Switzerland’s self-described “non-binary” rapper Nemo has won the 68th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, with the song “The Code”.
Held in Malmö, this year’s Eurovision contest was marred by anti-Israel demonstrations in the multicultural Swedish city over the participation of 20-year-old Russian-Israeli singer Eden Golan.
While Golan received large support from the public, receiving a surprising 338 points from the audience vote — temporarily putting Israel in the lead — Golan ultimately ended up in fifth place. Meanwhile, Britain’s Olly Alexander received an embarrassing zero votes from the public, many of whom cast their votes in favour of Golan, in an apparent protest against the large-scale anti-Israel demonstrations.
It was Swiss rapper Nemo who came out on top at the end with a total of 591 votes from the public and Eurovision judges, becoming the first so-called “non-binary” performer — demanding to be addressed by they/them pronouns — to win the contest and the third contestant to win the contest, following Lys Assia in the first edition of the contest in 1956 and Celine Dion in 1988.
Accepting the award, Nemo said per Sky News: “I want to say thank you so much, I hope this contest can live up to its promise and continue to stand for peace and dignity for every person in this world”.
Nemo was not the only “non-binary” contestant this year, with Ireland’s entry, Bambie Thug, who claims to practice “neo-pagan blood magic” also identifying as such and demanding “they/them” pronouns.
The Irish performer, whose song “Doomsday Blue” heavily featured Satanic and “Wiccan” imagery, said that she “cried with her team” when hearing that Israel had reached the Eurovision final and reportedly forced organisers to relocate Israel’s Eden Golan into a separate waiting room ahead of the final.
During her final performance, Golan was forced to perform in front of boos from the Eurovision audience in Sweden, with chants of “free Palestine” being heard. The booing intensified as Golan began to sing a verse from her song, “Hurricane”, in Hebrew.
Securing 375 votes, Golan came in fifth in the contest, beating out Bambie Thug, who came in sixth place with 278 votes. Israel also received the second-most votes from the public at 323, only trailing Croatia, which received 337.
During the contest, Golan was largely confined to her hotel room under heavy guard and was escorted in a police convoy to the finals as upwards of 10,000 anti-Israel protesters took to the streets of Malmö on Saturday over the Jewish singer’s participation in the pop contest.
The protesters were joined once again by professional activist Greta Thunberg, who appeared at the rally dressed in Palestinian colours before being arrested again.