Switzerland wins Eurovision 2024, Ukraine comes third

The Eurovision Song Contest ended in the Swedish city of Malmö. Switzerland's Nemo won the 2024 contest with the song "The Code." They received a total of 591 points. This is the country's first victory in a long time—since 1988 when Celine Dion won the competition.

Nemo is a non-binary person who uses they/them pronouns. Along with Ireland's Bambie Thug, they are the first non-binary people to sing at Eurovision.

Nemo said that the song described the realization of non-binary identity, saying that it gave them "freedom." Participation in the contest will provide an opportunity to "advocate for the entire LGBTQIA+ community."

"I want to say thank you. I hope this victory continues with peace and freedom for every person in the world," said Nemo from the stage, receiving the crystal microphone.

Croatia's contestant, Baby Lasagna, with the song "Rim Tim Tagi Dim," took second place and received 547 points.

Ukraine's representatives Alyona Alyona & Jerry Heil, with the song "Teresa & Maria," took third place and scored 453 points.

The jury in the Czech Republic and Moldova gave Ukraine the highest score of 12, and Estonia, France, and Poland gave Ukraine 10 points each. After the audience vote, Ukraine moved to third place, receiving 307 points from the audience.

After the performance, Alyona Alyona & Jerry Heil spoke from the stage: «Unity for the world! Peace and Freedom for Ukraine!»

The five finalists also included France and Israel.

In total, performers from 25 countries took part in the final of the competition: Latvia: Dons – "Hollow"; Austria: Kaleen – "We Will Rave"; Norway: Gåte – "Ulveham"; Israel: Eden Golan – "Hurricane"; Greece: Marina Satti – "Zari"; Estonia: 5Miinust x Puuluup – "(nendest) narkootikumidest ei tea me (küll) magadi"; Switzerland: Nemo – "The Code"; Georgia: Nutsa Buzaladze – "Firefighter"; Armenia: LADANIVA – "Jako"; Serbia: Teya Dora – "Ramonda"; Portugal: Iolanda – "Grito"; Slovenia: Raiven – "Veronika"; Ukraine: Alyona Alyona & Jerry Heil – "Teresa & Maria"; Lithuania: Silvester Belt – "Luktelk"; Finland: Windows95man – "No Rules!"; Cyprus: Silia Kapsis – "Liar"; Croatia: Baby Lasagna – "Rim Tim Tagi Dim"; Ireland: Bambie Thug – "Doomsday Blue"; Luxembourg: Tali – "Fighter"; Great Britain: Olly Alexander – "Dizzy"; Germany: Isaak – "Always On The Run"; Spain: Nebulossa – "Zorra"; Italy: Angelina Mango – "La noia"; France: Slimane – "Mon Amour"; Sweden: Marcus & Martinus – "Unforgettable".

Initially, 26 contestants made it to the final. However, on Saturday morning, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) disqualified the representative of the Netherlands after a female crew member complained about an incident in the semi-final.

Ukraine at Eurovision

Ukraine debuted at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2003. In 2004, Ukrainian singer Ruslana won the contest with the song Wild Dances and earned the country the right to host the Eurovision Song Contest in Ukraine.

In 2016, after a one-year break, Ukraine was represented at the contest by the singer Jamala with the song "1944", which became the winner, and in 2017, Ukraine again hosted the Eurovision Song Contest.

In 2019, Ukraine did not participate in the contest due to public criticism of the winner of the national selection, singer Maruv, due to her performance in the Russian Federation.

In 2020, the Eurovision Song Contest was not held in the usual competition format due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2021, Ukraine was represented at Eurovision by the electro-folk group Go_A, which took fifth place in the competition's final.

In 2022, the Ukrainian group Kalush Orchestra won the Eurovision Song Contest in Turin (Italy) with the song Stefania. Still, due to the war, Great Britain hosted the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 on behalf of Ukraine.

In 2023, at Eurovision, Ukraine was represented by the Tvorchi group with the song Heart Of Steel, which took sixth place.

Ukraine participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 19 times and won thrice (Ruslana, Jamala, Kalush Orchestra). It made it to the top five finalists five more times: Verka Serdyuchka (2nd place), Ani Lorak (2nd), Zlata Ognevich (3rd), Mika Newton (4th), and Go_A (5th).