Johnny Logan

One of the most successful individuals in the entire history of the Eurovision Song Contest, Johnny Logan first appeared at the event in 1980, when he was triumphant with "What's Another Year." He returned to the contest again in 1987, and proved victorious once again, this time with "Hold Me Now." Five years later, he was back again as the writer of Linda Martin's winner, "Why Me." A fourth Logan composition, "Terminal Three" (again performed by Martin) finished in the runner-up position in 1984, behind Herreys' "Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley." Yet, while Logan is synonymous with Ireland's Eurovision history, the singer himself was born on May 13, 1954, in Frankstone, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia. The erstwhile Sean Patrick Michael Sherrard was three before the family returned to its native Ireland, where his father, Patrick O'Hagen, was one of the country's best regarded tenors. Logan's own musical aspirations were evidenced early -- by age 13, he was writing and performing his own songs, and was soon a fixture on the County Meath folk circuit, although he would be 23 before his first "big break" arrived, appearing as Adam in the stage play Adam & Eve. It was Eurovision that established Logan's superstardom; when the contest celebrated its 50th anniversary, "Hold Me Now" was voted the third most popular song ever to win the event, while he was also the only performer to have a second song in the final 14, as "What's Another Year" crept in alongside it. His musical fame is by no means restricted to the contest, however. A chart regular in Ireland and a successful performer and writer across Europe, Logan has scored a string of non-Eurovision hits, including "24 Hours," "A State of Happiness," "Visions of Glory" (with Montserrat Caballé), "Back to Where We Started," "Celebrate and Win," "Das Herrlichste Geschenk" (a duet with Wencke Myhre), "I Love to Party" (alongside Kaye Styles), "Me and My Jealous Heart," "No One Makes Love Like You" (with fellow Eurovision champion Nicole), "The Only Thing I've Ever Wanted," and "Where Did the Love Go." He also scored a major hit with a 2001 update of his 1987 winner, appropriately titled "Hold Me Now 2001." ~ Dave Thompson