The city of Basel in Switzerland is selected as the host city of the Eurovision Song Contest 2025

On August 30, 2024, organizers announced that the city of Basel, Switzerland will host the Eurovision Song Contest from May 13 to 17, 2025. This mainly German-speaking city located on the Rhine River and bordering France and Germany has emerged from the competition with Geneva, causing a sensation and anticipation across Switzerland.

The Basel City Council expressed its pleasure at this decision, seeing hosting the world's largest music competition as an excellent opportunity and stating that Basel will do its best to be a good host. After Swiss singer Nemo won the 68th Eurovision Song Contest in Sweden in May this year, Switzerland obtained the right to host this annual dazzling song and dance extravaganza. Nemo's winning song "Code" is an operatic pop rap anthem about his journey towards accepting his non-binary gender identity. Nemo is also the first non-binary winner of this competition.

Konradin Kramer, president of the Basel Region Council, said that the 2025 competition will reflect Basel's spirit of openness and diversity. As a dual-border city, Basel is accustomed to receiving guests from all over the world and will provide them with an incredible experience. Swiss public broadcaster SSR-SRG said that the selection of Basel and the St. Jakobshalle indoor stadium was based on criteria such as venue suitability, sustainability, safety issues, available funds, and creative ideas for surrounding activities.

The Eurovision Song Contest is organized annually by the Geneva-based European Broadcasting Union, with dozens of participating broadcasters. The Basel City Council cited a study by the European Broadcasting Union, saying that this year's competition in Malmö, Sweden attracted more than 160 million television viewers and more than 80 million YouTube users. The estimated advertising value of the event is 805 million euros. In 1956, Switzerland hosted and won the first Eurovision Song Contest in the southern city of Lugano. Nemo is the first Swiss winner since 1988. The Eurovision Song Contest is a celebration of the uniting power of pop music, but it is also often marred by chaos due to competition and political tensions. The 2024 competition was overshadowed by the war in Gaza and accompanied by large-scale street protests against Israel's participation.