Eurovision chaos since show aired - cryptic Olly Alexander update, 'sound fix' and sweary rant

The Eurovision Song Contest 2024 is being described as the most controversial show to date and the drama and chaos surrounding it seems to be showing no sign of slowing down, even after the event

The drama from the 'most controversial' Eurovision yet continues to rumble on, as Ireland's act Bambie Thug has let rip with an expletive-ridden rant aimed at Eurovision bosses and Scott Mills gives an update on Olly Alexander after his nightmare sound issues.

The UK entry for this year's Eurovision Song Contest received no votes from the voting public across the world on Saturday night, with the Dizzy singer also hit with a wave of criticism from fans boycotting the competition over Israel's inclusion.

Interestingly, presenter Scott Mills, who was in Malmo, Sweden, providing commentary on the contest, avoided immediately discussing Olly when he returned to his BBC radio show on Monday afternoon. He instead focused on winner Nemo and called the performance "faultless". He told his listeners it had been "a long week" and played the winning track, swerving mentioning the UK's performance at all.

Towards the end of his radio show and after some messages from listeners about Olly, who were obviously concerned about him, Scott said the Years and Years singer was "absolutely fine" and was "pleased with his performance". He also recognised how difficult it was for the performers this year to cope with all the drama and political controversy surrounding the event. Here the Mirror looks at all the drama that has unfolded since the final aired on Saturday...

Olly Alexander breaks his silence

On Saturday, viewers watching the contest highlighted potential sound problems during Olly's number during the final, which caused an uproar on social media platforms. Fans detailed how something appeared to have gone off-kilter throughout the performance, which follows criticisms aimed at him in preceding semi-final rounds.

Despite the drama in the run up to the competition and a wardrobe malfunction, which led to his mic pack falling off in the semi-finals, Olly passionately performed Dizzy and was met with great applause from numerous supporters, who believed that he "smashed it". However, there were those that claimed there were some dodgy audio glitches. Some spectators even suspected that they couldn't hear the backing track and suggested his performance had been sabotaged, with Olly touching his earpiece at one point.

Sound concerns persisted with fans questioning whether the microphone or the singer's audio was too low. Social media users shared their confusion, with one fan declaring on X: "I think Olly (United Kingdom) mic failed again like it did in rehearsal." Another asked: "Just me or was Olly's mic turned down what happened?" A third quizzed: "What is wrong with the sound suddenly #EUROVISION sabotage," and another added: "Hmm why is the sound different for #ollyalexander #uk? #Eurovision2024 #eurovision."

On Sunday, Olly returned to social media and broke his silence by congratulating winner Nemo, who stormed to victory with catchy song The Code. He shared a photo of Nemo and wrote over the top: "Nemo!!!! You did it!! I'm so so proud of you it's been such an honour to be on this journey with you. You broke the code!!!"

Nemo's trophy blunder

Despite Olly's declaration they had 'broken the code', winner Nemo called out the song contest for banning non-binary flags and revealed they smuggled one in anyway. The Switzerland act stormed the leader board and were the country to get the most 12 points in the juries round before being awarded another 226 points from the public audience vote, giving them a total of 591 points.

After collecting the award, 24-year-old Nemo – the first non-binary singer to win the competition - took to the stage again to perform the winning song once more. While giving an energetic performance in a pink skirt and fluffy pink and orange jacket, Nemo dropped to the floor, waving the glass microphone trophy in the air. Unfortunately, as they went to stand up, the trophy broke on the stage leaving Nemo holding half of it in their hands – just 30 minutes after UK voiceover host Graham Norton pleaded: "Don't break the trophy!"

Speaking at a press conference afterwards, Nemo used the opportunity to again speak out for equality after previously saying, "I hope this contest can live up to its promise and continue to stand for peace and dignity for every person in this world " when they accepted the winner's award.

Revealing the song which features the lyrics 'break the code' was about them realising their own non-binary identity and entering the competition was about 'standing up for the entire LGBTQIA+ community', Nemo shared: "I had to smuggle my flag in because Eurovision said no - and I did it anyway, so I hope other people did that too. Come on!

"This is clearly a double standard and as I say, I broke the code and I broke the trophy. Maybe the trophy can be fixed. Maybe Eurovision needs a little bit of fixing too every now and then." Crowds could be heard cheering Nemo on in the background as they gave their empowered speech.

Irish act's sweary rant

Ireland's gothic act Bambie Thug has spoken out in support of Nemo after the contest and declared "non-binaries for the f***ing win". They were feared to have quit the competition when they failed to turn up at the final dress rehearsal. The act did go on to perform on Saturday, but accused the Israeli broadcaster of a rule break and said they are waiting on an official update from the EBU after raising "multiple complaints".

In order to comply with Eurovision's neutrality rules, NME reports the Doomsday Blue singer had been forced to take out the words "ceasefire" and "freedom for Palestine" from their costume. Now, according to the publication, a deleted TikTok showed Bambie speaking out about the decision. "It's f***ed up," they complained in the video.

"I'm so proud of Nemo winning. I'm so proud that all of us are in the top 10 that have been fighting for this s*** behind the scenes because it has been so hard and so horrible for us. I'm so proud of us. F*** the EBU. I don't even care anymore. F*** them."

In the clip, which is now removed, the Irish entry went on: "The thing that makes this is the contestants, the community behind it, the love and the power and the support of all of us is what is making change. The world has spoken. The queers are coming. Non-binaries for the f***ing win."

MirrorOnline have approached the European Broadcasting Union for comment and in a statement they said: "We regret that some delegations at the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö didn't respect the spirit of the rules and the competition both onsite and during their broadcasts. We spoke to a number of delegations during the event regarding various issues that were brought to our attention. Individual cases will be discussed by the event's governing body, the Eurovision Song Contest Reference Group made up of representatives from participating broadcasters, at its next meeting."

Dutch drama

Dutch contestant Joost Klein was disqualified from the grand final over what the organisers described as an "incident" involving a female member of the production crew. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) confirmed that Klein would not be rehearsing as planned in Malmo while they were conducting an investigation.

"Swedish police have investigated a complaint made by a female member of the production crew after an incident following his [Klein’s] performance in Thursday night’s semi-final," they said. They also emphasised "a zero-tolerance policy towards inappropriate behaviour at our event".

In a statement, the Dutch broadcaster Avrotros said it was "shocked" by the decision to exclude their act. It said Klein had not touched the camerawoman but had made a "threatening move".

"Against the clearly made agreement, Joost was filmed when he had just gotten off stage and had to rush to the green room," it explained. "At that moment, Joost repeatedly indicated that he did not want to be filmed. This wasn't respected." Avrotros said it offered several solutions to the EBU but it disqualified Klein anyway.