Nemo returned to Switzerland on Sunday amid cheers after his victory in the Eurovision 2024 song contest, an edition marked by controversy over Israel’s participation in the middle of the war in the Gaza Strip.
“Congratulations ‘honey pie’ (affectionate nickname in English, editor’s note)!” exclaimed an admirer of the 24-year-old non-binary artist, handing him a bouquet of flowers upon his arrival at Zurich airport from Copenhagen.
Others brandished flags with the message in English: “We exist, we insist, we persist,” in reference to the struggle of non-binary people for recognition of their identity. Another banner proclaimed “Woman, man, human” in German.
A step towards the visibility of non-binary people
Nemo Mettler, who asks to be called with gender-neutral pronouns, won the contest with The codea very personal song that chronicles their journey towards realizing their gender identity.
Fans gathered behind barriers waited patiently for Nemo as he sang his song again. Applause began when the performer appeared, who responded with two thumbs up before taking selfies and signing autographs.
Nemo joined a group of fans chanting “We broke the codes,” “we exist,” even hugging a fan wearing a “Protect Trans Kids” t-shirt.
This contest appears periodically as a showcase for the LGBTQ+ community. Austrian bearded drag queen Conchita Wurstwho won the 2014 edition, or the French candidate Bilal Hassani in 2019, marked the competition.
“Unreal”
At a press conference after this triumphant return, Nemo indicated that he wanted to rest in his garden. “I’m going to lie down and try to calm down a little,” said the artist. “It feels like it’s not real.”
“I broke the codes, I broke the trophy,” Nemo repeated, after literally breaking it in a gesture of enthusiasm upon receiving his prize.
The welcome from the fans at the airport was “extremely beautiful (…) it showed me how good it is to be part of a community.”
“A great party in the city”
Nemo Mettler, who currently lives in Berlin, is originally from Bienne, a bilingual German-French city in northern Switzerland, where a public reception is planned to congratulate the country’s child.
“It will surely be a big party in the city, with the public and the fans,” predicted the mayor of Biel, Erich Fehr, interviewed at the airport by the Swiss press agency Keystone-ATS.
“It’s crazy, it’s an incredible story that Nemo de Bienne has won this title. The most important music competition in the world. We are really proud and happy,” he added. The director of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation, Gilles Marchand, also highlighted the “immense success” of Nemo.
Eurovision 2025 in Switzerland
This is Switzerland’s third victory in the Eurovision contest since its creation in 1956. As tradition dictates, the country will host the next edition.
“Although the broadcast of the Eurovision Song Contest represents a great challenge for all television networks in terms of resources and finances, we are delighted to know that our country will host this very popular event in 2025,” continued Gilles Marchand.
A controversial edition
Switzerland is ahead of Croatia, Ukraine, France led by singer Slimane and Israel, represented by Eden Golan, which closes the Top 5. The presence of a candidate from Israel sparked a heated controversy while his country launched a deadly offensive against Hamas in Gaza. after a bloody attack by the Palestinian group on October 7 in Israel.
The European Broadcasting Union, which organizes the event, estimated that more than 160 million people watched the 2024 competition, broadcast live in the 37 countries participating in the final and on YouTube.
Source: BFM TV
