What the Hell Just Happened?
2025 song by Remember Monday From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"What the Hell Just Happened?" is a song by British country-pop group Remember Monday. The song was released on 7 March 2025 through the independent label The Other Songs,[3] and was written by group members Charlotte Steele, Holly-Anne Hull, and Lauren Byrne, together with Julie Aagaard, Kes Kamara, Sam Brennan, Thomas Stengaard, and Tom Hollings. It will represent the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 2025.
| "What the Hell Just Happened?" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Single by Remember Monday | ||||
| Released | 7 March 2025 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 2:58 | |||
| Label | The Other Songs | |||
| Songwriter(s) |
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| Producer(s) | Billen Ted | |||
| Remember Monday singles chronology | ||||
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| Music video | ||||
| "What the Hell Just Happened?" on YouTube | ||||
| Eurovision Song Contest 2025 entry | ||||
| Country | ||||
| Artist(s) | ||||
| Language | English | |||
| Composer(s) |
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| Lyricist(s) |
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| Entry chronology | ||||
| ◄ "Dizzy" (2024) | ||||
Remember Monday are the first girl group to represent the UK since 1999, when Precious entered the contest with the song "Say It Again".[4]
Background and composition
"What the Hell Just Happened?" was written by Remember Monday, in collaboration with Julie Aagaard, Kes Kamara, Thomas Stengaard, and the songwriting duo Billen Ted, namely Sam Brennan and Tom Hollings.[5] Describing the song, the group said: "'What The Hell Just Happened' is exactly how we’re feeling right now! It's all very surreal; our friendship goes so far back, and we definitely never imagined that we'd be doing anything like this."[2] Further, Mark Savage, a writer from the BBC, described the song as follows: "Try to imagine, if you can, that ABBA and Sam Ryder have teamed up with the cast of Six: The Musical, got blackout drunk and tried to recreate 'Bohemian Rhapsody' from memory."[6]
Promotion
To promote "What the Hell Just Happened?" before the Eurovision Song Contest 2025, Remember Monday announced their intent to participate in various Eurovision pre-parties. It was first announced that they will be performing at Eurovision in Concert 2025 held at AFAS Live Arena in Amsterdam on 5 April 2025.[7] Further, they will be performing at the London Eurovision Party 2025 on 13 April 2025 to be held at Here at Outernet.[8] The group also confirmed to be participating at PrePartyES 2025 on 19 April 2025 to be held at Sala La Riviera in Madrid.[9][10]
On 24 March 2025, Remember Monday made an acoustic live performance for an assembled press at an event held at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.[11] Billy Webber, co-founder of The Other Songs, the group's record label, also confirmed that they will be undertaking a promotional tour across Europe.[12] The band have done press events in Denmark and Norway following their attendance at Eurovision in Concert 2025.[13]
Critical reception
Summarize
Perspective
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| The Independent |   [14] |
| The Telegraph | [15] |
| The Times | [16] |
Neil McCormick from The Telegraph, Roisin O'Connor from The Independent, and Ed Potton from The Times gave the song four out of five stars. McCormick called the track "a breathless pop pastiche of imperial period Queen with a dash of Elton John singing country with the Andrews Sisters". He also described the song's lyrics "a witty account of waking up the morning after a night before in comedic disarray".[15] O'Connor commended the song's production, describing it as "full of fun and flair", with "dramatic piano crescendos, squalling guitar riffs, and bombastic blasts of synth". She further commented that the song "sounds like a result of a drunken one-night stand" between "Bat Out of Hell" by Meat Loaf and "Pink Pony Club" by Chappell Roan.[14] Potton applauded the group's vocal harmonies and describing the track as having "shades of The Last Dinner Party, before an audacious tonal shift to urgent pop that’s worthy of Girls Aloud in their pomp, and cries of 'Freedom!' that bring to mind George Michael".[16]
Writing for the British newspaper Metro, Robert Oliver also gave the song a positive review, dubbing the song as an "ambitious vocal masterclass" that the group are "sure to match on the night of the Eurovision grand final", and further describing it as "hyperactive and fidgety pop, trying to keep a smile on its face despite a crippling hangover".[17] In an article for Attitude, Dale Fox called the song a "country-pop earworm" which "lands somewhere between The Chicks and Fearless-era Taylor Swift, with an anthemic chorus that sounds built for the Eurovision stage".[18]
On the other hand, Tom Morton from National World criticised the song for its chaotic, shapeshifting mix of genres and styles, transitioning rapidly between vocal harmonies, synth-pop, and soft rock. While he described the lyrics as a "girlpower Taylor Swift personal diary intimate confessional vibes" with a "carpe diem theme", he also added that the song "feels like it's been written by committee, not by a songwriter, or as if AI was told to assemble music from a list of prompts which might attract Eurovision votes".[19] Ed Power from The i Paper also gave the track a negative review, describing it as a song "you don't hum, much less listen to again and again"; instead calling it "a plea for Eurovision to sit up and pay attention". He also dubbed the song as having a "subtlety-deficient chorus barely 30 seconds in".[20]
Eurovision Song Contest 2025
Summarize
Perspective
Internal selection
The United Kingdom's broadcaster for the Eurovision Song Contest, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), announced its intention to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 on 16 October 2024, confirming an internal selection led by Andrew Cartmell, who was appointed as the head of delegation for the country, and David May, who previously served as manager for Sam Ryder, who finished in second place for the United Kingdom in 2022.[21]
On 29 January 2025, during The Scott Mills Breakfast Show on BBC Radio 2, Scott Mills confirmed that the British entry had already been selected and that work was underway in its final presentation.[22] On 7 February 2025, BBC Radio 1 hosts Natalie O'Leary and Vicky Hawkesworth stated that Remember Monday had been selected to represent the United Kingdom in Basel;[23] the BBC did not respond to the speculation. On 7 March 2025, during The Scott Mills Breakfast Show, Remember Monday were officially confirmed as the British representatives with the song "What the Hell Just Happened?".[24]
At Eurovision
The Eurovision Song Contest 2025 will take place at St. Jakobshalle in Basel, Switzerland, and will consist of two semi-finals to be held on the respective dates of 13 and 16 May and the final on 17 May 2025.[25] As the United Kingdom is a member of the "Big Five", "What the Hell Just Happened?" automatically qualified for the grand final.[26]
Credits and personnel
Musicians
- Remember Monday – lead vocals
- Sam Brennan – programming, piano, brass
- Kes Kamara – synthesizer, percussion
- Tom Hollings – strings, bass guitar
- Gareth Grover – drums
- Nick Hollings – electric guitar
Technical
Charts
Release history
| Region | Date | Format(s) | Label | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Various | 7 March 2025 | The Other Songs | ||
| Italy | 12 March 2025 | Radio airplay |
References
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