Irish Eurovision Singer Bambie Thug Boycotts Own Song Until Israel Kicked Out of Song Contest

Irish singer Bambie Thug is boycotting the song they used to compete in the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest until Israel is kicked out of the international competition, the musician announced during a recent performance.

The non-binary singer-songwriter, whose real name is Bambie Ray Robinson, represented Ireland in the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest with the song “Doomsday Blue.” During a performance at the Lowlands Festival in the Netherlands earlier this month, the artist told the audience they will not perform the Eurovision entry as long as Israel continues to compete in the international song contest.

“I know that some of you guys know me from that competition. The Eurovision. And I know some of you might want to have heard ‘Doomsday Blue,’” Bambie Thug said on stage. “But, because of the state of the world and because of the state of that competition, I don’t play that anymore. I’m boycotting that song, just like that competition.”

“If one day they get their acts together and kick Israel out of that f–king competition, then I’ll sing it again. But till then,” the artist added, before showing the audience the middle finger. The singer then performed their latest song “Red Rum,” describing it on stage as a “protest song.” Bambie Thug further said that “Red Rum” is “also a song to say more Blacks, more dogs, more Irish, more Palestinians, more Ukrainians, more Iranians, more Sudanese, more Congolese … and more solidarity and more humanity.”

At the conclusion of the song, two dancers on stage held up flags toward the audience, including a Palestinian flag, while standing behind Bambie Thug. The musician then led the audience in chanting “Free, free Palestine.” Footage from the concert also showed an audience member waving a massive Palestinian flag during the performance. Bambie Thug additionally had behind the stage a screen that displayed their stage name in red, white, and green – the colors of the Palestinian flag.

The Lowlands Festival took place Aug. 15-17.

In “Red Rum,” Bambie Thug sings: “Pride is a protest/Rise of the oppressed/Pick a side are you peaceful or possessed … Doom scroll on your screens/While they load the guns/Casualties casually adding up in sum … Missile strikes/Colonial types/Zombies on a mission with a bark and a bite.”

In Malmö, Sweden, during the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest, Bambie Thug was ordered by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which organizes the competition, to remove pro-Palestinian messaging that was written on the artist’s body as part of their costume for the performance. Bambie Thug had written in the early medieval Irish alphabet Ogham the words “Ceasefire” and “Free Palestine” on their face and legs but was told the remove the words before stepping on stage.