Eurovision 2024: Ireland's Bambie Thug forced to make last minute change - or face performance ban
As music lovers around the world tuned into the Eurovision Song Contest’ s grand final on Saturday night, all eyes were on the 25 acts that were hoping to secure victory. Initially 26 countries had been due to compete, but following a controversial decision by the European Broadcasting Union to ban Dutch entrant Joost Klein, only 25 made it to the stage on Saturday evening.
One star who did manage to perform was Irish entry Bambie Thug, who quickly proved to be a firm fan favourite with viewers at home, however in a now deleted TikTok the singer had revealed how they almost didn’t make it to stage at all and was forced to remove some of their face makeup if she wanted to be permitted to compete.
In the video, Bambie was seen with ‘ceasefire now’ written on their face in a direct support of Palestine amid the ongoing conflict with Israel. However, the clip soon revealed they were being told to remove the makeup from her face if they wanted to go ahead and perform, in order to comply with the EBU’s rules about refraining from making any political statement.
Although Bambie did comply with the request, they looked noticeably pained to do so and even branded the situation "f****d up" as the makeup was removed from their face, leaving behind a clear stripe of bare skin beneath. The sentiment was also echoed by another performer who then added: “The fact they’ve silenced you is f****d. You say it straight after.”
It isn’t the first time the competing acts have spoken out in support of Palestine either, with several of the competing delegations having already made their disapproval of Israel being permitted to compete publicly known. In fact, prior to the broadcast being aired live, Belgium shared a public service announcement supporting a ceasefire.
Spain also raised concerns about Israel’s participation, after a Spanish journalist who has covered Eurovision for over a decade publicly spoke out about how Israeli journalists had intimidated them in the street, amid escalating protests in host city Malmö.
Israel’s entry Eden Golan successfully breezed through the semi-finals earlier this week, but not without a mixed reaction from the audience with several boos and chants of Free Palestine heard in the studio. Her final performance however fared somewhat better, with cheers of support vastly outweighing the boos.
The main criticism surrounding her participation stems from Israel’s continued fighting with Palestine in the Gaza Strip, with many feeling that Israel should’ve been banned from competing while engaged in active conflict - something which has been imposed upon Russia due to the ongoing war with Ukraine for the past three years.
