Political statement

Irish horror Bambi has to change her body paint

Bambie Thug from Ireland criticized the ESC organizers because she had to change her body paint.(Bild: APA/AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

The issue of the Gaza war has now also reached the actual ESC competition. After reaching the final of the Eurovision Song Contest, Bambie Thug from Ireland criticized the organizers for insisting on a change of body paint. It was a statement about the Middle East conflict.

Bambie Thug had actually written the words "ceasefire" and "freedom" on her body in the Ogham script, which was used in Ireland in the early Middle Ages - as a reference to the situation in the Gaza Strip.

Bambie Thug had to change the message
"It was very important to me because I am for justice and for peace," said Bambie Thug (31) after the first semi-final on Tuesday evening in Malmö, as reported by the British news agency PA. "Unfortunately, I had to change those messages to 'Crown the Witch', which was an EBU order."

Bambie Thug made it through to the final of the song contest with her spooky performance.(Bild: APA/AFP/TT News Agency/Jessica GOW)

The performance, whose show played with occult rituals, caused quite a stir artistically that evening. The song "Doomsday Blue" is a mix of spoken word, hard electronic sounds and gentle ballads. It is the first time since 2018 that an Irish entry has reached the ESC final. Bambie Thug is a non-binary person, so does not see herself as a woman or a man, but thinks beyond these categories.

Violation of competition rules
A spokeswoman for the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which organizes the ESC, said: "The writing that appeared on Bambie Thug's body during the dress rehearsals was in breach of the competition rules, which are designed to protect the non-political nature of the event."

The Irish delegation then agreed to change the text for the live show. The EBU had previously warned that Palestinian flags and symbols were not permitted in the Malmö Arena. Israel is traditionally a participating country in the ESC.

Israel had to change lyrics and song titles
Following the outbreak of the Gaza war as a result of the Hamas attack on Israel, there had been repeated discussions this year, especially on social networks, about the country's participation, which the EBU always firmly opposed. Artist Eden Golan, who represents Israel, had to change her lyrics and song title under pressure from the EBU - the organizers had also initially deemed it too political.

The declared apolitical stance behind the ESC is often the subject of debate. Time and again, the world situation overshadows the competition. As a rule, only very abstract statements are tolerated on stage. In Liverpool last year, the British organizers showed ruins and rockets in an interval show and also incorporated a dance interlude in a subway station - as an allusion to the air war against Ukrainian cities.