LAST UPDATE | 7 May
FROM MICHEÁL MARTIN to Mary Coughlan, high profile figures from across the worlds of Irish politics and music have been weighing into the long-running debate on whether RTÉ should boycott this year’s Eurovision Song Contest.
The most recent protest calling for the national broadcaster – which manages Ireland’s entry – to withdraw took place last Thursday, with campaigners staging a ‘die in’ at RTÉ’s Montrose campus.
Speaking earlier this week Bambie Thug, who takes to the stage in the first of the semi-finals tonight to perform for Ireland, said it was clear there was a “massive cloud” hanging over the contest this year.
If you’re keen to read up on how that debate has developed in recent months – including how an intervention by the Israeli president helped seal the country’s participation, and what sort of atmosphere Irish fans are expecting in Malmö – we published this comprehensive piece on the site at the weekend.
The piece you’re currently reading covers everything else happening at Eurovision this week – from when to tune in, to who might win.
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So what’s this all about?
It’s a five-minute guide to this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, written in a Q&A format.
Stop that.
Okay, yes.
It’s the Eurovision Song Contest. It’s been happening since 1956 and in recent decades it’s morphed into a three-night TV extravaganza and a week-long festival. Around 162 million people tuned into last year’s contest at some point.
Where is it happening?
In the southern Swedish city of Malmö.
What’s the venue like?
Malmö Arena is – as the name suggests – a big, modern arena on the edge of the city. The set features a stage placed right in the middle of the audience.
“Movable LED cubes, LED floors, light, video and stage technology will combine to create some spectacular variations in the arena,” organisers are promising.
When are the shows?
The first live show – essentially a live dress rehearsal of the first semi-final, sans the actual voting – took place last night.
Here’s the schedule for the three broadcast shows:
When are Ireland up?
Bambie Thug is fourth on the bill tonight, performing Doomsday Blue.
And… do we have a chance of qualifying?
Yes, a very good one.
Of course, that claim is made about the Irish act every year – but this time around, the betting odds actually back it up. Certain bookies have Bambie Thug as high as seventh favourite to win the whole ballgame, so chances of qualifying for Saturday’s final look pretty secure.
And what are we putting that down to?
Even if quiet-loud-quiet electro-goth isn’t necessarily your thing, it’s objectively a distinctive song and one that stands out from a field that’s otherwise packed with well-crafted ballads, uptempo Europop and 90s dance throwbacks.
The singer’s odds with the bookies have only improved since the first clips of on-stage rehearsal footage emerged – which can only serve as a positive sign heading into the week of the actual contest.
“They topped the night definitely,” according to one fan who spoke to The Journal outside the arena in the wake of the dress rehearsal show.
Another added: “A few years ago the idea of Ireland winning the Eurovision would have been seen as a joke – but now we can say we actually have a chance and we’re actually being serious. ”
Anyone else to keep an eye on?
Croatia’s odds have been improving in recent weeks and they’re currently tipped to win on Saturday.
2023 fan favourite Käärijä (you may remember the Finnish rapper’s bonkers ‘Cha Cha Cha’ routine from Liverpool) was clearly an influence on Croatian singer-songwriter Marko Purišić, who performs his entry ‘Rim Tim Tagi Dim’ under the stage name of Baby Lasagna.
On the face of it, it’s a very catchy rap-rock song with a nonsense chorus – but with a serious message about the plight of young people forced to emigrate from Croatia to seek success.
Switzerland, The Netherlands, Italy and Ukraine are also in the mix to win – however, unlike recent years it’s considered that the contest is a more open one in Malmö. A standout performance by any of the acts could raise their odds of winning significantly.
Do the acts play live?
The rules state that the singer must perform live and there’s no auto-tuning allowed.
No other instruments can be plugged in and a maximum of six people are allowed on stage.
The rules also state – just in case the thought had occurred to anyone – that “no contestant may compete for more than one country” in any given year.
How does the voting work?
In the semi-finals, it’s public voting only. In the Grand Final, the voting’s split between public votes and national juries. If you want a full rundown of how it all works, here’s a link to the official Eurovision version.
Anything different about the shows this year?
There are a couple of tweaks. Normally, performers from the so-called ‘Big Five’ countries and from the host nation go straight into the final, with only a clip from their rehearsal played out during the weekday TV broadcasts.
That’s set to change this year so you’ll see acts from the UK, Germany and Sweden perform alongside Ireland in tonight’s semi-final. However, you won’t be able to vote for them and they’ll still get a free pass into Saturday’s contest.
(France, Spain and Italy make up the rest of the ‘Big Five’ – the rationale for their bye into the decider being that each of the countries brings a massive TV audience and make proportionally larger contributions to the running of the show compared to smaller nations).
The other change is around the voting. In the semi-finals, as usual, no voting is allowed until the last song has finished and the lines stay open for around 20 minutes. In a departure for the final, voting will now open before the first song is performed and stay open, as usual, until after the interval act.
Anything else of interest before we finish up?
It’s the 50th anniversary this year of Abba’s Eurovision win with Waterloo – so you can likely expect some nods to Sweden’s most famous international export in shows across the week.
However, the group have said there’s no chance of a reunion.
One last thing … What’s Johnny Logan doing at this year’s Eurovision?
The Irish singer – who won the contest in 1980, 87 and then as a songwriter in 1992 – was announced last week as an addition to the interval act for tonight’s semi-final.
As he was the first artist to win the contest twice “it feels fitting that Johnny Logan has been invited to join in on the celebrations now that a second double winner has joined the ranks almost four decades later,” organisers said.
So far there’s been no sign of Jedward making an appearance, but it’s early in the week yet.
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