Ireland's Eurovision Song Contest entry Bambie Thug makes history as they land place in final

Ireland’s Eurovision entry Bambie Thug makes history as they land place in final

Eurovision Song Contest viewers are delighted after Ireland made it through to the final of the iconic annual competition thanks to Bambie Thug’s unforgettable performance.

Ireland is among the favourites to win this year’s Eurovision Song Contest with the country’s act, Bambie, who is the competition’s very first non-binary performer, having seen their odds slashed this week ahead of the competition. The contest, is hosted in Malmö throughout this week, after Sweden won for a seventh time last year with two-time winner Loreen. And it marks the 50th anniversary of the country winning for the first time with ABBA in 1974.

Most participating acts will compete in one of the semi-finals, with the first being held tonight, followed by the second on Thursday. Those who qualify to progress in the competition will then appear in Saturday’s grand final.

Bambie Thug, 31, whose real name is Bambie Robinson, is among the acts taking part in Eurovision this year. They are representing Ireland with the song Doomsday Blue and have competed against 14 other acts in the first of the semi-finals. They went on stage fourth – and wowed audiences across Europe with a spectacular lights show and dramatic costume change on set. ‘Crown The Witch’ was the cry from the crowd, as the lights faded on tonight’s Irish performance.

After Ireland finally landed a place in the final for the first time since 2018, fans flocked to X, formerly known as Twitter, to gush over Bambie. “I can’t lie. I initially hated this song but Bambie has done their country so proud. We needed something drastically different for this to work.”

“Crown the Witch!!!! They did it,” another gushed. “I can only focus on Ireland and How Good that performance was. Welcome to DUBLIN 2025 everyone.”

Last week, Ladbrokes slashed the odds on Bambi winning Eurovision from from 16/1 to just 9/1. Ireland is one of the favourites alongside the likes of Switzerland. Additionally, it listed the country with odds of 8/1 on Bambie actually winning the semi-final.

The odds come after Bambie announced last week that they had been hospitalised after eating “bad shellfish” just days before the semi-final. The artist told fans that they wouldn’t be doing a scheduled meet and greet as a result. As previously reported, Bambie took to their Instagram account last week to share: “Hey guys, really sorry but I have to cancel my meet and greet performance today… I had to go to hospital late last night and be put on a drip because I ate some bad shellfish. I need to take the day to try and recover so I can smash my performances next week.”

After Ireland has failed to make the Eurovision final in the last four attempts, Bambie previously promised they will “stand out” from the crowd when they took to the stage in Malmo, Sweden for the first semi-final. Ireland and Sweden are level for the most wins in Eurovision’s history at seven each, ahead of the show being held in Malmo following Swedish singer Loreen triumphing with Tattoo.

However, despite this success, Irish 2018 competitor Ryan O’Shaughnessy was the last to reach the final with Together, finishing in 16th position. Ireland has not won since 1996 with Eimear Quinn’s The Voice. Bambie previously told the PA news agency: “Ireland hasn’t (got) into the final because the songs haven’t been, I guess, standing out. And ours definitely does that this year so I would be very, very encouraging riots if I wasn’t in the final.”

When asked if they think they are going to change perceptions of Irish music, Bambie said: “I would say that the thing about Ireland that runs through the Irish musicians, regardless of genre, is lyricism. Ireland is the land of poets, so lyrically, no, I think it a match so I think it just showcases that we’re still awesome with words. And is it different from what we’ve (been) sending? Yes it is.

“You know, alternative music does not have enough light in Ireland. It’s not given enough airtime. I’m not given enough airtime. And yeah, I would so (I would change it). I mean, alt music is definitely getting more and more and more popular, even outside of Ireland, definitely here in the UK.” And I would hope that my performance, kind of gives a shock to the world that is needed to bring some much needed respect and eyes back on our homegrown (acts).”

The Eurovision Song Contest semi-finals continue on Thursday from 8pm on BBC One, BBC iPlayer, BBC Radio 2 and BBC Sounds. Whilst the grand final will be broadcast on the same platforms on Saturday from 8pm.

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