Meet Mark Foster, the train conductor, Eurovision superfan and now quizmaster
Mark Foster, 52, has been a train conductor for TransPennine Express (TPE) for nine years, but his passion for the Eurovision Song Contest has been alive for a quarter of a century.
Mark is a self-confessed superfan and with the worldwide singing extravaganza just days away Mark is getting into the spirit of the competition creating a quiz for passengers on board his trains.
Mark’s earliest memory of the Eurovision was in 1976 when the UK won with Brotherhood of Man singing ‘Save Your Kisses For Me’ but his enthusiasm for the competition didn’t blossom until 1997 when the UK won with Katrina And The Waves ‘Love Shine a Light’, which resulted in his home city of Birmingham being chosen to host it the following year.
Mark Foster said: “My mum never missed a show and I remember growing up with her hosting Eurovision parties with a buffet where all the neighbours would be invited to watch it.
“I was lucky enough to attend the finals in Birmingham and that’s when I started to really fall in love with the competition. Since then, I’ve been to the Malmo, Copenhagen, Vienna, Stockholm, Kyiv and Lisbon finals and they have all been an incredible spectacle.”
As the excitement builds to this year’s finals in Liverpool, and with TPE providing services from across the north into the host city, superfan Mark has created a quiz for passengers on board his services to tackle.
Mark continued: “I was so pleased that Liverpool was announced as the host city, not only because of the incredibly rich heritage of music that the city has to offer but also because as a TPE train conductor I knew that in the build up to the contest I would be working on services with fans would be travelling to the finals.
“I thought it would be a great idea to put together a Eurovision quiz and anyone who wants to take part whilst they’re on board can get involved and get into the spirit of the competition!”
When it comes to this year’s Eurovision, Mark has scheduled in holiday so he can truly immerse himself in the build up to the main event. Unfortunately, due to the tickets for the final selling out in record time, Mark didn’t secure a spot for the Saturday show, but he is attending the semi-finals which he couldn’t be more excited for.
Mark continued: “I have a few artists that i am looking forward to seeing perform, France, Finland, Sweden, Denmark and of course the UK, all of which are amongst my favourites but I’m mostly looking forward to seeing visitors from all over coming together and being ‘United By Music’.”
For those who won’t travel on any of Mark’s TPE services, his Eurovision Quiz is below so you can test your knowledge.
Mark said: “It’s a tough quiz and you’ll know by the end if you’re a superfan or not! I would say those who get full marks can have my replica Eurovision trophy, but it’s one of my prized possessions so that isn’t going anywhere!”
TPE Conductor Mark Foster’s Eurovision Quiz
1) What area of Liverpool is also the name of a winning Eurovision song?
2) Which UK town hosted the Eurovision Song Contest in 1982 and name the host.
3) Which country hosted the contest in 1993 and which country won that year or name the winning artist or song.
4) How many times has Sweden won the Eurovision Song Contest?
5) How many times did Katie Boyle present the Eurovision Song Contest?
6) What is the name of the Italian trio who came third in the 2015 contest?
7) Which Yorkshireman competed to represent us in the selection show “A Song For Europe” in 1976 but wasn't chosen, being beaten by Brotherhood Of Man.
8) What was the UK’s last winning entry at the Eurovision Song Contest?
9) What year did Celine Dion represent Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest?
10) What year did Australia first take part in the Eurovision Song Contest?
11) Who represented Spain in 1970 at the Eurovision Song Contest and also name their famous singing son?
12) Which countries entry “Running Scared” won the contest in 2011?
13) How many times has Ireland won the Eurovision Song Contest?
14) What was the first year that the United Kingdom received zero points in the Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest?
15) Who represented the UK in the 1992 Eurovision Song Contest?
16) Which artist represented Norway at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2009 and again in 2018?
17) In what year did Conchita Wurst represent Austria going onto win the contest with the stunning song “Rise Like A Phoenix"?
18) 1984 BBC’s “A Song For Europe” - Which 2 singers who later went on to have huge success with Stock Aitken & Waterman competed to represent the UK at that years Eurovision but ultimately got beaten by the group Belle And The Devotions?
19) Johnny Logan has twice won for Ireland, name the years he won and the titles of the songs.
20) How many times has the UK Hosted the Eurovision Song Contest including this year?
Notes to editors
Answers
1) Area of Liverpool which is also a winning song is Waterloo
2) Harrogate was the host town, The Shows host was Jan Leeming
3) Ireland was the host country and also won again that year with the song “In Your Eyes” sang by Niamh Kavanagh.
4) Sweden have won the contest 6 times.
5) Katie Boyle presented the show 4 times
6) The Italian Trio who came third in 2015 going on to achieve huge success in mainland Europe and the USA are IL Volo
7) The singing Yorkshire man who attempted to represent us in 1976 is Tony Christie
8) The UK’s last winning entry is Katrina and the Waves (1997)
9) Celine Dion represented Switzerland in 1988
10) Australia first performed in the contest in 2015 (Guy Sebastian with “Tonight Again”)
11) Spain’s representative in 1970 was Julio Iglesias, his famous singing son being Enrique Iglesias.
12) The country that won with the song “Running Scared“ in 2011 is Azerbaijan.
13) Ireland has won the contest 7 times.
14) The first year that the UK received “Nul Point” in the grand final was 2003 (Jemini performed the song “Cry Baby”)
15) The UK was represented in the contest in 1992 by Michael Ball (The song “One Step Out Of Time)
16) The artist that represented Norway in 2009 and 2018 is Alexander Rybak
17) Conchita Wurst represented Austria with the stunning Rise Like A Phoenix in 2014.
18) 1984 “A Song For Europe” - the 2 artists that failed to represent the UK but later went onto achieve huge success with Stock Aitken and Waterman are Hazell Dean and Sinitta.
19) Johnny Logan has won twice for Ireland, firstly in 1980 with the song “What’s Another Year” then again in 1987 with the song “Hold Me Now”.
20) The UK has hosted the Eurovision Song Contest a total of 9 times (1960,1963,1968,1972,1974,1982,1998,2023)