After Calls For Israel’s Contestant To Be Disqualified, Nonbinary Swiss Rapper Nemo Wins Eurovision Contest

On Saturday night, nonbinary Swiss rapper Nemo won the iconic Eurovision Song Contest held in Malmö, Sweden.

The coronation happened just hours after Irish Eurovision contestant Bambie Thug called to disqualify Israeli singer Eden Golan from the music competition. Organizers moved Golan and Israel’s delegation into a separate room after facing criticism from pro-Palestine activists.

Pro-Palestine protesters held demonstrations in Malmö, Sweden, where the competition was held. Israel’s participation in the music competition sparked criticism and controversy after over 30,000 Palestinians have been in the ongoing Gaza war after a surprise attack by Hamas killed 1,200 Israelis.

During Golan’s performance, Bambie Thug claimed Israeli commentators violated the contest’s rules. The singer did not file an official complaint against Golan to be disqualified. Golan and Bambie Thug were separated as Bambie Thug was said to be “mad at Israel.”

“I’m angry with other teams breaching their rules of the EBU and still being allowed in,” Bambie Thug stated. “So there’s definitely a war drum sounding in my heart to push the performance even more than I have done before.”

Amid the controversy, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent an encouraging message to Golan before the semi-finals.

“Eden, I want to wish you success. You know what? You’ve already succeeded because you are not only competing in Eurovision in a proud and very impressive way, you are successfully facing an ugly wave of antisemitism, and you are standing up to it and representing the State of Israel with great honor.”

In March 2023, uInterview spoke exclusively to Tymofii Muzychuk of Ukraine’s Kalush Orchestra, the 2019 Eurovision winner, about how the group also felt when their song “Stefania” won the contest. 

“We have this feeling of pride we were very happy that the song in Ukrainian, the song from Ukraine was loved by the Europeans and it became popular all over,” he said. “We were happy to present something from Ukraine.”