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Ireland: Johnny Logan for Eurovision 2009?
In an article that appears in an Irish newspaper today, The Sunday Tribune, it reads that "Logan set to relight the flame for Eurovision."
After disappointing results for Ireland in recent years, bar the odd exception, the Irish public broadcaster, RTÉ, are set to "be pulling out all the stops to get three-time Eurovision winner Logan (54) to sing at the 2009 show in Moscow."
The deal
According to the Sunday Tribune, "RTÉ will offer Johnny Logan his own TV show if he represents Ireland... The deal is said to include a lump sum for Logan as well as his own prime time music show. This is similar to a package offered to Brian Kennedy after he rescued Ireland's Eurovision fortunes in 2006."
The approach to Logan according to the newspaper source "...came from the highest level in RTÉ. They are just hoping he takes it."
Logan's Eurovision wins began in 1980, with "Whats Another Year?", in 1987 with "Hold Me Now," and in 1992 composing "Why Me?" sung by Linda Martin in 1992.
Contacted by the Sunday Tribune newspaper, Johnny Logan refused to deny or confirm his involvement with Ireland's Eurovision entry. RTÉ has made no comment as of yet.
However as reported by esctoday.com last month here, RTÉ are planning for their National Selection show for Friday February 20th, 2009 with a formal announcement before Christmas.
- Watch Johnny Logan's appearance on RTÉ's Tubridy Tonight chatshow last October where he discussed Eurovision and his future here.
- Watch Johnny Logan perform the winning song "Whats Another Year?" at the Eurovision Song Contest 1980.
- Watch Johnny Logan perform the winning song "Hold Me Now" at the Eurovision Song Contest 1987.
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I have a big suggestion for Ireland why do you not send the super talented 3rd placed singer in this years X Factor that is Eoghan Quigg. I am sure you would get a great result with him
Alex,i now see your are asking,where is Benelux?if thats your ?the Benelux,is belgium,Nederland,and Luxembourg.
Alex,i am only stating what Iv'e read on websites,that he still sells albums and tours in places Iv'e mentioned thats all i'm doing.his last two albums were huge in Denmark,etc.i have no loyalty to the man,or his music.i always only stating what i had read.and i feel he should not do Eurovision,agai as it's no longer the proper contest,with all these non Europeans in it.
Axel
Malta came second in 2005 
What more proof do you need?
Every year the same old story...
Jim,
a huge star in Benelux ???? Where exactly my friend ? He is the kind of star, like Carola, that's been taken out of the freezer once during eurovision and than asap back for a year.....
I feel real concern that he may fail,and that would be a shame,as he is a Euro legend.but you must remember that he is still a huge star in Denmark,Sweden,Germany,and the benelux.so he would get voted for,but with the current east euro,fiasco and the non europens in the contest.i feel he would fail,and that would be sad.Liona Daley,is Irelands best bet,a great singer,and boy what a performer.
I agree Jonny and Tony, but think Tony has it spot on... Ok maybe you can not win the fstival on diaspora alone BUT countries like Malta, Belgium, Netherlands, Andorra, Switserland without diaspora and strong neighbourvoting, have no chance in hell anymore. They shouldn't even participate anymore... Because let's face it, 30 % of all starting countries start with an advantage of 25-50 points.... (Turkey, Armania, Russia,...), so how on earth can fe Malta compete with this ????
Tony:
"I think there are two sets of countries,One set that takes the contest very seriously in the true spirit of eurovision,And there is the second set of countries who seem to feel that they have to swear a military style oath of allegance to each other in the presence of the rest of europe to prove to europe that they are"
Not really, most of the western countries don't take eurovision overly seriously anymore, and the eastern countries take it way more seriously than we do. + They don't vote for each other through political alliances, they vote for each other through diaspora. Because in some of the ex-USSR countries there is a massive Russian population, as high as 30% in some cases, they usually given them at least 12 points, and the same applies to the Balkans, Greece/Cyprus, Scandinavia, UK/Ireland etc.
And its not as if anything can be done about it, i'm sure NTU of Ukraine would love a fair vote where diaspora isn't involved, but that won't happen and theres no way of getting a completely fair vote. And if Russia recieves the most votes in Ukraine, they have to give Russia the 12, no way around it, no matter if it was immigrants or Ukrainians voting.
And also us westerners aren't innocent! The UK and Ireland have got a little fling going and the Scandinavian countries aren't exactly hating each other either 
Also no matter what happens, diaspora voting will never decide the winner. Because to win you have to get votes from EVERYWHERE, not just your buddies
To be honest,i think Johnny would be crazy to enter in the current climate of eurovision.However i think he should try in 2010 if Mr Lloyd Webber gets some kind of a result the 2009 event.I fail to see how Andrew's contribution will make any positive impact on the final resul of the contest though.I can't see that Eastern block countries will see that the contest is not about solidarity between a group of nations,but about a fun event that is supposed to unite all nations in the true spirit of fun and good as well as not so good music.
I think there are two sets of countries,One set that takes the contest very seriously in the true spirit of eurovision,And there is the second set of countries who seem to feel that they have to swear a military style oath of allegance to each other in the presence of the rest of europe to prove to europe that they are
part of the pact or the resistance or something.
I say to the latter mentioned group of countries,that if you are not prepared to join in the real spirit of eurovision, then create your own euro resistance contest,pick a winner from that group to go into the eurovision song contest.
I think that until this voting mess is sorted out the event won't be about the most deserving act winning the event,it will be about the most loyal countries to each other that hijack the event.
Thinking back, Logan has written a few songs for the Dutch and Belgian finals, but (alledgidly) says he is not so keen on the contest nowadays due to the lack of an orchestra
Liz Assia for Switserland please............
Johnny wrote the 3 best Irish entries imo 
I don't know whether this is a good idea, it depends on the song.
I am not sure on this. Johnny is such a eurovision legend, if he entered and did really bad, he would probably be most remembered for that, instead of his triumphs. Maybe he should write the song instead..
plz god no, not johnny logan!!! hes only going to embarass himself when he comes last
Hmm, I'm not sure about this choice. Ireland have had a mixed decade, but I'm sure Logan can still write a decent song. But can't they let someone else have a go? I'm not sure if his winning history will help him.
Ireland need to do somthing special after last years fieasco. I would like too see Leona Daly try again.
Adrian Collins-
Are you suggesting that is the standard of the west's recent entries?
No matter what Logan sings and does on the stage,it will be much better than Dustin's circus in Belgrade. At least,it will be something solid .
rte really have lost the plot if they think this will impress anyone.
for our sake in ireland i hope not folks, would be a disater, null points for sure, which would be our first null points ever!!
It should not be about one´s age. This year
Croatia came with those street musicians and did well. As Andrew Berlin rightly noticed, the Olsen Brothers´ victory has proved the "age-debate" does not have an impact on the voter. The problem is, would Logan come with another ballad? Would he get his style updated? Ireland has such a rich musical scene, why not try something else than ballads or silly turkeys?
I've listened to him a number of times since 1987, and he's simply not the singer/composer he once was. The magic is long gone, and I'm afraid this will probably end in disaster. Wouldn't do it if I were him.
I wouldn't put my legend at risk if I were him. Twice winner as a singer, once as a composer, so why should he enter again? I fear that he's a bit old fashioned for today's standars and he might even end up in the last places...
Anyway, better a little quality, even if old-fashioned, than another turkey!
Johnny Logan should try with a funny song.
hm how old were the Olsen Brothers in 2000 when winning the whole thing ??? So get real - it has nothing to do with age. If the song is great anything can happen. but then again, those were days before extended diaspora voting. So I would not enter the competition, but as a representative for Russia or the Ukraine ;-)))
But I do have strong doubts if he could come up with something really conptemporary and strong. Since "Hold Me Now" he simply did not manage to deliver something that woudl set the charts on fire. Well, there were some decent songs, but it all sounded cheesy and dated, even at the time.
And secondly, his looks, and i don't refer to his age here - but he is a regular on some German TV-shows over the years and if he wasn't the worst dressed man ever, I don't know. When he gained weight, he did obviously not change his wardrobe. And if your hair might be grey and you're getting bald, find a decent hairdresser to let it look good and don't try to look as if 20 years hasn't gone by. I think, he simply has not got a good team around him in that respect.
He should be very carefull not looking like his own spitting image if he should go to Moscow.
Let's see. Switserland any chance in bringing back Liz Assia, Germany Katja Ebstein, Belgium Micha Marah. France Marie Myriam, etc.... Why oh why ? And the West keeps on asking the question why Eastern Europe does so well ???
Seriously, can RTE not just do what they did when they had success at the Eurovision - hold an unbiased and straightforward national song contest to pick the song and the singer and that's that – it’s not rocket science (oh – and it works!)
For the past few years there appears to have been a list of calculated moves that have left genuine songwriters somewhat in the lurch - whether it's been an obvious attempt to give Brian McFadden a career as a songwriter, Brian Kennedy the unfair advantage of a viewer competition that favoured his own song during the national competition (I mean how blatant was that!) the ridiculous specter that was You're A Star, the unbelievably misaligned lack of strategy that saw Dervish perform a song that was totally unsuitable for them and of course the miserable pathos that was Dustin....I don't get it. Why not keep it simple, and something might just appear from a new writer that has potential. After all that’s presumably what happened in the case of Dana, Shay Healy, Johnny Logan himself, Charlie McGettigan and others.
Forget bloc voting and all that – the reason we haven't won anything in a long time is because we’ve been sending very poor entries and a lot of this is, as I see it, is down to the way RTE are handling the national competition. It would have been interesting to see how someone like Leona Daly - who’s a cracking performer - might have done last year were it not for a certain turkey strategy…
And now it seems, RTE are continuing their efforts to ignore potentially new songwriters with this latest move. I would have no problem with Johnny Logan entering and being part of a national song contest line up - the way Mark Roberts did last year....but to do a program deal with the guy in return for representing us (as if it was him doing us a big favour) well, that's just amazing. Let's just hope he can write a good song. I saw him sing something called 'Dancing with My Father' on Tubridy in the summer and it was decidedly average....Anyway, I had a nice little song lined up for Eurovision, but I'll be sending it to Bosnia & Herzegovina tomorrow for their consideration. It may of course never get anywhere, but at least I’ve got somewhere to send it (even if the courier is gonna set me back a 100 smackers!)
That’s a very long reaction – if you’re still reading at this stage you must be very bored!
This is absurd : he wouldn't do himself a favour. As someone said - he might compose one or two NF entries but shouldn't sing it himself - two times are enough, his time on the ESC stage is over.
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