Eurovision 2024: Six take-aways from this year's grand final

Didn’t manage to catch Eurovision last night? We have you covered - here are six take-away’s from Saturday night’s Grand Final.

Saturday night saw the yearly spectacle of the Eurovision Song Content Grand Final.

The show always has drama and scandal, but this year it was marred in controversy from start to finish, with chaos reigning at the Semi Final earlier that week, leaving viewers concerned their favourite acts might not actually perform on the night.

Here are six take-aways from last night’s show.

The morning after

Winner Nemo Mettler, who represented Switzerland, has said that they were "really sad" during the competition following the chaotic scenes and protests.

The competition has been mired in controversy surrounding the participation of Israel's Eden Golan, and a large group of demonstrators were outside Malmo Arena as the acts performed. Several protesters have also been detained and taken away by police, including Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg.

Nemo told the Eurovision press conference: "I have to say this whole experience was really intense, and not just pleasant all the way.

Read more: Here's how the Eurovision voting system works - including why the UK can’t vote in the semi-finals

Bambie Thug

Further controversy came when Irish entrant Bambie Thug accused the Israeli broadcaster of a rule break and said they are waiting on an official update from the EBU (The European Broadcasting Union) after raising "multiple complaints".

Bambie missed their dress rehearsal as they felt they needed to bring a situation to the "urgent attention" of the EBU.

They told journalists in the press centre: "So now that I'm free. I can talk about everything right?

"Yeah, so Kan the broadcaster incited violence against me twice, three times. We brought it up to the EBU. They said they follow up.

"They waited to the last minute, we still haven't gotten statement back to us, allowed us to be scapegoats, allowed us to be the spokesperson for standing up for ourselves."

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has come under fire over the course of the week, with Norway and Finland's points spokespeople, Eurovision stars Alessandra Mele and Kaarija, both refused to announce the jury vote.

They were replaced by TV presenter Ingvild Helljesen and radio journalist Toni Laaksonen, for Norway and Finland, respectively.

Ireland came 7th on the night, and the Taoiseach had said that the contest was “'Bambie Thug's night' in Irish eyes.”

Bambie Thug pictured during a rehearsal of the Eurovision Song Contest Final in Malmo Arena, Malmo, Sweden, on Friday

Joost Klein

Regular viewers would have been aware that there were only 25 performances last night, rather than the standard 26.

This is because, earlier in the day, the Netherlands' entry Joost Klein was disqualified by Eurovision organisers following an incident between the singer and a camerawoman.

This move was strongly criticised by the Dutch broadcaster AVROTROS, who called the penalty "very heavy and disproportionate".

Read more: How many times has the UK won Eurovision?

Silvester Belt

Lithuanian Eurovision Song Contest singer Silvester Belt said performing after Israel in the grand final was "one of the worst things" he had to go through.

Belt took to social media platform X after the competition to share his views on performing his song Luktelk after Israel.

He said: "Going after that country, with the crowd being so intense, was one of the worst things I had to go through, I really did the best that I could in this situation ... traumatic experience, wish it all ended after the first semi."

Nul Point - well...almost.

For anyone wondering how we got on...

The UK has traditionally not done too well in Eurovision, with the public vote sinking us every time. Recently, thanks the the spectacular voice of Sam Ryder, that changed. Last night however, we appeared to be back in the oh so familiar ‘nul-point’ territory.

The new (newish) voting system means that the UK did pretty well with the judges vote, but scored nothing at all with the public vote. Olly Alexander, with spectacular staging and a catchy pop hit, finished the competition in 18th place.

Olly Alexander during Eurovision 2024 rehearsals. Image: EBU/Corinne Cumming

ABBA

Despite fans sitting on the edge of their seat, Abba, alas, did not get back together for just one more show. One can only imagine this was Sweden’s dream, to have them on stage again, playing Waterloo in the competition where it all began. It was not to be.

However, all was not lost. to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Abba winning in Brighton, digital "Abba-tars" from London's Abba Voyage appeared.

They kicked off the musical performance of Waterloo, and were then joined by Eurovision legends, Swedish singers Charlotte Perrelli and Carola and Austrian drag performer Conchita Wurst.