Here Is This Year's Eurovision Song Winner

Nemo of Switzerland is the competition's first nonbinary winner
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted May 12, 2024 6:35 AM CDT

Swiss singer Nemo won the 68th Eurovision Song Contest early Sunday with "The Code," an operatic pop-rap ode to the singer's journey toward embracing a nongender identity, per the AP. Switzerland's contestant beat Croatian rocker Baby Lasagna to the title by winning the most points from a combination of national juries and viewers around the world. Nemo, 24, is the first nonbinary winner of the contest that has long been embraced as a safe haven by the LGBT community. Nemo is also the first Swiss winner since 1988, when Canadian chanteuse Celine Dion competed under the Swiss flag.

"Thank you so much," Nemo said after the result from Saturday's final was announced. "I hope this contest can live up to its promise and continue to stand for peace and dignity for every person." Nemo's victory in the Swedish city of Malmo followed a turbulent year for the pan-continental pop contest that saw large street protests against the participation of Israel that tipped the feelgood musical celebration into a chaotic pressure cooker overshadowed by the war in Gaza. (Hours before the final, Dutch competitor Joost Klein was expelled from the contest over a backstage altercation that was being investigated by police.)

Nemo—full name Nemo Mettler—bested finalists from 24 other countries, who all performed in front of a live audience of thousands and an estimated 180 million viewers around the world. Israeli singer Eden Golan, who spent Eurovision week in Malmo under tight security, took the stage to a wall of sound—boos mixed with cheers—to perform the power ballad "Hurricane." Golan shot up the odds table through the week, despite the protests that her appearance drew, and ended in fifth place behind Nemo, Baby Lasagna, Ukrainian duo alyona alyona & Jerry Heil, and French singer Slimane. Eurovision organizers ordered a change to the original title of her song, "October Rain"—an apparent reference to the Oct. 7 Hamas attack.

(More Eurovision stories.)

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