Austrian singer JJ surpasses his ‘wildest dreams’ – and saves the Songfestival an unprecedented headache file

The organization of the Eurovision Song Contest will have brought a sigh of lighting when Austria As the winner came out Of the 69th edition of the Liedjesfestijn, which took place in Basel, Switzerland. Singer JJ (24) won with the song ‘Wasted Love’ and received 436 points. During the scoring it became surprisingly exciting: Israel was only driven to second place at the last minute at the last minute.

The participation of the country in the Songfestival is extremely controversial and a large point of discussion among delegations, former participants, broadcasters and fans. Singer Yuval Raphael (24), who survived the terror attack of Hamas on October 7, 2023, was second with her ballad ‘New Day Will Rise’. Because the winning country is organizing the Songfestival of the following year, an edition in Israel would have become a headache file of unprecedented proportions for organizer European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which, despite all the tensions surrounding the country’s participation, continues that the festival is apolitical.

« Absolutely amazing, » said JJ during the press conference after the show, where there was very limited room for questions. « I didn’t expect this in my wildest dreams. » What his message was after his victory, he was asked. « Love wins. Spread more love. » JJ, artist name of Johannes Pietsch, is an opera singer who has made his first pop song with ‘Wasted Love’.

The Dutch participant Claude finally finished in twelfth place, with 175 points. That was a disappointment: the bookmakers had predicted a fifth place. During his performance in the final, a little more tension was noticeable than in his accurate rendition during the semi -final on Tuesday. At the beginning he made a small mistake with his text and came across as a little less self -confident. In the end, a big, emotional sob came.

In the morning, upon departure from his hotel, he already had the collected Dutch press that the day ended up very emotionally for him. He appeared there with the 11-year-old Olivier, the boy who plays a young version of him during the performance. Claude: « I am not only there for myself, but actually also together with Olivier, but also for everyone and every child in the world. » At the age of nine, Claude and his family fled from Congo.

As usual

For the most part, the Songfestival felt as usual, especially for the TV viewers. They received an extravagant show with a lot of humor, bombast and suggestive acts. During the TV broadcast, only cheers could be heard during the performance of Israel, but Boe-call also sounded in the room. About a hundred people walked away from the stands during the performance in protest. A number of people with Palestinian flags have also been put out of the hall. According to visitors in the hall, there were also many people who consciously did not apply after Raphael’s performance.

Yet the Ebu and song festival boss Martin Green will be satisfied. Earlier in the day, tears suddenly shot in Greens eyes during his last press conference for the final. Whether he was relieved that the festival had almost gone smoothly until then, in contrast to last year’s very loaded edition, he was asked. « It makes me pretty emotional, » said the Brit, who was appointed director of the festival by the organizer Ebu in October 2024, a new position. He thereby took over tasks from many criticized Martin Österdahl, who is still present as a producer, but now remains behind the scenes.

We had stepped in the hope that this year we would go back to a feeling of unity, peace and togetherness

Green: « We had stepped in the hope that despite difficult circumstances this year we would go back to a feeling of unity, peace and togetherness. Everyone has worked on this in recent months to achieve that. »

There were much -discussed new measures that the well -being of the artists had to guarantee: an area backstage in which not filming is not allowed, a safety manager whose artists could complain about incidents and a new code of conduct. Artists, including Claude, were generally satisfied with that. Not everything is perfect, they say, especially the pressure to make social media videos for Eurovision is still too big, according to some.