Johnny Logan and Shay Healy arriving back in Dublin Airport after winning Eurovision in 1980.

Eurovision - the Castlebar connection

THE Eurovision Song Contest has changed dramatically over the years. I had been a fan for years but since the contest has, in my view, turned into a farce, I no longer watch it, writes Tom Gillespie.

Back in the 1970s I wouldn't have missed it, as through my involvement with the Castlebar International Song Contest I knew most of the Irish participants as well as the RTÉ personnel involved in the production.

Top RTÉ producer Tom McGrath, responsible for The Late Late Show, the National Song Contest and The Likes of Mike, was also the producer of the Castlebar event for many years.

Because of Castlebar’s association with Tom, the town was designated as one of the many jury locations around the country for the 1975 National Song Contest.

For my sins, I was given the task of recruiting the local jury as well as being appointed spokesman of the group. The jury had to be a mix of male and female and of different age brackets.

That year’s national song contest was held on Sunday, February 9, to select the song to represent us in the Eurovision in Stockholm on March 22.

What was unusual was that the Swarbriggs, Tommy and Jimmy, from Mullingar, sang all of the eight songs on the night.

Earlier in the day the jury were assembled at Breaffy House Hotel, Castlebar, where they listened to all of the eight entries, over and over again. The jury were wined and dined but as spokesman I had to avoid alcohol until after the Castlebar vote was in.

A television had been set up in a room off the lounge where the jury were located. In the corner was my station with a live link to RTÉ’s Studio One in Montrose.

We watched the Swarbriggs as they sang all the entries. Then it was decision time for the Castlebar jury. We were not allowed to watch the votes coming in until after we had given the decision on what song should represent Ireland.

Sitting at a desk with a pair of huge headphones on my head and a microphone in my hand, I was called in by compere Mike Murphy. Before I gave the decision of the jury, Mike suggested we should ‘think of holding a song contest in Castlebar'.

Our jury opted of ‘That’s What Friends Are For’ as their choice and as it turned out, it was the Castlebar vote that decided the day.

Following my TV debut I was able to partake of RTÉ’s hospitality for the remainder of the night.

The following month the Swarbriggs set off for Stockholm. Their performance was notable for the fact that the singers wore identical electric blue suits, taking full advantage of the increasing trend towards bright and eye-catching costumes.

The song was performed second on the night following the Netherlands’ Teach-In with ‘Ding-A-Dong’ - the eventual winner - and preceding France’s Nicole Rieu with ‘Et bonjour á toi l’artiste’. At the close of voting, the Swargriggs received 68 points, placing them ninth in a field of 19.

As The Swarbriggs Plus Two, with Nicola Kerr and Alma Carroll, they competed again in 1977 with ‘It’s Nice To Be In Love Again’. At the close of voting in London, it had received 119 points, placing it third in a field of 18.

Despite the involvement of the former Eastern Bloc countries in recent years, Ireland still holds the record of having won the Eurovision most times, seven in all.

Our first success was in 1970 when Dana sang ‘All Kinds Of Everything’ into first place. Ten years later Johnny Logan won with the Shay Healy composition ‘What’s Another Year’, which was ironically rejected for the Castlebar Song Contest.

Johnny pulled off a double in 1987 when he won again in Brussels with his own composition, ‘Hold Me Now’.

In 1992 Linda Martin won for Ireland with ‘Why Me?’ and the following year Niamh Kavanagh, singing ‘In Your Eyes’, won when the contest was staged in Millstreet.

The Brendan Graham composition ‘Rock 'n’ Roll Kids’ was the overall winner again for Paul Harrington and Charlie McGettigan in 1994. Ireland last won the Eurovision in Oslo in 1996 with Eimear Quinn’s ‘The Voice’.

The first contest took place on May 24, 1956, where seven nations participated. As the contest progressed, the rules grew increasingly complex and participation levels rose to pass 40 nations at the end of the 20th century. As more countries came on board over subsequent decades and technology advanced, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) attempted to keep up with national and international trends.

Butch Moore of The Capitol Showband represented Ireland at Eurovision in 1965 in Naples when Ireland entered for the first time. Butch, who passed away in 2001, sang ‘Walking The Streets In The Rain’, which was written by Teresa Conlon, George Prendergast and Joe Harrigan. He finished in sixth place.

The 1965 contest, now in its 10th year, was won by Luxembourg with the song ‘Poupée de cire, poupée de son’ sung by France Gall.

The 2017 Eurovision Song Contest kicked off in Kiev, Ukraine, on Tuesday, with the final on Saturday night. Tuam man Brendan Murray will represent Ireland in tonight's (Thursday's) qualifying round with the song ‘Dying To Try’.