Blast from the past: Ireland 2003

The Eurovision Song Contest is celebrating its 70th anniversary. That is a wonderful milestone. We at Eurovision Universe love diving into the history of the contest. That is why we are taking a closer look at the contests of the past 70 years. 1992 As far as Sweden was concerned, it was Malmö’s turn to host the Eurovision Song Contest. Lydia Capolicchio and Harald Treutiger were given the task of presenting. Compared to 1991, the Netherlands also participated again. However, a dark shadow hung over the Song Contest: with the unification of Europe, it threatened to succumb to its own success. But it had not come to that yet. The songs Sigga, the singer of Stjórnin (see 1990), participated again. This time as half of the duo Heart2Heart. Linda Martin also participated for the second time, once again with a song by Johnny Logan. Mia Martini was present once more. She was called upon just before she was about to start. Mia had a laugh about it for a moment but then managed to bring her beautiful ballad “Rapsodia” to the stage. She finished fourth with it. Wind, twice runner up for Germany, was less successful. In Greece, people were certainly not happy with singer Cleopatra. “Olou tou kosmou i elpida” sounded typically Greek. Surely they couldn’t do that to Europe, Greek fans grumbled. Europe, however, thought it was a great song. Cleopatra finished in fifth place. France opted for reggae, with Kali, hailing from Martinique. He sang his song “Monté la rivié” in French Creole. Evridiki performed for Cyprus. She was also among the favorites but failed to live up to expectations with “Teriazoume”. And then there was Extra Nena. She represented the slowly but surely falling apart Yugoslavia. The singer herself was expecting a victory. When asked how things would work if Yugoslavia won, she said decisively: “Eurovision will be held in Belgrade next year.” She finished thirteenth. The favorite was the British Michael Ball. He was primarily a well-known musical artist. In the national final, he was the only candidate, but out of the eight songs, the televoter picked exactly the song he himself absolutely detested. Yet he came second. The other favorite was Malta. The 47-year-old Mary Spiteri strutted around Malmö like a queen. Surely victory could no longer escape her with “Little Child”? But as always, the reality of the Eurovision Song Contest was just a little different, and she came third. Linda Martin For the winner of that year was the red-haired Linda Martin with her “Why me?”. Linda had been attempting to represent Ireland at the Eurovision Song Contest since the mid-1970s. First with the group Chips and later solo. In 1984, she came second with a song by Johnny Logan. This “Why me?” was also his work. And that made the whole thing special. For the third time, now as a composer, Logan succeeded in winning the Eurovision Song Contest. With this, his title as Mr. Eurovision was definitively cemented. It was therefore a beaming Johnny Logan, alongside Linda Martin, who received the award. 1993 A large number of Eastern European countries had become members of the EBU on January 1, 1993. This allowed them to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest, and a number of them wanted to do so. It was decided to hold an Eastern European national selection. Ultimately, a number of countries withdrew, leaving seven countries in the competition. Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, and Slovenia won the ticket to the Eurovision Song Contest. It was held in Millstreet, in a hall where equestrian events took place. Financier Noel C. Duggan offered his hall as the venue. That saved the Irish broadcaster RTÉ a lot of money. Fionnuala Sweeney hosted the event. We would see her later on CNN. The songs The Dane Tommy Seebach represented his country for the third, and least successful, time. However, after his death, his son Rasmus also recorded the song “Under stjernerne på himlen.” He did have a hit with it in his own country. Tony Wegas participated for Austria for the second consecutive time. Katri Helena also returned for Finland after 14 years. Singer Barbara Dex represented Belgium. The song “Iemand als jij” did not stand out much. The clothing, however, did. In fact, it stood out so much in a negative way that for years a prize was awarded for the worst-dressed artist: the Barbara Dex Award. For France, the singing was once again in a minority language. Patrick Fiori sang the chorus of his “Mama Corsica” partly in Corsican. An established artist participated for the United Kingdom: Sonia, from the hitmakers Stock, Aitken and Waterman. But the most striking candidates were the members of the group Fazla, representing Bosnia and Herzegovina. The country was at war at that time. During the press conferences, the members explained how they had to flee the country while hiding from snipers. This was the only way they could be present in Millstreet. Niamh Kavanagh And Ireland won on home soil. The ballad “In Your Eyes” by Niamh Kavanagh received the most points after a thrilling battle with the United Kingdom. The 25-year-old singer had previously collaborated on the soundtrack of the film The Commitments. At that time, she did not yet have a major career in her own country. She would, of course, build one up. 17 years later, we saw Niamh return to the Eurovision stage, but with “It’s For You” she failed to imitate Johnny Logan and take home yet another prize.