Who is Dr ACactivism? Eurovision stage invader who interrupted Britain’s SuRie identified
The man who crashed the stage during Great Britain’s performance at Saturday’s Eurovision Song Contest has been identified as political activist Dr ACactivism.
The activist, also known as Dr A.C, grabbed the microphone from Britain’s SuRie during her performance of “Storm.”
Dr. ACactivism was seen wearing a T-shirt plugging an e-book he authored, reports the Mirror.
The man’s T-shirt bore the words: “The Workings of The U.K STATE MAFIA: U.K Media,” as well as “Order this now on Amazon,” the newspaper reported.
Dr A.C’s Twitter account describes him as a “Philosopher, Activist & DJ/MC based in London.”
Earlier today, the man posted a video on Instagram in which he wore a bandana that is reminiscent of the one worn by the stage invader.
According to the Mirror, Dr ACactivsm previously crashed the stage at the National Television Awards in January, as well as an episode of The Voice last year.
The activist was detained by police shortly after the stage invasion during Saturday’s show.
Eurovision organisers the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) said that it had given SuRie the chance to perform again after the final entry of the evening. But SuRie opted not to.
“The EBU regrets a stage invasion took place during the United Kingdom’s performance at the Eurovision Song Contest Grand Final in Lisbon this evening. The person responsible is currently in police custody,” said the EBU.
“The UK singer SuRie and her team were offered the option to sing again but decided not to because they were extremely proud of her performance and have decided that there is absolutely no reason to perform the song again.”
The stage invader was quickly apprehended by stage hands and SuRie was able to finish her performance – and even achieved a massive standing ovation.
BBC commentator Graham Norton said after the performance, “Utmost respect to SuRie.”
The BBC’s official Eurovision Twitter account confirmed that SuRie is “OK.”
According to BBC, the stage invader is thought to have said: “For the Nazis of the UK media, we demand freedom.”
Watch the moment below:
SuRie’s resilience after the stage invasion and mic-stealing was f***ing incredible. #Eurovision pic.twitter.com/gKUIGcFwIv
— Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) 12 May 2018
There was considerable support for SuRie on Twitter for showing resilience by bouncing back and finishing her performance.
Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling tweeted: “That was everyone who’s ever been on stage’s worst nightmare and it must have been scary, but what a pro, what a recovery @surieofficial #Eurovision”
Rylan Clark-Neal, who hosted the BBC coverage of the Eurovision semi-finals, had a more heated reaction to the invader.
“AND TO THE FILTH THAT JUST DONE THAT TO US I HOPE YOU BROKE YOUR LEG WHEN YOU WAS DRAGGED OFF,” he tweeted.
“If you’ve got a message protest by all means but don’t frighten a young woman.”
SuRie previously told PinkNews that her entry song “Storm” is “a reminder that the crap doesn’t last forever – it just doesn’t.”
“I think there are daily storms we face and there are bigger political discussions and conversations that have to happen,” she said.
“But our own personal bubbles are very important to us in that we have to deal with them day to day.”
She also said she got advice before the contest from former winner, Austria’s Conchita Wurst.
“Conchita said, quite rightly, ‘Just concentrate on the music,’” she said.
“There’s a lot of (good) fuss that happens around Eurovision – staging, styling, all of that – but the song and your vocal performance has to come first and everything else is secondary to that, so don’t lose sight of that.”
