Ireland’s Bambie Thug broke an enduring losing-streak by qualifying for Saturday’s Eurovision Song Contest in the first semi-final in Sweden on Tuesday night. It is the first time Ireland has reached the final stage since 2018.
From Macroom, Co Cork, Bambie is a London-based non-binary singer, who describes their sound as “ouija pop”. They follow in the footsteps of decades of previous Irish entrants from Jedward to Johnny Logan. Ireland last won in 1996.
This year’s song had at one stage been considered a long-shot at about 33/1, although Bambie had commented: “In my brain, you could always beat the odds.”
[ In pictures: Bambie Thug’s spellbinding Eurovision semi-final performanceOpens in new window ]
Ireland was one of 15 countries competing in the first semi-final for just 10 places in the final, including favourites Croatia and Ukraine, Poland and Australia. Ireland’s Johnny Logan, the first to win the competition twice, was invited to give a pre-voting round performance.
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The participation of Israel has stoked controversy and more than 400 Irish artists signed a petition urging Bambie to boycott the contest.
The Eurovision final takes place in Malmö, Sweden on Saturday. The competition’s “big five” – France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK – are guaranteed a place as the biggest financial contributors.
The other qualifiers were Serbia, Portugal, Slovenia, Ukraine, Lithuania, Finland, Cyprus, Croatia and Luxembourg.
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