'I want to break the Eurovision curse and win the title for my country again'
She might have a hometown advantage, but Zoë Më has a huge obstacle to overcome to win the Eurovision Song Contest this year in Switzerland.
Last year, Nemo won the long-running competition with their song The Code, which was awarded an impressive 591 points in the Grand Final, combining the jury and public vote.
Following their victory, the annual singing competition is taking place in 2025 in the city of Basel, which is also the place where Zoë – the representative for the host country – was born.
Ahead of Saturday night's final, Zoë spoke to Metro about why she isn't ruling out a double, consecutive win for her country… even if it would mean overcoming a Eurovision 'curse'.
A few months ago, the 24-year-old was announced as the Swiss act for this year's contest, with her song Voyage, which is 'intended to be an invitation to look at life with more humanity, openness and compassion'.
She performed the song earlier this week during the first semi-final, a few days before the Grand Final, where she was already guaranteed a spot due to being the host country's act.
After tuning in, fans said that their 'jaws had dropped' and that her performance 'took their breath away', with many declaring that Switzerland 'may do a double' by winning twice in a row. Bookmakers currently have Zoë expected to finish in the Top 10.
Zoë reflected on the 'honour' of representing her country the year it's hosting, explaining that being in her hometown 'feels like a warm hug'.
'Switzerland hasn't been known for being a huge Eurovision country where people love it, but now seeing Basel like this, I feel the Swiss are very excited and they are embracing it,' she said.
With friends and family set to be in the stadium on Saturday to support her, the musician admitted that she felt a sense of pressure, but that it was mostly coming from herself.
'It's not the fact it is my home city or that I'm representing Switzerland. It's more that I want to make myself proud. [For] every performance, I always want to do my best,' she shared.
'It's the internal pressure. From the get-go I said I want to look back in 10 years' time and be proud of what I did.'
Just a handful of countries have won the Eurovision Song Contest two years in a row.
These are:
-Spain (in 1968 and 1969)
-Luxembourg (1972 and 1973)
-Israel (1978 and 1979)
-Ireland also won three times in a row – in 1992, 1993 and 1994.
With the last time a double win happening over 30 years ago, rumours of a 'host country curse' have emerged, suggesting that acts from host countries struggle to pick up points.
Bringing up this curse, Zoë explained: 'People have told me that usually the host country gets less points because people don't want to go back to the same place, so they aren't super neutral regarding the artists. I don't know if that's true or not and I'm doing my best, so let's see what happens.'
But she added: 'For me I don't put music in numbers. If I manage to do something I am proud of then I am happy, but we will also see if people like it as much as I do. That's the part I can't control. But I do think it's possible to win twice in a row.'
With Swedish act KAJ another favourite to win SVT, the Swedish national broadcaster, recently revealed it would have a lower budget for Eurovision 2026 if they were to host. More Trending
In an interview with Dagens Nyheter, a programme commissioner for SVT said a Swedish-hosted Eurovision in 2026 would be smaller in order to save money, as reported by EuroVoix.
'It may be a smaller stage and lighting rig, but no matter what we do, there will be large costs,' they said.
It's been reported SVT has not made a profit from hosting the Eurovision Song Contest in 2013, 2016 and 2024, with SVT losing 100 million SEK (£7. 7 million) when hosting last year.
View More »
The second Eurovision semi-final airs tonight from 8pm on BBC One. The final airs on Saturday at 8pm on BBC One.
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