Nemo, the non-binary star who overturns the predictions at Eurovision
At a certain point he turned the signal and overtook the other favorite to win on the left, the Croatian Baby Lasagna with his “Rim tim tagi dim”. Then the latter returned to pole position. But Nemo doesn't give up. The prices of the Swiss singer, competing in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 with his “The code”, these days they are on the rise slightly. According to the Eurovision World portal, which aggregates the prices of the main betting agencies, he has a 19% chance of winningpractically half of Baby Lasagna.
Small detail: unlike the Croatian, Nemo has not yet officially performed on stage. .With his “The code” he will pass this evening, in the second of the two semi-finals of the continental event (live on Rai2 from 9pm with commentary by Gabriele Corsi and Mara Maionchi – tonight “our” Angelina Mango, a rightful finalist with her “La noia”) will also appear on the Malmö Arena stage for the first time). Woe betide you if you consider Baby Lasagna the announced winner: with “The code” Nemo aims to upset the predictions.
The song of the Swiss pop star, icon of the lgbtq communitya ode to gender fluidity, can greatly excite the varied people of the Eurovision Song Contest. Nemo Mettler, this is the singer's real name, born in 1999, sings it on a rotating platform, wearing a rose-colored feathered dress and skirt: “The song is about breaking codes – said Nemo, who in interviews asks to be referred to with the gender-neutral English pronouns they/them, to the Swiss newspaper Le Matin – I think we have all wanted to overcome certain limits in our lives. In my case, it's because I'm non-binary. I feel neither man nor woman. I'm somewhere between the two”.
No superstition. Nemo says it clearly: “My goal? Winning Eurovision”. In the song mixes lyrical soprano warbles with rap verses The end result is something that remains poised between disaster and triumph: “This song is made up of different facets of my personality.
I studied opera singing from 9 to 13 years old. I loved him. Then I started listening to rap and I did it for a long time. Today I feel comfortable in pop. I put all this together to create a magical piece,” she says. Tonight he shouldn't struggle to win one of the last ten passes that remain available for the final on Saturday. She will have to contend with the Maltese Sarah Bonnici, the Albanian Besa, the Greek Marina Satti, the Czech Aiko, the Austrian Kaleen, the Danish Saba, the Armenians Ladaniva, the Latvian Dons, the Spanish Megara (who however represent San Marino), the Georgian Nutsa Buzaladze, the Belgian Mustii, the Estonians 5miinust and Puuluup, the Israeli Eden Golan, the Norwegians Gåte and the Dutch Joost Klein.
In Switzerland Nemo made himself known in 2015 thanks to the single “Du”, written in Swiss German, which topped the official Swiss chart, the Schweizer Hitparade. In 2018 he won four awards at the Swiss Music Awards, the main Swiss music awards, winning the statuettes as “best Swiss song”, “best Swiss artist”, “best live performance” and “best male solo artist”. In 2021 he participated in the Swiss version of “The Masked Singer”, placing fifth. “The code” already has 6 million streams on Spotify: “What makes this song so special is that I can say in front of everyone that I feel good and that I am exactly who I want to be”.
