Some Eurovision Song Contest fans are convinced that the 2024 winner is already obvious.

Following Switzerland contestant Nemo’s rendition of The Code at the Semi Finals, many people took to social media to express their disbelief at the singer’s brilliant performance.

The Swiss rapper and singer, 24, who came out last year as nonbinary, performed the catchy queer anthem from atop a spinning platform, athletically navigating the stage while hitting every note.

The Code, which blends opera, pop, rock, and drum and bass, is a powerful song about embracing one’s true identity, a narrative that closely mirrors Nemo’s own journey with their gender identity.

The artist, who’s full name is Nemo Mettler, is already a successful musician in Switzerland. They won four Swiss Music Awards in 2018, including Song of the Year for their hit single Du.

Nemo told The Independent of their Eurovision entry song: ‘There are so many influences in the song. I went to youth opera when I was nine in my hometown, and I think that’s shaped a lot of my work as a musician, hearing those very classical melodies.

‘It’s definitely a performance piece; it’s made for the stage, to keep you on your toes. It’s definitely challenging, but it’s also a lot of fun to sing live because I get to do a lot of things in a short space of time.

‘It’s just fun to show different sides… I love performing because it reminds me of singing back when I was at the opera.’

When asked if they relate to the song, Nemo said: ‘It feels like me and the song are the same, we’re one. It’s amazing to get to perform something you truly feel you are, it makes this experience so much more genuine for me.’

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It’s a challenge faced by families up and down the country – finding a school that provides support for children with additional needs. Today the government has announced 16 locations for new special schools across England to help meet some of the rapidly-growing demand.

In the latest of our series looking at the crisis in special educational needs, We joined Education Secretary Gillian Keegan last week, as she visited places that are helping pupils not only cope but thrive in school.

University leaders were summoned to Downing Street today for talks on how to protect Jewish staff and students, amid growing anger over Israel’s war in Gaza.

At the meeting, Rishi Sunak urged universities to remain “bastions of tolerance”. Protest camps have been springing up at universities around the UK, fuelling fears of a repeat of recent scenes on US campuses.

University leaders were summoned to Downing Street today for talks on how to protect Jewish staff and students, amid growing anger over Israel’s war in Gaza.

At the meeting, Rishi Sunak urged universities to remain “bastions of tolerance”. Protest camps have been springing up at universities around the UK, fuelling fears of a repeat of recent scenes on US campuses.

The NCAA has approved a waiver that will allow men’s and women’s basketball programs to pay for unlimited official recruiting visits to help teams deal with roster depletion caused by transfers, according to a memo obtained Thursday by The Associated Press.

The Athletic first reported the approval of a blanket waiver by the men’s and women’s basketball oversight committees.

Currently, men’s basketball programs are allowed 28 official visits over a rolling two-year period. The number for women’s programs is 24.

The waiver will cover a two-year period, starting Aug. 1, 2023, and run through July 31, 2025. The NCAA Division I Council in June will consider proposed legislation that would lift the limit on official visits in men’s and women’s basketball permanently.

Last month, the NCAA changed its rules to allow all athletes to be immediately eligible to play no matter how many times they transfer — as long as they meet academic requirements. The move came after the association fast-tracked legislation to fall in line with a recent court order.

Several states, including West Virginia, sued the NCAA late last year, challenging rules requiring undergraduate athletes to sit out for a season if they transferred more than once.

With what amounts to unlimited and unrestricted transfers, player movement in basketball has increased and forced programs into a bind created by unusually high levels of roster turnover.

In some cases, coaches are replacing almost an entire team. The scholarship limit in Division I for men’s basketball is 13 and 15 for women’s teams.

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