Ireland IRELAND 2024 - Bambie Thug - Doomsday Blue

[ESC United Mod Team]

 

[Loindici]

I enjoyed the song and the performance, initially I really disliked it but it definitely grew on me. However, Bambie's whole persona seems extremely put on and fake from the "queerness" to the "activism". Everything seems extremely performative.

This tickles me in a good way because... isn't an artist's persona meant to be performed? It's like telling Jimbo the Drag Clown or pre-Artpop Lady Gaga is fake... which they are, it's their character.

About the activism, though, it's a fragile territory. I can't project so much of my perspective into this since I don't know the person personally.

 

[Seregil Korit]

Pretty much everyone I watched with (not all were Eurovision fans) agreed that this was the best of the night. I sense a top 10 finish for Ireland. At least.

 

[RainyWoods]

This is coming for the televote win in the final. There's a lot of solid packages this year, and staging has been an overall highlight of the 2024 edition of the contest. Bambie was leagues above everything else though. It feels wrong to call it a glow up as I always saw something special in Bambie as a performer even when they were competing on that little The Late Late Show stage but the difference from then to now is astonishing. I don't know if Doomsday Blue can take the overall victory as the jury are a big obstacle but honestly, one of the most impressive 3 minutes in Eurovision history and hands down it's going to be the most memorable song in the final, whether the viewer loves it or hates it. There's so much to take in and digest here. A new golden standard for staging was set. I was happy to be both of Irish and British blood last night. Our stagings are phenomenal. It's amazing to have such a dark, horror themed performance at Eurovision done this well.

 

[Ewigkeit]

I still can't see the TV win happening but her chances are better than they were days, weeks, and months before. Keep the heat up high, witch.

 

[soulm8]

S

Only 2 hours or so since the results and Ireland still has the most views of any act in the SF, granted Croatia is very close, this is literally surreal territory for an Irish act

Still the most viewed performance!

 

[ViVillRejv]

So I said earlier that Austria's We Will Rave was my only 12p this year, but I've changed my mind. This song just got elevated to 12p after seeing THAT live and I'd love for it to shock win the entire thing on saturday! (Not gonna happen because of the jurors in more conservative-minded countries tanking it, but one can still dream)

Edit: I also love the in-your-face isibility with her wearing the Trans flag colors like that during the second half of the song. This will forever be an eyesore for conservative people who watch Eurovision (who in daily life wishes that LGBT people did not exist) and I'm loving it.

 

[soulm8]

So I said earlier that Austria's We Will Rave was my onl 12p this year, but screw it - This song just got elevated to 12p after seeing THAT live and I'd love for it to shock win the entire thing on saturday! (Not gonna happen because of the jurors in more conservative-minded countries tanking it, but one an still dream)

Edit: I also love the overt visibility of her wearing the Trans flag colors like that. This will forever be an eyesore for conservative people who watch Eurovision (who in daily life wishes that LGBT people did not exist) and I'm loving it.

Honey, sorry but conservative people never watch Eurovision.

 

[ViVillRejv]

Honey, sorry but conservative people never watch Eurovision.

I've seen plenty a "My mother/father watched this and hated it" post on the semi performance's YouTube page, posters calling it "demonic" and "Satanism" etc already... And then there's the jury members from conservative places like, say, Croatia (or maybe most of Eastern Europe) who won't rate this highly.

Edit: And there's also Azerbaijan (Islam).

 

[mauve]

Absolutely impressive staging and performance. I am not sure if this can win after BT needs points from the Jury, but I am almost sure that this can be top 5 or even top 3. This would be my overall winner for now. Performance elevated when comparing to the NF one. Stunning.

 

[marty]

At least in the televote this will win. It is such an unusual performance.

 

[Magimixer]

Bambie at the qualifiers press is awfully CRINGE.

“What makes you special?”
“I’m queer”

I like the act/song, the staging is amazing, and I'm super happy that Ireland qualified… but I agree that their 'performance' at the press conference was super cringe and the whole 'persona' in general seems extremely unauthentic and unappealing. I also thought the "I'm the first non-binary to qualify ever" was a cheap remark somehow destined to belittle Nemo… (A "real" queer representative would even have mentioned Nemo in this case).

All in all, super happy for Ireland and I like their entry but really not a fan of the representation (who btw is apparently really haughty with all the people working for the ESC production teams - which doesn't surprise me at all).

 

[Sammy]

After all the comments about Ollies alledgedly „demonic“ staging and how that would have such a negative impact on the gay cause, I‘m quite surprised that nobody seems to have a problem with a witch and a clearly satanistic inspired staging which are linked to the trans/queer community.
Is their cause less important?
Is the general opinion about them so much more tolerant / indifferent?
Or doesn‘t it affect the trans cause in the same way as the gay community in Ollies case? And if so why do you think that?

Any explanation? Anybody?

(but spare me the sexual discussion around Ollies staging. that is not my point)

 

[Uto]

The performance was of course very well done and had me interested, but there is also a problem as the song is just not up to snuff and the staging kind of highlights that fact. This is no Hatari where the balls to the wall wtfism is underpinned by something that can also stand alone. Great to see it make the final, but I don't see myself voting for this.

And on the demonic imagery etc etc: you need to convince people to vote for you. The intended audience is not these cultists, they wouldn't vote for it anyway.

 

[PlasticToad]

Or doesn‘t it affect the trans cause in the same way as the gay community in Ollies case? And if so why do you think that?

Honestly given the amount I see Bambie referred to with the wrong pronouns, I expect it's because people don't know/understand that they're non-binary, or worse see it as some kind of joke. I'm sure that there will be certain sections of the British media especially that might kick off about it, but in some other parts of Europe the concept of being non-binary is essentially nonexistent to the general public.

 

[Sammy]

Honestly given the amount I see Bambie referred to with the wrong pronouns, I expect it's because people don't know/understand that they're non-binary, or worse see it as some kind of joke. I'm sure that there will be certain sections of the British media especially that might kick off about it, but in some other parts of Europe the concept of being non-binary is essentially nonexistent to the general public.

So you‘re basically saying linking the non-binary community to satanism is no problem because people dont even know they‘re existing despite the fact the act was repeatedly labeled as such? Did I understand you correctly?

 

[BorisBubbles]

Satanism lmao. Rightwingers are so funny. Who's going to tell them that God and Satan do not exist?

It Is Art. Don't overthink it.

In that sense, because it's more Art than Song, Ireland won't be getting their eighth victory on Saturday. It doesn't matter - they made the Grand Final, and they fully deserved it. Bambie is a Hatari-style enfant terrible - I wouldn't be too shocked if they clocked in at a respectable 10th-12th place based on a beefy televote and a nonexistent jury vote.

Also, Bambie has kind of become the voice of the Pro-Palestine movement over the past few weeks, and the past few days only intensified it. Expect a good amount of votes from that camp, as well.

 

[PlasticToad]

So you‘re basically saying linking the non-binary community to satanism is no problem because people dont even know they‘re existing despite the fact the act was repeatedly labeled as such? Did I understand you correctly?

You didn't understand me correctly, no. I don't think it's an issue because as BorisBubbles says, this is a performance, it's art. Tomorrow we will see another non-binary performer who isn't "Satanic" at all (unless you think pink legwarmers are the work of the devil). My point was more that people can't link a community to satanism when they don't even recognise that community exists.

Perhaps some might think Croatia is problematic as they think it suggests Croatians are all country bumpkins. They would be wrong, but people are free to think what they like. Whether it's what the artist intended or not, who knows?

 

[Looren]

I don't like the song but that staging and performance were exceptionnal, good job Ireland

 

[Ewigkeit]

I've seen plenty a "My mother/father watched this and hated it" post on the semi performance's YouTube page, posters calling it "demonic" and "Satanism" etc already... And then there's the jury members from conservative places like, say, Croatia (or maybe most of Eastern Europe) who won't rate this highly.

Edit: And there's also Azerbaijan (Islam).

Azerbaijan is a secular country and they pretty much don’t give an f-word about religion. They might have or might have not found this performance a bit extreme, but I don’t think Islam has any role in it.

 

[SpiritofKeiino]

Maybe the jury will reward it highly, it was a top quality performance. I don't think many jury members would be repulsed by the imagery. Europe isn't as religiously conservative anymore