Dawn Martin (born 1976 in

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ) is the county town of County Louth, Ireland. The town is situated on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the north-east coast of Ireland, and is halfway between Dublin and Belfast, close to and south of the bor ...

) is an Irish singer who represented

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

in the

1998 Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest 1998 was the 43rd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on 9 May 1998 at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, United Kingdom. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster the Br ...

Career and Eurovision

Dawn Martin left school at the age of 14 and began working as a hairdresser. Being the eldest of eight children, she helped her parents to raise the family. In 1996 Martin had been asked to sing at a friend's wedding and was persuaded by the band to enter a local talent contest. Although working full-time as a hairdresser, Martin continued singing and became a member of a local cabaret band called Us, who performed at weddings and local pubs. In 1997 Martin appeared on '' The George Jones Show'' on

BBC Radio Ulster BBC Radio Ulster is a Northern Ireland, Northern Irish national radio station owned and operated by BBC Northern Ireland, a division of the BBC. It was established on New Year's Day 1975, replacing what had been an opt-out of BBC Radio 4. Acc ...

and was heard by Gerry Morgan, who invited Martin to perform his song " Is Always Over Now?". After winning the Irish National heats, she won the right to represent Ireland with "Is Always Over Now?". However this result gained some controversy from

Louis Walsh Michael Louis Vincent Walsh (born 5 August 1952) is an Irish music manager and television personality. He has managed Johnny Logan (singer), Johnny Logan, Boyzone, Jedward and Westlife, four of Ireland's most successful pop acts in the 1990s an ...

, whose act

The Carter Twins The Carter Twins were an Irish musical duo considering of twin brothers Anthony and Stephen Carter who were active from the late 1990s. They released one studio albums and achieved three top ten singles. History In 1996, The Carter Twins were ...

were beaten, when he labelled the singer "an amateur". The Carter Twins song had been composed by

Ronan Keating Ronan Patrick John Keating (born 3 March 1977) is an Irish singer, songwriter, actor and presenter. He debuted in 1993 alongside Keith Duffy, Michael Graham, Shane Lynch, and Stephen Gately, as the co-lead singer (with Gately) of Irish pop g ...

and was favourite to win. There was further minor controversy when her two backing singers were axed by

RTÉ (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...

before the final. These were friends of Martin's, but RTÉ decided that they needed more experienced singers, former winner Paul Harrington being chosen as one of them. In the lead up to the contest, Martin was ranked as 10 to 1 by

bookmakers A bookmaker, bookie, or turf accountant is an organization or a person that accepts and pays out gambling, bets on sporting and other events at agreed-upon odds. History The first bookmaker, Harry Ogden, stood at Newmarket Racecourse, Newmark ...

, but had been more favourably viewed by journalists, who predicted that singing in English would be an advantage with this being the first year that the contest was to include televotes. On the night of the Contest, Martin performed 13th and received 64 points, finishing in ninth place. The single reached No.24 in the Irish singles chart. In 2011 Dawn appeared at Eurobash at Panti Bar in Dublin singing "Is Always Over Now?".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Dawn 1976 births Living people Irish pop singers Musicians from County Louth Eurovision Song Contest entrants 21st-century Irish singers