The 5 most bizarre moments from Eurovision 2024

Eurovision 2024 felt like a fever dream for a variety of reasons. There was the almost-naked performance from Finland, a bizarre clip of a group of underwhelmed Brighton residents and a repetitive (and totally random) Gilmore Girls gag.

The tone was already set for one of the most controversial Eurovision contests in recent history: thousands of protesters have been gathered outside the Malmö Arena in Sweden to demonstrate against Israel’s inclusion in the competition amid its war in Gaza. Inside the stadium, boos were heard as Israel’s contestant Eden Golan performed her song “Hurricane”.

Meanwhile, just 24 hours before the final, Netherlands’s entrant Joost Klein was disqualified from the competition following an “incident” that took place backstage during the dress rehearsal on Friday.

Away from the controversy and backstage drama, though, there were some onstage moments that raised viewer’s eyebrows.

Here, as Switzerland’s singer Nemo takes home the Eurovision trophy, we take a look back at the most bizarre moments from the Eurovision 2024 grand final.

A confusing and prolonged ‘Gilmore Girls’ gag

When introducing the show at the beginning of the night, Eurovision hosts Malin Åkerman and Petra Mede joked that this year’s prize would come with a Gilmore Girls box set.

The series is an American sitcom from the Nineties that revolves around Lorelei Gilmore, a privileged suburban girl who leaves home aged 16 and raises her daughter Rory in Stars Hollow town.

Eurovision viewers were left perplexed by the Gilmore Girls reference, especially since the hosts kept on coming back to the gag for no apparent reason.

“Who had Gilmore Girls shoutout on their Eurovision Bingo card?” wrote one viewer.

“Wait, did they just mix together Eurovision and Gilmore Girls? This is THE BEST,” said another.

“Can someone explain the Gilmore Girls joke pls?” said another.

The lacklustre Brighton clip

In one of the many moments when the hosts teased a potential appearance from Swedish pop supergroup Abba, a clip was played where the Eurovision team went back to Brighton, the location where Abba won the competition back in 1974.

The camera crew approached some civilians near Brighton beach who were comically asked how the historic Abba victory changed the city half a decade ago. Two people seemed unenthusiastic when they admitted it “hasn’t really”. The clip then cut and went back to the main arena.

The Abba performance that never was

Just last week, posted a TikTok just days before teasing a potential Eurovision performance. Since its the 50th anniversary of their 1974 win, and with Eurovision hosted in their home country – all signs were pointing towards an appearance from the Swedish pop supergroup.

“Okay guys, we’re back. Did you miss us? Because we missed you,” said the voiceover on their TikTok.

Then, when Malin Åkerman and Petra Mede teased a performance from a Swedish super pop group “beginning with an A”, viewers were left perplexed when popular pop trio Alcazar were welcomed onstage instead.

Then, later in the show, they again teased a performance from Abba, only for the band’s virtual “Abbatars” to be projected onto the stage’s screen, performing their winning Eurovision song “Waterloo”.

Finland’s (almost) half-naked performance

Before Finland’s entrant Windows95Man arrived on the stage to perform the song “No Rules”, Graham Norton assured viewers at home that the singer wasn’t actually naked, and was wearing a flesh colour thong.

But you’d be forgiven for thinking that Windows95Man was naked, but with the use of clever and humorous camera angles, it meant that viewers never even saw the thong.

A sketch about the European Broadcasting Union

Following Olly Alexander’s Eurovision 2024 performance, Swedish singer and comic Sarah Dawn Finer reprised her role as Lynda Woodruff, a fiction representative of the EBU (European Broadcasting Union), the body that organises Eurovision. In character, she sang a song about major players in the organisation of the competition.

In the chorus, Finer mentioned the president of the EBU, Martin Österdahl, with the line: “When Martin licks his lips and says, you’re good to go!”

UK viewers would have been forgiven for thinking the skit looked like a Halifax advert, but Swedish fans were cheering loudly for her since she is a respected talent in the country.

Others were more critical of the skit, given that EBU president Österdahl has faced backlash for Eurovision’s stance on the inclusion of Israel in the competition amid its war in Gaza.

Österdahl has repeatedly stated that Eurovision is a “non-political” since it faced calls to remove Israel from the competition, with many long-time fans of Eurovision boycotting this year’s event.

“I’m embarrassed of Sweden and disappointed in Sarah Dawn Finer if she was fine with this,” said one viewer.