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.
Israeli contestant Raphael was left “shaken and upset” after pro-Palestinian protesters rushed towards a barrier when she was on stage on Saturday night, her team said.
A spokesman for Israeli broadcaster Kan said the protesters “were blocked by security officials” and their delegation “needed to move location” for 15 minutes.
Swiss police confirmed the two people were handed over to them and that they have now been released, while organisers Swiss broadcaster SRG SSR released a statement saying that a crew member was hit with paint but is “fine”.
In the centre of the city there were clashes between pro-Palestinian protesters and police, and three officers were injured, according to the force.
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.
The rest of the world also had a poll, which counted the same as a country, and the verdict of TV viewers, which were added to the combination of points from national juries.
Despite much speculation that former Swiss winner and Canadian singer Celine Dion might give a performance at Eurovision, she did not perform at the final on Saturday.
The singer did send a message during Tuesday’s semi-final in which she called her win at the 1988 edition in Dublin with Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi, when she was just 20 years old, “life changing”.
The 57-year-old, who has had health issues, recently made a return to the stage at the 2024 Paris Olympics during the closing ceremony from the Eiffel Tower where she sang Edith Piaf’s L’Hymne A L’Amour.
Earlier on Saturday, there were pro-Palestinian protests near a free concert in the centre of Basel to demonstrate against Israel’s inclusion, with a small group nearby also protesting with Israeli flags.
Later, the group advocating for Israel to be removed from Eurovision moved across Basel, where they were met by a significant police presence, and tear gas was seen being used.
On Saturday, the Basel government said more than half a million people have visited the city so far this week after the competition came home to Switzerland, which first hosted it in 1956 in Lugano.
