Eurovision Controversy As Winner Says It 'Needs Fixing'

Eurovision has faced controversy after this year’s winner, Switzerland’s Nemo, lashed out at the Song Contest’s “unbelievable” “double standards” moments after they won the competition on Saturday (11 May).

Nemo, the first-ever non-binary Eurovision winner, won the Song Contest in Malmö, Sweden, with their original song, The Code. They came fifth in the public vote and topped the jury vote.

In a post-show press conference, Nemo criticised the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) for its non-political stance after revealing that they had to “smuggle” their non-binary flag into Malmö Arena.

“I had to smuggle my flag in because Eurovision said no, but I did it anyway, so I hope some people did that too,” Nemo said. “But, come on, this is clearly a double standard.”

Nemo later commented that “maybe Eurovision needs fixing a little bit too, every now and then” after it looked like they broke their new trophy. The Eurovision experience wasn’t all fun and games, though; the singer described the event as “really intense, and not just pleasant all the way”.

“maybe eurovision needs a little bit of fixing” - nemo at the winners press conference #eurovision #eurovision2024 pic.twitter.com/sZIfyuEMwL

— steven🃏〄 (@xsteeewx) May 11, 2024

They continued, “There were a lot of things that didn’t seem like it was all about love and unity. And that made me really sad, and at the same time, there was so much love here as well. Nemo ended up dedicating their win to “people that are daring to be themselves and people that need to be heard and need to be understood.”

You can watch Nemo’s press conference commentary and their winning performance below.

Ireland’s entrant, Bambie Thug, also commemorated Nemo’s sentiment dedicated to people who dare to be themselves, saying (via NME): “The world has spoken—the queers are coming. Non-binaries for the fucking win.”

Australia’s entrant for this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, Electric Fields, were eliminated in the first semi-final of the competition on 7 May.

Australia was among five countries to be knocked from the ranking, alongside Poland, Iceland, Moldova and Azerbaijan.

Backstage at Malmö Arena, singer Zaachariaha Fielding said of their experience (as transcribed by Mumbrella): “We did a killer performance. We felt like rock stars. That audience, they were just giving. It’s going to be a memory that will be embedded with us for the rest of our lives.”