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Austrian singer JJ has gained the Eurovision Song Contest in Basel, Switzerland, after a nail-biting end that noticed him topple Israel from pole place on the very final minute.
The 24-year-old, who’s a counter-tenor on the Vienna State Opera, took the name with the track Wasted Love, a tempestuous electro-ballad about unrequited love.
“Thank you so much for making my dreams come true,” he stated as he authorized the coveted glass microphone trophy. “Love is the strongest force in the world, let’s spread more love.”
The singer scored 436 issues, with Israel in 2nd position on 357 and Estonia 3rd on 356. The UK’s act, Remember Monday, positioned 19th with 88 issues.
For the second one yr in a row, the United Kingdom won 0 from the general public.
Getty ImagesEurovision 2025: The most sensible 5 contestants
- Austria: JJ – Wasted Love
- Israel: Yuval Raphael: New Day Will Rise
- Estonia: Tommy Cash – Espresso Macchiato
- Sweden: KAJ – Bara Bada Bastu
- Italy: Lucio Corsi – Volevo Essere Un Duro
Alma Bengtsson / EBUJJ’s more youthful sister broke via safety guards to hug him after his victory was once introduced.
The Austrian stated his entire circle of relatives had arrived to beef up him on the contest, together with his 85-year-old grandfather, and a four-month-old niece, who watched out of doors along with his brother.
It is the 3rd time Austria has gained the competition, with earlier victories going to Udo Jürgens’ Merci, Cherie in 1966; and Conchita Wurst with Rise Like a Phoenix in 2014. JJ was once impressed to participate in Eurovision via Conchita.
The singer had at all times been some of the favourites to win, however essentially the most hotly-tipped contestants had been Sweden’s KAJ – whose tongue-in-cheek ode to sauna tradition, Bara Bada Bastu, in the end took fourth position.
Speaking after the display, JJ stated he was once “so pleased” that audience had attached along with his tale of heartache.
“I wanted to let them have an insight on my deepest soul [and] how I felt when we wrote the song.”
“What I’m trying to commit [to] is that there’s no wasted love. There’s so much love that we can spread around. It’s the strongest force on planet earth.”
Asked how he would have a good time, he spoke back: “Honestly, I need to sleep now. I’m tired.”
Corinne Cumming / EBUFor the second one yr in a row, there was once controversy over Israel’s participation, with protestors arguing for the rustic’s dismissal over its army motion in Gaza.
Pro-Palestinian protests came about at the streets of Basel within the hours earlier than the competition.
Later, a person and a girl had been avoided from invading the degree right through Israel’s efficiency.
“One of the two agitators threw paint and a crew member was hit,” stated Swiss broadcaster SRG SSR in a observation to the BBC.
“The crew member is fine and nobody was injured.
“The guy and the girl had been taken out of the venue and passed over to the police.”
The performance, by young singer Yuval Raphael, was unaffected.
The 25-year-old is a survivor of the Hamas attacks of 7 October, 2023, an experience which coloured her delicate ballad, New Day Will Rise.
The Israeli delegation said Raphael was left “shaken and dissatisfied” by the incident, but that it was “extraordinarily proud” of her performance “which represented Israel in a deferential method”.
Alma Bengtsson / EBUElsewhere, Eurovision was its usual explosion of high camp, sexual innuendo and dresses being removed to reveal smaller, tighter dresses.
Malta’s Mariana Conte was forced to rewrite her disco anthem Serving Kant to remove what sounded like a swear word – but performed the censored version with a knowing wink, safe in the knowledge the audience would fill in the blanks.
Although it was a fan favourite, Conte could only manage 17th.
Estonia’s Tommy Cash, who came third, also kept the innuendo train running, with Espresso Macchiato, a caffeinated disco anthem featuring the unforgettable phrase: “Life is like spaghetti, it is arduous till you are making it.”
Another highlight was Finland’s Erika Vikman, who dispensed with double entendres entirely on Ich Komme, a vibrant hymn to sexual pleasure.
The singer ended her performance by taking flight on a giant phallic microphone that shot sparks into the air.
It thrust her into 11th position, and a permanent place in the Eurovision pantheon.
The contest also dealt with more weighty subjects like economic migration (Portuguese rock band Napa) and environmental catastrophe (Latvia’s Tautumeitas, who scored 12 points from the UK jury).
Dutch singer Claude delivered a heartfelt tribute to his mother in C’est La Vie – an upbeat anthem that reflected on her positivity as she uprooted the family from their home country of the Democratic Republic of Congo as a child.
In a touching climax, the 21-year-old danced with an image of his childhood self in a mirror on the stage.
Sarah Louise Bennett / EBUAlso reflecting on their childhood was French singer Louane, whose tearjerking ballad was dedicated to her mother, who died of cancer when she was 17.
In one of the night’s most striking performances, she was surrounded by a whirlwind of sand as she hollered the word “mom” over and over again.
One of the favourites to win, it ended the night in seventh place, after receiving a disappointing 50 points from the public.
JJ’s performance was similarly dramatic. Shot entirely in black and white, it saw him being tossed around on a rickety boat, as waves (of emotion) threatened to consume him.
An honourable mention also goes to Italy’s Lucio Corsi, whose harmonica solo in Volevo Essere Un Duro marked the first time a live instrument has been played at Eurovision since 1998.
Alma Bengtsson / EBUThe UK spent a third year in the bottom half of the leaderboard, despite a spirited performance from girl group Remember Monday.
A group of friends who met at high school, their inventive pop song What The Hell Just Happened? drew on their many years of experience in West End theatre.
The girls pulled off their tricky three-part harmonies while dancing around a fallen chandelier, but the performance didn’t connect with voters.
Despite earning a healthy 88 points from juries – including 12 from Italy – it bombed with viewers.
They ended in 19th place, one below last year’s entrant Olly Alexander.
The group laughed off their “nul issues” score from the public, holding up peace signs and hugging each other as the score was announced.
Getty ImagesThe voting was utter chaos.
Thirteen of the 26 finalists received the maximum of 12 points from at least one jury, leaving the competition completely open before the public vote was counted.
Israel, who had been languishing in the bottom half of the table, then received 297 points from the public (out of a possible maximum of 444). Twelve of those points came from the UK.
For a while, it looked like Yuval Raphael’s lead might be unassailable – but Austria’s tally of 178 was the last to be announced, leaving the singer empty-handed.
And spare a thought for Switzerland.
Their contestant, Zoë Më, was in second place after the jury vote, with 214 points. Then the public gave her the night’s only other zero-point score.
To gasps in the arena, her song Voyage was demoted to 10th place.
There was disappointment, too, for fans of Canadian singer Céline Dion, who had been rumoured to appear at the contest.
The singer won Eurovision for Switzerland in 1988, and had appeared in a video wishing the contestants good luck at Tuesday’s semi-final.
Despite hopes from Eurovision organisers that she would possibly flip up, the instant by no means got here to cross.
