Career setback Does winning the ESC destroy Nemo's creativity?

Bruno Bötschi

2.2.2025

Nemo won the Eurovision Song Contest 2024. A look at history shows: an ESC victory means a lot of honor, but rarely further chart success. Will Nemo also remain an international "one-hit wonder"?

No time? blue News summarizes for you

  • "What's wrong with Nemo?" asked the Tages-Anzeiger newspaper this week. And "Blick" doubled down: "What's next for Nemo?"
  • After the pop talent from Biel won the Eurovision Song Contest 2024, many fans were already dreaming of an international career.
  • However, a look at the history of the world's biggest music competition shows that winning the ESC does not always mean a lot of tailwind for an artist's career.
  • If Nemo takes the Swedish pop band Abba as an example, then things are going well - albeit with a slight delay.

"Even as the golden glitter of victory rained down on Nemo's head in Malmö, there was a consensus in the industry that Nemo's international career would also be accompanied by glitz and glamor," wrote the Tages-Anzeiger newspaper this week.

That's a nice dream. But it is also an indication that "the industry" has completely ignored the realities of the Eurovision Song Contest at this moment.

ESC insiders know: The majority of winners of the world's biggest music competition suffer the same fate every year. They remain a "one-hit wonder" in international terms.

Nemo inspires with wit, charm and extravagance

Exactly, winning the ESC does not always mean a tailwind for an artist's international career. Nemo would not be the first pop talent to gain a lot of short-term honor from the ESC, but no long-term fame.

Since winning in Malmö, Sweden, Nemo has released just one single. With just under two million streams on Spotify and just over 850,000 views on YouTube, the song "Eurostar" fell short of the expectations of "the industry".

Nemo's European tour was due to start these days. However, due to work on a new album, it was announced a few days ago that it will be postponed until the end of the year.

In the meantime, Nemo is looking for new management in his adopted home of London. The capital of the United Kingdom likes music made in Switzerland: shortly after winning the ESC, Nemo was a guest on "The One Show" on BBC One and wowed audiences with his wit, charm and fashionable extravagance.

Nemo needs more time to become "great again"

Currently, some in "the industry" believe that Nemo's career has stumbled. "While the euphoria for the ESC in Basel is growing, the hype surrounding Nemo is dwindling," claims Blick.

"Since then, the glittering optimism surrounding Nemo has dimmed a little," writes the Tages-Anzeiger.

Will the ESC victory destroy Nemo's creativity?

Not at all.

The 25-year-old pop talent from Biel has so far mainly sung in Bernese German. In future, English will be the main language. But such a change takes time, as the Tages-Anzeiger correctly writes:

"With Nemo, the question arises as to what could follow a hit as stylistically wonderfully confused as 'The Code'."

Nemo says on Instagram: "I've realized that big projects take time. If I don't take the necessary time for new music, it won't have the potential to be great."

Abba couldn't land a hit for a long time after the ESC

Who knows, maybe Nemo is taking a leaf out of Abba's book. The Swedish band's international career began 51 years ago with the song "Waterloo" - which means "crushing defeat".

That was at the Eurovision Song Contest, then known as the Grand Prix d'Eurovision de la Chanson, on April 6, 1974 in the English seaside resort of Brighton.

Since then, people have repeatedly claimed that the ESC victory turned the Swedes into world stars overnight. Only: "The industry" knows that this is not true.

Momoll, "Waterloo" was a hit. Abba also made it into the top 10 of the charts in the USA. But was the band able to follow it up directly? No. Abba didn't have a hit in the international charts for no less than 18 months.

Maneskin went on a world tour after winning the ESC

The question remains: Is the ESC a good launch pad for a career as a globally successful musician? If you look back at the list of winners in recent years, you have to say no.

Or does the name Duncan Laurence mean anything to you? The Dutchman won the ESC in 2019.

And when did Måns Zelmerlöw win the ESC again? In 2015 for Sweden.

Well, maybe you still remember Netta. The singer from Israel won the ESC in 2018. Today she earns her living as a wedding singer and is a jury member on an Israeli casting show.

Yes, but there are also winners who have made a global career after their success at the ESC, most notably Céline Dion, who won the ESC for Switzerland 36 years ago.

Måneskin also went on a world tour. The Italian glam rockers won the ESC 2021 and are now one of the world's most successful rock bands.

That's why Abba's global career worked out after all

And so Nemo can still justifiably hope that winning the ESC will act as a boost. Sometimes it just takes patience and a bit of luck, as the story of Abba shows.

Why did the Swedish pop quartet's global career take off 18 months after winning the ESC? The Australians are to blame - and the song "Mamma Mia".

The song was initially only released as a single in "Down Under" and reached number one in the charts there on November 3, 1975. The song remained at the top for ten weeks and triggered a real "Abbamania" on the other side of the world.

Weeks later, this spilled over to Europe - and so it was that "Mamma Mia" also climbed to number one in the UK on December 13, 1975. This happened a week later in Switzerland and Germany.

The rest of the story is not only known "in the industry", but worldwide: "Mamma Mia" was followed by 19 more hits by Abba, the pop group whose music continues to make people happy around the world to this day.

Momoll, Nemo, we believe in you.


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