MALMÖ — Eurovision’s 68th edition ended in the early hours of Sunday with a first: Nemo, a 24-year-old non-binary artist from Switzerland, won the contest with “The Code”, a drum-and-bass aria about discovering their identity. It is Switzerland’s third victory, and the first for a non-binary performer.
Nemo’s total of 591 points was built on a dominant jury vote, enough to withstand Croatia’s win in the public televote. Their performance — sung in English and delivered while balancing on a spinning disc — had been the bookmakers’ favourite for weeks.
But this final will be remembered for its context as much as its winner. Malmö hosted under heavy security and days of street protests over Israel’s participation during the war in Gaza. Israel’s entrant Eden Golan was booed by parts of the arena audience; organisers muted crowd noise on the broadcast. She finished fifth, buoyed by a large public vote.
The contest also lost a finalist hours before the show: the Netherlands’ Joost Klein was disqualified on Saturday after an incident involving a member of the production crew, an unprecedented last-minute exclusion that his broadcaster protested in furious terms.
The European Broadcasting Union now faces hard questions — about its flag policy, its handling of the disqualification, and a year in which the contest’s apolitical ideal collided head-on with politics. Switzerland, which last won in 1988 with Céline Dion, will host a 2025 edition that has much to repair.
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