Referendums are a key feature of Swiss political life. Could this quirk of the country’s democratic system be used to stop it hosting Eurovision?
ADVERTISEMENTAfter Swiss singer Nemo won the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest in Mälmo, Sweden, fans from Geneva to Bern rejoiced – the contest would be coming to Switzerland in 2025, the first time since 1989.
The cities of Zurich, Geneva, Bern and Basel have all filed applications to host next year’s show, but conservative Swiss groups have other ideas.
A mere two months after Nemo – the first non-binary artist to win the contest – picked up the 2024 trophy, Swiss conservatives are threatening to block the use of taxpayers' money to host the event.
The Christian conservative Federal Democratic Union of Switzerland party (EDU) are planning to force referendums on whether public funds can be used to host the contest in the applicant cities.
“The Eurovision Song Contest is a horrible propaganda event!,” the EDU wrote on X last week. “The country that provides the stage for this disgusting trash is not improving its image, but is instead displaying its spiritual decay!”
In addition to the contest’s progressive credentials, the EDU also took to social media to denounce Eurovision’s celebration of “anti-semitism” and “occultism and satanism” – an apparent reference to protests against Israel's participation in 2024 and Ireland’s self-described “goth gremlin goblin witch” entrant, Bambie Thug, whose stage set included a pentagram.
The EDU may only be a relatively minor political party, but its calls for referendums have been supported in some cantons (local government areas) by the larger right-wing Swiss People’s party and the Swiss taxpayers’ association.
Switzerland’s Nemo won the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest when their song ‘The Code’ received the top vote from the jury and the fifth most votes from the public.
Will they get to hand over the trophy to next year's winners at a Swiss arena, or will Eurovision's conservative foes triumph?
