Austria won Eurovision, Israel ranked second
| This is the third time Austria won the competition, with previous success with the participation of Conchita Wurst in 2014. |
In an interview with Eurongeuz, JJ says that his song is about unrequited love and finding strength through the pain: « The song is quite sad, but there is also the hope that there is always light at the end of the tunnel. And if you have a short, bad period, it means that you can never end it.
Jewal Rafael of Israel is ranked second with the New Day Will Rise song, and Tommy Cash of Estonia took third place with Espresso Macchiato. The Swedish band Kaj, who was the favorite for the victory according to bookmakers with the song about the sauna – Bara Bada Bastu, took only fourth place. Italy, Greece, France, Albania, Ukraine and Switzerland also entered the top ten.
Although Eurovision’s slogan is « united through music », Israel’s participation for a second year has caused a number of protests. Palestinian flags could be seen on the streets of Basel, hosting the competition this year, from the first day when the participants passed through the traditional turquoise carpet.
Israel qualified for the Eurovision final after protests interrupted rehearsal
The final show began with the performance of the Swiss Nemo, who last year won « Eurovision » with the song The Code, and later came on stage to perform another song, as well as to convey the award to the winner JJ.
The biggest expectations of the audience were whether they would see Celine Dion, who won the Eurovision as a representative of Switzerland in 1988, but she never appeared. The singer made a special video message to the audience during the first semi -finals, but everyone hoped that she could take the stage in Basel on the last night of the competition.
The organizers have announced that over 500,000 people have visited the city for Eurovision Week, and nearly 36,000 have watched the show at the football stadium, right next to the arena where the competition is being held, Deutsche Welle notes. At one point from the show, it was there that the audience sang ABBA’s hit – Waterloo.
A total of 26 participants joined the music race this year, with twenty of them being selected through a viewer vote during the two semifinals, while six countries automatically qualified for the final: the host Switzerland with France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK.
