Watch: Bambie Thug takes to Eurovision final stage in Malmö after day of tension
Bambie Thug performing at the Eurovision Song Contest in the Malmö Arena, Malmö, Sweden. Picture: Andres Poveda
After much speculation, Ireland’s Bambie Thug has taken to the stage at the Eurovision grand final in Malmö, Sweden, following some doubt about whether they would even perform tonight.
The only confirmation they would likely perform came when they appeared during the flag walk at the start of the live show.
The Cork performer stunned the audience with an emotive performance of their witchy song Doomsday Blue, accompanied by dancer and choreographer Matt Williams.
The song ended with what sounded like a cathartic scream from Bambie after a long day of confusion over Ireland’s participation in Eurovision and a simple statement to the audience: “Love will always triumph hate.”
Bambie caused a stir earlier on Saturday when they did not appear during the afternoon dress rehearsal, casting doubt on whether they would perform in the final.
They confirmed on social media that they had spoke to the European Broadcasting Union about a situation “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.”
Speaking to RTÉ, Bambie called on organisers to address commentary made on Israeli television that aired before their performance in Tuesday’s semi-final, saying it breached the rules of the Eurovision and Israel should not be allowed to continue in the competition.
Bambie said the Israeli commentary would motivate them in their performance tonight.
“There’s a lot more anger and a lot more drive in me now,” they said.
"I’m angry with other teams breaching their rules of the EBU, and still being allowed in. So there’s definitely a war drum sounding in my heart to push the performance even more than I have done before."
Earlier today, the EBU confirmed that Dutch act Joost Klein had been disqualified from the grand final as Swedish police investigate a complaint made by a female member of the production crew after an incident following his performance in Thursday night’s semi-final.
