»The Welsh woman who sang for France:
SATURDAY’S “nul-points” Eurovision performance by the UK’s James Newman may be memorable for all the wrong reasons, but when you recall performances by Welsh singers at the annual song contest, there are a few names that might spring to mind.
Those of a certain age might recall Pontardawe’s Mary Hopkin, who claimed second place all the way back in 1970, or, more recently, Jessica Galrick, from Kidwelly, who is still the UK’s most successful contestant this century after she came third in 2002.
From the past decade, you may think of the legendary Bonnie Tyler, or Pentyrch’s Lucie Jones, formerly of The X Factor and now a West End leading lady, who performed in 2013 and 2017 respectively.
If you really know your Eurovision trivia, you may even give a mention to Nicky Stevens, from Carmarthen, a member of 1976 champions Brotherhood of Man, who remains the only Welsh person to ever win the contest.
But one performer who even the most diehard Eurovision fans may initially overlook is Elaine Morgan, from Rumney, Cardiff.
At the 1996 Song Contest in Norway, she represented France as part of Dan Ar Braz & l’Heritage des Celtes, a huge 50-piece pan-Celtic band that sold around 2.5 million albums worldwide during the 1990s.
And while France only finished 19th out of 23 countries, Elaine has fond memories of her “extraordinary” week in Oslo.
“I just can’t believe it’s 25 years,” she laughs. “It’s crazy how fast the time has gone. It was a totally unique and extraordinary experience – it was a bit like doing a music festival on a massive, massive scale, with things going on around you 24/7.”
Despite performing to a crowd of around 8,000 inside the Oslo Spektrum, as well as the millions watching at home, Elaine didn’t feel overly nervous as she prepared to take to the stage.
“That’s probably because we’d already done the performance four
times, with the technical run-throughs and dress rehearsals we had to do,” she explains. “That definitely helped to take some of the nerves away – and even then, it’s a healthy nervousness that you feel, rather than fear.
“Once I was out there, it was fine – I didn’t really think about the fact it was being filmed, I just concentrated on the audience in front of me.”
Elaine’s fellow contestants that night included Gina G, who represented the UK with her Grammy-nominated dance track Ooh Aah... Just a Little Bit – a song that reached number one in the UK charts, but was only rewarded with an eighth-place finish in Oslo.
The 1996 champion, however, was Ireland’s Eimar Quinn, with The Voice, a Celtic-inspired folky song that was in a similar vein to l’Heritage des Celtes.
But while the French may not have challenged for the top spot, they did make a little bit of Eurovision history that night. Their entry – Diwanit Bugale (May the Children Be Born) – was the only Eurovision song to be sung in Breton, a Celtic language spoken mainly in Brittany by around 200,000 people.
As Elaine explains, performing in an unfamiliar language was not only challenging for her as a singer, but it also caused confusion for those watching in France.
“People didn’t really get it, particularly the French. It was a panel of media industry professionals who chose the song – it wasn’t open to the public – and they thought it was unique, but we were certainly quizzed a lot about it.
“It wasn’t a very Eurovision-esque song, I suppose – certainly not as much as Gina G – but it was memorable. People will have remembered us, even if it’s as ‘that band that sang in a strange language’.
Having started her career as a session singer recording jingles for adverts, Elaine also played for 10 years alongside her husband Derek in a folkrock group called Rose Among Thorns.
It was through a gig at Llantrisant Folk Club that Elaine first met Breton musician Dan Ar Braz, who, a year later in 1993, asked her to be the Welsh representative at a folk festival he was curating in Brittany.
While the event was meant to be a one-off, it was so successful that it snowballed into the creation of a 50-piece Celtic supergroup, and l’Heritage des Celtes was born.
The band would go on to record three incredibly popular albums before playing their final concert in August 2000. At the height of l’Heritage des Celtes’ fame, they played to 100,000 people across two nights at the sold-out Stade de France.
“That was a fantastic time,” says Elaine. “It was very exciting, and incredible that we were performing to capacity on both nights – the stadium is so big, so playing there was a real experience for all of us.
“As you can imagine, going on tour with 50 musicians was a logistical nightmare, but we had a brilliant time and were lucky to play at some amazing venues with great audiences.
“I did go on tour with Dan again in 2003 and 2008, with a much smaller cut-down version of l’Heritage des Celtes – so we were able to do lots of other venues which we couldn’t do before with the big band.
“Being in that kind of band was really fun, and we would occasionally have Scottish and Breton pipe bands join us too – it was great.”
For the past 17 years, Elaine has run Rumney Folk Club with Derek, staging gigs and small festivals and helping to promote local talent.
What’s more, as well as teaching voice tuition for more than 10 years and working as a student media coordinator at Cardiff University, Elaine is now part of two other bands.
The first, Dew Dropper, draws on a wide range of musical influences to rework traditional folk themes alongside more traditional songs. As well as the lead vocal, Elaine also performs percussion, tin whistle and clarinet.
She is also a member of Whitehall Parade, a more foot-stomping rockfolk band, in which she performs vocals and percussion.
Dew Dropper have nearly completed their second album, which was recorded in lockdown – “The wonders of technology,” laughs Elaine – while just this week, work began on a new Whitehall Parade project.
Having not played a gig since last March, she can’t wait to be back performing in front of audiences.
“I really enjoy doing gigs, whether they’re big or small,” she says. “It might sound bizarre, but it is less daunting playing in front of a massive audience than it is in front of a tiny one.
“You’ve got nowhere to hide in a smaller gig, you’re up close and personal with people – it’s very intimate and a really interesting experience.
“At the end of the day, it’s not about the size of the audience, it’s about the music – if you play to 50 people in a small folk club and all 50 go away happy, that’s mission accomplished.
“I’ve performed in some incredible places and, while I’m never going to be a millionaire, I’ve been able to make a living from what I do too – I’ve been very, very lucky.”