Leamington pupils have the Hump with Eurovision

By IH 24/05 Updated: 24/05 08:26

Buy photos » Up for ‘The Hump’. Arnold Lodge pupils - back row, left to right - Emily Rose, Amber Snow, Will Rickard, and Stephanie Berner and, in the foreground, Daniel Markham (left) and Max Francis. (s)

PUPILS at Arnold Lodge School in Leamington have really got 'The Hump'.

They have special reason to cheering on Engelbert Humperdinck in the Eurovision song contest later this weekend.

For ‘The Hump’, who is representing the UK in this year’s competition on Saturday (May 26) in Baku, Azerbaijan, sent his son Bradley Dorsey to the Kenilworth Road school in 1984.

Leicester born Engelbert, whose real name was Arnold Dorsey, was one of a number of celebrity entertainers who sent their children to Arnold Lodge - along with the likes of Black Sabbath guitarist Geezer Butler, Bev Bevan from the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), comedian Jim Davidson and chef and ‘Great British Menu’ judge Prue Leith.

He shot to fame in 1967 with Release Me, which made the Top 10 on both sides of the Atlantic, kept the Beatles off the No 1 spot in the UK and remained in Top 50 for more than a year.

At 76, he will be the oldest singer ever to take part in Eurovision.

Jonathan Hall, whose family once owned Arnold Lodge School, was headmaster when Engelbert’s son was a pupil.

He said: “Bradley joined us a ten-year-old in the boarding house. I used to teach him French and he was a likeable boy.

" I remember his father used to arrive in a Rolls Royce with EH 1 registration plates and used to divide his time between England and Hollywood.

Arnold Lodge headmaster David Williams said: “The children are all very excited by Engelbert’s links with the school. I’ve never been a huge fan of Eurovision in the past, but I certainly be tuning in along with the rest of the school to cheer on ‘The Hump’. ”