What to know:
- Switzerland's Nemo has claimed the Eurovision trophy, becoming the first nonbinary winner in the contest's history.
- The victory comes after a contest riven by tensions and controversy, with the Netherlands’ contestant, Joost Klein, dramatically expelled over a backstage incident that is being investigated by police.
- Eurovision organizers have long strived to keep politics aside, but thousands took to the streets to protest Israel’s inclusion in the contest after the country’s contestant, Eden Golan, qualified for the Grand Final.
- Organizers made a plea for the crowd not to boo any artists ahead of the contest, but there were audible jeers from parts of the crowd as Golan performed on Saturday night, while others cheered her on. The crowd also booed the contest's head, Martin Österdahl.
Eurovision winner says 'a lot of work' needed after tensions loomed over contest
Speaking at their winner's press conference, Swiss artist Nemo addressed controversies that have seen Eurovision week become unusually tumultuous, with questions over the last-minute disqualification of Dutch entrant Joost Klein, as well as protests over Israel's participation.
Asked about the difficulties, Nemo said: "This whole experience was really intense, and not pleasant all the way. There were a lot of things that didn’t seem like it was all about love and unity, and that made me really sad."
They added: "I really hope that Eurovision can continue to stand for peace and love in the future, and I think that needs a lot of work still."
Nemo also said they had to "smuggle" a nonbinary flag into the event because "Eurovison said no," adding: "Maybe Eurovision needs a little fixing too every now and then." Long-standing restrictions on what flags are permitted at Eurovision have also seen artists and fans prevented from displaying the Palestinian flag at this year's event.
The musician, 24, said they were "incredibly proud" to be the contest's first nonbinary winner, adding that queer people "need to be heard and need to be understood."
They added: "To know that a song where I speak about my story has touched so many people, and maybe inspired other people to stay true to their stories, is the most insane thing that has ever happened to me."
What to know about Nemo, the artist whose nonbinary anthem wowed Europe
MALMÖ, Sweden — Nemo, who is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns, explained ahead of the final that their song "The Code" is about discovering their nonbinary identity.
They told NBC News that the song “definitely stems from a lot of nonbinary joy” and is “a very empowering song to sing onstage,” though they also feel vulnerable singing it.
“That’s the interesting thing about art,” they said. “When you kind of let both sides shine, you know, and I think the vulnerability kind of works with the empowerment. They kind of work together and I feel like that creates the thing that creates the special spark of the song in a way.”
The rapper and singer was born in 1999 in Biel, a small French-German bilingual town in Switzerland. Aged just 24, they are already a prominent musician in their home country, and previously competed on “The Masked Singer Switzerland.”
Nemo expressed hope their presence on the stage will help other nonbinary people watching at home.
“I hope that people around the world just feel seen,” they said, and “really get to feel that it’s OK to be yourself. It’s not just OK, no, you’re like, they’re perfect the way they are, you know, the people that are watching and no one can take that away from them."
Asked about winning ahead of the contest, they said: “Oh, my God, that would that would be insane. Actually, that would — I don’t know if my my brain could process that.”
Switzerland wins Eurovision 2024
Swiss artist Nemo is officially this year's Eurovision winner. The nonbinary musician placed fifth with the public but dominated in the international jury vote, made up of music experts who hand out half of the contest's points.
Nemo received 365 points from the juries and 226 from the public for a total of 591, well ahead of Croatia's second-placed Baby Lasagna, who received a combined total of 547 points after topping the televote.
Switzerland last won in 1988, when Céline Dion represented the country.
Receiving the trophy from last year's winner Loreen, Nemo said the contest should "live up to its promise and continue to stand up for peace and dignity for every person."
Swiss artist Nemo tops jury vote
International juries made up of music experts around the world have spoken — and they have chosen Nemo of Switzerland. Nemo won the jury vote with 365 votes, followed by the artists from France and Croatia.
Next, the results of the public vote will be revealed, which make up half of the vote, confirming the winner of Eurovision 2024.
For American fans, Eurovision is finally going mainstream
MALMÖ, Sweden — This year, fans from 89 countries bought tickets to see Eurovision in person, and ticket buyers from the United States were the fifth largest group of purchasers despite not even participating in the contest.
The growing interest is at least partially due to Will Ferrell’s “Eurovision” movie, according to American YouTuber and Eurovision super fan Alesia Michelle.
“I actually think that ended up being a wonderful gateway for a lot of Americans who maybe had heard about it.”
She thinks awareness is spreading in the U.S., with what was once only known for weird performances that went viral now slightly more mainstream.
“There were all the memes of sort of like, here’s that time of year where everyone in the United States is like, what’s going on? And I actually kind of feel like you can’t really pull that joke anymore,” she told NBC News.
“People know what it is. They might not know it deeply. But I think in America now people at least have a sense of the scale and a sense of what’s kind of going on.”
Could Switzerland's Nemo be the contest's first nonbinary winner?
MALMÖ, Sweden — It is still early in the voting, but Switzerland's Nemo is pulling ahead with the international juries made up of musical experts who decide half of the points at Eurovision.
If they remain ahead, Nemo could be the first nonbinary artist in Eurovision history to win the contest.
They told NBC News ahead of the final: “Oh my god, that would that would be insane. Actually, that would I don’t know if my brain could process that.”
Past LGBTQ Eurovision winners include transgender singer Dana International, who won for Israel in 1998, drag artist Conchita Wurst, who won for Austria in 2014, and Dutch "Arcade" singer Duncan Laurence, who is bisexual and won in 2019.
Eurovision boss Martin Österdahl booed in arena after days of tensions
Executive supervisor of the contest, Martin Österdahl, faced boos throughout the arena during his speech at the Grand Final in Malmö. The Eurovision boss has been the subject of negativity over the past few days as the competition became steeped in tension.
How the voting works at Eurovision
We're into the Eurovision results now. Half of the points at Eurovision come from a public vote, while the other half comes from juries of music experts in all 37 competing countries.
The jury results are revealed via a remote linkup with a representative in each country, whose job is to reveal the top-scoring artist getting their "douze points" (12 points) as well as those getting 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1.
After results from all 37 countries are revealed, it's time for the public vote results to be revealed — confirming the artist who has won.
Loreen, last year's winner, reprises her winning song
MALMÖ, Sweden — It’s Eurovision tradition that a winning artist performs again the following year, so Loreen will be performing a medley of her winning song, “Tattoo,” and her new single “Forever.”
In an interview with NBC News earlier this week, Loreen said “Tattoo” was the start of a story that “Forever” finishes.
“This is the conclusion of that journey, which is basically life. Everybody’s life, your life, my life,” she said, “And what is the conclusion? Love. Everything is love. That is the conclusion. Like, once you’ve gone through all of that you realize that the only thing that actually matters is feeling love and being loved.”
Loreen described “Forever” as “a gift” for Eurovision fans, saying she wanted to give back to the community because she feels a “real deep gratitude for the moment that I experienced last year.”
Eurovision legends pay tribute to ABBA
MALMÖ, Sweden — Fifty years ago, ABBA’s win at Eurovision helped propel them, and Swedish pop music, to mainstream success.
The band is notoriously uninterested in reuniting onstage. So for tonight’s show, contest organizers roped in some former Eurovision winners to pay tribute instead.
Following some clips of ABBA members reminiscing about their success, 1991 Swedish winner Carola, 1999 Swedish winner Charlotte Perrelli, and 2014 Austrian winner Conchita Wurst are in the arena to sing ABBA’s winning song “Waterloo.”