Ireland’s Eurovision representative fails rehearsal and meets urgently with organization – Culture

Bambie Thug, Ireland’s representative at Eurovision 2024, did not participate in this Saturday’s rehearsal for the final due to “a situation” that occurred at the beginning of the session that led to a request for an urgent meeting with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).

“A situation occurred while we were waiting to go on stage and participate in the parade of artists, so I asked for urgent attention from the EBU. The EBU took this matter seriously and we discussed what measures to take”, explained, on social media, Bambie Thug, artist who is assumed to be non-binary.

Thug apologized to his fans for missing rehearsal and ended his message with a note that hints at his presence in the final: “I hope to see you on stage tonight.”

Ireland was not the only absence in the parade, as the representatives of Greece and Switzerland, Marina Satti and Nemo, also did not take the stage at that point in the rehearsal.

These absences come shortly after the representative of the Netherlands, Joost Klein, was disqualified from the festival by the EBU for an “incident” with a person from the competition’s production team who is being investigated by the Swedish police.

“We have a zero tolerance policy regarding inappropriate behavior at our event […]. In light of this, Joost Klein’s behavior towards a team member is considered a violation of the rules,” the EBU explained in its statement.

Candidates from Greece, Switzerland and the Netherlands participated in the press conference after the second semi-final along with the representative of Israel, whose presence throughout the festival was highly contested by her country’s military offensive in Gaza.

During the press conference, there were some episodes portrayed by the media, such as when Marina Satti pretended to be sleeping during an intervention by the Israeli.

On the same occasion, a Polish journalist asked the Israeli singer about her responsibility in the highest level of terrorist alert that Malmö was experiencing: “By being here, it is a risk to security and a danger to everyone! Don’t you mind?” , asked the Pole.

Faced with this question, the moderator of the press conference told Golan that, if he didn’t want to, he wouldn’t have to answer. “Why not?” Joost Klein then intervened loudly, an episode that quickly went viral on social media.

Dutch radio and television broadcaster Avrotros called Joost Klein’s exclusion from the Eurovision final “disproportionate”, following an incident unrelated to Israel’s controversial participation.

In a statement sent to AFP, Avrotros said it was “shocked by the decision” of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). “We deeply regret this situation and will return to the matter later.”

The EBU, which oversees the competition, explained that Swedish police are investigating “a complaint made by a woman from the production team following an incident that occurred during the night of Thursday’s semi-final”.

“While the legal process continues, it would not be appropriate for you to continue to participate in the competition,” the organization said in a statement.

The Dutch Secretary of State for Culture, Fleur Gräper, considered, in a message published on social media, that the EBU’s decision is “extremely difficult, first of all, for Joost, but it is a disappointment for all” Dutch people.

On Thursday, during the press conference that followed the semi-final of the competition, Joost Klein, 26 years old, drew attention when he expressed his disagreement with the fact that he was placed alongside the Israeli representative, Eden Golan, having covered his face with the flag of the Netherlands at various times during the conference.

However, according to the EBU, his exclusion is not related to his attitude towards other delegations.

On Friday, Joost Klein had already missed dress rehearsals for the final.

Questioned by AFP, the Swedish police confirmed that they had opened an investigation for “intimidation” and that the case had been sent to the Public Prosecutor’s Office.

Officially apolitical, Eurovision was shaken this year by the war in Gaza, Palestine.

Young Israeli singer Eden Golan, aged 20, won her ticket to the final with the song “Hurricane”, the initial version of which had to be modified as it was considered to allude to the Hamas attack in Israel on October 7.