Switzerland act Nemo hit out at Eurovision organisers moments after winning the annual song contest.
Nemo impressed the jury and the public with their performance of “The Code” during the 2024 ceremony that took place in Malmo, Sweden.
This year’s contest has been one of the most controversial in Eurovision history thanks to the involvement of Israel, which led to pro-Palestine demonstrations outside the arena, and the disqualification of Netherlands act Joost Klein hours before he was due to perform.
The fact that audience members were told they were not allowed to bring non-binary flags into the arena brought criticism from Nemo in a press conference after winning.
Nemo, who has become the contest’s first-ever non-binary winner, was asked by Eurovoix reporter Daniel Stridh about this matter, and the artist branded it “unbelievable”.
“I had to smuggle my flag in because Eurovision said no, but I did it anyway, so I hope some people did that too,” they added. “But, I mean, come on, this is clearly a double standard.”
The singer, who broke their trophy after being crowned winner, continued: “The trophy can be fixed – maybe Eurovision needs fixing a little bit too, every now and then.”
Nemo received huge cheers and applause from reporters in the room.
They also said their “whole experience was really intense, and not just pleasant all the way”, telling journalists: “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 called for “more compassion” and “empathy”, and said their win was dedicated to “people that are daring to be themselves and people that need to be heard and need to be understood”.
The Independent has contacted the European Broadcasting Union for comment.
Switzerland won Eurovision with a whopping 591 points, closely followed by Croatia with 547 points.
Rounding out the top five were Ukraine (453 points), France (445 points) and Israel, who were awarded a full 12 points from the UK’s public vote. The country’s act, Eden Golan, received 375 points overall but, as noted by Graham Norton, received boos from the crowd.
The UK’s entry Olly Alexander finished in 18th place, out of 25, and received just 46 points for his song “Dizzy”, none of which came from the public televote.