Eurovision Song Contest winner Nemo has said the competition organisers failed to support contestants embroiled in the controversy around Israel’s participation in the show.
This year’s contest Eurovision faced calls for a boycott after the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) refused to block Israel taking part, during the country’s ongoing war with terrorist organisation Hamas in Gaza.
Now, Switzerland’s Nemo, the first non-binary winner of the contest, has spoken out against the organisers, alleging that they didn’t do enough to support the contestants who against allowing Israel to take part.
The singer described the atmosphere in Malmo, Sweden, where the final was held, as “quite tense”.
‘I sometimes felt very alone with a lot of things’
They told BBC News: “There were situations that are still being investigated by the EBU. They told us they would get back to us [but] haven’t yet. It’s a shame that [they are taking] so long, in my opinion.”
Nemo went on to say: “I sometimes felt very alone with a lot of things, or at least with the other artists, and it took long for [organisers] to get back to artists when they wrote to them.
“I really hope they have things in place for next year to make sure that part of the contest, especially mentally, gets taken care of. I know that some other artists were also feeling that way.”
The EBU has said it is continuing to deal internally with the issue and, separately, an independent consultation has made recommendations, including developing a duty of care protocol for contestants.
Figures released after this year’s contest showed that about 25 per cent fewer Brits watched the show year compared with in 2023.
Nemo previously revealed that they had to “smuggle” their non-binary flag into the contest’s grand final after claiming it wasn’t allowed in the arena.
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