The winner of the 2025 annual Eurovision Song Contest is Austria, with singer Johannes ‘JJ’ Pietsch taking home the trophy with “Wasted Love”.
“Thank you so much for making my dreams come true,” JJ said in their victory speech.
JJ is a 23-year-old Austrian-Filipino artist who is also a professional singer at the Vienna State Opera. The winning song was written by JJ, Teodora Spiric, and Thomas Turner.
This marks Austria’s third Eurovision win, first beginning in 1966 with Udo Jürgens and then in 2014 with Conchita Wurst. Austria will be the host country of next year’s competition.
Austria won the popular vote ahead of second-place winner Israel, despite heavy protests and calls to exclude the country from the competition amid the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Austria will host next year’s competition. (Source: Getty Images)
Earlier this month, more than 70 former Eurovision contestants signed an open letter asking for the country to be banned.
Eurovision organisers also said that a crew member was hit with paint after two protestors attempted to rush on stage amid Yuval Raphael’s performance of “New Day Will Rise”.
Swiss broadcaster SSR mentioned the incident following Raphael leaving the stage.
“The crew member is fine and nobody was injured. The man and the woman were taken out of the venue and handed over to the police,” a statement read, per The Hollywood Reporter.
Israel’s inclusion in the competition was heavily criticised amid the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. (Source: Getty Images)
Estonia came in third, followed (in order) by Sweden, Italy, Greece, France, Albania, Ukraine, and Switzerland.
Switzerland was the host country for the 2025 competition following Nemo Metter’s win with “The Code” last year.
Australia’s representative for Eurovision, Marty ‘Go-Jo’ Zambotto, was eliminated in the competition’s semi-finals with his song “Milkshake Man”.
