Switzerland Eurovision spokesperson denies winner considered pulling out of contest

nme.com:

Eurovision has denied that the 2024 winner considered pulling out of the contest at the last minute.The grand final of this year’s competition was held in Malmö, Sweden on Saturday May 11.

Nemo won for Switzerland with ‘The Code’, and became Eurovision’s first-ever non-binary winner. It also marked the first victory for the country since 1988, when Celine Dion entered with ‘Ne partez pas sans moi’.However, the 2024 edition of the event was mired by widespread political backlash over the inclusion of Israel amid the ongoing Hamas-Israel conflict.Numerous contestants, including Ireland’s Bambie Thug and the UK’s Olly Alexander, faced pressure to boycott the event in solidarity with Palestine.

But in a collective statement, the two reaffirmed their pro-Palestine stance and confirmed that they would not boycott.Additionally, over 1,000 Swedish artists called for Israel to be banned, including Robyn, Fever Ray, and First Aid Kit, while more than 1,400 Finnish music industry professionals signed a petition to stop the country taking part.Israel ultimately competed at the final, despite contestant Eden Golan being booed by the audience during a dress rehearsal.

Her song ‘Hurricane’ earned 323 points from the voting public (the second most in the competition), and 52 from the jury. It was later revealed that Eurovision 2024 broke global viewing figures, despite the widespread controversy and protests.Earlier this week, it was reported that six countries almost pulled out of this month’s song contest – just 25 minutes before the live grand final.