Switzerland on Saturday won Eurovision 2024 in Swedish host city Malmo, beating runner-up Croatia, after having been among bookmakers' top-three to win the competition.
Billed as a feel-good celebration of European diversity, this year's contest has been thrust into the political spotlight with calls for Israel to be excluded over its military campaign in Gaza, triggered by Hamas' deadly attack on Oct. 7 in Israel.
Swiss rapper and singer Nemo, 24, won the contest with "The Code", a drum-and-bass, opera, rap and rock song, about Nemo's journey of self-discovery as a non-binary person.
Croatia's Baby Lasagna, real name Marko Purisic, 28, came second with "Rim Tim Tagi Dim", a song about a young man who leaves home aspiring to become a "city boy" with better opportunities. Israel's Eden Golan, 20, finished fifth in the contest despite demonstrators' calls for a boycott of the country.
https://x.com/Israel/status/1789429203374354662
The female solo artist on Thursday emerged as one of the leading contenders to win after qualifying for the final. Booing was heard during Golan's performance but also applause, a Reuters photographer in the auditorium said. The noise was partly audible in the broadcast viewed by tens of millions of people in Europe and around the world.
There was also booing when the points of the Israeli jury were presented.
Police estimated that up to 8,000 people joined the protests.
Dutch fans disappointed
In another Eurovision controversy this year, Dutch contestant Joost Klein was expelled on Saturday from the competition final after a complaint by a member of the production crew, the EBU said.
"While the legal process takes its course, it would not be appropriate for him (Joost) to continue in the Contest," the EBU said in a statement. A representative for Klein did not immediately respond to a request for comment. According to Dutch broadcaster AVROTROS, Klein was filmed despite clearly made agreements, just after getting off stage after his performance at Thursday's semifinal. "This wasn't respected," AVROTROS said in a post on social media platform X, adding "This led to a threatening movement from Joost towards the camera."
Klein did not touch the camerawoman, according to AVROTROS, who said it found the artist's penalty "very heavy and disproportionate."
The evening the Eurovision Song Contest Grand Fianl (Saturday) kicked off, with 25 countries trying to be this year's champions, including, of course, the Israeli Eden Golan.
The final was supposed to include 26 participants, but earlier today the Dutch representative, Joost Klein, was disqualified from the song contest by the European Broadcasting Union after being involved yesterday in an incident where his behavior was deemed "inappropriate". Now, according to the betting odds at the time of writing, Golan has jumped to second place in the overall standings – and there are those betting that she could take the whole pot.
Phenomenal! 🇮🇱#Israel #Eurovision2024 #eurovisiongr #Vote06 #Israel12Points #EdenGolan https://t.co/gu6rjwJLFm
— Israel Hayom English (@IsraelHayomEng) May 11, 2024
Here is the liveblog that ran during the competition:
If this drama wasn't enough, outside the venue hosting the final in Malmö, Sweden, thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters have gathered to demonstrate against Israel. Months ago, many on the continent had hoped Israel would be disqualified from the competition, but the European Broadcasting Union refused to do so – and now all they have left is to protest (and even clash with police on site), hoping they don't disrupt Golan's performance beyond the expected booing, as happened in the second semifinal she participated ib Thursday, as well as in the various rehearsals.
Voting for the participating countries in the final opened with the start of the first song performance and close after the last song performance. As a reminder, Eden Golan was the fifth representative to perform her song ("Hurricane") on the final stage, but her voting number will be 06 as the union decided not to change the contestants' numbers following Klein's disqualification, who was one of the notable competitors in this year's Eurovision.
Video: Eden Golan on stage at the Eurovision Grand Final / Credit: Courtesy of Kan News
22:37 Eden is on stage. Despite boos, she is steadfast and singing without fear. There are also many cheers.
22:37: #breaking Eden Golan is about to go on stage to sing "Hurricane", join us live here: tinyurl.com/p3s4hd62 #Eurovision2024 #EdenGolan #vote06
22:15
The grand final of #Eurovision2024 has officially begun in Malmo, Sweden. Despite all the challenges, #EdenGolan will soon go on stage and represent Israel with the song "Hurricane". Good luck, Eden!
Video: Eden Golan enters the stage in the Grand Final, May 11, 2024 / Credit: Eran Swissa
Video: Eden Golan reacts to making it to the Grand Final / Credit: Kan News
22:31: The fourth song performed tonight is "Fighter" by Tali, the Israeli representative from Luxembourg. How do they put it? She's one of ours!
22:17: The competition officially kicked off with the performance by Norweigian nationals Marcus and Martinus, Sweden's representatives at Eurovision, who performed their song "Unforgettable".
22:05: The performers participating tonight are coming on stage with their countries' flags. When Eden Golan came on stage, there were many cheers of encouragement – but also quite a few boos.
22:03: The evening officially opened with a performance by Swedish singer Bjorn Skifs, who performed his huge hit "Hooked on a Feeling", which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.
22:00: Here we go! Before the artists take the big stage, a few videos are being shown to get the viewers ready for the long evening ahead.
