AFTER years of dismal failures for Ireland on the Eurovision stage, a Cork performer is promising to shake up the annual song contest this year.
Bambie Thug - great name, isn’t it? - has been selected among six acts who will battle it out to represent Ireland in the Eurosong sing-off on next Friday’s Late Late Show. The winner will fly the flag for the country, and get to perform on the Eurovision stage in Malmo, Sweden, in May.
Bambie, from Macroom, has now sent a message to Rebels to vote for the wonderfully Gothic song, Doomsday Blue, next Friday.
“Come on, Cork! Send the Rebel to Sweden!” said Bambie.
“It’s time Cork - the Real Capital - had a moment. It’s the birthplace of so much beautful poetry and art, and a place of rich creativity. It’s the place that birthed me and I owe my personality to it. It’s time for the light to shine on Cork.” The singer and songwriter, who identifies as non-binary and uses they/them/their pronouns, said we “should send something that shakes up the contest – not just Ireland’s competition, but the whole Eurovision competition”.
When I spoke to Bambie this week, I was blown away by their confidence and determination to end Ireland’s rotten run of form at the contest.
And get this - Bambie already has an advantage over rivals, being half-Swedish, having a father who is from Stockholm. The home audience at Eurovision this year will love that! But Bambie added hastily: “I am undoubtedly Cork!” Born in the Mercy Hospital in the city, Bambie attended St Joseph’s Primary School, then St Mary’s Secondary School in Macroom, before studing dance and ballet at Coláiste Stiofáin Naofa in Cork city, while living in Shandon Street.
The 30-year-old has spent the past decade or so in London, immersed in the arts, writing songs and performing - “homeschooling myself”, as Bambie describes it.
When Bambie performs Doomsday Blue on the Eurosong special, let’s just say many regular viewers of The Late Late Show will realise they are not in Kansas any more! In fact, they might even think they have left their planet and are undergoing an out-of-body experience. How to describe it?
Think of a Gothic vibe that’s as black as ink, with a touch of witchcraft, and loud, discordant, booming noises, and you get some sense of how different it is to the often dated bland ballads and Europap tunes Ireland usually sends to the contest.
Critics better qualified than me on how to pigeon-hole genres have described Doomsday Blue as electro-rap, confrontational performance art and effervescent, late-night goth pop.
Bambie describes the sound as ‘Ouija Pop’ – referring to the spirit board used to contact the dead. Each verse begins with the words ‘Avada Kedavra’, known in medieval magic circles as ‘The Killing Curse’ by those who utter it, as it strikes a person dead.
“The song crosses so many genres. It transports you from alt witchy verses to killer screams, pop choruses, a jazzy middle-eight, before ending in a metallic roar of electro and heavy guitars,” said Bambie.
“It perfectly showcases the different facets of me as an artist. I can be explosive and hard-hitting, but I can also be sweet and soulful.” Although the loud parts may not be older people’s cup of Ice T, the sweet and soulful sections Bambie refers to are certainly pleasant on the ear. I can’t imagine Linda Martin, Johnny Logan, or Eimear Quinn ever covering the song though - then again, that’s the point.
Ireland needs to think outside the box that has seen us cast into the wilderness almost annually since the turn of the millennium. Eurovision is far from the staid, middle-of-the-road song contest it once was, and we need to get with the programme.
Bambie is hoping the younger Irish audience next Friday will ‘get’ the song, but has this message for more mature voters who typically watch The Late Late Show: “Take a risk. Let’s shake it up. This is what music looks like now for people who watch Eurovision.” Admitting to being “a bit nervous” about singing live on TV, the Corkonian’s nerves have not been helped by the fact Bambie’s mother has suffered a bout of tonsillitis. Bambie has been looking after her while hoping the illness isn’t contagious.
However, Bambie has sung on RTÉ before, on a show presented by a previous Irish Eurovision entrant.
“When I was 12, I appeared on Dustin’s Daily News Star Search, singing the Hercules film soundtrack I Won’t Say (I’m In Love).” All I can say to that is, please, Ireland, don’t send another turkey to sing for us!
It’s certainly been a manic week for our Cork hopeful. Bambie spent a few days whizzing around the city and county, filming at iconic venues such as the City Gaol, Shakey Bridge, and The Gearagh near Macroom, to make ‘postcards’ for the Eurosong special.
A rising artist, who has gained a vast following online, amassing more than 60 million streams and receiving BBC airplay in the UK, Bambie decided to enter Eurovision while watching last year’s contest.
“I always thought about entering a song, and last year, my friend, Luke Black, represented Serbia. I decided to take a chance and enter too.” Bambie was delighted to be told the entry had made the final six for Eurosong just before Christmas, and their response was: “Woo, I forgot I had entered it!”
I put it to Bambie that The Late Late audience selecting a Eurovision act is a little odd, given that many of them will hardly bother even watching the contest. Bambie admits: “Lots of people are scaring me about it, but I have faith in people and in my performance. I hope to shine.”
Another challenge for Bambie will be the fact performances in Dublin will be pared down, compared to the big stage production available to the winning act in Malmo. “I will just have to command the space next week,” said Bambie. “But I really want that big stage show in Sweden.”
In recent years, Eurovision has become increasingly popular among the LGBTQIA community in Europe and around the world, and Bambie identifies as “queer”, adding: ‘I do represent a massive amount of the country that’s under-represented.
“I just think we in Ireland have a lot more to give really and I think that Eurovision is now more than a song contest – it’s also the performance and the stage show. And that is my cup of tea – that’s what my degree is in. It makes sense.” Ireland needs to take back its legacy of success, Bambie added.
After Sweden won Eurovision last year, they drew level with Ireland on seven wins apiece. But that record masks an appalling run of failure for Ireland in the past 20 years.
Since semi-finals were introduced in 2004, we have failed to reach the final 11 times, and twice finished last when we did qualify. We have had one top 10 result in the last 16 events.
Bambie added: “Don’t you think it’s time we pushed some boundaries and shook things up? Send the witch! We just haven’t been sending the right music.”
Bambie goes up against Ailsha, Erica Cody, Isabella Kearney, JyellowL and Next In Line on Eurosong on Friday, January 26. Voting information will be given on the night.
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