Switzerland wins Eurovision song contest after
controversial grand final
Nemo has won the 68th song contest with The Code,
after a fraught competition overshadowed by protests over Israel’s inclusion
and a shock exit
Philip
Oltermann in Malmö
Sun 12 May
2024 01.11 CEST
Switzerland
has won the 68th Eurovision song contest, bringing to an end a fraught and at
times tumultuous competition overshadowed by a row over Israel’s inclusion and
the disqualification of the Dutch contestant just hours before the start of the
grand final.
Swiss
singer Nemo, who defines as non-binary, had entered the night as the
bookmakers’ third favourite, but saw off frontrunners Croatia and Israel with
an enthusiastic performance of their song The Code.
The
operatic, drum’n’bass-propelled offering was the runaway winner in the jury
vote, which makes up half of the overall score.
The musical
performances risked becoming a footnote at the world’s largest live music
event, after Dutch contestant Joost Klein was disqualified from the grand final
over what the organisers described as an “incident” involving a female member
of the production crew.
The Dutch
broadcaster who sent Klein to the competition said it was “shocked” by the
“disproportionate” decision, and declined to hand out the points of its jury at
the end of the show.
The
suspension heightened an already politically charged atmosphere, since Klein
had appeared to vent his disagreement with Israel’s presence at a press
conference on Thursday, vocally backing a journalist who had asked Israel’s
contestant, Eden Golan, if she thought her presence might endanger the other
acts and the attending fans.
Israel had
been cleared to compete by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) in March,
after changing some of the lyrics to Golan’s power ballad Hurricane, a song
about the traumatic experience of Hamas’s massacre on 7 October, originally
entitled October Rain.
But the
question of whether Israel should be allowed to compete or not while engaged in
a military conflict in Gaza continued to dominate the run-up to the five-day
kitsch extravaganza in the Swedish city of Malmö, with pro-Palestine activists
unsuccessfully urging participating artists to join their boycott.
At a large
demonstration in Malmö city centre on Saturday, several thousand protesters
with Palestinian flags proclaimed their view that Israel should not have been
allowed to compete in the first place, citing Russia’s exclusion since 2022 as
a precedent.
Some
protesters later moved on to the concert venue south of the city centre,
shouting “Shame on you” at fans entering the arena. About 30 people were
detained by police.
Eurovision’s
organisers dismissed rumours that the incident relating to Klein’s suspension
had involved any other performers or delegation members, or even an altercation
with the Israeli delegation.
“Swedish
police have investigated a complaint made by a female member of the production
crew after an incident following his [Klein’s] performance in Thursday night’s
semi-final,” they said, reiterating “a zero-tolerance policy towards
inappropriate behaviour at our event”.
In a
statement, the Dutch broadcaster Avrotros said it was “shocked” by the
“disproportionate” decision, saying the singer and rapper had merely made a
“threatening move” towards a camerawoman but not touched her.
“Against
the clearly made agreement, Joost was filmed when he had just gotten off stage
and had to rush to the green room. At that moment, Joost repeatedly indicated
that he did not want to be filmed. This wasn’t respected.”
According
to the broadcaster, it offered “several solutions” to the EBU, which decided to
disqualify Klein anyway. Martin Österdahl, Eurovision’s executive director,
drew loud booing from the audience whenever he appeared on the screen during
the show.
While
rumours about the reasons behind Klein’s suspension ricocheted around the
dressing rooms at Malmö Arena, the mood turned febrile. Ireland’s entry, a
non-binary singer called Bambie Thug, failed to show up at the final dress
rehearsal, fuelling rumours of their pulling out of the event.
In a
statement, they later said their absence was over a separate disagreement with
EBU, relating to the conduct of Israel’s public broadcaster, Kan, during the
first semi-final.
The French
performer, Slimane, interrupted the a cappella section of his song Mon Amour
during the dress rehearsal to give a speech about “love and peace”.
In Norway,
the country’s ex-contestant Alessandra Mele withdrew from her role as the
spokesperson for delivering the jury points, over what she called the
“genocide” in the Middle East.
At an event
marred by political divisions, the Swiss entry offered a comforting rallying
point. Singer Nemo Mettler follows in the footsteps of previous queer,
transgender or drag contestants who were launched into the world at Eurovision,
from Israel’s Dana International in 1998 to Austria’s Conchita Wurst in 2014.
Their song
The Code was high-drama, but the stage show was effective for its simplicity,
with the artist acrobatically balancing on a spinning platform.
It was one
of several entries that defied Eurovision’s reputation as a showcase for the
blandest of eurodance mush.
Croatia’s
Baby Lasagna, real name Marko Purišić, had not just been the bookkeepers’ but a
fan favourite with Rim Tim Tagi Dim, a song that sounded as if Jon Bon Jovi had
secured Rammstein as a backing band; Italy’s Angelina Mango reminded the
continent of her country’s proud song tradition with a forceful steelpan number
on the unlikely theme of boredom.
Britain’s
entry, Olly Alexander, came 18th with his song Dizzy, having received zero
points in the audience vote.
Klein, a
26-year-old former YouTuber from Friesland, had long been tipped to make an
impression at the song contest – just not like this. With lyrics in Dutch,
German, Italian and English, and a video that closes on an image of a “European
house” in flames, his song Europapa would have also been the first Eurovision
song about the European Union since Toto Cotugno’s Insieme 92, which references
the Maastricht treaty that was signed that year.
At the
pro-Palestine rally in the city centre on Saturday afternoon, one participant
waved a “Twelve points go to Joost Klein” placard. Politics and pop had became
intertwined in ways that were difficult to untangle.
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