Eurovision 2024: Ireland’s entry Bambie Thug performs tonight in first semi-final – can they win and who are the favourites?

When is it on?

The Eurovision final takes place on Saturday, May 11th, at 8pm. There are also two semi-finals, Tuesday, May 7th, and Thursday, May 9th, both beginning at 8pm. Ireland participates in the first semi-final and is fourth in the running order. The Irish Times will be running a live story on Tuesday evening.

Where is it on?

Sweden won with Loreen’s Tattoo in 2023, equalling Ireland’s record seven victories in the contest. The event takes place in Sweden’s third-largest city, Malmö. It previously hosted the competition in 1992 and 2013. The venue is the 12,600-capacity Malmö Arena.

Who is representing Ireland?

Flying the flag for Ireland is Macroom, Co Cork’s Bambie Thug. The London-based non-binary singer, who describes their menacing and theatrical sound as “Ouija pop” will follow in the footsteps of Dana, Jedward and Johnny Logan with their entry Doomsday Blue.

It’s a skillfully assembled attention-grabbing piece that has been embraced by the Eurovision family – though it does represent a stark departure for Ireland, which has generally resided at the cuddlier end of the song contest spectrum.

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Doomsday Blue is also a stealthy Valentine to Harry Potter. The first line of the tune references “Avada Kedarva” – a forbidden curse in Potter-lore that “kills the victim on impact, instantaneously and painlessly”, much like Wild Youth’s Eurovision performance last year.

[ Bambie Thug interview: ‘I fully support anyone boycotting Eurovision. I’m not going to ask them to watch because I’m in it’ ]

[ Eurovision Music Quiz: What is Bambie Thug’s full name? ]

Who will win?

The frontrunner is Croatia with the relentless Rim Tim Tagi Dim by Baby Lasagna, aka 28-year-old Marko Purišić, whose sound blends metal, house music and pop (Sample lyric: “I’m a big boy now, I’m going away and I sold my cow”). Switzerland is second favourite with The Code by Nemo – a sort of turbo-charged version of Freddie Mercury singing Barcelona. In third place, according to the bookies, is Ukraine with Teresa & Maria by Alyona Alyona and Jerry Heil – a lush and seemingly sincere love letter to Mother Teresa and the Virgin Mary.

Ireland is an outsider with odds of about 33/1 – not that Bambie Thug seems bothered. “I’m never one to try and look at the odds,” they told the NME this week. “In my brain, you could always beat the odds, because anyone can make the odds go up and down with a bit of money.”

What should we look out for?

Bambie Thug’s staging for Doomsday Blue looks certain to make an impression. Bambie, wearing antlers, will romp around inside a circle of candles, joined by a male dancer who seems to have crawled out of the final season of Game of Thrones. Smoke and flames fly, and the words “Crown The Witch” finally light up.

There will also be lots of attention paid to Spain’s entry of Zorra by husband and wife electropop duo Nebulossa. In Spanish, “zorra” is regarded as sexist slang – the equivalent of “slut”. Nebulossa say they are reclaiming the term, and Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez has come out in their defence. And prepare to be astonished/appalled by No Rules! by Finland’s Teemu Keisteri, aka Windows95man. In the Finnish final, he emerged from a “denim” egg and sprayed fire from his shorts. The judges placed him last – the public voted him first.

[ Podcast: Is it fair to pressurise Bambie Thug to boycott Eurovision? ]

Any controversies?

The participation of Israel has become a flashpoint. More than 400 Irish artists have signed a petition urging Bambie Thug to boycott the contest in protest at Israel’s actions in Gaza. In Malmö, Israeli entry Eden Golan has been advised not to leave her hotel room except for performance and official Eurovision events. More than 1,000 Swedish artists have called on Israel to be banned, while a security crackdown has seen local police have drafted in reinforcements from Denmark and Norway.

Golan arrived in Malmö wearing a pin showing solidarity for Israeli citizens held hostage by Hamas. She has already been forced to change her song, which breached the Eurovision rule against non-political lyrics. It was initially called October Rain – widely interpreted as a reference to Hamas’s attacks on October 7th. The track has been retitled Hurricane, though Golan insists the song did not break the regulations. “I was kind of shocked when the European Broadcasting Union didn’t approve the song,” Golan said. “I don’t think the first version was political.”