Classically trained Austrian singer JJ won the 69th Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday with Wasted Love, a song that combines operatic, multi-octave vocals with a techno twist.
Israel’s Yuval Raphael came second at an exuberant celebration of music and unity that was shadowed by the war in Gaza and ruffled by discord over Israel’s participation.
JJ, whose full name is Johannes Pietsch, was Austria’s first winner since bearded drag queen Conchita Wurst in 2014. JJ, who sings as a countertenor with the Vienna State Opera, has called Wurst a mentor. It was Austria’s third victory overall in Eurovision.
“This is beyond my wildest dreams. It’s crazy,” the singer said after being handed the microphone-shaped glass Eurovision trophy.
JJ won after a nail-biting final that saw Raphael scoop up a massive public vote from her many fans for her anthemic New Day Will Rise.
But she also faced protests from pro-Palestinian demonstrators calling for Israel to be kicked out of the contest over its conduct of the war against Hamas in Gaza.
Estonia’s Tommy Cash finished third with Espresso Macchiato, and Swedish entry KAJ, who had been favoured to win with jaunty sauna ode Bara Bada Bastu, came fourth.
The world’s largest live music event reached its glitter-drenched conclusion with a grand final in Basel, Switzerland, that offered pounding electropop, quirky rock and outrageous divas.
Acts from 26 countries — trimmed from 37 entrants through two elimination semifinals — performed to some 160 million viewers for the continent’s pop crown. No smoke machine, jet of flame or dizzying light display was spared by performers, who had three minutes to win over millions of viewers who, along with national juries of music professionals, pick the winner.
The show offered a celebration of Europe’s eclectic, and sometimes baffling, musical tastes. Lithuanian band Katarsis delivered grunge rock, while Ukraine’s Ziferblat channelled prog rock and the U.K.’s Remember Monday offered country pop.
Italy’s Lucio Corsi evoked 1970s glam rock, while Icelandic duo VAEB rapped about rowing, and Latvia’s six-woman Tautumeitas offered gorgeous, intertwined harmonies.
There were divas aplenty, including Spain’s Melody, Poland`s Justyna Steczkowska, participating in Eurovision for a second time after a 30-year gap, with GAJA, and Malta’s outrageous Miriana Conte, who performed Serving — a song whose previous suggestive title and lyrics were changed on the orders of contest organizers — on a set including a glitter ball and giant lips.
Dean Vuletic, an expert on the history of Eurovision, said the competition has become more diverse over the years, both musically and linguistically. There are songs in 20 languages this year, including Ukrainian, Icelandic, Albanian, Latvian and Maltese.
“In the past it was about having a catchy, innocuous pop song, usually in English,” he said. But “in recent years, the formulaic approach to a Eurovision entry hasn’t succeeded.”
“An entry needs to be memorable and it needs to be authentic in order to succeed these days.”
War in Gaza clouded contest
This year’s contest was roiled for a second year by disputes over Israel’s participation. Raphael — a survivor of the attack by Hamas on a music festival in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, that triggered the Gaza war — was met by a mix of cheers and boos as she sang.
Swiss broadcaster SRG SSR said a man and woman were stopped as they tried to climb over a barrier to the stage at the end of her song. It said a crew member was hit by paint thrown by the pair. Raphael’s team said she was left “shaken and upset.”
The Oct. 7 cross-border attacks by Hamas militants killed 1,200 people, and roughly 250 were taken hostage into Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. More than 52,800 people in Gaza have been killed in Israel’s retaliatory offensive, according to the territory’s Health Ministry.
Pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel protests both took place in Basel, although on a much smaller scale than at last year’s event in Sweden.
Hundreds of people marched through Basel just before the competition, waving Palestinian flags and chanting “Boycott Israel.” Basel police said Sunday that the protest had not been authorized and that three officers and one protester were injured.
Earlier on Saturday, a group of Israel supporters gathered in Basel’s cathedral square to root for Raphael and to show that “Jews belong in public spaces in Switzerland,” Zurich resident Rebecca Laes-Kushner said.
She said that “it would be such a strong statement against antisemitism” if Raphael won.
“This is supposed to be about music, not about hate,” she said.
The European Broadcasting Union, or EBU, which runs Eurovision, tightened the contest’s code of conduct this year, calling on participants to respect Eurovision’s values of “universality, diversity, equality and inclusivity” and its political neutrality.
After a controversial ban in 2024 on flags, apart from national ones, being waved in the arena, this year audience members can bring Palestinian flags or any others, as long as they are legal under Swiss law. But performers can only wave their own country’s flag.
Eurovision director Martin Green told reporters that the organizers’ goal was to “re-establish a sense of unity, calm and togetherness this year in a difficult world.”
“All 37 delegations, in difficult times, have behaved impeccably,” he said.
