'We have to find Marty': Cork women celebrate Eurovision-themed hen weekend in Malmö

Elena O'Connor, Angela Crowley, Evelyn Crowley and Una Murphy on Angela's 'Eurovis-hen party' in Malmö this weekend.

Meet Irish Eurovision superfan and bride-to-be Angela Crowley, who is making the news in Malmö with her Bambie Thug-inspired 'Eurovis-hen' weekend.

Angela, from Cork City, and her hen party — her sister Evelyn Crowley, and friends, Úna Murphy and Elena O’Connor — who arrived in Malmö on Thursday, were interviewed for Swedish TV news on Friday and have been invited to appear as guests on a live broadcast from the Eurovision fan village on Saturday.

But Angela said apart from seeing Ireland win the grand final, they really want to meet Marty Whelan, who presents his 25th Eurovision final for RTÉ on Saturday.

“We have to find Marty. It just won’t be a complete Eurovision weekend without finding Marty and getting a photograph with him,” she said.

The women plan to go all out to show their support for Ireland's Satanic-style 'queer witch' pop performer, Bambie Thug

Angela grew up in a ‘Eurovision house’ and always enjoyed annual Eurovision parties but she finally got to attend a live Eurovision final in Liverpool last year. 

She was also in the audience for The Late Late Eurosong selection show in January, to see Bambie Thug chosen.

So when it came to organising a hen party ahead of her June wedding, Malmö was the obvious choice.

The hen party arrived there via Dublin and Copenhagen on Thursday, just in time to visit the Eurovision arena after the second semi-final.

Angela spent most of Friday wearing a white veil and they visited the Abba museum and other tourist sights.

“We got a lot of stares when we were out and about yesterday but Saturday we are going up a level,” she said.

But they plan to go all out to show their support for Ireland's Satanic-style 'queer witch' pop performer, Bambie Thug, who on Tuesday broke Ireland’s Eurovision curse to qualify for the grand final for the first time since 2018.

Angela plans to head to the arena on Saturday wearing a long black dress, a black veil, a black sash, white shoes, and full Bambie-style white face make-up, with ‘bride to be’ written in Ogham — as soon as Elena can find the correct translation. 

Her hen party, or entourage, will be proudly flying Irish flags, with lots of green, white and gold on display.

They will be in the arena for the full preview show on Saturday afternoon and will head to the Eurovision Village for the live grand final.

“We reckon Bambie Thug has a great chance. There hasn’t been this much of a buzz about an Irish entry since Jedward, but I think the buzz around Bambie is bigger. The reaction they got on Tuesday was incomparable to anyone else,” she said.

"There is a huge following for them, and they are among the bookies’ favourites and we are very excited. It was amazing to win, but we are just delighted they made it to the final."

They are due home on Sunday, when all the focus will then turn to the big day next month, when Angela is due to tie the knot with Stephen Murphy.

Saturday’s grand final will feature a special tribute to mark the 50th anniversary of Abba earning Sweden its very first Eurovision win with the smash-hit Waterloo.

Bambie Thug, the first non-binary artist in a Eurovision final, will perform their song, Doomsday Blue, 10th in the running order as bookies slashed their odds on Friday, placing them in the top-five shortlist to win the song contest overall.

Saturday’s grand final will feature a special tribute to mark the 50th anniversary of Abba earning Sweden its very first Eurovision win with the smash-hit Waterloo.

Broadcaster SVT has invited former Eurovision winners: Charlotte Perrelli, who won the contest for Sweden in 1999; Carola, who took the contest to Malmö for the very first time in 1992, following her win for Sweden the year before; and Conchita Wurst, who scored a memorable victory for Austria 10 years ago in 2014, to perform the special tribute.