Eurovision Song Contest Recap: Swiss Nemo Wins Amongst an Otherwise Sh*t Show
It wasn’t to be for Australia in 2024, with Electric Fields narrowly missing a grand final place. Despite a fabulous rendition of ‘One Milkali (One Blood)’ in the semi final, they didn’t get enough public votes to finish in the top ten. It was just our second time missing the grand final.It was better news for Sydney high school student SilliaKapais who not only represented Cyprus but managed to get her killer pop/dance song ‘Liar’ to fifteenth place in the grand final.Let’s not beat around the bush. The presence of Israel in the midst of their ongoing campaign against Palestinians in Gaza made the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest a difficult one. With the European Broadcast Union (EBU) trying to keep the event in Malmo, Sweden “non-political” they effectively censored participants, and at times the audience, who felt strongly that Israel should have been banned. It was a week of high drama, high emotion, and one that eventually produced a winner for the ages.Switzerland took the converted trophy with Nemo winning the Jury poll and getting enough public votes to be crowned champion. The non-binary artist’s performance was spectacular as they rotated, climbed and dropped along a rotating disc, never missing a note on ‘TheCode’. The song encompasses opera, rap, pop and some filthy beats, and was met with rousing singing and applause in the arena.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CO_qJf-nW0kSecond place Croatia were the public favourites, with BabyLasagna's ‘Rim Tim Tagi Dim’ winning the public vote. It had actually gone into the grand final as the betting favourite, thanks to the larger than life semi final performance. The Rammstein-meets-TISM song style was both unique and full of joy in a way that resonated with many. Few would have complained if he had won.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIBjarAiAVcAs mentioned in the wonderful section of my preview, Ukraine, France, Italy and Sweden had great artists and songs and all finished in the top 10. The bolter was the weird pop-metal-Wiccan BambieThug from Ireland, who became the first openly non-binary artist at Eurovision with their performance on Semi Final 1 (Nemo became the second in Semi Final 2). Their performance of ‘DoomsdayBlue’ included pagan imagery, zombie dancing and a floating ring of candles. They had been outspoken in their support of Palestine and been targeted by the Israeli broadcasters. Qualifying for the grand final broke the Irish curse and their sixth place finish was an all time highlight, especially as they were the first artists to run to Nemo and congratulate them on their win.But outside of these highlights, it was, quite frankly, a shit show.Prior to the Jury grand final performance (which doubles as the final live rehearsal), it was announced that the Netherlands contestant Joost would not be performing ‘Europapa’. As another critic of Palestine, the rumour mill ran hot and the EBU took their time investigating and announcing his eventual disqualification. It emerged that he had been involved in an altercation with a member of the production crew backstage after Semi Final 2. The grand final would go on with 25 participating countries.It was the first disqualification of its kind in Eurovision history.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiHFnmI8pxgHowever, that was far from the end of it. In the hours before the grand final, three jury spokespeople withdrew from the telecast, among them past contestants Alessandra (Norway) and fan favourite Käärijä (Finland) as well as the Netherlands. The Netherlands votes were read by EBU executive MartinÖsterdahl, who was soundly booed by the audience. In solidarity with Joost, Nemo didn’t celebrate the 12 points he received at the time.In fact Österdahl was booed every time he appeared. It was actually tricky to be clear about why. The Joost mess was one thing, and the Israeli situation was a black cloud all week. Among other things, non-binary flags were removed from the audience, and both BambieThug and Portugal’s Iolanda were censored when they tried to use fingernails or make up to support Palestine. In all this, the music felt secondary.Which brings me to Israel, who finished fifth largely due to the massive public votes it received. The performance was booed consistently during both the semi final and grand final, though the EBU cut the crowd noise during the broadcast and replaced it with pre-recorded but generic applause. The release of voting results after the final depicts a coordinated effort to top the votes in fifteen countries (including Australia), as there had been little positive buzz about the song prior to the finals. It was an impossible situation, given enough EBU members still wanted Israel to be included (as opposed to Russia and Belarus who both remain banned).In spite of all this, many contestants ended their songs with calls for peace. BambieThug perhaps said it best:
“Love always triumphs over hate.”
Same time next year?Recap by KJ Draven @kjdravenhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMq8ofCstMQ
