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Junior Eurovision 2024: Day Two of the technical rehearsals at Caja Mágica!

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As the 22nd edition of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest draws near, the excitement is building. Young artists from seventeen countries have gathered in Madrid, preparing to perform live in front of millions of viewers from across Europe and beyond.

These talented artists have been working hard for months in anticipation of this moment, and they are now ready to “bloom”. While, the first nine countries conducted their first technical rehearsals yesterday, artists from the following eight countries took the stage of Caja Mágica today:

  • Ireland
  • France
  • Poland
  • San Marino
  • Netherlands
  • Germany
  • Malta
  • Portugal

The First Rehearsals

In line with the tradition of the adult Eurovision Song Contest, the first rehearsals were closed to the press. As a result, no journalists were allowed to watch the rehearsal sessions, and there were no official rehearsal clips shared by RTVE. This means that, for now, there is no audiovisual footage available to fans, but the official social media channels of Junior Eurovision have shared a few photos offering a sneak peek behind the scenes.

Ireland – Enya Cox Dempsey

Enya Cox Dempsey, dressed in a vibrant pink and purple outfit, was the first artist to take the stage. She is not alone—four female dancers accompany her, suggesting a high-energy dance performance. The backdrop features colorful visuals.

France – Titouan

The Junior Eurovision champions, France, are back with Titouan, aiming to win for the third consecutive year. Titouan wears a white jacket with stamps and is joined by four dancers on stage. The performance is dominated by blue tones.

Poland – Dominik Arim

Dominik Arim from Poland took to the stage in a stylish beige ensemble, accompanied by four female dancers. The LED screens behind them showcase themes inspired by the earth and the sea, adding a natural, immersive element to the performance.

San Marino – Idols SM

The Sanmarinese group, Idols SM, is all about friendship, as their performance reflects the message of their song “Come Noi”. The girls wear matching outfits, creating a strong sense of unity. It is clear that San Marino is bringing a fun and energetic performance to the stage.

Netherlands – Stay Tuned

The Dutch act, Stay Tuned, is bringing a playful twist with matching outfits and full of bright neon colors. Their performance features interesting stage props, including two mirrors, which will likely add a unique visual element.

Germany – Bjarne

Bjarne from Germany also takes to the stage in beige tones, joined by five dancers who perform an extensive dance routine. The performance promises to be colorful and full of movement, with the LED screens displaying beautiful natural landscapes.

Malta – Ramires Sciberras

Ramires takes the stage in a total-black, sparkling outfit, and from what we’ve seen so far, his performance is visually impressive. Snow falls from the ceiling, smoke fills the stage, and dramatic lighting is complemented by a fiery backdrop. Could Malta be this year’s surprise contender? Personally, I think so.

Portugal – Victoria Nicole

Wearing a stunning blue-green dress, Victoria Nicole is the last to take the stage today. Her performance is dramatic, featuring smoke on stage, yet highlighted by a vibrant LED backdrop. Victoria also brings her piano to the stage, adding an intimate and personal touch to her act. The emotional performance is especially meaningful as Victoria wrote the song herself, and she is aiming for Portugal’s first-ever win at Junior Eurovision. Her heartfelt delivery and strong connection to the song make her a standout contender this year.

What’s next?

After the First Rehearsals, the Second Rehearsals will follow. These rehearsals give the artists a final opportunity to perfect their acts before the Dress Rehearsals. Any last-minute changes to the performances can be made during this time.

It is expected that the voting recap video, which will be shown before the live show, will also be filmed during these second rehearsals.

On Friday, November 15, the two Dress Rehearsals will be held. The Dress Rehearsals are full run-throughs of the show from start to finish, including the performances, interval acts, and voting sequence.

Then and it is time for Dress Rehearsals. The First Dress Rehearsal will take place on Friday morning, while the Second Dress Rehearsal will take place in the evening. The Second Dress Rehearsal is particularly important as it is also the Jury Final. This is when the seventeen national juries will watch the full show and cast their votes, which will help determine the final outcome of the competition.

Moreover, on Friday the first phase of the Online Voting will commence and the half of the contest’s outcome will be determined.

Junior Eurovision 2024

Seventeen countries will take part in the 22nd edition of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest:

  1. Italy: Simone Grande – “Pigiama Party”
  2. Estonia: Annabelle – “Tänavad”
  3. Albania: Nikol Çabeli – “Vallëzoj”
  4. Armenia: Leo – “Cosmic Friend”
  5. Cyprus: Maria Pissarides – “Crystal Waters”
  6. France: Titouan – “Comme ci, comme ça”
  7. North Macedonia: Ana and Aleksej – “Marathon”
  8. Poland: Dominik Arim – “All Together”
  9. Georgia: Andria Putkaradze – “To My Mom”
  10. Spain: Chloe DelaRosa – “Como la Lola”
  11. Germany: Bjarne – “Save the Best For Us”
  12. Netherlands: Stay Tuned – “Music”
  13. San Marino: Idols SM – “Come noi”
  14. Ukraine: Artem Kotenko – “Hear Me Now”
  15. Portugal: Victoria Nicole – “Esperança”
  16. Ireland – Enya Cox Dempsey – “Le Chéile”
  17. Malta: Ramires Sciberras – “Stilla ċkejkna”

The 22nd edition of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest will be held on November 16 in Madrid, Spain, following the country’s second-place finish last year and the refusal of the winning country, France, to host for the second year in a row. The slogan for this year’s contest is “Let’s Bloom!”, while Ruth Lorenzo, Marc Clotet and Melani Garcia will serve as this year’s hosts.

Stay tuned to EurovisionFun for all the news!

Ireland: Bambie Thug is angry because of the comments from the Israeli commentators during the semi-final!

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Bambie Thug who is representing Ireland at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest is asking contest organizers to investigate commentary from Israeli television ahead of their appearance in the first semi-final on Tuesday.

Claiming that this comment broke the rules of Eurovision, Bambie Thug is of the opinion that Israel should not participate in the contest. In an interview with RTÉ News they said:

“There’s a lot more anger and a lot more drive in me now”

On Tuesday, a commentator for Kan, Israel’s public broadcaster, warned viewers with children that the performance of Bambie Thug’s Doomsday Blue would be “the scariest” of the night. The commentator, referring to a well-known public square in Jerusalem that was central to the city’s nightlife in the 1990s and synonymous with goth culture, said:

“There will be a lot of spells and black magic and dark clothing, Satanic symbols, and voodoo dolls, like we are at Cats Square in Jerusalem in the mid-90s.”

The commentator said there was “some controversy” in Ireland about the song, referring to a request calling on RTÉ to exclude Doomsday Blue as an Irish entry. He also noted that Bambie Thug liked to “speak negatively about Israel.”

In their interview, Bambie Thug said the commentary, which aired on Israeli public broadcaster Kan, was pointed out to them. They said it will cause increased anger in their performance in tonight’s grand final.

“I’m angry with other teams breaching their rules of the [European Broadcasting Union], and still being allowed in.

“So there’s definitely a war drum sounding in my heart to push the performance even more than I have done before.”

Source: RTÉ

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Breaking News: Bambie Thug didn’t perform at the afternoon preview of the Grand Final!

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Bambie Thug, the Irish representative at the Eurovision Song Contest 2024, has made headlines for their unique style and impressive vocal performance. However, as the afternoon preview show of the Grand Final is on-going it is noticed that they did not perform on stage.

The reasons behind this decision are not clear yet, Bambie earlier posted a story letting their fan know what has happened:

Bambie story

Bambie story

Bambie Thug, known for their ‘goth gremlin’ persona, has been praised for their dramatic staging and has become the first Irish delegate to make it through to the Eurovision final since 2018 and the first non-binary contestant to ever qualify to the finals in the history of the contest.

Their absence from the preview show is sure to be a disappointment for their fans and viewers alike. We look forward to more updates on this situation.

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Eurovision 2024: Family Show of the First Semifinal- Live Commentary (Updated Live)

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The family show of the Eurovision 2024 First Semi-Final in Malmö at the Malmö Arena! We are just a couple of hours before the First Semifinal kicks in but, before we get to know the first results the artists competing in the First Semifinal will perform once again for the Family Show.  The Family Show is more financially convenient, identical to the live one for families and takes place earlier on the same day of the Semifinal. EurovisionFun will be watching all the shows live both at the on-site press centre in Malmöä and at the online press centre and will be commenting on the full performances of the 15 participating countries and the United Kingdom, Germany, and Sweden.  This year we will watch the automatic qualifiers perform their entire songs as part of the Semifinal

 

This article gets updated in real time, all you need to do is hit the refresh button on your browser!

So stay tuned to this article as we update it with all the details, preparing you for what you will see in the Semi-Final today May 7th, at 21:00 CEST.

The Show

The show opens with the iconic Cyprus representative Eleni Foureira singing her 2018 Eurovision song, Fuego! She is performing an oriental-inspired version of Fuego. After Eleni, Eric Saade comes to the stage to sing Popular in an explosive performance. Last but not least, Chanel rocks the stage.  The 2022 Spanish representative sings SloMo with a different dance performance than what we saw in Turin two years ago. An amazing way to start this year’s Eurovision Season!

The host of the show is Petra Mede who is familiar to Eurofans as she has hosted the contest twice before in 2013 and 2016.  She is joined by actress Malin Åkerman. The female duo are dressed in pink and orange neon suits that are suitable for the LED background.

Petra welcomes us back in Sweden and she made a joke about her voting for Finland last year. They also thank last year’s organizers for hosting an incredible show back in 2023. Malin praises Petra for hosting for a third time the contest and Petra said that she never tried to host with a woman and she was thrilled about this experience.

The hosts are explaining the voting process in English AND French this year.  We’ve missed so much Petra speaking French!! Malmo are we ready? Let the Eurovision Song Contest begin!

The Competing Countries – LIVE COMMENTARY

Cyprus: Silia Kapsis – Liar

Silia becomes the youngest artist to open a Eurovision Song Contest.  With 17 years Silia opened the First Semi-final! She’s joined by 4 male dancers all in white t-shirts which they removed by the end of the song. The LED’s are mostly in neon turquoise colours. Silia has improved her vocals from her previous attempts. She danced in the whole performance. The dancebreak looks better than the second rehearsal, the camera shots are improved by a lot!! In the last 20 seconds, the colours of the LED turn red.

Serbia: Teya Dora – Ramonda

Following Teya Dora brings a Serbian ballad.  Teya Dora is standing and sitting on a rock during the performance.  The performance is introspective and very emotional.   The LED screens show thunders and a flower by the end of the song and the atmosphere is dark throughout the performance.  Will this be enough for Teya Dora to get to the Grand Final?

Lithuania: Silvester Belt – Luktelk

Lithuania is next with Luktelk! His performance has most of the elements from their national final one. The LED’s are based in red and blue colours. Silvester enjoys his performance and is very energetic. A sure qualifier!

Ireland: Bambie Thug – Doomsday Blue

Bambie Thug has grown in the weeks.  The change from her national final to Malmö is incredible. Bambie really knows how to pull a live performance with their voice and their face expressions. They are accompanied by a shirtless dancer who seems that he is their lover in the performance. The dancer dresses off Bambie revealing a very thin suit. On the bridge of the song, the candles rise upwards, and the lighting turns red. At the end of the song they scream and the performance is finished with a LED phrase “Crown The Witch”. The crowd was clapping for a long time.  Ireland is back in the game!

Break

Petra Mede interacts with the audience.  She is tested on her Eurovision knowledge from previous songs but fails.

United Kingdom: Olly Alexander – Dizzy (not competing)

Olly is the first of the Big 5 plus Sweden to sing live in one of the Semifinals.  He is performing in a Box that has a shower.  He is accompanied by 4 male dancers in boxer shorts. The whole performance is very physical and sensual. The choreography increases this sexual tension. In the last chorus, he leaves the box with his dancers and he’s performing in the front part of the stage. Olly’s vocals were not the best.

Ukraine: alyona alyona & Jerry Heil – Teresa & Maria

The folk duo is next to perform. In the first chorus the shots are from above with the LED floor being in grey and blue colours making a hurricane. Aliona comes to the stage for her rap part and she is vocally perfect. After that, we can see Jerry in the LED wall being as mother Teresa.  The images on the LED screens and the light work elevates this song. At the end of the performance, Jerry and alyona are lying on the floor and the LED is full of women.   A very moving performance that could give Ukraine another victory!

Poland: Luna – The Tower

Luna honors the name of her song with a floor that resembles a chessboard and two towers onstage.  Luna is surrounded by two dancers dressed in black and white as chess pieces. Then, a red figure appears forming the shadow of the singer. At the final point of the song, the two towers come together and change color to red, while we also have fireworks.  Overall it is not a very impressive performance.  It seems to me that Poland risks not qualifying this year.

Croatia: Baby Lasagna – Rim Tim Tagi Dim

The fan and bookers favourite is next on the stage.  We start with smoke and a setup resembling a rock concert. There are fireworks, and the lights are in various colors with alternations. At the last chorus we can see many smoke and many fireworks also. In general, the dancers and the choreography is an upgraded version of the national final. The crowd went crazy with Croatia’s performance you can listen them joining the chorus.

Iceland: Hera Björk – Scared Of Heights

Eurovision legend Hera Björk, started her performance with her standing at the top of some stairs. The LED backdrop is in golden colours and it suits her iconic dress of the same color. Vocally Hera never disappoints. At the middle of her performance, the colours are transformed in red colours. Up until the second chorus, she is alone on stage, and then her backing singers joined her. The platform rises, and we see fireworks as well. It seems that she enjoyed the performance by 100%!

Break

Malin Åkerman shares her love for Swedish cinema as well as Eurovision music.  A segment that mixes classic Swedish movies such as “The Seventh Deal” and “Fanny Alexander” with Eurovision songs entries.

Germany: ISAAK – Always On The Run (not competing)

The performance starts in an apartment with a fire in a barrel. In the chorus, the whole living room catches on fire, and Isaak stands in the middle. In the end, we see the backing vocalists on stage, while the fires go out.  Isaak’s vocals are impeccable but he risks going unnoticed by the audience in the final.

Slovenia: Raiven – Veronika

After Germany, next on stage is Raiven. She is dressed in a transparent bodysuit, at the beginning of the performance she is laid on the floor by herself, and then in the chorus, she is accompanied by her dancers wearing light beige underwear.  The choreography is good but the whole work is not as impactful.  At the end of the song, the LED floor is in blue colours like they are floating in the sea.

Finland: Windows95man – No Rules!

Windows95man takes his UMK concept including the jean egg for Malmö. Windows95Man emerges from the egg. The dancers have a 1990-2000s style, and the shots are framed to create an illusion of nudity. In the end, he wears denim shorts with fireworks.  A novelty act that could go either way.  You either love it or hate it.  Windows95man and Henri Piispanen vocals did not sound as good as in UMK.

Moldova: Natalia Barbu – In The Middle

The Malmö version of In The Middle is a much polished one from Natalia’s national final. Natalia’s vocals are really good but the stage feels empty during most of the performance which plays against her. There are images of flowers, a tree, bubbles and butterflies. When Natalia plays the violin the angel wings are displayed.

Sweden: Marcus & Martinus – Unforgetable (not competing)

Twins Marcus & Martinus represent the host country. The performance does not change the concept from Melodifestivalen but expands it. It feels like the inside of a club with flashing lights and dancers. A very professional presentation that will surely do well in the Final.

Azerbaijan: Fahree feat. Ilkin Dovlatov – Özünlə apar

Next act on the stage is the male duo from Azerbaijan, the LED wall displays an unknown character in silver waving his hands and performing some movements.  In the middle of the performance, two huge hand props were revealed on the stage. Overall, the performance is not very memorable.  Azerbaijan may not qualify for a second year.

Australia: Electric Feilds – One Mikali (One Blood)

Electric Fields is the next onstage.  The camera shots are good but there is nothing particularly impressive. “On the LED screens, we see scenes from the video. Then three dancers-vocalists appear, and in the second chorus, the didgeridoo appears, and the title of the song is written on the wall.  In fact the second half of the performance is more eye-catching and colourful.  Will this be enough for Australia to qualify?

Portugal: Iolanda – Grito

Portugal is bringing art to the stage!  A classy performance with an impressive, minimalistic choreography. The vocals of Iolanda are on point and the camera frames and shots are perfect. One of the floating cubes is lower the whole performance based on the other three. The performance is based on white colours as we already saw at Festival da Cançao.

Luxembourg: Tali – Fighter

Luxembourg had not competed in Eurovision since the 90s and is closing the First Semifinal with a French/English pop song, which is unusual based on the previous representatives. Tali is good vocaly but the camera shots are weak. The performance is based on purple and golden colours as well as images of tigers roaring. She has changed her braids from the first rehearsal. There is fog on the stage and shots towards the audience. In the last chorus, we also have fireworks, and the word ‘Fighter’ appears on the LED screens.

A recap of all the entries follows.

Interval Act

Petra Mede present us in a really special interval act the double Irish winner Johnny Logan! Johnny sings Loreen’s Euphoria with a live orchestra. A beautiful performance!

We are now watching a video with the turquoise carpet. Petra jokes that according to social media, “it was the best turquoise carpet ever”.

A recap of all the entries follows.

We go from lighthearted humor to a sad moment. In addition to reminding the audience that Nicole and Hugo were the first performers to dance and sing together for Eurovision, Malin also briefly remembers that Nicole who passed away the previous year.  A compilation of Eurovision dance acts as a tribute to the Belgium representatives in 1973 follows.

Second Interval act for the semi-final one is Benjamin Ingrosso in an amazing medley of three songs.

The hosts highlight the several nations and languages that have participated in the show right before the results are announced, and another video compilation is presented.

Certain Qualifiers

Cyprus

Lithuania

Ireland

Ukraine

Croatia

Finland

Portugal

Luxembourg

Borderline Qualifiers

Serbia

Poland

Slovenia

Australia

Non-Qualifiers

Iceland

Moldova

Azerbaijan

The Results

The green room is behind the stage and the LED wall opens so we can see the contestants behind it. Martin Osterdahl executive producer of Eurovision Song Contest 2024, declares that he is happy to see that we now have a valid result!

Here we have a big change, as the 15 competing acts stand on stage, without their delegations, waiting for the result. The camera shows them one by one, as the presenters announce the qualifiers. After the first 5 qualifiers are announced, Alesha interviews them backstage and then we learn the 5 remaining qualifiers.

The ten countries that (virtually) qualified for the finals for rehearsal purposes only were the following:

  • Australia
  • Ireland
  • Iceland
  • Moldova
  • Finland
  • Croatia
  • Serbia
  • Slovenia
  • Luxembourg
  • Ukraine

Closing the televised show, we will get to watch a recap of the ten finalist songs.

You can watch our live reaction from the Family Show of the First Semi-Final on our YouTube channel:

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Stay tuned at Eurovisionfun for all the latest news regarding the 68th Eurovision Song Contest, which is held in Malmö!

Eurovision 2024: Watch the exclusive TV footage from today’s second rehearsals!

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The fifth day of technical rehearsals for the 68th Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö is now over, and the preparations are heating up. Following their first technical rehearsals, the 15 countries competing in the first semi-final took the stage of Malmö Arena for their second round of rehearsals.

The second rehearsals allowed the delegations to iron out any issues from the first round of rehearsals and gave the artists a greater sense of security and comfort on the Eurovision main stage.

We know very little about what this year’s artists have prepared for the Eurovision stage because accredited journalists are not permitted to watch both the first and second rehearsals. The EBU has just posted a recap of today’s rehearsals on YouTube via the official Eurovision channel. More precisely, we’ll get to see the exclusive TV footage of today’s rehearsals.

The countries that had their second rehearsals today were the following:

  1. Cyprus
  2. Serbia
  3. Lithuania
  4. Ireland
  5. Ukraine
  6. Poland
  7. Croatia
  8. Iceland
  9. Slovenia
  10. Finland
  11. Moldova
  12. Azerbaijan
  13. Australia
  14. Portugal
  15. Luxembourg

You can watch the recap of today’s rehearsals below:

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Listen to the performances of Ireland, Denmark and Iceland in “A Little Bit More”!

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Just like last year, some time before the first rehearsals of the countries, the show called “A Little Bit More” aired on the official Eurovision YouTube channel.

So, for all this time before the rehearsals, Eurovision TV will upload different performances of the artists, like different versions of their songs, or covers of songs from other artists.

In today’s videos, you can listen to an Intimate version of Ireland’s entry “Doomsday Blue” by Bambie Thug as well as the acoustic version of Denmark’s entry,“SAND” performed by Saba:
You can also listen to Hera Björk performing her fan-favourite Eurovision 2010 song, “Je Ne Sais Quoi” in a “Candlelight” version:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYP–eTfN3k

Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the news regarding the Eurovision Song Contest 2024, in Malmö!

Ireland: The team for Eurovision 2024

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Bambie Thug provided details about their Eurovision 2024 performance of the song “Doomsday Blue.”
The performer disclosed their plans to collaborate with choreographer Matt Williams and Director Sergio Jaen for their performance in Sweden.

Williams has contributed to numerous Broadway productions such as “Gypsy” and Will Ferrell’s “You’re Welcome America.” Sergio Jaen, a Spanish director known for his queer perspective, has helmed various films and commercials for artists worldwide. Notably, Jaen oversaw the production of the music video for “Doomsday Blue.”

Regarding the presentation of their Eurovision performance, Bambie Thug remarks:

“My lips are sealed on that one. I don’t want to give anything away before the performance but what I can say is that my choreographer Matt Williams, my director Sergio Jaen and I have created a truly beautiful concept and piece for the big stage. I feel in a way it’s Bambie Thug as you’ve never seen before. I’m really excited and working very hard to deliver something that stands out on that big stage.”

Bambie Thug secured the opportunity to represent Ireland at Eurovision 2024 by emerging victorious in Eurosong 2024. Garnering the top scores from both the Irish jury and the public vote, they clinched third place in the international jury vote.

The song “Doomsday Blue” was collaboratively written and composed by Olivia Cassy Brooking, Sam Matlock, Tyler Ryder, and Bambie.

Ireland is slated to perform during the first half of the First Semi-Final on May 7th.

Ireland: Watch the official music video of “Doomsday Blue” by Bambie Thug!

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Earlier today, the official music video of “Doomsday Blue” by Bambie Thug for Eurovision 2024, was released on the official Eurovision Song Contest YouTube channel.

Bambie Thug won the national final of Ireland, conducted by RTÉ, taking place through the show “The Late Late Show“ with their song “Doomsday Blue”.

You can watch Bambie Thug’s music video for Eurovision 2024 in the video below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGRXRrlIspY

Ireland will take part in the first half of the first semi-final of Eurovision 2024, on May 7!

Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the news regarding the Irish participation at the Eurovision Song Contest 2024, in Malmö!

Source: eurovision.tv

Ireland: RTÉ bombarded by emails against Israel!

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RTÉ is bombarded by emails urging the boycott of the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest given the participation of Israel!

The national broadcaster has received over 1400 emails calling for a boycott of the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 most of which RTÉ says are related to Israel’s participation.

In addition, the organization itself states that the emails started on January 26, that is, the day when the national final of Ireland, The Late Late Show Eurosong special, was held, emphasizing, however, that about 1000 of them were copy-pastes.

One spokeperson of RTÉ commented that:

“Same content, signed and sent by different emailers”

Calls for Israel to be excluded by Eurovision 2024 organizers due to military operations in the Palestinian territory of Gaza are related to the European Broadcasting Union’s decision to exclude Russia in 2022 due to military operations in Ukraine.

Ireland will be represented at this year’s competition in Malmö by Bambie Thug and the song “Doomsday Blue”. The country will compete in the first half of the first semi-final on 7 May in a bid for one of the ten tickets to the grand final on Saturday 11 May.

https://youtu.be/ZGRXRrlIspY

Source: Irish Independent

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Ireland: RTÉ’s financial scandal halted the hosting of an independent national final!

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RTÉ, Ireland ‘s public broadcaster, initially intended to host an independent national final, but according to Michael Kealy, the country’s head of delegation, the financial scandal in which the channel got involved last year, prevented the event in question!

Michael Kealy, reports on “The Euro Trip Podcast”, that RTÉ initially intended to organize a separate national final, without having to work with “The Late Late Show”. He states that:

“Our resources hit a buffer for a lot of self-inflicted reasons from the organisation. That suddenly caused a crunch in our ability to spend money on new endeavours. It was a bit disappointing that suddenly the money wasn’t there. I had been hoping that we could look at having a standalone national selection, but once the credit crunch hit us, that really was off the table. There was a fair chance it could’ve happened this year.” 

RTÉ was involved in a scandal in June 2023 when it revealed, previously unknown financial deals between the channel and former presenter of “ The Late Late Show”, Ryan Tubridy.

Along with the admission of the existence of barter accounts and international trips costing more than €100,000, the headline of the scandal was the revelation that RTÉ paid €345,000 more than what had been previously disclosed to Tubridy between 2017 and 2022.

Dee Forbes, the former Director General of the broadcaster, was asked to resign by the RTÉ board. After initially refusing, she was suspended and eventually resigned days later.

Despite the revelation of the scandal, Michael Kealy remains positive that a national final can be held in 2025, without the collaboration with “The Late Late Show”.

“I’m hopeful things may settle down later this year and our finances may be put on a more stable footing and we may hopefully have the money to do something like it next year. Let’s be hopeful.”

This year’s Irish national final is scheduled to take place on January 26 , with the participation of six artists , in a special episode of “The Late Late Show”.

Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the news regarding the Irish participation at the Eurovision Song Contest 2024, in Malmö!

Source:  eurotrippodcast.com