The Taoiseach has hailed the “stunning” performance of Ireland’s Bambie Thug after the artist finished in sixth place on 278 points in the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest, the country’s best result for almost 25 years.
Switzerland’s Nemo won the contest with a total of 591 points for their song, The Code.
Taoiseach Simon Harris said: “I want to congratulate Bambie Thug for a stunning performance and tour de force at Eurovision 2024. They performed with passion, stopped us in our tracks and did us proud. The eruption of applause in the stadium at the end of Ireland’s performance spoke for itself.
“Congratulations to Switzerland on the win and well done to Sweden for hosting another showstopper. Thank you to our closest musical ally in Europe – Australia – for our only douze points! It’s Bambie Thug’s night as far as we’re concerned. Well done Bambie.”
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Croatia finished in second place on 547 points, Ukraine came third with 453, France took fourth on 445 and Israel placed fifth on 375. Croatia was the favourite of the Irish public as they received the maximum 12 points in the Irish vote, while Israel came second with 10. The UK received zero points in the public votes across the competition.
Bambie, a London-based, non-binary artist originally from Co Cork, said “love will always triumph hate” at the end of their performance in the Malmö Arena in Sweden.
Bambie, who has been outspoken about their pro-Palestine views, accused the Israeli broadcaster, Kan, of a rule break and said they have been waiting to hear back from the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) about what action would be taken.
Bambie told journalists in the press centre: “So now that I’m free. I can talk about everything right?
“Yeah, so Kan the broadcaster incited violence against me twice, three times. We brought it up to the EBU. They said they follow up.
“They waited to the last minute, we still haven’t gotten statement back to us, allowed us to be scapegoats, allowed us to be the spokesperson for standing up for ourselves.
“And yeah, the broadcaster has disobeyed the rules and I hope next year they won’t be able to compete because of that.
“And behind the scenes you don’t know the amount of pressure and the amount of work that we have been doing to change things and I’m so proud for Nemo for winning,” Bambi said.
“I’m so proud that all of us are in the top 10 that have been fighting for this s**t behind the scenes. Because it’s been so hard and I’m so proud of us.
Earlier on Saturday, Bambie said they missed their dress rehearsal after a “situation” required “urgent attention” from the EBU.
Bambie posted on their Instagram, saying: “Dear Coven, 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 EBU have taken this matter seriously and we have been in a discussion about what action needs to be taken.
“This means I have missed my dress rehearsal – I am really sorry to the fans that have come to see me. I hope to see you on the stage tonight.”
The organisers of Eurovision said: “Bambie Thug did not perform in dress rehearsal three and the footage of their performance in dress rehearsal two was used in its place.
“They missed the dress rehearsal due to a situation that is currently being discussed with the EBU and song contest organisers.”
In response, a spokesperson for the Israeli broadcaster Kan told PA: “We wish everyone the best of luck tonight.”
Earlier, Irish presenter Graham Norton, who provided commentary for BBC coverage, said the singer, who performed their gothicly dramatic song Doomsday Blue, is “tipped to do extremely well”.
He said: “I’m not a parent, but I might warn you that younger kids, I mean seriously, might find this next performance a little bit frightening.”
He added: “Bambie Thug, such a great performer and Ireland have done a very good job of production this year and this is tipped to do extremely well.” – additional reporting: PA
