Geraldine Brannigan, (born 1954), (sometimes listed asGeraldine Branagan[1]) known professionally asGéraldine, is anIrish singer,[2] known for finishing in fifth place in theEurovision Song Contest 1975 with the song "Toi" while representingLuxembourg.
Together with her band, she was active in theIrish showband scene. As Geraldine & the Brannigans they competed in the Irish preliminary to the Eurovision Song Contest 1973. EntitledFadó Fadó/"Long, Long Ago" they finished in fourth place.
In 1978, asGeraldine & Pickles, Brannigan represented Ireland with the songSay It With Music at theYamaha Music Festival inTokyo.[1][3]
Brannigan performed her single "Casablanca" (co-written by Martin & Coulter) in an episode of theBenny Hill Show shown on UK ITV in March 1979. The follow-up track, "Back Street Band" was featured on an episode ofJuke Box Jury hosted byNoel Edmonds, shown on BBC1 on 16 June 1979. The panel ofPete Murray,Bob Geldof,Linda Lewis andIsla St Clair voted it a 'miss'. Both tracks failed to chart in the UK despite the TV exposure.
An album was released in 1981 (asThe GB Band) in which her future husband Phil Coulter as a composer had participated.[1][4]
She also toured South Africa in 1982 with guitaristTony Cox.
As a solo singer, Brannigan was commissioned in 1975 by the broadcasterRTL to compete for Luxembourg at the 1975 Eurovision Song Contest inStockholm. "Toi" was co-written by Irish singer-songwriterPhil Coulter, Scottish producerBill Martin and French songwriterPierre Cour. Coulter conducted the orchestra for the song, which came fifth. All three writers had written previous Eurovision winning songs (Martin & Coulter in 1967 and Cour in 1960).
In November 1998, Brannigan married her long-time partner Phil Coulter in a low-key ceremony at Wicklow registry office, witnessed by their six children, Danielle, Dominique, Alexandra, Daragh, Ryan and Georgina, and 16 guests.[5][6][7] Coulter had noticed Brannigan in aGuinness TV advert in Dublin and felt that he had to meet her.[6] He later said in an interview onMiriam Meets... onRTÉ Radio 1, that it was love at first sight.[8]
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