"The Code" enjoyed widespread acclaim upon its release, with praise being given towards the mixture of multiple musical genres and styles within the song, becoming a favourite to win the contest in the months heading into the competition.

"The Code" was written by Benjamin Alasu, Lasse Midtsian Nymann, Linda Dale, and Nemo Mettler,[1] and was composed at a SUISA songwriting camp.

[2] BBC's Mark Savage described the song as a "drum and bass EDM opera" and said its chorus was inspired by The Magic Flute by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Nemo also declares within the song that they have found their "kingdom come", refusing to conform to traditional gender classification norms and stick to only one musical style.

[24] The Independent's Roisin O'Connor also listed the song as a potential favourite, drawing comparisons to the Georges Bizet opera Carmen and the James Bond theme.

[29] In the beginning of April, directly after Nemo's performance of the song in Pre-Party ES 2024, they increased to first, becoming the favourite to win the contest with 7-to-2 odds.

[57] Swiss musician Chris von Rohr stated that when he first listened to the live performance of the song, "its power almost knocked me over...

"[58] El Mundo writers Charlotte Davies and Andrea Rosa M. del Pino wrote that the performance featured "magical, circus-like vocal stunts, where they jump literally from high-pitched evokers to fast-paced rap verses as if it were nothing.

"[60] El País' Héctor Llanos Martínez described Nemo as a "force of nature", with the performance being described as "adjacent to the physical tricks performed on a disc-shaped moving platform, as if Mika had suddenly taken interest in parkour and skateboarding... they have done a presentation that has won over millions of this festival's viewers.

GQ Italia's Valentina Caiani wrote that the victory "beat[ed] everybody's expectations... we have to admit that The Code had the potential to win, not only for the catchiness of the song, but also for the complexity of their performance and their choreography.

"[62] Der Spiegel's Felix Bayer wrote that the victory upheld the "myth of the Eurovision Song Contest as a haven of creativity, openness and diversity.

Roberto Vannacci, a prominent conservative Italian politician, declared that "the world on the contrary is increasingly nauseating" in response to Nemo's victory and gender identity.

"[68] Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the current president of Turkey, indirectly referred to Nemo's victory to the contest and criticised Nemo and other Eurovision contestants for being "Trojan horses of social corruption", later adding, "we understand better how we made the right decision by keeping Türkiye out of this disgraceful competition for the past 12 years.

"[71] Timo Posselt, writer for Die Zeit, wrote that the victory was politically driven by the LGBTQ+ community, stating that Nemo was able to display a non-binary flag while other "politically charged materials", such as a keffiyeh and other non-binary flags brought in by the audience weren't allowed in the arena.

[72] Italian singer Amedeo Minghi stated that the contest now represented "Sodom and Gomorrah... a Swiss man in a skirt won, that's how it is now.

"[73] The song's victory was debated on whether or not it had been overshadowed by Israeli participation in that year's contest in the midst of the Israel–Hamas war, a major source of controversy.

"[74] The same sentiment was shared by Davies and Rosa del Pino, who stated that the victory "was like a breath of fresh air for everyone after the most controversial and political edition of the contest's history".

The contest has probably never been so [politically] charged... All the more fitting that in the end the only supposedly completely neutral country won – with a performance that itself demonstrated a great sense of balance.

[76] Vanity Fair Italia's Valentina Colosimo, while praising Nemo's victory, stated that despite the win, "to shatter the utopia of a world where love and tolerance reign, which is then the founding dream of Eurovision, it takes very little...