Eurovision winner Nemo to return trophy in protest at Israel taking part in 2026 | Eurovision
Swiss singer Nemo, who won the 2024 Eurovision song contest, said they would return their trophy in protest of Israel’s participation in next year’s event.
The 26-year-old, who became the contest’s first non-binary winner, said on Thursday there was a “clear conflict” between Eurovision’s ideals of “unity, inclusion and dignity for all” and the decision to allow Israel to compete.
They said in a statement on Instagram: “While I am incredibly grateful for the community around this competition and everything this experience has taught me both as a person and as an artist, today I no longer see this trophy on my shelf.”
Their decision deepens the crisis over Eurovision 2026, which is currently facing a boycott by five countries due to Israel’s war in Gaza.
After the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which organized the competition, refused to expel Israel due to its war management, Spain, Ireland, the Netherlands and Slovenia announced that they would boycott the competition. They were joined on Wednesday by Iceland, where the board of national broadcaster RÚV voted not to participate.
In his statements, Nemo said: “This is not about individuals or artists. The competition has been used repeatedly to soften the image of a state accused of serious crimes, while the EBU has insisted that Eurovision is ‘non-political’. And when entire countries withdraw because of this contradiction, it must be obvious that something is deeply wrong. So I decided to send my trophy back to the EBU’s headquarters in Geneva.”
Israeli broadcaster Kan rejected allegations of political interference and welcomed the decision to keep Israel in the competition. Israeli President Isaac Herzog said Israel “deserves to be represented on every stage of the world.”
On Wednesday, the Israeli embassy in Norway, which also manages Israel’s relations with Iceland, said it was “disappointed” by RÚV’s move, which it said was “completely contrary to the spirit of the competition.”
With six months to go, 34 countries are scheduled to attend next year’s edition, but some have not yet said whether they will attend.
The BBC, which runs the internal selection process for Britain’s representative, said it supported the decisions taken at the EBU summit but did not respond to questions about whether this meant it would attend.
