Eurovision 2024 is about to celebrate one of the most open editions in recent memory. Or at least that’s what it seems like a few days before the festival starts, since there is no clear favorite for victory and there are several countries that could a priori compete for first place. Among these candidatures is that of Switzerland, which in this edition defends an original proposal with a powerful message from the hand of Nemo Mettler.
With the song The Code, Nemo will combine genres as diverse as lyrical, drum and bass or rap on the Malmö stage, showing off his prodigious voice. His stage proposal will not leave you indifferent either, since he will be on a rotating platform in the shape of a giant top, combining the darkness of the lighting and the scenery with the pink color of his costumes.
Nemo was born in 1999 in the small Swiss town of Biel. Since his childhood, he has made clear his passion for music and has learned to play the violin, drums and piano.
His rise to fame occurred in 2016, when his intervention at the rap event Bounce Cypher Virus, which was broadcast on the Swiss public channel SRF1, went viral on social networks. Since then, Nemo has released two EPs.
In 2020, he began to break into the world of songwriting by writing and producing songs for other artists. At the same time, she began publishing songs in English, thus reaching a wider audience. In his themes, Nemo deals with topics such as gender identity, mental health or self-knowledge.
In 2021, Nemo participated in the second season of The Masked Singer Switzerland under the Panda costume, managing to finish fifth in the contest.
At the end of 2023, Nemo revealed in an interview that is a non-binary person. Before reaching that conclusion and naming his identity, he had to go on a journey of self-discovery and personal reflection, a process that he narrates in the lyrics of the song with which he will represent Switzerland in Eurovision.
“If there are only zeros and ones, where do I belong? If I don’t fit into either the zeros or the ones, where is my place? ”He asks himself in one of the stanzas. “It’s a very special song for me, It is designed as a journey“, she confessed to RTVE, adding that it would be “very special” for her to bring Eurovision back to Switzerland 36 years after Céline Dion’s victory.
Perhaps it is precisely the vindictive nature of BITCH which has made the Spanish candidacy one of Nemo’s favorites, who has publicly confessed his admiration for Nebulossa’s vocalist, Mery Bass. “It’s really awesome, I love his song“, he said before the RTVE microphones.
Regarding the message of the song that represents Spain in Eurovision, Nemo acknowledges that the language barrier makes it difficult for him to understand it, but he celebrates that Nebulossa appropriates a “very controversial term” to empower himself. “I like the idea of reclaiming it. Take this word and empower it Instead of letting it sink you. (…) When you claim a word, you also begin to claim your own reality,” she says.
Whoa-oh-oh
Welcome to the show, let everyone know.
I’m done playing, I’ll break the chains.
You better buckle up, I’ll pour you another cup
This is my bohème, so drink it up, my friend.
This story is my truth.
CHORUS
I, I went to hell and back
To meet me on the way
I broke the code, whoa-oh-oh
like ammonites
I just gave it some time
Now I found paradise
I broke the code, whoa-oh-oh
Yeah
Let me tell you a story about life.
About the good and the bad, you better hold on tight
Who decides what is wrong and what is right?
Everything is balance, everything is light.
I have so many things on my mind and I was up all night
I’m so excited, I’m so excited
It’s bigger than me, I’m getting so excited, like
(Oh) let me taste the ups and downs
(Oh) let me feel that burning scare
(Oh) this story is my truth
CHORUS
I, I went to hell and back
To meet me on the way
I broke the code, whoa-oh-oh
like ammonites
I just gave it some time
Now I found paradise
I broke the code, whoa-oh-oh
Somewhere between zeros and ones
That’s where I found my kingdom come
My heart beats like a-
Somewhere between zeros and ones
That’s where I found my kingdom come
My heart beats like a drum
CHORUS
I, I went to hell and back
To meet me on the way
I broke the code, whoa-oh-oh
like ammonites
I just gave it some time
Now I found paradise
I broke the code, whoa-oh-oh, whoa-oh-oh
