Bambie Thug, the artist who represented Ireland with ‘Doomsday Blue’ at the Eurovision Song Contest 2024, announced that she will not perform the song that secured her sixth place in the European contest until Israel is expelled from the competition.
The announcement was made during a concert at the Lowlands Festival, held from August 15 to 17 in the Netherlands, but it became public knowledge after a video went viral on social media.
“I know some of you know me from that competition. The Eurovision Song Contest. And I know some of you might want to hear ‘Doomsday Blue’,” Bambie Thug said during a concert. “But, due to the state of the world and the state of that competition, I no longer perform that song. I am boycotting that song, just like that competition”.
“If one day they get organized and expel Israel from that damn competition, then I’ll sing it again. But until then…,” she added.
@bambsdoomsday @Bambie #freepalestine🇵🇸️#eurovision#bambiethug#fyp#lowlands2025 original sound – 𝕰𝖑𝖊𝖆𝖓𝖔𝖗 𝜗𝜚 ⋆.˚
This is not the first time Bambie Thug has taken a stance in support of Palestine. In May 2024, during rehearsals for the Eurovision Song Contest held that year in Sweden, images appeared of her makeup bearing the inscriptions “Ceasefire” and “Freedom for Palestine” in ogham, the ancient Celtic alphabet.
However, these ‘messages’ were not shown during the live performance. According to Bambie Thug, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) gave her an ultimatum an hour before the festival: remove the inscriptions or forfeit the performance.
“After my first dress rehearsal, I was asked to remove both ‘Freedom for Palestine’ and ‘Ceasefire’ from my makeup. My delegation and I fought against this, and the EBU eventually agreed to keep ‘Ceasefire.’ About an hour before my performance, I was informed that they had held an internal meeting and that ‘Ceasefire’ was no longer acceptable, and if I didn’t remove it, I wouldn’t be allowed on stage,” she stated at the time on social media.
It is recalled that Israel’s participation in Eurovision last year was heavily criticized due to the conflict in Gaza Strip. Before the event, the organization defended that “the Eurovision Song Contest is a competition for public broadcasters from across Europe and the Middle East.” “It is a contest for broadcasters – not governments – and the Israeli public broadcaster has participated for 50 years,” it noted.
When questioned about Russia being expelled from the festival in 2022 following the invasion of Ukraine, the EBU explained that the country led by Vladimir Putin violated its “obligations” as a member and breached “the values of public service media.”
This year, the Israeli broadcaster chose Yuval Raphael, a survivor of the Hamas attack on October 7, as its representative. The artist finished second with ‘New Day Will Rise’, just behind winner JJ with ‘Wasted Love’.
