I’m a Eurovision star – behind the scenes it’s very weird and strict, says A1’s Ben Adams
BRIT boyband star Ben Adams has revealed what it’s really like backstage at Eurovision a year on from performing at the contest as a bizarre yellow space wolf.
A1 heartthrob Ben, 41, was one half of Norwegian act Subwoolfer with singer Gaute Ormåsen. The pair’s catchy but bonkers dance track Give That Wolf a Banana was a viral hit and saw them finish in 10th place.
Because their true identities were secret at the time, the whole experience was very reminiscent of The Masked Singer, an entertainment show where celebrities’ identities are shrouded in secrecy as they perform as weird and wacky characters.
Recalling the experience, Ben said: “It’s very regimented. Everything is planned to the millisecond. The only thing for us that was a curve ball is everybody took it very seriously that we weren’t to show our faces, even our badge accreditation, we had to turn up looking a bit like Robocop, a big visor and things like that.
“We weren’t hanging out with any of the artists. I think Sam Ryder clocked it was me anyway so we had a few chats through the wolf mask, but apart from that we were very much in our dressing room, onto stage do our thing, go out and… it was very weird, Eurovision is weird anyway, but it was an even weirder take on Eurovision.
“There was another band called Lordi wasn’t there? Maybe they had similar feelings, but that was a few years ago. It was strange.”
Ben’s Subwoolfer journey started as a bit of fun, with the duo making a ‘crazy’ song for Melodi Grand Prix (MGP) – an annual songwriting camp to find Norway’s Eurovision entry – about wolves named Jim and Keith.
Norwegian broadcaster NRK approached the duo months later and told them they wanted the track to be in the competition but couldn’t find an artist to sing it.
Eventually Ben, who lives in Norway with wife Sara and daughter Skylar, and Gaute decided they would perform on the condition their identities remained secret, in case the track completely flopped.
It was far from a failure though, and the pair have been performing as Subwoolfer ever since.
Ben said: “It’s the longest version of The Masked Singer there is.
“You kind of know who it is behind there, but if people give you a shred of doubt you do go ‘is it?'”
“Because it was going so well all the big artists over here, they weren’t confirming or denying that it was them because actually the press was quite good for them. It just grew into this monster of a project.”