Austria’s JJ was crowned winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 following an action-packed Grand Final in Basel, Switzerland, on Saturday night.
After a nail-biting vote, the 23-year-old Austrian-Filipino artist topped the competition with 436 points being awarded to his song Wasted Love, with Israel’s Yuval Raphael finishing in second place with 357 points.
The singer, real name Johannes Pietsch, opted for simple black and white staging in Basel, which looked like a disastrous boat trip as he sang about someone he cared about being overwhelmed.
Tearfully accepting his award, JJ said: “Thank you, Europe, for making my dreams come true.
“Love is the strongest force in the world. Let’s spread more love. Thank you so much, Europe. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
Vienna-born JJ is an Austrian-Filipino opera singer and has been studying at the Music and Art Private University of Vienna (MUK).
Previous Austrian wins include drag artist Conchita Wurst in 2014 with Rise Like A Phoenix, and 1966’s Udo Jurgens with Merci Cherie.
A total of 26 acts took to the stage at the St Jakobshalle arena for a typically wide-ranging show.
Ireland was not among the grand final acts after Norwegian singer EMMY failed to progress from the semi-final stages with her track Laika Party.
The Eurovision 2025 winner was determined by viewer votes in the participating 26 countries and juries made up of the music industry.
Source RTE
