Sir Terry Wogan - RIP

.....yes, and on DAB

It is rare I shed a tear - and certainly not normally for a tv personality - but I shed many this morning. The last time I did so was for Bob Holness when he died. I had met Bob on several occasions and he was a thoroughly nice chap. The old phrases "tv legend" or "well-loved personality" get trotted out so much but in this case Terry was at the top like Bruce Forsyth. I always thought it would be Terry paying tribute to Bruce and not the other way round.
It was a huge shock this morning but it's evident his "back problem" was much more severe than we could have ever imagined.
He had more talent, brains and self-depreciation than the thick, talentless non-entities that are allegedly "celebrities" swimming in the cesspool of today's tv. They should all crawl back to where they came from and get proper jobs instead of feeding off some gormless viewers lapping it all up. No wonder work dries up for some of our tv personalities. What a sad tv world we inhabit and it is a much sadder place without El Tel, the Togmeister. No doubt he will be teaming up with the likes of Kenny Everett, Willy Rushton, Bob Monkhouse, Les Dawson and others in that big green room in the sky.... but avoiding Anne Bancroft and George Best!

Shocked. I do hold him responsible for Eurovision getting the rep it's got here in the UK, and do think his legacy is a major barrier to allowing Britain's wonderful music industry to sell itself on e world stage. However, I accept many people enjoyed his commentary, and indeed only tuned in for it.

Legend.

I disagree. Eurovision is ridiculous and all Sir Terry did was to tell it how it is. Plus Britain's wonderful music industry is alright in prime position on the world stage. I'd rather watch Adele picking up her millionth Grammy than have her sitting in a green room being hounded by Conchitta Wurst.

Terry loved Eurovision and said himself in interviews, but as mentioned, he was realistic about what the contest really is.

On the BBCs Eurovision DAB station last year there was an hour long 'Tracks of My Years' interview where Wogan picked his favourite Eurovision songs amongst some anecdotes from the contests he covered. Hopefully that will get a repeat at some point

Very sad news and the response today from both listeners and people in the industry is a salutary reminder that entertainment is very much at the heart of public service broadcasting.

I would imagine, indeed hope, that there will be some sort of tribute on the national Eurovision final on BBC Four in a few weeks.

Here in Ireland, Terry's appearance on Gay Byrne's Talking about God series The Meaning of Life is getting a repeat showing. The story of his death has dominated Irish news as well.

I only heard about his passing earlier today. It is truly heartbreaking to hear that Terry Wogan died of Cancer. It really is a curse to anyone who gets this horrible disease. I wouldn't mind if there was a cure for Cancer anytime soon by any medical expert to at least give some hope for us to just live a tiny bit longer in this world.

Anyway; Terry was a superb broadcaster with a superb wit about him. I will miss that charm and appeal from him for years to come.

RIP Terry. You will be greatly missed by all of us here on this earth.

Sunday Love Songs is recorded on the Friday prior to its broadcast. Dedications and requests have to be in by 5pm on the Wednesday evening as the playlist is finalised the following day.