“It’s been so horrible for us”- Bambie Thug voices discontent with EBU's handling of 2024 Eurovision representation

Irish singer Bambie Thug voiced their discontent with The European Broadcasting Union (EBU). The Irish singer, who finished in sixth place after the competition's final on Saturday, May 11, spoke to the media about how hard things were for them behind the scenes. The singer also said that they were proud of Nemo's victory. Bambie told the media:

"It has been so hard and it's been so horrible for us."

Throughout the week, Thug was engaged in a conflict with Israeli TV commentators with Israeli broadcaster KAN. They claimed that commentators in KAN had breached their rules of conduct during Thug's semi-final performance on Tuesday and further alleged that KAN incited violence against them multiple times.

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"The EBU is not what the Eurovision is"- Bambie Thug lashes out against the EBU

During the Eurovision press conference after the finals on May 11, non-binary Irish contestant Bambie Thug opened up about the hardships they went through behind the scenes of the competition and voiced their displeasure at the EBU and Israeli broadcaster KAN.

The singer noted that they were finally free to talk about everything, before explaining:

"KAN, the broadcaster, incited violence against me twice, three times. We brought it up to the EBU, they said they’d follow up. They waited until the last minute, we still haven’t got a statement back."

They added:

"[The EBU] allowed us to be scapegoats, allowed us to be the spokesperson for standing up for ourselves. That broadcaster has disobeyed the rules and I hope next year they won’t be allowed to compete because of that."

Bambie Thug talked about the amount of pressure they were facing and the work they were doing behind the scenes to "change things". They became emotional when they mentioned how proud they were of their fellow non-binary competitor Nemo for taking home the trophy to Switzerland.

Bambie was also proud of the people in the top 10 who were fighting behind the scenes. However, they had some choice words for the EBU. Bambie Thug proclaimed:

"We are what the Eurovision is. The EBU is not what the Eurovision is. F**k the EBU, I don’t even care anymore. F**k them."

They added:

"The thing that makes us contestants, the community behind it, the love and the power and the support of all of us is what’s making change. The world has spoken, the queers are coming, non-binaries for the f**king win."

Bambie Thug accused KAN of inciting violence against them (Image via Instagram/@bambiethug)

It was a tough past few days for Bambie Thug who had a lot on their plate to deal with. The singer, who was a prominent pro-Palestinian voice in the competition, was ordered to change the make-up for their set by the EBU.

This was because Bambie's make-up contained pro-Palestine messages written in Ogham, a system that was used to write the earliest form of primitive Irish.

Apart from that, during their semi-final performance on Tuesday, Bambie Thug accused the commentators on Israeli TV broadcaster KAN of breaching the rules. Thug revealed on social media only hours before their final performance that they were awaiting the EBU's decision on the matter.

According to RTE, a commentator from KAN reportedly warned viewers that Bambie's performance was going to be "the most scary" of the competition.

The commentator also added that the song had stirred "some controversy" in Ireland and that Thug liked to "speak negatively about Israel" and even requested people to prepare their curses.

Bambie Thug said in an RTE interview before the final that they had a lot more "anger and drive" within them at the moment and also thought that Israel should be disqualified from the competition due to the aforementioned breach of the rules.