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Bambie Thug has given a special message at the end of their gripping Eurovision performance – watch it below.
The Irish Eurovision entry has been tipped as one of the favourites to win this year, with them ranking fourth on the bookie’s odds to win the contest.
However, the Cork singer has also faced significant challenges throughout the competition due to their pro-Palestinian stance. It was revealed they were forced to remove the words ‘ceasefire’ and ‘freedom for Palestine’ in a medieval script from their costume due to Eurovision’s political neutrality clause.
Though they were prevented from saying the words ‘ceasefire’, Bambie seemed to allude to the Israel-Palestine conflict at the end of their powerful performance. After their triumphant finish, Bambie said to the crowd: “Love will triumph over hate!”.
Portugal’s entry Iolanda also seemed to have a message of her own, potentially referencing the conflict as well. At the end of her song ‘Grito’, she said the words: “Peace will prevail”.
Fans also spotted both Bambie and Iolanda wearing acrylic nails in support of Palestine; Bambie’s were painted with the Palestinian flag colours, whilst Iolanda’s were in the style of the keffiyeh, a Palestinian scarf. Take a look below:
“LOVE WILL ALWAYS WIN OVER HATE” – Bambie Thug, Ireland 2024 🇮🇪❤️#CrownTheWitch #Eurovision2024 pic.twitter.com/Sz6DFLY7Ca
— florin⸆⸉ (@esc_florin) May 11, 2024
Iolanda: Peace will prevail. ✊🇵🇸
SAY IT LOUDER QUEEN #Eurovision2024 pic.twitter.com/rtaz4PVXaI
— H 🇷🇸🪻 | 🇮🇹🇬🇷🇦🇹🇨🇭 (@itsdelreeey) May 11, 2024
Bambie Thug has painted her nails in the colors of the 🇵🇸 Palestinian flag!!#Eurovision #Eurovision2024 #ESC2024 pic.twitter.com/7OvKmjeWUy
— Kerem | 🇳🇱 | 🇮🇪🇺🇦🇳🇴🇭🇷 (@Krm_H67) May 11, 2024
iolanda showing her palestine nails 😭🇵🇹🇵🇸 I JUST KNOW SHE’S BADDIE #Eurovision2024 pic.twitter.com/5WqXbVDzJ2
— 𝒍𝒐𝒖𝒊𝒔 🇫🇷||🇵🇹🇮🇪🇬🇪|| GRITO 🗣️ (@slayesc) May 11, 2024
This year’s competition has been dogged controversy due to the EBU’s decision to include Israel amongst the Israel-Palestine conflict. Israel’s entry also stoked further controversy due to the original lyrics of their song, initially titled ‘October Rain’. Performed by Eden Golan, it appeared to contain references to the victims of Hamas’ October 7 attacks and was barred from performance due to breaking rules on political neutrality.
Israel was finally confirmed to compete after changes were made to the lyrics and the song’s title was changed to ‘Hurricane’.
Recently, the organisers doubled down on their choice, with the EBU saying: “I fully agree it is a family event and the great thing about this music competition is that it’s all about values. It’s about uniting onstage all of these young talents, these participants, and they do great. It’s about diversity and inclusion.
“But there are competition rules and you need to follow the competition rules and take decisions based on these competition rules. If you were to exclude Kan outside of these competition rules, that would have been a political decision, as such, which we cannot take.”
The EBU’s decision has also proved controversial amongst longtime Eurovision fans, who NME interviewed before the competition tonight. Though Jay Aston from former UK Eurovision-winning group The Fizz (fka Buck’s Fizz) said she would be watching, other fans such as musician Jason Kwan have expressed doubt over the competition’s political neutrality clause.
Kwan claimed Eurovision was “inherently and explicitly political” due to the EBU’s decision to include Israel and to censor “pro-Palestinian artists, and even outwardly using the official social account to like problematic posts and block accounts who have provided genuine critique and questions around the EBU’s decisions.”
In other news, Bambie Thug has given an update on their Eurovision complaint, saying the EBU confirmed an Israeli commentator had “broken the rules of conduct”.