Switzerland is playing directly to type, and rather refreshingly so, with what Eurovision’s new director Martin Green has called a “beautifully organised” contest — and for once, the cliché holds true.
After Nemo’s genre-bending, identity-affirming anthem The Code brought the 2024 title to Switzerland, the 2025 iteration in Basel was always going to carry expectations. Not just of musical spectacle, but of order, harmony, and after the unrest in Malmö — control. And this year, control is precisely what’s being offered.
Green, whose résumé includes the 2012 London Olympics and Eurovision 2023 in Liverpool, wasted no time lavishing praise on his hosts during a press conference. “The Swiss have done an extraordinary job… It is almost stereotypically beautifully organised,” he said, before pivoting into the kind of feel-good rhetoric Eurovision peddles when it wants to keep the peace: “Let’s share a bit of love this week. Shall we? I think it’s probably the biggest weapon we have.”
But while the sentiment is sincere, the changes implemented this year are anything but sentimental. The EBU — smarting from last year’s protests and internal criticism — has implemented a suite of new rules. Gone are the semi-final media conferences. In are enhanced welfare protocols for artists. It’s an environment designed to reassure, not overwhelm. And by Green’s account, it’s working: “They are relaxed… They feel confident and rehearsed. This is the biggest thing they’ve ever done.”
A new split-screen format in the semi-finals underlines the shift in tone: more artist-focused, less media-driven.
But peace, of course, is not guaranteed. Basel’s streets are a flashpoint. Demonstrations against Israel’s participation have already appeared, with more expected. Police — 1,300 of them — are on high alert, backed by the military and neighbouring nations. Surveillance has increased. Infrastructure is under digital watch. No protest permits have been granted, but that’s not likely to stop anyone. Authorities have made it clear: if demonstrations threaten public safety, they will intervene.
Meanwhile, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Israel remain among the frontrunners, with Finland’s KAJ turning heads via Bara Bada Bastu, a ludicrous yet endearing paean to sauna culture — sung in Swedish for the first time in decades.
In short: the show is running smoothly, the city is under pressure, and Eurovision, as ever, is as much about what happens outside the arena as within.
