Finding Nemo: Behind the Eurovision Star’s Rise

With their groundbreaking anthem to gender nonconformity “The Code,” Swiss pop artist Nemo transformed from a lesser-known European artist to a bona fide global star in a matter of weeks. 

That’s in no small part thanks to their participation in the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest, which they won on May 11, 2024. “I remember being on that sofa, hearing the jury votes and just being in a state of complete confusion,” they tell Billboard. “It was incredible. And it was really meaningful because I feel like this kind of [opportunity] doesn’t really happen for Switzerland that often. We have such a great scene and so many amazing artists, so I’m really happy that this puts a spotlight on Swiss music.”

Nemo is eager to share that spotlight with the nonbinary community, both in Switzerland and across the world. “It can be hard to stay hopeful when bad things keep happening to our community over and over again,” they say. “But this helps me feel like there are finally things to be hopeful about.” 

FOUNDATION

Nemo’s career started from a place of sheer curiosity. At age nine, the singer found a flyer in their hometown advertising open auditions for a youth opera and joined. After one performance of Mozart’s The Magic Flute, they came to a realization: “I love being on a stage.” Nemo went on to perform in a number of operas and even landed a role in a musical in Zurich, all of which helped hone their vocal skills and educate them on writing lyrics. In 2015, they self-released Clownfisch, an EP of songs written in Swiss German. But soon after its release, Nemo realized that writing and performing songs in their native dialect could only get them so far. “Swiss German is great, but it is also a tiny language,” they say. “If I wanted to open my playing field and collaborate with more people, I needed to start writing in English.”

DISCOVERY

After a decade spent jumping between boutique indie labels, Nemo decided to submit a song to Eurovision 2024 — but knew they needed someone “to direct that water.” They reached out to multiple major labels and found what they were looking for at Universal Music Group. Soon after, Nemo submitted an original song, “The Code,” which fittingly interpolates The Magic Flute. The frenetic, operatic track won Eurovision’s top prize by 44 points over the favorite to win, Croatia’s Baby Lasagna. In taking home the trophy, Nemo became the first nonbinary performer to win Eurovision — and has since watched “The Code” become their first charting hit, climbing to Nos. 21 and 52 on the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. and Billboard Global 200 charts, respectively. “Jumping into the cold water that is Eurovision meant learning how to swim while everyone was watching,” they say.

FUTURE

With so much momentum, Nemo is resolute in making the most of their moment. Following the “very time-consuming” process of curating their Eurovision performance, Nemo has now been spending a significant amount of time in the studio. “The last couple of days, I’ve worked with some amazing writers and producers, and we have so many songs that I want to share,” they say, beaming. “A lot of exciting things are finally happening.”

A version of this article originally appeared in the June 22, 2024 issue of Billboard.