The first award of Eurovision 2024 was given on the eve of the Grand Final and was the Best Lyrics Award. The winner was the Swiss entry ‘The code’. The jury was very prestigious, since it included 28 distinguished writers, poets, lyricists and journalists, as well as previous participants in the competition, from a total of 17 countries. Specifically, the result was shaped by 75% of the jury’s score (see the names in detail below) and 25% by the readers of the organizing website Eurostory.nl .
The award was received by the two main lyricists of ‘The code’, who are none other than its performer, Nemo, and co-lyricist Linda Dale.
“‘I feel so honored. ‘For me this song incorporates the whole journey I made: the times that weren’t that easy, the times that were absolutely wonderful. It puts it all together, without judgement. To see that reflected with this award, that’s really special. Thank you so much.’
Nemo
Initially, a smaller jury made up entirely of poets was asked to give nominations. The original 5 nominated songs were:
- Australia – One blood (One milkali) (Electric Fileds, Lyricists: Michael Ross, Zaachariaha Fielding)
- Croatia – Rim Tim Tagi Dim (Baby Lazagna, Lyricist: Marko Purišić (Baby Lazagna))
- Italy – La noia (Angelina Mango, lyricists: Angelina Mango, Madame)
- Netherlands – Europapa (Joost Klein, lyricists: Joost Klein, Maradonnie, Tim Haars)
- Switzerland – The code (Nemo, lyricists: Benjamin Alasu, Lasse Mydtsian Nymann, Linda Dale, Nemo Mettler)
In second place came the participation of Italy La noia (lyricist Angelina Mango), while in third place the Netherlands with Europapa (lyricists Joost Klein, Maradonnie, Tim Haars).
The conclusion of the Song of Switzerland committee when the nominations were announced was:
Nemo sings about ‘the code’. That brings to mind cryptography, something you have to decipher. But for Nemo, uncovering what lies behind the code has much more to do with something larger: the limited choices society imposes on them as a genderqueer person.
You must be zero or one – computer language for one or the other. In other words: binary. In other words: male or female. Nemo beautifully articulates this in the bridge of their song: ‘Somewhere between the 0’s and 1’s, that’s where I’ve found my kingdom come.’
That last word is an important nuance: their ‘kingdom come,’ not just their ‘kingdom.’ The expectation of a kingdom is thus found, not yet that complete kingdom (articulated by these lines: ‘Let me taste the lows and highs, let me feel that burning fright’).The beauty of this song about non-binary identity is that both the melody and the lyrics are not apologetic, not accusatory, but simply euphoric. And a line like ‘I broke the code like ammonites, I just gave it some time’ is, of course, a brilliant, promising way to describe this life-changing quest. Moreover, how often have ammonites been mentioned in a Eurovision song?
Read HERE the entire lyrics of ‘The code’.
Also HERE are the corresponding findings of the committee for all 5 nominated songs for the award.
The expert jury of 2024
Daniëlle Bakhuis (The Netherlands: author )
Elsie Bay (Norway: Melodi Grand Prix participant 2022)
Marius Bear (Switzerland: Eurovision participant 2022)
Hanna Bervoets (The Netherlands: author )
Marko Bošnjak (Croatia: DORA participant 2022)
Biljana Crvenkovska (North-Macedonia: author, publisher )
Kristien Dieltiens (Belgium: author )
Mia Dimšić (Croatia: Eurovision participant 2022 )
Don Duyns (The Netherlands: author )
Fazla (Bosnia and Herzegovina: Eurovision participant 1993 )
Niki Francesca (Andorra: Eurovision participant 2007 )
Trong Hieu (Germany / Vietnam: Unser Lied für Liverpool participant 2023 )
Vasil Ivanov (Bulgaria: Former Head of Press BNT Eurovision Bulgaria )
Greetje Kauffeld (The Netherlands: Eurovision participant 1961 )
Getty Kaspers (The Netherlands: Eurovision participant 1975 )
Eyjólfur Kristjánsson (Iceland: Eurovision participant 1991 )
Cornald Maas (The Netherlands: author, presenter, Eurovision commentator )
Bart Moeyaert (Belgium: author )
Alexandros Panayi (Cyprus: Eurovision participant 1995, 2000 )
Sheldon Riley (Australia: Eurovision participant 2022 )
Martin Rombouts (The Netherlands: author, performer )
José Luis Serrano (Spain: author )
Liliane Saint-Pierre (Belgium: Eurovision participant 1987 )
Moira Stafrace (Malta: Eurovision participant 1994 )
Erik Titusson (Sweden: publisher )
Voyager (Australia: Eurovision participant 2023 )
PAST WINNERS OF THE BEST LYRIC AWARD
- 2016: Ukraine – Jamala – “1944”
- 2017: France – Alma – “Requiem”
- 2018: France – Madame et Monsieur – “Mercy”
- 2019: Italy – Mahmood – “Soldi”
- 2021: Italy – Måneskin – “ Zitti e buoni “
- 2022: Italy – Mahmood & BLANCO – “Brividi”
- 2023: Austria – Teya & Salena – “Who the hell is Edgar”
[Source: eurostory.nl ]
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