Ireland is at Eurovision Song Contest still a record winner and as such especially for ballads in the style of “ESC-Königs” Johnny Logan known. This year the island nation sent quite the opposite: the “non-binary witch” Bambie Thug is waiting with one dark mix of occultism, metal and pop and made it to the ESC final.
The preliminary decision in Ireland was met with criticism, particularly from the right. The right-wing populist IFP saw Bambie Thug’s entry “Satanism and ‘non-binary’ woke nonsense”. A petition was even started that Bambie Thug should not compete.
The song “Doomsday Blue” and the performance were very well received by the audience. Bambie Thug then received the ESC accolade by Johnny Logan himselfwho said “Doomsday Blue” could “win Eurovision”.
Read more: Who will win the song contest? That’s what the ex-candidates say
Bambie Thug was born Bambie Ray Robinson in 1993 and has a Swedish father and an Irish mother came out as non-binary – die self-proclaimed “witch” sees himself as neither a man nor a woman.
Dark music, explicit video
Witchcraft also plays a big role in the performance and the stage show. The themes of the music are often very dark: it’s about drug addiction and the occult, but also sex. The video for Bambie’s debut single was uncut due to explicit sex scenes published on porn platforms.
Bambie, the music as “Ouija-Pop” (based on the board that is often used for necromancy), wants to use the song and the dark stage show to “banish” one’s own experiences with sexual violence with a curse.
Aside from the music, Bambie Thug caused a stir because there was a message on the flag he carried against the war in Gaza should stand. Bambie also demanded in advance the exclusion of Israel from this year’s song contest. The argument goes that this was also done in Russia.
However, the ESC organizers banned the pro-Palestinian message, so at the end of the performance there is only “Crown the Witch”, also “Krönt die Hexe” to read. Whether the magical incantation is successful will be shown at the finale on Saturday.