The 2024 Eurovision ratings have reportedly taken a tumble, as the competition was hit with a number of controversies and boycott calls. The contest received criticism for including Israel due to their role in the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict. This prompted boycott calls from the LGBT+ community towards the UK entry Olly Alexander. Additionally, over 1,000 Swedish artists and more than 1,400 Finnish music industry professionals signed petitions to ban Israel, while 400 Irish artists called on Bambie Thug to boycott the contest. The Netherlands’ entry Joost Klein was also disqualified after making verbal threats towards a female member of the production crew.
As a result, viewership figures appear to have taken a hit. According to agency Digital.i, this year’s competition was watched by an average of 7.64 million viewers, with a peak of 8.46 million. In comparison to last year’s contest, a peak of 11 million viewers tuned in with an average of 9.98 million. While some fans like Jay Aston of The Fizz (fka Buck’s Fizz) said they would be watching the competition, comedian Sam Lake stated they would be boycotting, saying they felt “the way that the EBU has managed their participation has been very questionable.”
Despite the controversy, Switzerland’s entry Nemo won, becoming the first nonbinary contestant to win the contest. In their victory speech, Nemo hoped the contest could continue to stand for peace and dignity for every person in this world, however, in a later press conference, they criticized the “unbelievable double standard” of the competition, saying it “needs fixing”.
Nemo was not the only person who reported issues during the competition. In other news, Olly Alexander’s dad was “surprised” at the public giving him zero points for his performance of ‘Dizzy.
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