Switzerland wins Eurovision with the song “The Code”. Portugal finishes tenth

Switzerland won this Saturday’s 68th Eurovision Song Contest in Malmo, Sweden, with the theme “Code” in a ceremony marked by booing of Israel’s representative and calls for peace.

Switzerland, which won the competition for the third time this Saturday, received 365 points from the international jury and 226 from the public.

Portugal, represented by Yolanda with the song “Grito”, took 10th place with 152 points (139 from the international jury and 13 from the public vote).

Portugal received points from Ukraine (three), Great Britain (12), Luxembourg (three), San Marino (five), Malta (one), Croatia (12), Albania (five), Czech Republic (three), Israel (three) . ), Portugal (three), Armenia (10), Slovenia (eight), Georgia (four), Switzerland (seven), Moldova (four), Greece (six), Netherlands (eight), France (12), Belgium (two ). ), Iceland (four), Latvia (one), Ireland (five), Poland (six), Lithuania (eight) and Sweden (four).

Rounding out the top 3 of the 68th Eurovision Song Contest are Croatia, represented by Baby Lasagna, with the song “Rim Tim Tagi Dim”, which scored 547 points (210 from the jury and 337 from the public), and Ukraine is represented by Alena Alena and Jerry Hale with 453 points (146 from the jury and 307 from the public).

Ukraine became the second country to receive the most public votes, behind only Israel, which received 323 points from the public, to which were added 52 points from the international jury.

Israel received points from Malta (three), Norway (eight), Germany (eight), Georgia (four), Moldova (three), Estonia (five), France (three), Belgium (five), Latvia (two), Cyprus . (eight) and Lithuania (four).

During the speech of Israeli representative Eden Golan at the Malmö Arena, shouts and whistles were heard.

Moreover, according to journalists present at the arena, Eden Golan was booed during the flag parade at the beginning of the ceremony, which was not noticeable on television.

The representative of Israel, who announced the score given by the jury of that country to the songs participating in the competition, was also booed by the audience at the Malmö Arena.

During the final of the Eurovision Song Contest, thousands of people protested outside the Malmö Arena against Israel’s participation in the competition.

The 68th Eurovision Song Contest is marked by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which has lasted for decades but intensified following an attack by the Palestinian group Hamas in Israel on October 7 that killed nearly 1,200 people. Benjamin Netanyahu responded with an offensive that killed more than 34,000 people in the Gaza Strip, according to reports from both sides.

In the final, the Portuguese representative appeared in the flag parade wearing a dress from the Palestinian brand, which she had already worn on Sunday, at the turquoise carpet parade (where representatives of all countries march, marking the start of the live broadcast of the competition) in Malmo.

At the same time, Yolanda painted her nails with a keffiyeh pattern, a scarf that is a symbol of the Palestinian resistance. In the finals of the competition, Yolanda returned to her performance with her nails painted with a keffiyeh pattern.

On stage, when the performance ended, the Portuguese singer declared that “peace will prevail.”

Already Portugal’s representative in the vote, singer Mimikat, was one of the few who took advantage of the time she was on air to leave a message of peace.

However, Yolanda wasn’t the only one who ended her performance in the finale with calls for peace.

Bambi Toong, the Irish representative, shouted that “love will always conquer hate” before leaving the stage.

“United by music for the sake of love and peace,” the French singer Slimane concluded his performance with this phrase.

This year the competition started with the participation of 37 countries, and 25 reached the finals. There were supposed to be 26, but the representative of the Netherlands, Joost Klein, was disqualified by the organization due to an incident in the second semi-final of the competition.

In addition to Switzerland, Croatia, Ukraine, Israel and Portugal, the following countries took part in the final of the 68th Eurovision Song Contest: Sweden, Germany, Luxembourg, Lithuania, Spain, Estonia, Ireland, Latvia, Greece, Great Britain, Norway, Italy. , Serbia, Finland, Armenia, Cyprus, Slovenia, Georgia, France and Austria.