Bambie Thug has first Eurovision stage rehearsal inside the Malmö Arena

IRELAND’S EUROVISION ENTRY Bambie Thug has had their first rehearsal inside the Malmö Arena in Sweden where the song contest will be held next month.

For the first time, the stage is in the centre of the arena, giving the audience at home a 360 view of the show.

The semi-finals of Eurovision will be held on 7 and 9 May, with the grand final on Saturday 11 May.

Bambie Thug will represent Ireland with their song Doomsday Blue after winning RTÉ’s Late Late Show Eurosong special and will compete in the first semi-final on 7 May.

This afternoon, Bambie Thug was one of seven artists who will feature in the first semi-final to be given 30 minutes on stage to test out their performance.

On stage, they started inside a circle of candles, wearing a black dress with a tutu skirt and shoulder horns.

Bambie Thug during stage rehearsal today

Their dramatic white face makeup was then topped with hair styled into antlers.

Close up of Bambie Thug during today’s rehearsal

In the final section the candle circle raises up, and the performance ends with a graphic backdrop reading “CROWN THE WITCH”.

In all, 14 countries will compete alongside Ireland in the first semi-final on 7 May, including Australia, Ukraine, Iceland and Finland.

This year’s Eurovision Song Contest has proved to be controversial and has been the subject of boycott campaigns.

The stage for the 68th Eurovision Song Contest in Malm

A campaign launched in December called on RTÉ to “immediately withdraw support and participation in the contest next year, if Israel is permitted to compete”.

Earlier this month, a petition containing over 5,000 signatures was delivered to RTÉ’s southern regional studio in Cork urging the broadcaster to refrain from televising this year’s event.

And this week, more than 400 Irish artists and creatives, including Eurosong contestant Erica-Cody, signed an open letter calling on Bambie Thug to boycott Eurovision.

Speaking during a recent appearance on the Late Late Show, Bambie Thug said they stand with those who choose to boycott the contest, but that dropping out would mean “less competition” for Israel.

“I stand with anyone doing the boycott,” said Bambie Thug.

“Without the group of us who are pro-Palestine, it is less competition for the other side to win and it’s less solidarity there. Obviously, it’s incredibly heavy and I am extremely behind everybody.”

Bambie Thug added that it’s “the EBU [European Broadcasting Union] who have to make the decision” of whether to exclude Israel from the Eurovision.

The EBU is essentially an alliance of public service media organisations whose countries are within the European Broadcasting Area.

It previously told The Journal that the Eurovision is “a competition for broadcasters – not governments – and the Israeli public broadcaster has participated in the contest for 50 years”.

Meanwhile, RTÉ has previously told The Journal that it has “always approached the Eurovision Song Contest in the spirit in which it was founded”.

The RTÉ spokesperson said Eurovision is a “non-political contest designed to unite audiences and bring people together through a shared love of music and entertainment”.

The spokesperson added that 37 nations, including Ireland, will take part in the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest and that RTÉ is not aware of any participating Public Service Broadcaster that is planning to boycott the upcoming event.

Israel’s song entry for this year’s Eurovision has also faced scrutiny from the competition’s organisers, resulting in the lyrics being rewritten due to perceived political lyrics relating to the ongoing conflict in Gaza.

Meanwhile, protests are also planned in Malmö to coincide with the Eurovision Song Contest.

A group called ‘Stop Israel’ said “tens of thousands of demonstrators are expected to march through Malmö” on 9 May when Israel performs in its semi-final.

It will also host an alternative, international music contest at the same time as the Eurovision final on 11 May.