Music

Bambie Thug’s sixth place makes for dramatic Eurovision night in Malmo

Nonbinary singer causes stir on and off the stage with their spat against Israel and its entrant

Ireland's Bambie Thug during the opening ceremony of the Eurovision Song Contest final in Malmö, Sweden. Photograph: Martin Sylvest Andersen/Getty Images

Ronan McGreevy
Mon May 13 2024 - 06:00

Bambie Thug did not win but succeeded in becoming one of the most talked-about acts of this year Eurovision Song Contest.

Ireland’s sixth place finish was the best since 2000 and the first top 10 finish since Jedward in 2011. Bambie Thug’s performance brought respectability to the Irish presence at Eurovision after years of embarrassing failure.

They finished sixth in the jury vote, sixth in the public vote and sixth overall – the self-proclaimed witch scored 666, as many have noted on social media.

Large crowds gathered in their hometown of Macroom, Co Cork, to watch the contest on a big screen, and there was a loud cheer when Australia gave Ireland 12 points.

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Both Taoiseach Simon Harris and Tánaiste Micheál Martin congratulated them on their performance in Saturday night’s final, but that was not the most memorable thing about Bambie Thug’s presence in Malmö. They were centre stage at a contest that threatened to descend into chaos, first after the disqualification of the Dutch entrant Joost Klein for “inappropriate behaviour” and then because of the continuing presence of the Israeli entrant Eden Golan.

Bambie Thug said they cried when Israel qualified for the final. Then they complained that the Eurovision Broadcasting Union had done nothing to reproach Kan, the Israeli national broadcaster, when its commentator said their performance would be the most scary of the competition and that they were no fan of Israel.

Bambie Thug didn’t take part in the dress rehearsal nor the flag ceremony beforehand on Saturday as a consequence, but performed as expected on Saturday night. Afterwards they gave a tearful, expletive-laden press conference in which they accused the Eurovision Broadcasting Union of doing nothing about Kan.

“I just want to say we are what the Eurovision is. The EBU is not what the Eurovision is. F**k the EBU, I don’t even care any more. F**k them,” they said. “The thing that makes us contestants, the community behind it, the love and the power and the support of all of us is what’s making change. The world has spoken, the queers are coming, non-binaries for the f**king win, and I am so proud.”

Bambie Thug returned home to London on Sunday.

The contest was won by another nonbinary act, the Swiss singer Nemo, whose song The Code triumphed in the jury vote by a comfortable margin.

However, Eurovision 2024 will forever be associated with the Israeli entrant, Eden Golan, who needed police protection to participate in the competition. The 20-year-old got the second-highest public vote, including the top mark of 12 points from 14 countries and the rest of the world. She finished fifth overall, one place ahead of the Irish entry.

Golan also got 10 points from the Irish public, a result which is being interpreted widely in Ireland and elsewhere as a backlash against those who advocated that Israel should not have been in the competition in the first place.

She has returned to Israel as a national heroine, with Israeli president Isaac Herzog and prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu both congratulating her.

The biggest loser on the night was the UK entrant, Olly Alexander, who was the only act to receive “nul points” from the public.

Ronan McGreevy

Ronan McGreevy

Ronan McGreevy is a news reporter with The Irish Times

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