Scooch fails to 'fly the flag' for Eurovision success

As some 100million viewers watched the Eurovision Song Contest in Helsinki, Scooch, far from Flying The Flag as their song proclaimed, were heading nowhere.

When the phone-in votes had already made it clear that Serbia was going to win, the British entry still had no points at all.

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Ireland and Malta came to the rescue with a total of 19 points to avoid the 2003 low mark when the group Jemini failed to get a single point.

Having helped the UK avoid the bottom slot this year, Ireland took the wooden spoon itself.

All in all, not a terribly good night for Britain's long-time presenter and contest mickey-taker, ebullient Irishman Terry Wogan.

Even a bottle of Bucks Fizz on stage during Scooch's bright performance could not add the sparkle needed to recapture Cheryl Baker's past glories.

Clad in their figure-hugging airsteward uniforms, Scooch, who reformed for the occasion, celebrated wildly as their handful of points trickled in.

Serbia's Marija Serifovic - flanked by backing singers Wogan described as "prison guards" - won the contest with a ballad that had been second-favourite with the bookies.

On a night dominated by Eastern Europe, she scored a mammoth 268 points to beat Ukrainian drag queen Verka Serdyuchka into second place. Russia came third and Turkey fourth.