Linda Martin lays out why Cliona Hagan must be Ireland's choice for Eurovision 2026
Linda Martin came out on top in 1992 with the song Why Me?
Eurovision queen Linda Martin is tipping Irish country star Cliona Hagan as a top contender to win the 2026 event if she puts her hat in the ring.
And Linda, who won the mammoth song contest in 1992 with Why Me?, told the Sunday World that Ireland deserved to be in last Saturday's final with EMMY singing our entry, Laika Party.
'Ah God love her, I'm so disappointed that EMMY didn't get through on Thursday night. I genuinely thought she was much better than some of those other acts that got into the final,' Linda says.
'Next year I think we should send Cliona Hagan to the Eurovision with a mid-tempo song and a country feel to it. I really think Cliona is a winner. She has it all — she sings, looks gorgeous, can move and is very friendly. All she needs is a great song.'
Linda Martin came out on top in 1992 with the song Why Me?
However, Linda says she couldn't fault EMMY's performance in the second semi-final on Thursday night.
'The staging of the Irish entry was well thought out, the dancers were superb and her vocals were great,' she reflects.
'I thought EMMY was a little nervous having met her a couple of times, but nevertheless she was really, really good, so I'm disappointed for her, God help her. And she's only a young one, so I'd say she was upset.'
Would any of the other songs in Ireland's Eurosong contest on The Late Late Show this year have had a bigger impact? 'No,' Linda responds emphatically. 'Samantha Mumba, if she'd had a good song, a really brilliant song, would have wiped the board with the lot of them at the Eurovision this year as a performer. She would have fitted in perfectly. She has the look, the stage presence and I think the Europeans would have loved her. But her song let her down.'
Linda Martin at the 1984 Eurovision
So what do we have to do to even qualify these days? 'Well, we have to go back to the ballads,' Linda says. 'I keep saying that. We cannot compete with the Europeans and their backing tracks. They have that sound down to a fine art. I suppose you could call it a disco sound. We cannot do it. The only time we ever won was because of a ballad.'
Do you think a ballad will still work? 'Yes I do,' Linda insists. 'In an ideal world I'd have a brilliant ballad very simply staged. I think it would stand out so much. Sometimes less is more.
'There was too much performance in some of the songs in this year's semi-finals. It was like three-minute cabaret shows. You can say, 'she's too old' or 'too old-fashioned', maybe so, but genuinely I think it should be song first and then everything else afterwards.
'I'll tell you the God's honest truth, if I had been epileptic I'd be in hospital because the flashing lights never stopped in this week's shows. I do appreciate you have to have some sort of staging and lights, but at times I couldn't see the artists because of the lights. Sometimes it was too much.'
Irish entry EMMY on stage in Switzerland
Do we need to change what we're doing in terms of choosing a song and a singer? 'I absolutely love Michael Kealy [head of the RTÉ Eurovision delegation]. I think he does an amazing job with the restrictions he has, but gone are the days when we had Red Hurley, Johnny [Logan] and myself, all of those people that doesn't exist anymore, so RTÉ should get out, send scouts around the country where events are happening and find people who look well, have a good attitude and a good voice.
'RTE should then audition them like they did in the old days to see what they're made of before they're given a song. I had to audition myself back then. We've got the talent here it's just a matter of finding and perfecting that talent.'
Linda adds that Eurovision should be given serious consideration by Irish singers as it's the perfect launching pad for a career outside Ireland.
As a former Eurovision winner, Linda is treated like royalty on the continent. 'It's the best platform ever,' she says. 'I'm still working in Europe at a very high level because of that song.'
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