Swiss broadcaster SRG has announced the two remaining cities in the running to host Eurovision 2025. Either Basel or Geneva will be selected to host the 69th edition of the song contest, which will be held in Switzerland next year following Nemo’s victory in Malmö earlier this year. Nemo’s win was the first for Switzerland since Celine Dion’s win in 1988 with ‘Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi,’ and they were the first non-binary winner in Eurovision history.
Cities in Switzerland submitted bids to SRG, outlining why they would make a suitable location for the next instalment, as well as meeting an extensive list of requirements; these included arena concept, public transport links, sustainability, available hotel accommodation, security and waste disposal concepts, investment, event experience, support and motivation from the city, and more. Following careful consideration from the Eurovision team, Basel and Geneva made it to the final two.
This year’s contest was mired in controversy due to the EBU’s decision to allow Israel to compete amid the Israel-Palestine conflict. Queers For Palestine criticised the move as “cultural cover and endorsement for the catastrophic violence that Israel has unleashed on Palestinians” while over 1,000 Swedish artists called for Israel to be banned. Ireland’s entrant Bambie Thug was outspoken in their criticism of the EBU, saying “The EBU is not what the Eurovision is. Fuck the EBU. 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.”
Despite the controversies, Nemo praised the competition while also highlighting some of its flaws, calling out the organisers’ “double standard” and declaring that maybe Eurovision needed fixing. However, they dedicated their win to “people that need to be heard and need to be understood,” especially those who dare to be themselves
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