'Singer Neither Male Nor Female' Wins Europe's Largest Pop Festival

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'Qualification Controversy' Israeli Singer Golan Ranks 5th

NEMO, representing Switzerland at Europe's largest pop music festival 'Eurovision,' won the competition. NEMO is a sexual minority who identifies as non-binary, a third gender that is neither male nor female. This is the first time a non-binary person has won the Eurovision contest.

Israeli singer Eden Golan, who was at the center of controversy over participating in the competition, finished in 5th place.

Nemo, a Swiss singer who won the Eurovision Song Contest final held in Malm?, Sweden on the 11th.
[Photo by AFP]

According to foreign media including The New York Times (NYT), Reuters, AP, and AFP on the 11th (local time), NEMO's entry "The Code" scored 591 points to win the Eurovision final held in Malm?, Sweden, in the evening.

"The Code" is a song depicting NEMO's journey to find their identity as a sexual minority, and it is the first time since C?line Dion in 1998 that a Swiss representative has won Eurovision.

NEMO said, "The Code is a song about the process of realizing that I am neither a man nor a woman," expressing emotion, "I can't believe that a song that changed my life and talks about my life has touched so many people and inspired them to be true to themselves." They added, "I hope this contest becomes one that protects the peace and dignity of everyone."

Eurovision is the largest national song contest in Europe, started in 1956. It has produced artists like ABBA. About 200 million people watch the final every year. This year, 37 countries participated, each sending one singer as their representative, and the winner is chosen through voting held worldwide during the contest period.

This year's contest was embroiled in fierce controversy from the start over Israel's participation.

Israeli singer Eden Golan is passionately performing on the Eurovision semi-final stage held in Malm?, Sweden.
[Photo by AP Yonhap News]

Some argued that Israel, which is at war in the Palestinian Gaza Strip, should be banned from participating. They claimed that Israel, responsible for many Palestinian civilian casualties, was using Eurovision, which aims to be a non-political music festival, to "whitewash" its image.

However, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the organizer, did not accept this, leading to controversy over a "double standard," as EBU had banned Russia from participating after its invasion of Ukraine in 2022 but allowed Israel to compete. In particular, Eden Golan, representing Israel, sparked political neutrality controversy because the original title and lyrics of their song "October Rain" were reminiscent of Hamas's attack on Israel. Golan changed the song title to "Hurricane" and modified some lyrics.

According to Reuters, some audience members booed during Golan's performance, while others cheered in support.

Although Israel is not part of Europe, it has participated in Eurovision since 1973 as a full member of the EBU and has won four times. Some participants indirectly criticized the organizer's decision by mentioning peace.

Slimane, representing France, said during rehearsal, "Every artist here wants to sing about love and peace." Also, Portuguese singer Yolanda attracted attention by wearing checkered artificial nail decorations resembling the kaffiyeh scarf symbolizing solidarity with Palestine.