Clodagh Rodgers, Eurovision singer, dies aged 78
Clodagh Rodgers, the United Kingdom entrant for the 1971 Eurovision Song Contest, has died at the age of 78.
The Northern Irish singer came fourth with her song Jack in the Box and became a regular personality appearing on numerous television shows in the 1970s.
In a statement posted on social media, her son Sam Sorbie said: 'With a heavy heart, my dear beautiful mum Clodagh has sadly passed away after battling an illness for the last three years. She passed away peacefully yesterday surrounded by her family in Cobham.
'Mum has lived an incredible life, full of love and happiness. Her fantastic career performing, travelling the world, devoting her life to her two sons and being the rock of this family.
'Life will not be the same without mum, but she will finally be at peace now with dad, nanny and pappa.
'We all love and miss her terribly.'
The singer, born in 1947 in Warrenpoint, County Down, received deaths from the IRA when she agreed to represent the UK at the Eurovision competition which was staged in Dublin in 1971.
She shot to fame in the 1960s and appeared regularly on pop music television programmes.
She had a string of hits throughout the 1960s and '70s, including Goodnight Midnight, Come Back, Shake Me, Lady Love Bug, It's Different Now and I am a Fantasy.
She appeared on shows such as Sunday Night at the Palladium, The Morecambe and Wise Show, The Two Ronnies and Seaside Special. She also forged a reputation performing impressions of fellow artists, including Cilla Black. She worked alongside Mike Yarwood, Des O'Connor, Tommy Cooper and Bob Monkhouse.
In her later years, she developed a career as an actress, appearing in The Bill and numerous West End shows, including Blood Brothers, Pump Boys and Dinettes, as well as touring theatres in cities such as York, Liverpool and Bristol.
A few years ago she claimed there was no point taking part in the Eurovision contest after Brexit as the UK would never receive enough votes to win.
She told The Mirror: 'We'll never win it [Eurovision] again. Not after Brexit and the hoo-ha with the vaccine.
'They really hate us in Europe now. We won't even get a point. I really don't know why we do it any more. The UK competing in Eurovision is a waste of time.'
Asked about the reason why Eurovision songs had, during the 1960s and '70s, proven so popular, she said 'They may have been a load of rubbish but they were catchy.'
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