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A LITTLE BIT EUROVISION

A Little Bit Eurovision - Paul Harrington and Charlie McGettigan Image Name: A Little Bit Eurovision - Paul Harrington and Charlie McGettigan Description: A Little Bit Eurovision Copyright: © RTÉ. This image may only be published in print or online for editorial use during the publicity period (the weeks immediately leading up to and including the transmission week of the relevant programme or event and three review weeks following) for the purpose of publicising the programme, person or service pictured and provided RTÉ and the copyright holder in the caption are credited.In certain cases particular images may be subject to embargo. For use outside of these terms and conditions please contact the RTÉ Television Press Office. Please see http://www.rte.ie/about/organisation/terms.html for full terms and conditions for rte.ie

Paul Harrington and Charlie McGettigan’s 1994 Eurovision win was the third-in-a-row for Ireland after Linda Martin’s win in Malmö in ‘92 and Niamh Kavanagh’s in Millstreet in ‘93.

The winning pair had never even met each other before their Eurovision bid and came from completely different musical backgrounds.

Charlie McGettigan was born in Ballyshannon and started his musical career singing in a rock band in the singing lounges of Donegal. He got involved in the folk scene while working for the ESB in Dublin. In 1973 Charlie got a job at the Arigna Power Station and when he moved to Drumshambo he formed a folk band called Jargon which enjoyed some early success. Paul Harrington grew up in a musical family in Killester in Dublin and like his older brothers, started performing in his teenage years. When he left school in 1979 he got a job in the Department of Labour.

Meanwhile, in the early 1980s the pressure of touring with Jargon while maintaining a full-time job became too much for Charlie and the band broke up. Charlie continued to write songs and went on tour with Maura O’Connell. She had hits with some of his songs Feet of a Dancer, Bed for the Night and I Don’t Know How You Do It… in the mid ‘80s. Charlie McGettigan had also entered the National Song Contest in 1984 with a song called Be-Bop Delight.

Unlike Charlie, Paul gave up his day job in the Department of Labour to concentrate full time on music. He made regular TV appearances and released his first album in 1991. Brendan Graham had made several attempts to get Rock ‘n’ Roll Kids through the Eurovision selection process. It was originally planned that Paul would perform the song on his own, but the magic of Paul and Charlie performing the song together soon became obvious, and it took them all the way to Eurovision glory.