Switzerland wins Eurovision contest shaken by tensions over Israel

(Malmö) Nemo won Eurovision for Switzerland on Sunday with “The Code”, the first non-binary artist to be crowned in the competition, at the end of a 2024 edition marked by controversies, in particular over the participation of Israel, in the midst of war in the Gaza Strip.

“I hope that this competition can continue to encourage peace and dignity for everyone,” said the 24-year-old artist, his eyes filled with tears, upon receiving his trophy.

“This whole experience was very intense and not only enjoyable from start to finish. “There were a lot of things that didn’t seem to be about love and unity, and that really saddened me,” he said at a press conference following the competition.

With his pink and red feathered jacket and his pink satin skirt, Nemo won the favor of the juries with 365 points, but also seduced the public who brought him 226, allowing him with 591 points to overtake the Croatian favorite, Baby Lasagna and its 547 points. Ukraine finished third (453 points) and France fourth (445 points).

“The weight of politics”

“‘The Code’ tells the story of the journey that I began by realizing that I am neither a man nor a woman,” Nemo had previously told, which gives the small Alpine country, champion of political neutrality, its third crown in a competition which aims to be apolitical. This is Switzerland’s first victory since “Ne partez pas sans moi” performed by Celine Dion in 1988.

“Maybe Eurovision needs to be fixed a little,” Nemo said at the press conference. “I had to sneak in my non-binary flag,” which the artist waved during the opening parade of the competition, acclaimed in the LGBTQ+ community.

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which oversees the competition, prohibits any flag other than those of the participants, like any banner with a political message.

In Croatia, who came second in the competition with Marko Purisic, known by his stage name Baby Lasagna, several hundred people followed the show on a big screen on Europe Square, in the center of Zagreb.

“There is no room for sadness, only pride. This young man brought all of Croatia together. We can be proud of him and he deserves to be welcomed upon his return to the country. However, it turned out that the weight of politics was once again decisive in this Eurovision contest,” spectator Nina Plese, 34, told AFP.

Israeli Eden Golan, whose presence in Malmö generated heated controversy as her country is at war with Hamas in Gaza, came in fifth place with 323 points for her song “Hurricane”.

“Every time Israel got points, there were boos everywhere,” Michael Kerwick, an Irish fan, reported as he left the room.

Dispersed protesters

At the start of the competition, outside, the police, present in large numbers, dispersed around a hundred pro-Palestinian demonstrators including Greta Thunberg, better known for her positions on the climate, but who has recently increased her messages on the issue .

To ensure the security of the event – ​​and the 100,000 fans from 90 countries – Malmö police mobilized reinforcements from across the Scandinavian country, but also from Denmark and Norway.

In the streets of Sweden’s third city where the majority of the Swedish population of Palestinian origin lives, more than 5,000 people, according to the police, marched peacefully to protest against Israel’s participation.

“We are not against Eurovision, but against Israel’s participation in Eurovision. We don’t want his representative in Malmö […] because of what is happening in Gaza,” summarized Ingemar Gustavsson, a Swedish retiree.

The unions of the Flemish public television channel VRT briefly interrupted the broadcast on Saturday evening to broadcast a message condemning “violations of human rights by the State of Israel”, as they had done on Thursday during the second semi-final.

Calls for boycott

Eden Golan, 20, won her ticket to the final on Thursday evening with the song “Hurricane”, the initial version of which had to be modified because it was considered to allude to the Hamas attack which bloodied Israel on October 7.

Israel has participated in Eurovision since 1973, winning it for the fourth time in 2018.

This year, the conflict in Ukraine has been overshadowed by the war in Gaza, triggered by the attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement, which left more than 1,170 dead, mostly civilians, according to an AFP report established from official Israeli data.

In response, the Israeli army launched an offensive in Gaza, which has killed 34,943 people so far, according to the Hamas health ministry.