Austria wins with last minute vote as Britain ranks 19th
Mark Savage

Music correspondent

Getty Images

JJ took a break from his work at the Vienna Opera House and participated in the European Television Network

Austrian singer JJ won the Eurovision Song Contest in Basel, Switzerland after he brought him upside down from pole position at the last minute to Israel.

The 24-year-old, who is the counter at the Vienna State Opera, won the title for his love-wasting song, a kind of craziest electricity about unrequited love.

“Thank you so much for making my dream come true,” he said as he accepted the coveted glass microphone trophy. “Love is the most powerful force in the world, allowing us to spread more love.”

The singer scored 436 points, Israel ranked second in 357 and Estonia ranked third in 356. The UK bill, remember on Monday, ranked 19th with 88 points.

Britain received zero from the public for the second consecutive year.

European TV Network 2025: Top Five Players

  1. Austria: JJ-waste love
  2. Israel: Yuval Raphael: New Day Will Become
  3. Estonia: Tommy Cash - Espresso McKiato
  4. Sweden: Kaj-just swimming sauna
  5. Italy: Lucio Corsi - I want to be a tough one
Alma Bengtsson / Ebu Kaj in 2025Alma Bengtsson / EBU

Kaj's songs have ranked No. 1 in Sweden in the past 12 weeks (LR: Jakob Norrgård, Kevin Holmström and Axel Åhman)

This is Austria's third win, with a previous victory to be won by Udo Jürgens' Merci in 1966. Conchita Wurst rose like Phoenix in 2014. JJ was inspired by Conchita to participate in Eurovision.

JJ was once one of the favorites to win the competition, but the hottest contestant was Swedish Kaj, whose Kaj was a mocking ode to sauna culture, and ended up in fourth place.

After the show, JJ said he was “very happy” and that the audience was related to his heartache story.

“I want them to have an insight into my deepest soul and how we feel when we write this song.”

"What I want to promise is love without wasted. There is too much love we can spread. It's the most powerful force on the planet."

When asked how he would celebrate, he replied, "Honestly, I need to sleep now. I'm very tired."

Corinne Cumming / Ebu Yuval Raphael stretches out his arms to sing for Israel in the 2025 Eurovision Song ContestCorinne Cumming / EBU

Yuval Raphael, representing Israel in protests over the country's participation

For the second consecutive year, Israeli participation has sparked controversy, with protesters arguing that the country was fired during military operations in Gaza.

Hours before the game, the pro-Palestine protests took place on the streets of Basel.

Later, a man and a woman were prevented from invading the stage during the Israeli list performance.

"One of the two agitators threw paint and one crew member was hit," SRG SSR said in a statement to the BBC.

“The crew is very good, no one was injured.

“Men and women were taken out and handed over to the police.”

The performance of young singer Yuval Raphael is not affected.

The 25-year-old is a survivor of the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, an experience that has colored her exquisite folk songs and a new day will rise.

The Israel delegation said Raphael was “shaken and frustrated” by the incident, but it was “very proud” of her performance, which was represented by Israel in a respectful manner”.

Alma Bengtsson / ebu miriana conte ends her performance bounces on medicine ballAlma Bengtsson / EBU

Elsewhere, Eurovision will often explode high camps, sex films and dresses to reveal smaller, tighter dresses.

Mariana Conte of Malta was forced to rewrite her Disco national anthem to serve Kant to remove what sounded like a vow-but was reviewed with a blink of an eye of knowledge, which was intellectually safe and listeners would fill the gap.

Although it is a fan favorite, Conte can only manage 17th place.

Tommy Cash of Estonia is ranked third, and he also keeps the ride of Espresso MacChiato, a caffeine-containing disco national anthem with an unforgettable phrase: “Life is like pasta until you do it.”

Another highlight is Finland's Erika Vikman, who is assigned to Ich Komme as a double seducer, a vibrant hymn of sex.

The singer ended her performance by flying in a giant penis microphone that fired sparks.

It puts her at 11th place and becomes permanent in the Eurovision Pantheon.

Sarah Louise Bennett / Ebu Erika Vikman stands on a giant gold microphone while performing in the Eurovision Song competitionSarah Louis Bennett/ebu

Erika Vikman's performance suffered several technical obstacles during rehearsals, but everything went on at night

The game also deals with more heavy topics such as economic immigration (Portuguese rock band NAPA) and environmental disaster (Latvia’s tautumeitas, who scored 12 points from a British jury).

Dutch singer Claude pays homage to her mother in C'est la Vie - an optimistic national anthem that reflects her enthusiasm as she uprooted her family from the motherland of the Democratic Republic of the Congo as a child.

In a moving climax, the 21-year-old dances in a childhood self-image in the mirror on the stage.

Sarah Louise Bennett / Ebu Louane in the European Network Song Contest in FranceSarah Louis Bennett/ebu

French singer Louane also reflects their childhood, with his tear-gas ballad dedicated to her mother, who died of cancer at the age of 17.

In one of the most eye-catching performances of the night, she roared over and over with the word “mother” surrounded by a whirlwind of sand.

One of the winning favorites, ending the seventh night After 50 points of public disappointment.

JJ's performance is equally eye-catching. Shooting completely in black and white, seeing him thrown on a shaky boat by a shaky boat as (emotional) threatened to consume him.

Italy's Lucio Corsi also mentioned an honor, his harmonica solo at Volevo Essere was the first live performance on Euro TV since 1998.

Alma Bengtsson / ebu remembers taking off his skirt at the performance of Eurovision Song Conts on MondayAlma Bengtsson / EBU

Remember, Monday's performance included a show back at the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest where Bucks Fizz's skirt fell off

Despite the exciting performance of the women’s group, the UK spent the third year in the second half of the rankings.

What exactly happened to their creative pop songs for a group of friends who met in high school? Drew gained years of experience at the West End Theatre.

The girls carried out tricky three-part harmony as they danced on the fallen chandeliers, but the performance had no connection with the voters.

Although the jury received a healthy 88 points, including 12 points from Italy - it bombed with the audience.

They finished 19th, down from last year's contestant Olly Alexander.

The group laughed from the public about their "NUL Points" score, held the peace sign, and hugged each other when the score was announced.

Getty Images Remember Monday Respond to their results at Eurovision Song ContestGetty Images

The band failed with good grace

Overall, the vote was confusing.

Thirteen of the 26 finalists, with at least one jury, scored up to 12 points, and the game was fully open before counting the public vote.

Israel has been in the lower half of the table and then scored 297 points from the public (maximum possible 444 points). Twelve of these views come from the UK.

For a while, it looked like Yuval Raphael's lead might be impeccable - but Austria's 178 statistics were the last announced, and the singer returned empty-handed.

It was also disappointing for fans of Canadian singer Céline Dion, who was rumored to be in the competition.

The singer won Switzerland's Eurovision in 1988 and appeared in a video hoping the contestants would be lucky in Tuesday's semifinals.

Although Eurovision organizers hoped she might appear, the moment never passed.