Hundreds of fans greet Eurovision winner Nemo in Switzerland

Nemo Mettler was given a hero's welcome when he returned to Switzerland from Sweden after winning the Eurovision Song Contest contest on Sunday.

Hundreds of fans waving flags and banners and chanting the 24-year-old's name greeted Nemo as he flew into Zurich airport.

Nemo won Eurovision 2024 with the deeply personal song "The Code," which encapsulated the performer's journey to realizing their non-binary gender identity.

How did fans meet Nemo?

Fans who had gathered at Switzerland's largest airport had to wait as the Swiss International Air Lines flight from Copenhagen arrived 45 minutes late.

Cheers erupted as Nemo emerged, wearing a fluffy sweater with a rabbit holding a carrot. The artist gave a double thumbs-up before posing for selfies with fans and signing autographs.

Some supporters waved banners that read "smash the binary: we exist" and "we exist, we insist, we persist".  

Last November, the performer announced on Instagram: "I don't identify as a man or a woman. I'm just Nemo," adding: "My pronouns are they/them."

24-year-old Nemo is the first non-binary winner of the contest and also the first Swiss winner since 1988, when Canadian singer Celine Dion competed under the Swiss flag.

Nemo wants to relax

At a press conference later in the day, Nemo announced plans for some garden relaxation time. "I'm going to lie down and try to calm down a little bit," he said. "It doesn't feel real at all."

Nemo said the airport welcome had been "extremely beautiful... It showed me how nice it is to be part of a community."

Nemo, who now lives in Berlin, is from Biel (in French Bienne) in northwestern Switzerland, the country's largest bilingual city and the heart of the Alpine nation's watchmaking industry.

The city is planning an official public reception to honor its hometown hero, although no date has been set.

dh/jsi (AFP, AP)