Could Cork star clinch this year’s Eurovision?
Excitement is growing on Leeside as Cork’s first Eurovision entrant since 1979 prepares to take to the stage in less than a week.
Bambie Thug, from Macroom, will perform their track ‘Doomsday Blue’ at the Malmö Arena, Malmö, Sweden in the first semi-final on 7 May.
The non-binary artist is expected to perform fourth in the line-up and will be up against 14 countries on the night including Croatia, Portugal, and the Ukraine. The second semi-final will be held on 9 May. The top ten acts from each semi-final will go head-to-head in the grand final on 11 May. Coverage in Ireland will start at 8pm each evening.
Cork’s previous and only other Eurovision entrant was Cathal Dunne with the song ‘Happy Man’ in 1979. The nephew of former Cork taoiseach Jack Lynch, Dunne finished 5th with a tally of 80 points at the final held in Jerusalem. The song ‘Happy Man’ was his own composition and was a comfortable winner of the Irish National Song Contest where he defeated future Eurovision winner Johnny Logan.
According to one bookmaker’s latest odds, confidence is growing that Bambie Thug will sail through the semi-finals and seal Ireland’s first appearance in the grand final since 2018 when Ryan O'Shaughnessy represented Ireland with the song ‘Together’, finishing 6th with 179 points.
Bambie Thug currently sits at just 4/7 with BoyleSports to qualify from the opening semi-final, with Croatia and Ukraine looking near certainties for the final at odds of 1/250. However, the Cork performer remains one of the outsiders at 33/1 to win the overall contest.
The last time Ireland won the Eurovision was in 1996 in Oslo, Norway with Eimear Quinn’s performance of ‘The Voice’ by Brendan Graham.
Bambie Thug wowed the crowd at a pre-Eurovision bash in London last month where 24 of the 37 contestants for this year’s contest took to the stage. But it was once again Croatia’s Baby Lasagna that stole the show and he is now just 3/1 to be crowned this year’s winner on 11 May.
Brian O’Keeffe, spokesperson for BoyleSports, said: “After a show stopping performance at London’s Eurovision Party, we’ve seen a surge of support for Bambie Thug to reach the final, but punters remain convinced that Switzerland’s Nemo will make a splash and lift the trophy.”
Last month, Bambie Thug released a statement confirming that they would not be stepping down from Eurovision 2024 amidst calls for Ireland to withdraw from the competition due to Israel's controversial involvement. In a post on Instagram, Bambie Thug wrote: “As an Irish person with a shared history of occupation and a queer individual, I cannot and will not remain silent.
“I am aware of the calls to withdraw, but stepping back now would mean one less Pro-Palestinian voice at the contest.”
Bambie Thug later released a joint statement with eight other Eurovision artists.
It read: “We stand against all forms of hate, including antisemitism and Islamophobia. We firmly believe in the unifying power of music, enabling people to transcend differences and foster meaningful conversations and connections.”