Key events
Switzerland wins the Eurovision song contest – summary
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Switzerland has won the Eurovision song contest with a song called The Code by non-binary singer Nemo.
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Croatia finished second with Baby Lasagna’s much-fancied Rim Tim Tagi Dim.
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A huge public vote lifted Israel’s entry into fifth place despite low jury scores after a Eurovision week where protesters in Malmö had demonstrated against the country’s participation during the conflict in Gaza.
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The UK’s Olly Alexander finished in 18th place, amassing 46 points from jury votes, but nothing from the public.
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Ukraine finished third, with France fourth. Ireland’s Bambie Thug, who describes their genre as “Ouija-pop”, came sixth.
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One of the favourites, Joost Klein of the Netherlands, did not appear in the final after being disqualified after organisers said he was involved in an incident involving a female member of the production crew before the final rehearsals.
Thank you so much for reading the live blog tonight. Here is the winner …
Here is the official video of the winner. Switzerland have won twice before, but this is the first time since 1988 when *checks notes* Céline Dion won with Ne partez pas sans moi.
Nemo’s winning song The Code was written by Benjamin Alasu, Lasse Midtsian Nymann, Linda Dale and Nemo Mettler, and I would say it merged opera, rap, pop, and had a touch of Sparks about it. If you don’t know who Sparks are, there is a whole documentary. Loreen has just presented the trophy to Nemo, who will perform the song again. It is a worthy winner, and they said: “I hope this contest can continue to live up to its promise to stand for dignity and peace everywhere.”
Switzerland wins Eurovision!
Switzerland has won the 68th Eurovision song contest! Nemo has triumphed in Malmö with The Code
Switzerland need 180ish points to win this. Croatia and France are the only other contenders.
Oooooooh Croatia
Ireland’s Bambie Thug and her ritual moved up to third but suddenly Ukraine also have a huge public vote and go into the lead, just shy of a hundred points ahead of Switzerland. I think Switzerland have got this unless France and Croatia can out-do them.
The UK’s Olly Alexander ends up with zero votes from the public. Wow. He did not deserve that.
Israel had 52 from the jury and got a huge 322 points from the public but it puts them 10 points clear of Switzerland for now in the lead. It isn’t enough to win.
Estonia avoided null points, they got 4 from the jury and 33 from the public, Finland’s Wndow95GetThemOutEdgelord didn’t do great either, making me feel justified in being super critical of them earlier.
If a country won 12 points from every country plus the world jury they could add 456 points! So still difficult to call but Switzerland’s Nemo is very much in pole position here.
The top five after the jury vote:
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Switzerland 365
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France 218
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Croatia 210
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Italy 164
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Ukraine 146
We are 34 juries in of the 37, and Switzerland are (hasty maths) 133 points ahead. But a country can pick up hundreds of points in the public vote so this is not done and dusted by any means.
If you have just joined us, Switzerland have a big lead after 30 of 37 juries have given their scores. The public vote could change everything. But here is Nemo’s The Code which is out in front at the minute …
