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12th May 2024
10:05am BST
Bambie Thug has spoken out after finishing in 6th place at the Eurovision this year, Ireland's best-placed finish in 25 years.
The Macroom singer performed their song 'Doomsday Blue' in Malmo and received a huge reaction from voters across the continent.
However, the competition was marred by chaos behind the scenes, as Bambie missed their final dress rehearsal due to what they called an "urgent" situation.
In a post on their Instagram page before their final performance, the ouija pop singer said: “There was a situation while we were waiting to go to stage for the flag parade rehearsal which I felt needed urgent attention from the EBU [The European Broadcasting Union].
Things became clearer when they were interviewed by the media after the grand final, with Bambie saying that commentary made on Israeli television breached the rules of the Eurovision and that their team made several complaints to the EBU.
“Now that I’m free I can talk about everything,” they told the media. “KAN, the [Israeli] broadcaster, incited violence against me twice, three times.
"We brought it up to the EBU, they said they’d follow up. They waited until the last minute, we still haven’t got a statement back.
"[The EBU] allowed us to be scapegoats, allowed us to be the spokesperson for standing up for ourselves. That broadcaster has disobeyed the rules and I hope next year they won’t be allowed to compete because of that.”
The title of Eurovision winner for 2024 went to Switzerland, with Croatia and Ukraine finishing second and third respectively.
In their post-performance interview, Bambie railed against the EBU, while also congratulating their fellow non-binary performer, Nemo, for winning the competition.
“We are what the Eurovision is," they said. "The EBU is not what the Eurovision is. Fuck the EBU, I don’t even care anymore. Fuck them.
"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 fucking win.”
The Cork singer, however, faced backlash for their decision to perform in the finals, despite calls for a boycott over Israel’s inclusion in the competition.
Last month, over 400 Irish artists called for Bambie Thug to boycott the event in solidarity with Palestine, including Derry Girls actor Siobhán McSweeney and singer-songwriter Erica-Cody, who competed against Bambie Thug for a place at Eurovision this year.
Earlier this week, the Irish Eurovision contestant revealed that they were ordered by the EBU to change their pro-Palestinian message for their semi-final performance on Tuesday night.
Following their performance, the 31-year-old told a press conference they were forced to alter their body paint in Ogham script, which translated to ‘ceasefire and freedom’.
“It was very important for me because I’m pro-justice and pro-peace,” they said about the message, which nodded to the situation in Gaza and Israel’s inclusion in the contest.
“Unfortunately, I had to change those messages today to ‘crown the witch’ only, [which was an] order from the EBU.”
The EBU, meanwhile, announced on Saturday that the Netherlands’ entrant for Eurovision was kicked out of the contest following an “incident” on Thursday night.
In a statement, the Eurovision organisers said: “The Dutch artist Joost Klein will not be competing in the Grand Final of this year’s Eurovision Song Contest.
“Swedish police have investigated a complaint made by a female member of the production crew after an incident following his performance in Thursday night’s semi-final.
“While the legal process takes its course, it would not be appropriate for him to continue in the Contest.”
It added: “We would like to make it clear that, contrary to some media reports and social media speculation, this incident did not involve any other performer or delegation member.
“We maintain a zero-tolerance policy towards inappropriate behaviour at our event and are committed to providing a safe and secure working environment for all staff at the contest.
“In light of this, Joost Klein’s behaviour towards a team member is deemed in breach of contest rules.”
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