Nemo is the first nonbinary winner of Eurovision

Malmo, Sweden: Nemo, representing Switzerland, won the Eurovision Song Contest for The Code, a catchy track in which Nemo raps and sings operatically about their journey to realizing they were nonbinary.

The victory – the first for a nonbinary performer and the first for Switzerland since Celine Dion won in 1988 – capped a rocky week of the competition, a cultural juggernaut in which singers and rappers represent their countries and perform for votes.

To more casual observers, it’s simply a fun, camp – and often bewildering – night of TV, with extravagant songs and outrageous outfits. But the contest also often has political undertones, and the run-up to this year’s event in Malmo, Sweden, was overshadowed by the war in the Gaza Strip.

For months, thousands of Eurovision fans, as well as dozens of pro-Palestinian organizations, lobbied the competition’s organizers to ban Israel because of its war with Hamas in Gaza.

On Saturday, about 5,000 pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched through the Malmo city center to protest Israel’s involvement, and as the final prepared to kick off, a handful of vocal protesters were removed by police from in front of Malmo Arena.

Here’s what else to know:

– Eurovision’s organisers refused to bar Israel’s entry. Eden Golan, a 20-year-old pop star, represented Israel with “Hurricane”, a ballad that obliquely references Israeli grief over the October 7 attacks by Hamas. Her performance was met with some boos in the arena.

– Organisers banned the Netherlands’ entry. The European Broadcasting Union, which organizes the contest, said in a statement that it was “investigating an incident” involving Dutch artist Joost Klein, and on Saturday morning, a Swedish police spokesperson said officers were investigating a man “suspected of unlawful threats” toward a Eurovision employee.

– This was the third time that Malmo, a city of 3,60,000 people on Sweden’s southwest coast, has hosted the Eurovision Song Contest. In the past 30 years, the city has undergone a transformation to become the country’s youngest, fastest-growing metropolis.