Bad Production, Corruption, Mid-offs: Eurovision 2024 Reviewed, pt2 (Ireland, Slovenia, Luxembourg)

I take a look at another three of our 2024 Eurovision participants - this week it's Ireland, Slovenia and Luxembourg.
thanks to oona who let us upload this video using her wifi (and her mum for making us coffee while we did it): / ootanund
follow me on twitter: / escgabe
follow my editor jay on twitter: / kaarijay
help us out on patreon: / escgabe

[@TheManInBlueFlames]

Bambie Thug's song is a watershed moment in Irish Eurovision history. For once, RTE had the balls to put TWO risky songs that could do well at Eurovision or at least be memorable. Normally there's nothing but overthought basic pop that won't do well. We should congratulate Ireland with a vote this year for taking a risk. Doomsday Blue has HUGE staging potential and even I was wowed by what we got with the in studio staging. RTE clearly wanted to host something MUCH bigger last year but couldn't due to budgeting reasons which is why they were so awful as a result of all these scandals. Hopefully next year, the big NF they really wanted with a dedicated show and stage will be one to help Ireland.

[@Ruinwyn]

Ireland has felt for long time like the main problem really is attracting the good acts to send to Eurovision. The staging is usually good or at least ok. What ever team they have, does have an idea what to go for, with what they have. I've watched Eurovision for a long time and there have definitely been countries whose teams sabotage the performance either purposefully or through incompetence and Ireland isn't one.

[@NBAMV]

As someone who grew up in Luxembourg, man... this was so heartbreaking, getting to hear the context behind the show. It's what the country so so desperately needs, to feel like it's part of Europe and not just a remote village isolated in its own bubble, where people just come to live and work for that comfortable office job. You never hear Luxembourg being mentioned in general European discourse among other nations, other than a sporadic tax haven tagline. In reality it's such a diverse place, with its own language. Home and host to people from all across the globe, but man it needs this cultural boost. A way to channel and add to its own identity, to see itself every year among other European nations. Showcase its people, give a platform for self-expression and EXACTLY like you say, have a chance to grow their own LOCAL talent. Grassroots mentality, enough of this Celine Dion level of outsourcing, that's got to STOP! So that after the competition the artists could go back home and spread these experiences around with others and enrich the country itself, be an example to the upcoming generations. I'm honestly just happy it's back in the contest. Hopefully they'll address the outcry next year. Awesome video as always Gabe!

[@escgabe]

Thank you!! Let's hope for a show that represents Luxembourg more faithfully next year

[@tageholmquist3926]

The LSC feels very much like a deal with the Devil. You shall receive a huge, beautiful national final. Yet it will cost you your soul.

[@uyoon4581]

Me "oh Gabe's gonna talk about the Slovenia scandal" Gabe "The 9/11 fic" Yeah I almost choked on my food when that was the first thing you mentioned regarding Slovenia hahaha

[@tallemajas]

gabe, please give us the lore on how in the world you ended up studying luxembourgish, this knowledge haunts me. that said, i'm SOOOO sad about lsc !! they really talked in length about how they wanted to show off luxembourg's identity through lsc and then... gave us nothing. i was so shocked and sad there wasn't a single line in luxembourgish, i'm not surprised luxembourgians were disappointed :( considering the semifinal lineup, i personally could see tali not qualifying, but knowing the context of the song's meaning... i'm not upset about that

[@MatthewESC88]

It was actually Raiven's 4th attempt.

[@ftee1609]

THANK YOU for talking about the weirdness around the Luxembourg NF I feel insane seeing nobody mentioning it

[@jamiehawker7345]

That's really interesting about Luxembourg! I had no idea that all artists had to change their songs to professional pop songs before the contest. That definitely wiped originality out there, explains why it felt like a mini Melfest at times, especially with songs like Hold On or Believer. And I think that unless the songs the artists submitted were actually terrible, they definitely shouldn't have had to change their songs before the show, that just makes no sense! And yeah now that I know about this, Luxembourg defo needs more Luxembourgish culture in their National Final. I hope if Tali qualifies (which the song is indeed good enough to do), then Luxembourg is brave enough to change enough in their NF to make it seem more like a National Final for Luxembourg (and hopefully scrap the changing songs rule!)

[@jardejay8804]

Irish here. Completely agree with everything you said. RTE are so stubborn and will always cut corners. This will unfortunately never end. I've been blacklisted and blocked by RTE and the HoD for constructively criticising the songs that get picked for eurosong in the past, the meddling and bribery of Louis Walsh, suggesting the HoD quits and new blood is brought in among many other good suggestions that got upvoted enough to catch their attention. The comment was deleted and I was blocked the moment it made their front page. Literally they ALL blocked me with their official accounts. This is what we are dealing with.

[@user-zo4mj8oo1t]

By the way, RTE has always being cost-cutting in resent years now... Seriously, Irish people didn't want to pay the licence fee nowadays, and its income in 2023 had fallen by over €14 million compared to 2022, so RTE had to do this...

[@jardejay8804]

@@user-zo4mj8oo1t I know that. They keep cutting their budget but raising those on the very tops salary. Greed. All greed.

[@user-zo4mj8oo1t]

@@jardejay8804 And don't get me started on the RTÉ secret payment scandal last year... (googling the scandal for context)

[@BoB10]

Yet they have spent a lot on the official video for Bambie Thug also RTE are broke they had to sell some of the land at Ballsbridge and was going to move the studio into the city. They have a lot of computation now with the other channels getting add's .... good luck to all the countries

[@boscabruscairgang]

ESC Tom did a really good analysis on why RTE dosen't care about Eurosong. Basically, for RTE, Eurovision is cheap television to broadcast compare to their own Irish made TV shows and Irish people love watching Eurovision, even if Ireland doesn't get to the final, Irish people will still tune in to watch the final. So if they have the numbers watching, there's no incentive to care about Eurosong and if Ireland does badly, the average Irish person doesn't blame RTE, they blame it on "politics or block voting". Also, very good insight into Luxembourg. I was wondering why all their songs sounded like generic AI produced music, this explains why 😆

[@MacgiollaIG]

As an Irishman I'm impressed you pronounced "go tobann" really well

[@tonyttt31]

This is the first time I've seen a KZbinr do it.

[@utrniii]

Thank you for sympathising with the irish fans for our horrible quality of production on that show. Let’s just compare us to a country in terms of selections that is newer and hasn’t had the history of ours with the contest over all for example, Lithuania have hosted huge nfs at points for example 2020 selections for them, The stage was huge and there at least could’ve been 5,000 in that arena, compare it to our literal CHAT SHOW setup, only at most 100 which is so awful for what we have to work with. Realistically, Our broadcasters and Lithuanias should have around similar funds but the thing is, our delegation is sosososo lazy and they couldn’t be bothered to pay for a venue like Bord Gais Energy Theatre (which would need a bit of renovating to be up to standards) but it would work, and it’s not an unrealistic venue in terms of numbers, but it would be something, and it could get more interested in the event, and we also would need to up the numbers of the participants, and also maybe get unbiased and unpaid jurors (cough Louis Walsh cough) to decide on the songs that get into the contest. Rant over 😭

[@leqtix4391]

as a luxembourger (without having watched the video) Id just like to apologize for our NF lmfao

[@leqtix4391]

how did you come to study luxembourgish btw?

[@cclr3574]

For some context, RTÉ is largely funded by a TV licence, same as the BBC in the UK. There's been a series of controversies that utterly broke public trust in RTÉ and lead to a huge drop off in people paying for that TV licence Their mismanagement of funds both from taxpayers and licence payers was a massive slap in the face. Even more so considering those that don't pay the licence face potential prosecution. They're very much in the bad books amongst the Irish public right now. I imagine some of the crap setup for the performers on this show was a direct result of their revenue taking a hit. The public lashed out at them by refusing to fund them and they're now trying to convince the government to give them more funding. RTÉ in general is a mess. Fair play to Bambie Thug for finally giving Ireland a memorable entry. It's the first time in years I'm actually invested in Eurovision.

[@basbrouwer7842]

Boy does this guy deserve more subscribers but boy am l glad he is still very niche so l'm the one amongst my friends with all the cool eurovision funfact and insight.

[@liamkampff1]

This rant was so satisfying, because it really WAS one of the most promising Eurosongs this year. And STILL it was let down by the atrocious production. I hope Bambie bringing Ireland back to Eurovision success will convince them to finally make huge changes, I think they're finally maybe starting to get it... maybe... hopefully...

[@frenchhufflepuffie83]

Yes, there needs to be a proper show to select the Irish entry, and if they don't feel like they can do it right, all they have to do is to internally select their entry, just like half/two thirds of the countries!

[@nexwithanxx]

Congrats on 3k!!

[@JSGRanks]

July Jones for Slovenia 2025 🍀🍀

[@neconeconeco]

not the personality vacuums ☠

[@kharma101]

Louie Walsh definitely had some influence in the International Jury vote. He needs to leave Ireland alone because he sucks at picking entries. And it’s not fair to those who submitted their entry and got turned down all because Louie was able to create his own contestants.

[@yascaoimhin]

I genuinely believe that RTÉ also hampered Bambie's prospects also. Because after their song was chosen, the hype that could have been built up around the song was destroyed because of how poor the production was. I watched dozens of reaction videos that used that performance to react to and you could see people wincing at points because of the poor quality. Bambie also said they were given around 2 weeks to come up with their own staging, make costumes, make the backing visuals etc. which is totally unnecessary because Eurosong doesn't have to be that early in the year. What you said about the Late Late Show is correct, the studio is set up for a chat show, the sound engineers working on that show work with chatting not live music performance and definitely not a varied mix of different types of live performance. Someone in another comment mentioned that RTÉ is struggling with scandals due to mismanagement of funds over the past few years and so are not spending money on this. But if they produced this as an actual Music event, separate from the Late Late Show, hosted in a music venue like the Olympia Theatre, THEY COULD SELL TICKETS and people would go! They could recoup a lot of the costs needed to put on a proper live music performance. But there is a stubbornness within RTÉ that acts like Everyone loves the late late show, when in actuality very few people under the age of 40 watch it, when it is this age bracket that are best placed to choose a popular song.

[@bentevanl]

omg the real escgabe i’m ur biggest fan

[@marsukarhu9477]

Raiven is my number 1 at the moment, so I personally have no bad feelings if there were some "irregularities",

[@moose8762]

You couldn’t even see the graphics that the studio audience could. Has to be the lowest production national final in the country. But an internal selection would probably just result in the boy band being chosen

[@viljar_sk]

oh this is gonna get GOOD

[@existentialchrisis430]

Now I NEED to know which was the show you were in! LOL

[@omegothic]

not the bojere 9/11 fanfiction lore 😭😭😭 anyway i think the funniest fic is about jfk (jere finland käärijä) assassination

[@JL-zw7hi]

You hit the nail right on the head about the Luxembourgish production!

[@hcthepro1200]

whos perpared to hear the drama about tali being of israeli roots?

[@UnoriginalEurovisionCritic]

I sure don’t

[@emdove]

Eh, I think Luxembourg will be the mid-off part of the video 💀

[@aleqxsz]

I really really really hope people DON'T! give Tali hate because her israeli roots

[@emdove]

@@aleqxsz hating people because of their family. Very morally upstanding. How about you hate her for what he does or believes, if she even does or believes something that you associate with Israel, not something she can't help.

[@aleqxsz]

@@emdove Jesus christ i'm so so so sorry, i meant to say i hope people DON'T! give hate to Tali because of her israeli roots, i didn't see my comment before i sended it i know but i will get hate but it was a huge of misstake

[@perperella]

Im still thinking why do we have international juries in some national finals? 🤔 like they have no business in choosing the best song for you as your competitors 😂 and very often I feel like they do a sabotage instead of support and they vote for some random songs to have easy competitors in Eurovision 😁

[@nexwithanxx]

THE 2001 INCIDENT FANFIC?!!!???? 😨😨😨😭

[@veeti_]

Can you make a video cowering this years umk and its rise to begoming the future power house in eurovision?and the interval act ;3

[@escgabe]

there’s a full video on umk 2024 coming this friday!

[@pauliusd6505]

Michael Kealy has been real quiet since the release of this video

[@wibbliams]

Hes trying his best. Unfortunately RTÉ don't care

[@firstnamelastname7249]

coming back to remind us all of the INSANE GLOW UP between the production of Doomsday Blue here and Doomsday Blue IN ACTUAL EUROVISION Like you said, it didn't click for ages - I tried sooo hard to like it when I discovered it here - it's alternative, different & goth, so I really wanted to like it, but for some reason I just couldn't get into it Now I realise this must've been the shit production, which was like primary school talent show quality lmaoo But I'm so so glad that the Irish had faith and saw the vision, voting Doomsday Blue in. Because when I watched the semi-final performance I actually lost it. Genuinely it was THRILLING. I gasped, my jaw was wide open the whole time and I might've also cried a little bit from sheer excitement This has to be one of the biggest glow-ups in history. It went from a 4/10 to a potential winner. SO satisfying to see the vision come to life FINALLY. It was SO thrilling to see it get the THEATRE & production that it deserved, and to finally see the costume, makeup, performance, choreo, visuals, staging & sound quality that it deserved.

[@jimw859]

I don't have any fear that Bambi will sound well on stage in Malmo and I think they will have improved and imaginative staging. I am hopeful for a qualification and thereafter anything else is a bonus. As for RTE when it comes to Eurosong they simply don't want to spend the money to stage a more extravagent version of the show. At the moment it costs them next to nothing to do it they way they currently do and that suits them down to the ground. All we can hope for is that they at least continue to select interesting and different songs for the show so that we have a decent choice to vote for on the night.

[@pilibodonnchu3196]

Go néirí leat Bambi ☘️🇮🇪☘️ Good luck Bambi.

[@jmch2186]

Gabe, thank you for being our voice. You have no idea how long we Irish Eurovision fans have been begging and longing for an independent national final severed from The Late Late Show. Thank God, rumour has it , that will happen next year, please don't let it be just a rumour 🤞🤞🤞🤞🤞🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪 (and a nod to my no.1 this year, 🇳🇴🇳🇴🇳🇴❤❤❤ vote for GÅTE)

[@noem.7430]

bambie is amaizing but i think it will overlap public with gate (norway)

[@aranmcdonagh255]

We all hate RTE here now, they are so corrupt and there has been massive scandal over the last year & many are refusing to pay the licence

[@mas_248playz2]

why did the violation counter go from 1 to 3?? where did 2 go 😭😭

[@erinnadia0409]

Luxembourg's song did give me "Melodifestivalen rejects" now it all makes sense why, it's a shame they took away their original songs to replace them with new songs to compete with. I hope they improve next year. I think Fighter is very soulless, it will definitely qualify though for the final because it's Luxembourg 🫶

[@metalvisionsongcontest7055]

How does Luxembourg already have a nimbus when it comes to qualifying? 😂 They are pretty much the only ones left in the competition who never had to do it thus far.

[@Gfynbcyiokbg8710]

​​@@metalvisionsongcontest7055Some people will vote for Luxembourg just because it's their first time back in decades

[@yodenman]

Sorry I was referring to Ireland by the way.

[@tanjanikola9489]

Welcome to Tampere (I will only be at the rehearsals).😁

[@UnoriginalEurovisionCritic]

All of these are good in their own way

[@TimeG37]

I don't think there's any bad entries selected so far tbh

[@UnoriginalEurovisionCritic]

@@TimeG37thank god that there are no abysmally bad entries

[@Daniel_Moran]

Malta

[@genoric4094]

@@TimeG37Czechia was objectively really bad live but the song itself is alright. I personally really don’t like Ireland’s song either but that’s just me. Otherwise I agree.

[@Redu3]

12:01 - YES!! 80% of my 7 year old self's personality was wanting to go on Raven lmaoooo

[@yodenman]

It was definitely the right choice. Sure there will be haters, but they can't hurt it. There are no negative votes in eurovision. The lovers of this song will easily get it through to the final.

[@noirweiss]

Hold up! You're attending UMK?! enjoy🎉

[@TaleOfTheToaster]

Ngl I need to hear that Cha Cha Cha Slovenia cover

[@yodenman]

Just a thought.......any news on Matt. He has disappeared for months ???

[@packardb09]

The Eurosong show this year was much better than any year in the past 10 years.

[@vladkeel]

21:45 that did not age well 😅

[@rallealyt]

To me the objective of a song contest is to select the "best" song and not the song that is more memorable because of shock or controversy

[@Hgames_RBLX]

WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU WERE ON HOT RODS

[@escgabe]

😎

[@Paturages]

@@escgabeI didn't expect to be reminded of this gabe lore here of all places but here we are LMAO

[@Hgames_RBLX]

@@Paturageswait was this lore?

[@tegan.kellyxx]

I agree 8:09 Rte has a problem of they don’t want to make a beget for Eurovision or a selection showi have so much love for Eurovision but RTE WILL NEVER GIVE US THE SHOW WE NEED

[@pikkecc]

Slovenia go final this years top 10❤

[@noirweiss]

Please say you watched the Maltese finally! 😂

[@agirlinabasementofyourdaddy]

Cannot agree in “Go Tobann” and “Doomsday blue”. The only thing those two song made me wanna do turn off the volume and leave the room. I would not be so optimistic about Bambie’s result. It aint qualifying. Not from semi 1.

[@wilyriley_]

this didn’t age very well

[@happyvisionsongcontest]

Even in the Eurovision fandom. I'm disguisted to see how many people are so disrespectful towards Bambie Thug being Non-Binary

[@that_cat21]

immediately moving fighter down my rankings, why have i not heard about this before 🤨

[@weronika152]

i'm totally one of the people who doesn't get the slovenia hype this year. i can appreciate the "bombastic" sound of the song but to me it has nothing memorable, though a good staging may change my opinion (but my expectations for the song were really high to begin with because my name is in the title)

[@konex97]

Olly smashing out of the park with his elevator song, yeah sure:"D

[@megdog7103]

Production being cheap and shit, yep that's RTÉ

[@renanbp]

Not gonna lie... Bambie Thug's performance was hard to watch entirely. D: And that's coming from someone that listens to goth, alternative music all the time, and loves the visuals. Specially the "I.... I..." part is really upsetting, it's like hearing a dog whining, you simply want it to stop at any cost lol Also they're saying " I know you're living a lie" and it feels like it's being addressed to the audience, like an accusation. I'm not sure that's gonna get them more votes.

[@fotiskepelis1]

Oh so the international jury gave their twelve points to someone else ???!!! I wonder why??? They chose a good song for eurovision??? Really??? For EUROVISION???? Ok...buy...

[@domiiinik4320]

Ireland : I love that Ireland is finally at least trying, but this song is too much for me Slovenia : It's ok, but it's massive downgrade from last year Luxembourg : this song sounds like it should be French song for JESC

[@dws49]

Du hues Lëtzebuergesch studéiert???

[@VerzatileDev]

Most in my country called it gayvision 2024

[@meat5096]

STUDIED LUXEMBOURGISCH AT UNI???? didn't even know you could do that??? You can't even study luxembourgish properly in lux highschools !!

[@patrickpowers9276]

😇 *Promo sm*

[@drakonius95]

so Bambie Thug is gonna be this years woke entry? I can already see all the misgendering drama coming from her when the rehearsals begin xD

[@frajoladellagato]

I mean you literally just said “from her” in your comment so it’s clear you are not engaging in good faith. Obvious transphobe is obvious.

[@Alisa_P]

"Woke entry"? "Misgendering drama"? Well that says A LOT of how you treat other people.

[@drakonius95]

@@Alisa_Pwe dont accept those american trends here in Balkan

[@metalvisionsongcontest7055]

There is never only one woke entry at Eurovision. 😂 We’re only ten songs in, and we already have Ireland, Spain, Czechia…

[@drakonius95]

@@metalvisionsongcontest7055 I don't mind Spain actually. I really like people of older age being empowered. But all that they/them crap is like a pseudo 1st world problem that only gonna make everything about public media even more complicated and negativity driven. If you don't call a person clown/clownself, you're a biggot and I don't want that reality in Eurovision

[@MartinFjellanger]

You’ve just gotten a new fan. Thank you for good analysis and honest unfiltered opinions 🫶🏼

[@escgabe]

You're telling me that THE Eurovision Spotify playlist guy likes my videos??? Thank you so much. You are literally my hero/saviour