Clearly, it is an unenviable position for any individual to find themselves in, but – as Irish artists boycott the SXSW festival in Austin, because of the sponsorship of firms supplying arms to Israel – the pressure is growing on this year’s Irish Eurovision hopeful, Bambie Thug, to have the courage of their political convictions. Or might the EBU do a U-turn and render any further boycott unnecessary?
As of now, Israel’s inclusion in Eurovision 2024 has been confirmed by the European Broadcast Union (EBU). Over the past three weeks, the song selected by the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (IPBC/Kan) – originally entitled ‘October Rain’ and written and performed by 20 year-old Eden Golan – has been scrutinised to decide if it contained political lyrics. According to Eurovision rules, songs containing political messages are not allowed in the competition.
Initially, Kan released a statement saying it would not ask the artist to change the lyrics of their song. However, the President of Israel, Isaac Herzog, then intervened and requested that Kan ask both the artist selected for this year’s Eurovision finals, and the artist that was placed second in the Israeli selection process, to change the lyrics of their songs to be apolitical. Both artists obliged. Israel’s selected song has now been renamed ‘Hurricane’ and will stand as the entry from Israel.
This is not the first time that here has been controversy over the lyrics of a Eurovision entrant.
In 2009, the EBU requested that the Georgian entry in the song contest change the title of the selected song ‘We Don’t Want to Put In’, as it was believed the title was a veiled reference Russian President, Vladimir Putin. The Georgian songwriters refused to make the change, and their entry was withdrawn from the event.
Similarly, the writers of the song selected to represent Armenia in Eurovision 2015 were asked to change the name of their song, as the EBU felt it contained a call for recognition of the genocide committed against the Armenian people during the ethnic cleansing of Anatolia, which happened in 1915 and 1916, during World War 1. In this instance the artists involved changed the name of the song and they competed in the event.
Which begs the question: why do some people care so much about Eurovision? And why would a President of a country ask artists to change the lyrics of their song to facilitate their inclusion in a song contest?
ONE RULE FOR RUSSIA
It may surprise some people to know that the Eurovision Song Contest is the most watched musical event on the planet. It has an estimated audience of 163 million people worldwide, far surpassing even a globally hyped event like Superbowl 2024. It gave birth to ABBA and Riverdance – and Celine Dion won the competition singing in French for Switzerland in 1988, establishing herself as a major artist in the process. Winning songs have gone to No.1 in singles charts all over the world, including the United States. Love it or loathe it, it has contributed significantly to our cultural, social, economic and political landscape.
Since first appearing in embryonic form to widespread acclaim as an interval act at the event in Dublin in 1994, the full Riverdance show, which was subsequently developed, has gone on to gross over $1 billion over 30 years. Liverpool hosted Eurovision in 2023 – the final was moved from Ukraine, because of the ongoing Russian invasion and its associated risks to participants – and it boosted the economy of the city by £55 million. The potential PR and economic bonanza that Eurovision offers performers and participating countries alike is substantial.
It’s not unusual for emotions to run high in Ireland when it comes to Eurovision. There was a time when we thought we owned the event. We still hold the joint record with Sweden for winning the competition seven times; even better, Ireland is the only country to have won the competition three times in a row. Irish singer Johnny Logan is the only person with three Eurovision wins (1980 and 1987 as a performer and 1992 as a songwriter) to his name, and he remains something of a national hero (seek out his 2015 ad campaign for McDonalds for confirmation).
The Director General of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the organisation that controls and runs Eurovision, is Noel Curran. Noel’s previous job was Director General of RTÉ, Ireland’s state broadcaster. Ireland has a man on the inside, albeit one who was recently required to appear before the cross-party Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee (PAC) investigating RTÉ’s finances. Several RTÉ staff have lost their jobs since this investigation began.
Considering Ireland’s special relationship with Eurovision, it makes sense that Irish people get animated about the event and feel strongly about what it represents. That much is confirmed by the fact that, as of now, more than 15,000 Irish artists have signed their names to a petition calling for the exclusion of Israel from Eurovision in 2024, in response to the horrific excesses of the Israeli government’s attack on Gaza. The petition is organised by a group called Irish Artists for Palestine.
Patrick Kielty and the six Eurovision 2024 competing acts: Erica-Cody Kennedy Smith, AILSHA, JyellowL with Toshín, Isabella Kearney, Bambie Thug and Next in Line. Copyright Miguel Ruiz.
It would be difficult to find a steadier moral compass in the music industry than Charlie McGettigan, who won Eurovision for Ireland alongside Paul Harrington, with the Brendan Graham song ‘Rock ’n’ Roll Kids’ in 1994. At the age of 73, Charlie is still performing live, mostly solo with his trusty acoustic guitar for backing. McGettigan also presents a radio show that champions new Irish independent music on his local station, Shannonside FM. When asked if he could imagine representing Ireland in Eurovision 2024, say, as a younger man with a song that might have a chance, without hesitation he said he would withdraw from the competition if Israel were participating.
It is unusual that Ireland’s representative for Eurovision 2024 has also been outspoken about their personal views on Israel’s inclusion in the competition in advance of the event. In a recent interview, Bambie Thug said they believe that there shouldn’t be one rule for Russia and another for Israel – a reference to the fact that Russia has been excluded from the competition since 2022, as the EBU believes their inclusion during the ongoing invasion of Ukraine would ‘bring the competition into disrepute’.
Also breaking rank and speaking out about their political beliefs is the Finnish entry for Eurovision 2024, Windows95man, who said: “We hope that Israel will not participate… We hope that the EBU will make the right decisions.”
NATIONAL HEROES
That there is a risk for acts speaking out like this in advance of the competition is obvious. Certain diehard Eurovision fans responded badly to reports of Olly Alexander, the current U.K. Eurovision entry, signing a statement that called out Israel’s action in Gaza as “genocide” and criticised Israel’s “apartheid regime.”
An act risks alienating fans of the competition by bad mouthing other competitors, or indeed competing countries, publicly – and these fans will eventually vote for a winner, on a system that involves just 50% of the vote being decided by individual country juries, which are selected by EBU members.
Why are Olly Alexander and Bambie Thug willing to incur the wrath of the EBU and of potential voters in advance of the competition, risking failure in what could otherwise be a career-making break? They obviously feel very strongly about what is happening in Gaza and are to be applauded for making an initial commitment in that regard. But maybe they should also realise that there may not be as much at stake as the audience reports issued by the EBU would have us believe.
In Ireland in particular, Eurovision hopefuls have become acutely aware that not everyone can or will be remotely as successful as ABBA – or even Johnnie Logan. Niamh Kavanagh, winner for Ireland in 1993 with ‘In Your Eyes’, had to make the tough decision to take up a job outside music during the pandemic. The precariousness of her career situation was exacerbated by her husband taking ill. She has subsequently said that taking up a job in customer services in her local Tesco saved her sanity. Niamh’s story offers an honest and real-life insight into just how difficult it frequently is for professional musicians to make a living, even for an artist who won Eurovision.
Eurovision’s counter-balancing reputation as a potential career killer isn’t a myth either. Representing Ireland, the indisputably talented Wild Youth finished twelfth in the semi-final of Eurovision last May. That made it four Irish non-qualifications for the Eurovision final night on the trot. In August, the band were in the news, bizarrely for being “booed off stage” at a performance at Ballygar Carnival. In November Wild Youth announced that they were going to “take a breather.” They currently have no upcoming live performances, though that might also have to do with the recent marriage of drummer Callum McAdam. Before Eurovision, the band were playing stadiums supporting Westlife and selling out The Olympia Theatre.
Bambie Thug, meanwhile, is coming under increasing pressure to have the courage of their convictions. It is doubtless an unfortunate position for an aspiring artist to find themselves in, but Bambie is undoubtedly aware of other prominent Irish artists who are outspoken about their views on Israel’s actions in Palestine – and are increasingly taking the lead in putting their words into concrete action.
Lankum were one of the headliners at November’s Gig for Gaza in Dublin. This fundraising event had to be moved from Vicar St. to the 3Arena due to popular demand; it raised close to €250,000 for Medical Aid for Gaza. In advance of that gig, Lankum had a booking cancelled at TransCentury Update Festival in Leipzig Germany, with organisers stating “Lankum represents a political stance that we as a venue and festival do not represent.” Lankum publicised and owned that cancelation, subsequently winning The Choice Music Prize Irish Album of The Year and Album of The Year from The Guardian newspaper in the UK (among several other awards for their album False Lankum).
Lankum at Gig for Gaza at 3Arena. 28th of November 2023. Copyright Miguel Ruiz.
The Mary Wallopers also played Gig for Gaza – and, in contrast to Lankum’s experience – were subsequently booked to play the prestigious Jools Holland’s Annual Hootenany on BBC Television. They’ve also been selling out gigs across the UK and Ireland since. Speaking out and standing by your convictions can therefore have a positive impact on an artist’s career – as well as contributing positively to the artist’s own sense of well-being and the well-being of those they try to help, while also inspiring those around them and members of the public generally. Ireland, it seems, might just be entering an era when our national heroes don’t advertise burgers.
NO BLOOD ON THEIR HANDS
In a wider context, the protest against the inclusion of Israel in this year’s Eurovision is gathering powerful momentum. Tens of thousands of artists from Iceland, Norway, Denmark, Finland, the UK, and Ireland have all signed separate petitions calling for Israel’s exclusion from the contest. And there may be more to come. The question, for now, is how do the EBU propose to control a live televised event when several artists, and a significant proportion of their fanbase, have publicly expressed support for the people of Palestine, and demanded that Israel be barred from competing?
Elsewhere, the outrage cause by Israel’s murderous assault on innocent Palestinian lives in Gaza has begun to take a more concrete form. On March 4, the US indie folk artist Squirrel Flower – aka Ella O’Connor Williams – announced she was withdrawing from her performance at the world’s largest music showcase SXSW in Austin, Texas, because of links and endorsements the festival has with the American military, and with weapons companies who are supplying arms to Israel.
A week later, in what is a hugely significant expression of political activism, all the artists officially representing Ireland at SXSW – Kneecap, Soda Blonde, Sprints, Gavin James, Chalk, Mick Flannery and Robert Grace – have all followed suit.
Kneecap at 3Olympia Theatre. Tuesday 12th of December 2023. Copyright Miguel Ruiz.
The question now looms larger than ever: how many of this year’s Eurovision entrants believe in their hearts that the inclusion of Israel in this year’s contest is asking us all to pretend that what is happening in Gaza is somehow completely disconnected from the Israeli government’s desire to present Israel as just another settled European democracy with no blood whatsoever on its hands? And how many of those artists will finally have the courage of their convictions politically and refuse to compete alongside Israel?
On a scale of musical activism that reads from Linda Martin to Sinead O’Connor, Bambie Thug is currently coming in at a reading of about three degrees below Enya. It will be interesting to see what way the needle swings before Malmo in May.
• Mark Graham is a lecturer in the Department of Arts in South East Technological University Ireland. He is currently a PhD candidate researching the area of Music Industry Ethics.
