Switzerland wins Eurovision Song Contest 2024 amid controversy, Georgia Nutsa finishes 21st
The Eurovision Song Contest 2024 Grand Final took place in Malmo, Sweden on Saturday (May 11) and 25 contestants competed, including American Idol 2023 finalist, Nutsa Buzaladze representing her home country, Georgia. However, it was Switzerland who won the competition with their artist Nemo taking the title with a total of 591 points.
Nutsa finished the competition in 21st place with 34 points. She finished low. Nevertheless, she performed her song “Firefighter” twice, in front of millions of people worldwide. A MUCH bigger audience than any other singing show could provide.
Winner Nemo is a non-binary singer who won with his song “The Code.” The total votes in the final come from a combination of music industry juries in each participating country and global public votes. Croatia placed second with 547 votes, Ukraine third with 453 votes. France and Israel rounded out the Top 5 with 445 and 375 points, respectively.
Once the Jury votes are tabulated, adding the public votes is ALWAYS dramatic, and can be seen in the clip below.
Watch clips of Nemo’s dramatic performance
Nemo’s performance included him belting out impossibly high notes while spinning on a large disk. VERY dramatic.
Here’s his winning moment:
Watch his official music video, with features the entire song. Eurovision blocks the full videos of the live performances in the United States, unfortunately. However, Peacock subscribers can stream both semi-finals and the grand final NOW.
Controversy plagued Eurovision this year. There were rampant reports of unrest among the contestants and country delegations backstage. Many contestants and fans of the show were upset that Eurovision allowed Israel to compete amid the war they are waging in Gaza, in which tens of thousands of civilians, including children, have lost their lives. Protests took place outside the arena.
Additionally, Joost Klein of the Netherlands was disqualified hours before Saturday’s broadcast after a female crew member accused him of intimidation. She reported the incident to Swedish police.
