The two final potential cities to host Eurovision 2025 have been announced.
As confirmed by the Swiss broadcaster SRG, the 69th edition of the festival is set to be held in either Basel or Geneva.
It comes as the 2025 edition of the song contest will be heading to Switzerland next year thanks to Nemo’s win in Malmö earlier this year with their song ‘The Code’. Nemo’s victory was the first for the country since Celine Dion picked up the win in 1988 with ‘Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi’. They were also the first ever non-binary winner in the competition’s history.
Following the victory, interested cities in Switzerland had the chance to submit their bids to SRG, petitioning for why they thought they would be a suitable location for the next instalment.
They also had to meet an extensive catalogue of requirements, including arena concept, public transport links, sustainability, available hotel accommodation, security and waste disposal concepts, investment, event experience, support and motivation from the city and more (as per Eurovision).
Bids submitted by Basel, Geneva, Zurich and Berne/Biel were then carefully checked by the Eurovision team, and it was later confirmed that Basel and Geneva had made it to the final two.
This year’s contest was dogged with controversy following the EBU’s decision to allow Israel to compete amid the Israel-Palestine conflict.
The move was criticised as “cultural cover and endorsement for the catastrophic violence that Israel has unleashed on Palestinians” by organisations such as Queers For Palestine, who wrote an open letter to UK entry Olly Alexander to boycott the contest this year.
Over 1,000 Swedish artists called for Israel to be banned this year, such as Robyn, Fever Ray, and First Aid Kit, and artists including Olly Alexander faced calls to boycott the event.
Nemo hit out at the competition’s “double standard”, branding its organisers as “unbelievable” just moments after their victory. They also appeared to break the crystal winner’s trophy, and added: “The trophy can be fixed – maybe Eurovision needs fixing a little bit too, every now and then.”
They went on to describe their Eurovision experience as “really intense, and not just pleasant all the way”.
“There were a lot of things that didn’t seem like it was all about love and unity. And that made me really sad and at the same time … there was so much love here as well,” they continued, and dedicated their win to the “people that are daring to be themselves and people that need to be heard and need to be understood”.
Ireland’s entrant Bambie Thug was more scathing in their views on the EBU in their press conference. “I’m so proud of Nemo winning,” they said, sounding close to tears. “I’m so proud that all of us are in the top 10 that have been fighting for this shit behind the scenes because it has been so hard and so horrible for us. I’m so proud of us.
“I just want to say,” they continued, “we are what the Eurovision is. The EBU is not what the Eurovision is. Fuck the EBU. I don’t even care anymore. Fuck them. The thing that makes this is the contestants, the community behind it, the love and the power and the support of all of us is what is making change.”
They concluded: “The world has spoken. The queers are coming. Non-binaries for the fucking win.”