VIENNA (AP) — Austrian followers enthusiastically welcomed classically skilled singer JJ again house at Vienna airport on Sunday after he received the 69th Eurovision Tune Contest with “Wasted Love.”
As JJ walked by way of the gate, tons of of followers cheered, some performed his tune and others surrounded the brand new star, hugging him and asking for autographs.
The 24-year-old countertenor, whose profitable tune combines operatic, multi-octave vocals with a techno twist, and who additionally sings on the Vienna State Opera, held up his trophy in a single hand and an enormous bouquet of roses within the different. He smiled, wiped away tears and instructed the gang “that victory is for you.”
JJ, whose full title is Johannes Pietsch, was Austria’s third Eurovision winner, after bearded drag queen Conchita Wurst in 2014 and Udo Jürgens in 1966.
“That is past my wildest desires. It’s loopy,” stated the singer when being handed the microphone-shaped glass Eurovision trophy after his win within the Swiss metropolis of Basel on Saturday evening.
On Sunday evening, JJ instructed reporters in Vienna that “I don’t assume you’ll understand that you simply did it in any respect till you’re in your deathbed.”
‘All of Austria is completely satisfied’
Austria’s president, Alexander van der Bellen, celebrated JJ in a video posted on X.
“What a hit! What a voice! What a present!” he exclaimed. “All of Austria is completely satisfied.”
Chancellor Christian Stoecker wrote on X: “What an important success — my warmest congratulations on profitable #ESC2025! JJ is writing Austrian music historical past right now!”
The Vienna State Opera additionally expressed pleasure over the win. “From the Magic Flute to profitable the Tune Contest is by some means a narrative that may solely happen in Austria,” opera director Bogdan Roscic instructed the Austrian press company APA.
A number of Austrian cities had been fast to indicate their curiosity in internet hosting subsequent yr’s contest. Innsbruck Mayor Johannes Anzengruber instructed APA that “not all the pieces has to happen in Vienna. … Austria is greater than that,” and the cities of Oberwart in Burgenland and Wels in Higher Austria additionally threw their hats into the ring.
JJ himself stated he hoped that Vienna would get the subsequent ESC which he would like to host collectively along with his mentor, Conchita Wurst.
A nail-biting last
Israeli singer Yuval Raphael got here second at an exuberant celebration of music and unity that was shadowed by the Gaza struggle and rattled by discord over Israel’s participation.
JJ received after a nail-biting last that noticed Raphael scoop up an enormous public vote from her many followers for her anthemic “New Day Will Rise.” However she additionally confronted protests from pro-Palestinian demonstrators calling for Israel to be kicked out of the competition over its conduct of the struggle towards Hamas in Gaza.
At a post-victory press convention, JJ stated the message of his tune about unrequited romance was that “love is the strongest power on planet Earth, and love persevered.
“Let’s unfold love, guys,” stated JJ, who added that he was honored to be the primary Eurovision champion with Filipino heritage, in addition to a proudly queer winner.
Eclectic and typically baffling
The world’s largest dwell music occasion, which has been uniting and dividing Europeans since 1956, reached its glitter-drenched conclusion with a grand last in Basel that supplied pounding electropop, quirky rock and outrageous divas.
Acts from 26 nations — trimmed from 37 entrants by way of two elimination semifinals — carried out to some 160 million viewers for the continent’s pop crown. No smoke machine, jet of flame or dizzying mild show was spared by musicians who had three minutes to win over tens of millions of viewers who, together with nationwide juries of music professionals, picked the winner.
Estonia’s Tommy Money got here third along with his jokey mock-Italian dance tune “Espresso Macchiato.” Swedish entry KAJ, which had been favourite to win with jaunty sauna ode “Bara Bada Bastu,” got here fourth.
The present was a celebration of Europe’s eclectic, and typically baffling, musical tastes.
The struggle in Gaza clouded the competition
This yr’s contest was roiled for a second yr by disputes over Israel’s participation. Raphael — a survivor of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, assault on a music competition in southern Israel that triggered the Gaza struggle — was met by a mixture of cheers and boos as she sang.
Swiss broadcaster SRG SSR stated a person and lady had been stopped as they tried to climb over a barrier to the stage on the finish of her tune. It stated a crew member was hit by paint thrown by the pair. Raphael’s staff stated she was left “shaken and upset.”
The Oct. 7 cross-border assaults by Hamas militants killed 1,200 individuals, and roughly 250 had been taken hostage into Gaza. Greater than 52,800 individuals in Gaza have been killed in Israel’s retaliatory offensive, in response to the territory’s well being ministry.
Professional-Palestinian and pro-Israel protests each occurred in Basel, although on a a lot smaller scale than eventually yr’s occasion in Sweden.
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Grieshaber reported from Berlin. Related Press author Jill Lawless in Basel, Switzerland contributed to this report.