Two of the six Irish Eurovision candidates who will be representing Ireland in the competition tonight have said Israel should be excluded from the song contest.
Artists Erica Cody and Bambi Thug both said Israel should not be allowed to participate in this year’s contest because of the Israeli state’s actions in Gaza.
Erica Coady has not ruled out boycotting the tournament altogether if she secures a spot on the Ireland squad.
More than 25,000 people have been killed by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip since October 7, when Hamas attacked Israel and killed more than 1,200 people.
The International Court of Justice is expected to announce a preliminary judgment later today in South Africa’s genocide case against Israel.
Tonight on RTÉ’s Late Late Show will host The Eurosong Special will determine Ireland’s entry to the 2024 tournament in Malmö, Sweden.
Erica Cody and Bumby Thug are tonight one of six artists competing to represent Ireland in the May song contest.
Both will be competing in the contest alongside artists AILSHA, J yellowL (aka Jean-Luc Houdau), Isabella Carney and Louis Walsh’s boy band Next in Line.
Bumby Thug Andres Poveda
Andres Poveda
Bookmakers are favoring Erica Cody’s song ‘Love Me Like I Do’ as tonight’s winner. She is followed by Ailsha with the Irish song ‘Go Toban’ and Bumby Thug with ‘Doomsday Blue’.
Ahead of tonight’s song contest, activists are running a persistent campaign calling on Ireland to boycott the competition to protest Israeli involvement.
As of the beginning of this month, RTÉ had received more than 600 emails calling for a boycott of the tournament.
Boycott supporters argue that Eurovision organizer the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) set a precedent for such exclusion by not allowing Russia to compete in 2022 after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Before tonight’s tournament, journal All six contestants were asked for their opinions on the boycott campaign.
Speaking at a press event on RTÉ, Erica Coady and Bambi Thug said they believed Israel should not be allowed to compete.
“We need to see the same energy that was given when Russia invaded Ukraine. It should be exactly the same,” Erika-Cody said.
The former Dancing with the Stars contestant said the situation in Gaza is catastrophic.
“Personally, watching this movie is really disturbing and painful. And I’ve been very vocal about it,” she said.
When asked if Israel should be excluded from the contest, the singer replied: Yeah.
I don’t support genocide.
“I think it’s a complete disgrace. This is meant to be a celebration of life and music and acceptance and love.”
When asked if she would consider boycotting the tournament if she wins tonight and Israel is not excluded from the tournament, Erica Cody said:
“But anyone who knows me and has known me morally over the last few years as an activist knows that I would never step into something like this with my ignorant head on my shoulders. There should be.”
Fellow contestant Bambi Sugg, who is also one of the favorites to win, said she didn’t think Israel should be allowed to compete.
Bambi Sag said the same approach taken with Russia should be applied to Israel.
The non-binary artist, who counts Lady Gaga and Black Sabbath among his top influences, added: “It’s not the fault of the contestants though, it’s the fault of Eurovision itself.”
Other participants preferred not to share their opinions on the boycott movement.
Ailsha, who promised a “toilet will explode” on stage tonight as part of her performance, said it would be similar to “a Leaving Cert fever dream”. journal She said she was appalled by what was happening in the Middle East but had nothing else to say about the issue.
Ayrshire Lute
Lute
Tonight will be the first time Late Late Show host Patrick Kielty will be at the helm of the Eurosong Contest.
Keelty shared his views on the boycott movement and said he did not feel it was his place to opine on whether Israel should be excluded from the competition.
“I am not part of the EBU. It is they who make that decision. I am not a representative of Eurovision.
“As you know, I’ve been happy to talk about this on the show before, and I think what’s happening in Gaza right now is heartbreaking… but this is someone else’s problem,” Keelty said. said.
Yesterday RTÉ published a report on Toy Show The Musical, which was a huge failure costing RTÉ €2.2 million.
Mr Keelty was asked whether he thought the damning report had a negative impact on the Toy Show brand.
He said he didn’t think so.
Mr Keelty, who was being escorted by RTÉ staff for rehearsals at this stage, added: “If you look at that report, there are a lot of mistakes. If we had looked into what it was, there wouldn’t be a rehearsal this afternoon. So there’s not much point in going into details.”
The Late Late Eurosong Special will be broadcast tonight, Friday 25th January at 9.35pm on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player.
