Bambie Thug’s captivating performance during the Eurovision semi-final left their mother Laura feeling “very proud” as the Cork singer secured Ireland a place in Saturday’s final.
Bambie, who describes their sound as “ouija pop”, will be the first Irish act to perform in the competition final since 2018.
“I’m feeling so proud and I just can’t wait for Saturday. I think we’re going to have a ball. We’ve been having a ball here,” Bambie’s mother Laura told RTÉ's Morning Ireland programme.
“There’s a huge [Irish] contingent here and everybody is really supportive. As you can hear here, we just we’re never going to get away from this. You know, we will live on with this for so long. And we will just celebrate and celebrate. It’s fantastic.”
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With cheers from supporters in the background, Laura described how Bambie was quietly calm going into Tuesday’s semi-final.
[ In pictures: Bambie Thug’s spellbinding Eurovision semi-final performanceOpens in new window ]
“It is a big stage. And a few people asked me ‘How are they feeling?’ And I said, ‘I think they’re fine’. They handled it very well... They always handle the stage very well,” Laura said, adding that it is what Bambie lives for. “And we all saw that tonight. Anyway, I thought it was brilliant.”
The singer’s mother said Bambie always had a “huge imagination”. Bambie performed their song, Doomsday Blue, with choreographer Matt Williams and the pair succeeded in providing a spellbinding – and spooky – show for the audience. Competing against 15 other countries in the semi-final, Bambie will now take to the stage in Malmo, Sweden, again on Saturday.
Laura also said she was proud of Bambie, who identifies as nonbinary, for sharing a message of inclusivity,
“I have a cousin living in Liverpool, and they were all voting tonight. They had a big Eurovision party. And one of the things, that my cousin Helen texted me was to tell me that she has a few friends whose teenagers are transitioning, and she said that the support that they feel from Bambie Thug is phenomenal,” Laura said.
“And it made me cry. Actually, I thought it was just fantastic. Very, very proud.”
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