The Irish public broadcaster, RTE, selected its representative to reach the final in Sweden on January 26th. This process took place through a national final on their iconic “The Late Late Show,” although this time it was hosted by Patrick Kielty. From that final, Bambie Thug emerged as the big winner, with a groundbreaking song with which they aims to conquer all of Europe.
Who is Bambie Thug?
Bambie Ray Robinson was born in Macroom, County Cork, on March 6, 1993. They was part of the school choir club, with which the won the All-Ireland Schools Choir competition. Initially, they trained to be a ballet performer, but later attended Coláiste Stiofáin Naofa, planning to go to university to study dance.
They moved to London to attend the Urdang Academy after receiving a partial scholarship. However, they broke their arm during their time at university, so they ended up studying musical theater. After graduating from Urdang, Robinson spent two years learning to write and sing pop songs.
Bambie Thug released their debut single, “Birthday,” on March 5, 2021. The song, which was written while Bambie was going through a drug addiction process, and its uncensored music video was released on pornography sites. That same year, they released three more singles, including “Psilocyber,” a song about a “psychedelic” computer virus, “P.M.P.,” a song promoting sexual positivity, and “High Romancy.”
In late 2022, they released “Merry Christmas Baby.” In April 2023, they released “Egregore,” which deals with Bambie’s desire to break self-destructive habits as an independent artist. Bambie released their third EP, Cathexis, on October 13, 2023. Along with the release, they published two more singles, “Careless” and “Last Summer (I Know What You Did).” Their lyrics address very personal themes such as their mental health issues, the dysmorphia they suffers from, or occultism.
“Doomsday Blue” the Irish entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2024
The song “Doomsday Blue” is composed entirely in English with various phrases like “Avra Kadabra” in Aramaic, marking the first instance of this language in the contest. It was composed by Bambie along with an international team consisting of Cassyette, Sam Matlock, and Tylr Rydr.
The song deals with the pain of unrequited love, expressing feelings of sadness and betrayal while reflecting on the falsehood of the partner. It suggests a desire for revenge or liberation from the emotional influence of the other person, using the metaphor of black magic (“Avada Kadavra”) to represent the desire to eliminate painful feelings.
The term “Doomsday blue” is alluded to as a metaphor for deep sadness and despair. It’s a combination of styles ranging from the most terrifying witch screams to a pop chorus or roaring electric guitar riffs.
Lyrics of «Doomsday Blue»
Avada Kadavra
I speak to destroy
The feelings I have I cannot avoid
Through twisted tongues
A hex deployed on you
That all the pretties in your bed
Escape your hands and make you sad
And all the things you wish you had you lose
I, I, I know you’re living a lie
I, I, I see the scars in your eyes
I, I, I know you’re living a lie
I, I, I guess you’d rather have a star than the moon
I guess I always overestimate you
Hoodoo all the things that you do
I’m down down in my Doomsday blue
(I, I, I know you’re living a lie)
(I, I, I know you’re living a lie)
Avada Kadavra
The thoughts in my head
The places I touch when lying in bed
The visions of you the words that you said
Undo
My heartbeat buried in the ground
And to the strings I bind you’re bound
So when you sleep you’ll hear my sound
(cuckoo)
I, I, I know you’re living a lie
I, I, I see the scars in your eyes
I, I, I know you’re living a lie
I, I, I guess you’d rather have a star than the moon
I guess I always overestimate you
Hoodoo all the things that you do
I’m down down in my Doomsday blue
I guess you’d rather have a star than the moon
I guess I always overestimate you
Hoodoo all the things that you do
I’m down down in my Doomsday blue
For your romance
I’d beg steal and borrow
It’s draining me hollow
You-ooooh
You could slow dance me
Out of my sorrow
But your favourite colour
Compared to the others is doom
Doomsday blue
Blue, Blue, Blue
Blue, Blue, Blue
Avada Kadavra
I speak to destroy!
Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest
Ireland made its debut in Eurovision in 1965 and has since participated in 58 editions. It boasts one of the best records among participating countries. It took only six editions to achieve its first victory with Dana and the song “All Kinds Of Everything.”
Since then, Ireland has won the contest on six more occasions, being the first country to win twice with the same artist, Johnny Logan. It is the only country to have won the contest in three consecutive editions in 1992 with Linda Martin, in 1993 with Niamh Kavanagh, and in 1994 with Paul Harrington and Charlie McGettigan. The nineties were a glorious decade for the country as it achieved another victory in 1996 and two additional second places.
Since the introduction of semifinals in the contest, the luck has changed significantly for the country, as it has been eliminated in the semifinals phase on 11 occasions, 8 of them in the last decade. Ireland has finished last in the final twice in 2007 and 2013 and has also finished last in its semifinal in 2019 and 2021.
In the 2023 edition, the representatives selected to represent Ireland were the group Wild Youth with the song “We Are One.” Although it represented a slight improvement from the previous year, they could only reach twelfth place, narrowly missing out on qualification for the final, marking the fourth consecutive year of being eliminated in the semifinals.