25 years on – Marc Roberts relives his Eurovision experience

When the 66th Eurovision takes place in Turin this month, there will be a small group of familiar faces – all ensconced in their own living rooms – tuned in and texting each other, armed with a unique insight into all that’s involved in the biggest song contest on the planet.

Because they were there; Ireland’s stars in the era when we dominated this event like we owned it – among them the man marking the 25th anniversary of his own unforgettable night, when he came second in Dublin’s Point Depot to Katrina and the Waves.

Marc Roberts is a familiar voice on many fronts; from his work with Galway Bay FM to his Tribute Show to John Denver, and his own recordings and live performances, not to mention tours and duets with his great friend and supporter, Daniel O’Donnell.

But 25 years ago next week, he was Ireland’s Eurovision representative with Mysterious Woman, a song written by John Farry which he took to second place – despite a ‘heads up’ from the great Terry Wogan that he couldn’t, and wouldn’t, win it!

That was for two reasons; Ireland had won four of the previous five contests and RTÉ was running out of money to host another one – and the UK, the biggest single contributor to the European Broadcasting Union which hosts the contest, hadn’t been close to a win in years and needed one or they’d pull out for good.

Marc Roberts on stage during dress rehearsals in Dublin’s Point Theatre on May 3 1997. Mysterious Woman was second out of 25 entries, behind Katrina and the Waves.

So they entered their big guns – Katrina and the Waves – and the Crossmolina man who has lived in Galway for decades carried Ireland’s hopes on home soil.

“I was told I just couldn’t win. Terry Wogan told me to my face, and so did Pat Kenny. RTÉ couldn’t host another one, and the UK put everything into winning that year,” he reflects, a quarter of a century on.

Except, for most of the contest, he nearly did – because that was the first year of tele-voting and it wasn’t so easy to control the odds.

“For most of the night in the Green Room, they had the cameras stationed in front of the two of us as the votes came in – but in the end it was their night,” he says.

The Mayo man has been a singer as long as he can remember and, like most of Ireland, the Eurovision was an annual event in the family home.

“I remember sitting down to watch with my parents and sister and us cheering when Ireland got twelve points – but then my father urging caution and saying, ‘it’s not over yet’. His words came back to me and stayed in my heads that night in the Green Room – even when the UK gave us the twelve points!”

Ireland had won one Eurovision before 1980 – Dana in 1970 with All Kinds of Everything – before Johnny Logan and Shay Healy’s What’s Another Year, then Johnny returned seven years later with his own Hold Me Now.

But we struck a rich vein was in the 1990s, winning in 1992 with Linda Martin, ’93 with Niamh Kavanagh, ’94 with Charlie McGettigan and Paul Harrington, and ’96 with Eimear Quinn.

What ended up as Mysterious Woman started out as ‘European Woman’, but it didn’t make the Eurosong cut in the year that Eimear Quinn’s The Voice was selected. It went on to become ‘Mystery Woman’ and finally Mysterious Woman – and went down a storm in the hands of a 28-year-old singer who’d been making a name for himself before life took this turn.

“I’d always been singing and writing and performing; at the time Louis Walsh was looking after all my bookings! I was playing places like Break for the Border in Dublin, where Colin Farrell used to teach line-dancing as a warm-up before my gigs,” he says.

It was Charlie McGettigan who suggested Marc to John Farry for the song. He’d known Charlie for years, but in greater depth since a shared trip to Nashville in 1995.

“That was a joint initiative of IMRO, which represents Irish musicians, and ASCAP (the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) where six of us – myself, Charlie, Jimmy McCarthy, Mick Hanly, Sinéad Lohan and Eleanor McEvoy – went out to engage with people like Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood, Clint Black and more,” he explains.

It was just another indication of his growing stature in the business here; he was also a frequent guest on everything from Kenny Live to Open House, with a few Late Late appearances along the way too.

Marc Roberts on stage at Eurovision 1997.

Eurosong was held in Waterford RTC, where a previous winner – one Johnny Logan – was in the audience. He heard Marc sing, knew it was a winner, and found Marc’s mam and dad in the crowd, staying with them for the triumph he knew was coming down the tracks.

“I’d actually crossed paths with Johnny years before that, back in 1981. When I was at home and going to school, I always had the guitar with me. And every morning I used to pass this house and I’d see this guy with his jeans and black leather jacket coming out. He’d see the guitar and nod hello.

“He was an electrician called Sean Sherrard, who was working with Kent Engineering, and they had a contract with Asahi in Killala. I told him the story years later when we were both on different paths!”

The build-up to Eurovision was more hectic than the contest itself. Because Ireland was hosting it, Marc found himself at the parties for all the other participating 26 countries and in the eye of the media at a time when Eurovision was a very big deal.

What he didn’t know was that the organisers had received a coded message to tell them that a bomb would go off in the Point Depot at 8.20pm on Eurovision night – the exact time that Marc, singing fifth, was to be on stage.

“They decided to keep it from me until one of the tabloids rang me up on the Wednesday to ask me if it worried me. It was the first I knew of it!”

There wasn’t a bomb obviously, but there was a global audience of 350 million. However, as he walked on stage and the lights went up during his promo video, Marc was able to pick out the six people he’d secured tickets for; his parents, his sister and brother-in-law, his manager Don Collins and Don’s wife Kay.

“I could also pick out Terry Wogan in his broadcasting box and Pat Kenny in his,” he recalls.

Marc’s fear wasn’t coming second; it was coming second last – but if he had nerves, then they were conquered by tiredness.

“We done the full dress rehearsal in the morning – the one they record as live in case there is any technical problem later, so they don’t lose the broadcast – and when I went back to the Berkley Court, I said I’d lie down for half an hour.

“I was awoken by a call from the manager asking me if I’d like a glass of Champagne before the bus left for the Point. I thought that would be lovely and asked what time they had in mind. He said now; the bus was leaving in ten minutes!

“I never moved so quickly – and 50 minutes later I was on stage singing for Ireland.”

The song spent eight weeks at number two in the Irish charts – kept off by R Kelly – and it had every chance of charting in the UK else before fate intervened.

Marc Roberts with President Michael D Higgins – then the Minister for Arts and Culture – and Carrie Crowley, who co-presented Eurovision 1997 with Ronan Keating.

“I’d done the Richard and Judy Show and was lined up to do the Des O’Connor Show, which was then what Graham Norton’s show is now – but Princess Diana died and all normal programming was cancelled. And that was that.”

Still, Marc had signed a five-album deal before Eurovision and had established himself nationally, with a growing base across Europe too.

And while the record deal didn’t pan out like it might, he has carved out a sterling career ever since – combining his live work, touring, and his radio career to ensure he’s always on the move.

He’s on air with GBFM every Saturday and Sunday with The Feelgood Factor and with Marc Roberts Country on Sunday nights; his acclaimed Tribute to the Music of John Denver will take place in the Town Hall Theatre on May 13 – and he has a new single coming out this summer.

“It’s a song written by the great John Prine, which I’d recorded for my first album, but I wasn’t happy with the arrangement, so it was never released. Now we’ve redone some of it, kept more of it – and it will be out for the first time this summer.”

As for Eurovision, he’ll be watching in two weeks’ time, texting Johnny and Charlie and Linda and Niamh about the songs, the performances and the outfits – like so many more only, with the added advantage of having been there.

“I wouldn’t change a thing. Even getting to represent your country is just amazing, but I was just so proud that it did so well – and I’m delighted that I’m still doing what I love doing too.”