The Eurovision 2024 festival has turned out to be one of the most complicated editions of the musical contest. Israel’s participation in the semi-final and final raised public disdain and protests in Malmö, as well as uncovering the abusive behavior of the KAN delegation behind the scenes. A tense Saturday night that ended up crowning Switzerland as the next host through Nemo and The Code.
The song, which combines disparate genres such as rap, opera and lyrical singing, has made a global impact and discovered the first non-binary artist to win the crystal microphone. Unfortunately, the minutes and hours that followed did not end up accompanying Nemo in his celebration. A fact that the European Broadcasting Union has had to alleviate by providing insurance for the final prize of the contest.
Mere seconds after lifting the trophy and singing one last time at the Malmö Arena, the microphone broke as soon as it was placed on the floor. A fact that many users on social networks pointed out as “the finishing touch” to a chaotic festival. Although he did not give it much importance, the situation became even stranger on May 11: the second microphone that the organization gave him disappeared without a trace.
So many occurrences have ended up leading to another viral moment for Eurofans. The Swiss insurance company die Mobiliar presented its artist with a trophy anti-breakage policy as compensation for what happened in Sweden the previous week. The company has been using simple drawings of broken objects as part of their advertising campaign for years, and the Nemo incident gave them a viral ad in their home country.
Social networks soon reacted to the unexpected moment after a complicated week in northern Europe. “The noise of the glass cracking as it breaks as if I were throwing a f*cking lightbulb into the glass container has me in tears,” said one user. “Hahaha I loved that moment because the blow rang, who would think of making a glass trophy so that in addition to showing with it in their hand?” commented another message.
There were also those who saw this moment as a sign: “It may be a metaphor and after all Eurovision 2024 is the last edition. Look, with Chiqui Chiqui they tried to break it and there was no way, but what happened today should have completely sunk it.” “It is quite a symbol that the Eurovision trophy has been broken at the end of the contest,” read another response at a moment that culminated a tachycardia televoting session.