Louis hopes Johnny will pitch in for Eurovision
IRELAND’S Eurovision entry this year could be a case of back to the future – with Louis Walsh calling on the help of former winner Johnny Logan.
The former Westlife manager is hoping Logan will pen a winning hit for this year’s contestant, Brendan Murray – a singer with Walsh’s boyband Hometown, who said they were splitting up last month.
‘I would love if Johnny Logan would write a song for us, that would be great,’ said Walsh.
‘He knows the formula and what works – there’s nobody out there better than him who knows how to win. If he doesn’t I will get one from England from a great songwriter. I’m confident about that,’ he added.
Logan’s Eurovision pedigree is unrivalled.
In 1980, he won with Shay Healy’s song What’s Another Year and in 1987 he triumphed again, with his own song, Hold Me Now. He also composed the winning song, Why Me? for Linda Martin in 1992, eight years after writing another song for her, Terminal 3, which came second in the 1984 Eurovision. The decision to draft in Walsh was taken after Nicky Byrne’s selfwritten track Sunlight flopped in Stockholm last year, failing to make it past the semi-finals. The Mayo man believes he has the right formula to qualify for the grand finale. ‘I have picked someone who is an amazing singer, I just have to get a great song for him.
‘I’m going to start in January looking for a song – and I will get that.’
The X-Factor judge added: ‘RTÉ needs us to qualify this year because they have sent the wrong people in the past.
‘You have to send a great song and a great singer. Every other country in Europe sends their best singer and their best artist and takes it seriously. There’s a global audience now and you can’t get away with sending a half-a***d entry.
‘It’s not rocket science – if you get a song with a great hook, it can work. Jedward were eighth and if they can do it, then anyone can.’
This year’s Eurovision will take place in the Ukrainian capital Kiev in May.