The Eurovision winner, Nemo, has criticised the competition’s double standards and labelled the organisers “unbelievable” at the winners’ press conference. Switzerland’s Nemo won the contest in Malmö, Sweden with their song The Code, becoming the first ever non-binary winner in the competition’s history. During their appearance at the press conference, Nemo criticised the way that the contest was run by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), making specific reference to the policy of not allowing non-binary flags into the arena.
Nemo had to smuggle their flag into the venue because Eurovision said no. Nemo commented, “But, I mean, come on, this is clearly a double standard.” Nemo also appeared to break the crystal winner’s trophy and added: “The trophy can be fixed – maybe Eurovision needs fixing a little bit too, every now and then.” Despite their criticisms, Nemo dedicated their win to the people that are daring to be themselves and need to be heard and understood.
Ireland’s entrant, Bambie Thug, was more scathing in their views on the EBU in their press conference. They stated, “I’m so proud of Nemo winning, I’m so proud that all of us are in the top 10 that have been fighting for this s*** behind the scenes because it has been so hard and so horrible for us. I’m so proud of us. We are what the Eurovision is. The EBU is not what the Eurovision is. F*** the EBU. I don’t even care anymore. F*** them. The thing that makes this is the contestants, the community behind it, the love and the power and the support of all of us is what is making change.”
This year’s contest was dogged with controversy following the EBU’s decision to allow Israel to compete amongst the Israel-Palestine conflict. The move was criticised as “cultural cover and endorsement for the catastrophic violence that Israel has unleashed on Palestinians” by organisations such as Queers for Palestine, who wrote an open letter to UK entry Olly Alexander to boycott the contest this year. Over 1,000 Swedish artists called for Israel to be banned this year, such as Robyn, Fever Ray, and First Aid Kit, and artists such as Olly Alexander faced calls to boycott the event
Read the full article on NME here: Read More