Bambie Thug: Doomsday Blue,

The fifth act has been announced in the battle to represent Ireland at this year's Eurovision Song Contest.

Cork-born artist Bambie Thug spoke to Ray D’Arcy on his RTÉ Radio 1 show about their Eurosong entry, Doomsday Blue.

The non-binary artist’s music has been described by critics as electro-rap, confrontational performance art and effervescent, late-night goth pop.

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Bambie Thug is also a songwriter for other artists and these songs have amassed more than 60 million streams.

The musician has received BBC airplay with their music releases to date as well as gaining support from music publications including Kerrang!, Rolling Stone UK, Gay Times and NME. They were also included in prominent featured and breakthrough artist playlists on both Amazon Music and Spotify.

Speaking to RTE.ie, Bambie Thug said their entry, Doomsday Blue, was the result of trying to "create a song that shapeshifted through several genres but still worked and made sense."

"It’s why it transports you from alt witchy verses to killer screams, pop choruses, a jazzy middle-eight, before ending in a metallic roar of electro and heavy guitars. It perfectly showcases the different facets of me as an artist. I can be explosive and hard-hitting, but I can also be sweet and soulful."

Labelling themselves as a big Eurovision fan, they said, "I first started watching Eurovision with my family at a very young age and when I was old enough, my sister would bring me to Eurovision parties with her friends. I remember being so obsessed with Loreen and Euphoria that I sang it at a dance fundraising event when I was around 18."

Revealing that it was during last year’s contest that they decided to enter the 2024 edition, Bambie says, "I voiced my interest in 'maybe one day' applying and my friends were so encouraging that I decided to run with it... and here we are."

When asked why the Irish public should vote for them and this song, Bambie responded, "I am the perfect wildcard. I bring a unique song and performance that is both infectious, genre-defying and pushes the boundaries of anything Ireland has ever sent to Eurovision before, and I think that’s what we need this year."

They continued, "As a proud Irish and non-binary artist, it would also be a massive honour to be able to represent such a huge proportion of our population that is so heavily underrepresented right now, the queer community.

"I guarantee that if you vote for me, Ireland, I will give it my all in Malmö, make you proud and bring home that win."

A total of six songs were selected for Eurosong 2024 from hundreds of entries received by RTÉ following a callout for submissions last year.

Earlier this week, Erica Cody, Ailsha, JyellowL and Isabella Kearney were confirmed as hopefuls to compete in the contest, which will be held in Malmo, Sweden in May.

The final act will be announced on The Ray D’Arcy Show on Friday.

All acts will compete on The Late Late Eurosong special on 26 January, 9.35pm on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player.