spencer official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spencer, Russ Living people 1980 births English television presenters English male singers Musicians from Bournemouth 21st-century English singers 21st-century English male singers English people of Scottish descent Mass media people from Bournemouth