That golden moment
“THE 2008 Meteor Award was just brilliant. We were the underdogs, the nobodies. We had never been nominated or recognised for what we thought was a really good show, so we really, really wanted to win it.
“When they said Ray, I didn’t even hear it. Then I heard Foley and I just started running up to the stage. I nearly sprinted up, I just couldn’t believe it. It was so brilliant to win.
“I was saying ‘Oh, my God, thank you so much, thank you.’ And then started to sing Journey’s ‘Don’t Stop Believing’ a song our listeners had chosen for me.
“When you arrive at these events you are nervous. But it is manageable. Then you sit down and eventually it comes to your award. By that point the nerves have built up to a kind of crescendo, your stomach is in knots, and you are absolutely convinced that you are not going to win. There is no chance on earth of you ever winning that award. So, when they do say your name you are completely stunned. Honestly, I could not believe it when we won the first Meteor. We were in the pub afterwards, actually holding on to it, saying ‘We won it, we’ve got it!’
“I didn’t sleep with it that night, but I did use it to get into a nightclub, saying: ‘Look, we’ve just won an award.’ I have been at loads of award ceremonies where I have been nominated and not won, and I always make a point of going up to the winner and saying congratulations. But I know if there was a camera on my face, I would find it difficult, just for those first few seconds when you realise you haven’t won. But then again, you have already convinced yourself that you aren’t going to win, so then you say: ‘Oh no, oh well.’
“The first Meteor Award was amazing, but the following two were also brilliant, because they are voted for by our listeners.
“The PPI awards are very special too, as the industry vote for you. Last year we were nominated against Mario Rosenstock. We thought we didn’t have a hope. We really respect him, he is a genius, he is so brilliant. When we beat him, we just could not believe it.
“I keep all my awards on a special shelf. We have a few wedding presents on it too — a little bronze statue, a vase, a wine decanter and then all my PPI and Meteor awards. Oh, and I also have an award for being ‘Ireland’s Hottest Male’ as well. That’s obviously the one closest to my heart, that’s the one I sleep with!”
* Ray Foley’s Today FM radio programme is on Monday-Friday, 12-2.30pm; Take Me Out Ireland is on Saturday, 6pm, TV3
“It’s the waiting that is the worst part. It is just so tense, it is actually like being in labour. All you can think about is, ‘Okay we are done, can you please just finish it. Now.’
“The 1993 Eurovision went down to the very last vote, and because Ireland had won the year before, we were not expected to win. I would have been happy with a good second place.
“I have always been a bit odd, I get more nervous after my performance. I think it is the rush of adrenalin. I come off stage and keep saying ‘Was that alright?’
“I can’t remember what I have done, but you want some affirmation that you didn’t make a complete idiot of yourself.
“So initially I was quite relaxed. I knew I had sung well and thought we would do okay. The first few votes were really good — we went from a 12, and everybody saying ‘Oh my God, here we go again’ — to getting just one point, and being brought down to earth.
“Then suddenly from about six rounds from the end, it looked like we could win and it became frantic. It was so tense and everyone was crowding around me because they were so excited.
“The last round came and we were so tense, that when they finally said ‘And the 12 points go to…’ the wait was so long, that you actually begin not to care. You are thinking ‘I don’t care, just say who it is, just say the name and let the waiting be over.’
“They have this thing, that they just have to build it up. It is so long, so tense, and it’s right in your face.
“The relief when they finally said Ireland was amazing. There was a lot of deep breathing. Then we celebrated.
“To be honest, I wasn’t even expecting to win the National Song Contest. I knew ‘In Your Eyes’ was a really good song, but we were first on and I wasn’t that well known. I just didn’t know if people would vote for it.
“Even in 2010’s National Song Contest, I led from the beginning and again I was very surprised. It was brilliant to get picked, and to get through the semis of the Eurovision and into the final.
* Niamh Kavanagh will be appearing at the Civic Theatre, Tallaght on Apr 14.
“It was fantastic to win, I really wasn’t expecting it. When you are sitting there waiting, I suppose you feel kind of caught. You don’t know which is worse. You don’t want to lose, but then if you win and your name is called out, you have to get up and accept it, and that is horrible.
“I don’t think there is anybody who likes facing all those people and having to give a speech. I hadn’t prepared one, I didn’t want to jinx it, so then when I went up my mind went blank and I couldn’t remember anyone’s name. It was like being a rabbit caught in the headlights.”
“When my name was read out, I think I actually went into shock. I just couldn’t believe it, I was over the moon. I think I stayed in my seat for a little while, I literally couldn’t move. I was completely overwhelmed by it. When you are in that situation and you are walking up to the stage, the gravitas of the whole moment hits you.
“I couldn’t remember what I actually said in my speech, I had to watch it back at my mum’s the following day.
“I was just so happy and I didn’t want to let the award out of my sight. It was a night that I will never forget. Every morning I go and look at it, and I have to pinch myself.”
“My heart started going into my mouth when the cameraman came over to our aisle. We started to squeeze each other’s hands, thinking; ‘This might be it!’
“Then they opened the envelope and called Love/Hate out. You don’t have time to register it, you just run up and the adrenalin rush is enormous.
“Then you are up there, looking at a sea of thousands and thousands of people and you know you have to deliver.
“It’s like another sense kicks, you know you cannot mess it up, that this is the only opportunity you have to thank people. Literally half an hour before hand I had written down their names and now I had to deliver.
“When we won seven awards, the night just kept getting bigger and bigger, and the adrenalin rush was huge.
“I have never had such a rush, my body is still in complete shock and I am still struggling to sleep. It was the biggest shock of my life, but it was really, really so exciting. To get this recognition from the industry is brilliant.”
A third series of Love/Hate is now being filmed.
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