Terminal 3 - Linda Martin

Before Linda Martin won the 1992 Eurovision Song Contest, representing Ireland with 'Why me', she participated once before in 1984. Her song, 'Terminal 3' was written by Johnny Logan, who won the 1980 edition of the Contest for Ireland. She almost won the 1984 Eurovision Song Contest, but received 8 points less than the winning song ('Diggi loo diggy ley'), and thus came second.

While I was not impressed with the winning song, I was glad that Ireland didn't win. The song sounded quite boring at the time. It's not so bad now, when you hear it.

My collection: 7" single no. 4007
Found: Record fair, Den Haag, August 22, 2009
Cost: 2 euro
Tracks: 'Terminal 3' / 'Feels like I'm walking in my sleep'

Why me? - Linda Martin

Thousands of viewers of the 1992 Eurovision Song Contest must have struggled with the question Linda Martin raised at the end of the programme. Why did she, of all people, win that year's edition? It wasn't a remarkable song, like Cleopatra's 'Olou tou kosmou i elpida' for Greece, or slightly mysterious like Evridiki's 'Teriazoume' for Cyprus. And it certainly wasn't the jewel that Italy contributed in the form of Mia Martini's 'Rapsodia', which is still a favourite with many Eurovision fans to this day. If anything, the song was middle of the road. But then, maybe the juries were exactly that in 1992.

Written by Eurovision dinosaur Johnny Logan, 'Why me' wasn't exactly a big hit outside of Ireland, the country Linda represented. The single peaked at number 23 in the Dutch Top 40 and stalled at number 59 in the UK. Some winners are best left forgotten.

My collection: 7" single no. 1656
Found: Melody Maker, Den Haag, May 30, 1992
Cost: 6 guilders
Tracks: 'Why me?' / 'Shades of blue'