ESC Etc.

Country: Ireland
Artist: Bambie Thug
Title: Doomsday Blues
Songwriter(s): Cuntry Ray Robinson, Olivia Cassy Brooking, Sam Matlock, Tyler Ryder
Tempo: 130 BPM Mode: Minor Key: A♯/B♭ Duration: 3:04

Ireland had one job. Faced with an abysmal qualification record these past 10 years (only two placements in the grand final), a national broadcaster who couldn’t give half a s**t, and the growing frustration of the fandom, the Irish delegation (read: Michael Kealy) knew they needed to hit the reset button. But how? You can’t take risks if you don’t invite them, so that’s exactly what happened: this selection of entries was noticeably more diverse, both sonically and visually, and this track (even more so than Go Tobann) really, really, really managed to stand out. Both the Irish jury and voters at home understood this, placing Bambie Thug first in their respective rankings and effectively undoing the clownery of that laughable international jury that instead would have sent a repeat of the exact same act Ireland got saddled with last year (and really – not to be shady – when you get W***b****s involved in this stuff, you get what you paid for). As concerning as that was initially, as soon as I heard the in-studio audience chant “SEND THE WITCH!!!” I knew things would be OK.

Having already reviewed this entry as part of my Eurosong piece, I would like to focus briefly on the live. There was a lot to love obviously: the staging concept, the dancing, the costumes and make-up, the overall energy of the number taken as a whole – all of this will look even better on the big stage at ESC. I do hope that Bambie are allowed to use the same vocal effects from the studio cut in Malmö, as I do feel they’re an integral component of the track, and they would still be performing the vocal live anyway. The Eurosong on-stage sound limitations were still very noticeable yesterday, and Bambie managed to turn it out regardless. If you’ve read my review, you already know I think this is a potential ESC-winning song.

Jury Potential: This will be an interesting one to crack. Finland last year managed to land a Top 5 finish despite being a very jury-unfriendly track (juries know who the faves are coming into the contest and there’s an argument to be made that they don’t want to appear completely out of touch), so there is a scenario at play here in which, if buzz keeps building around this entry, juries will look at it more kindly than they otherwise would.
Televote Potential: If everything comes together seamlessly, the sky is the limit.