JJ rocks the charts: After the ESC victory comes the fuss about Israel!

JJ rocks the charts: After the ESC victory comes the fuss about Israel!

The 69th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC), held on May 17, 2025 in Basel, Switzerland, created a stir with its winner, JJ from Austria. JJ wowed the audience with his powerful song “Wasted Love” and scored a total of 436 points, taking first place. Millions of viewers worldwide watched the event, which once again demonstrated its importance as a traditional music event. The competition, first held in 1956, remains a key TV event in Europe and this year enjoyed a global audience of around 170 million, an increase on last year.

JJ's win didn't come without controversy, however. In an interview, he expressed dissatisfaction with Israel's continued participation in the competition and expressed the hope that next year's contest could take place in Vienna without Israel. This statement caused excitement and discussion as Israel competed with the song "New Day Will Rise" by Yuval Raphael and received 297 points in the audience vote, while JJ received 178 points. However, national juries awarded “Wasted Love” 258 points, ultimately making JJ the overall winner. The conflict over the voting methods and the advertising campaigns that some countries initiated in favor of their artists led to protests from several European broadcasters.

Controversial vote and protests

The debate over voting methods intensified as broadcasters from Spain, Finland, the Netherlands and Ireland called for the results to be checked for possible manipulation. It is critically noted that viewers can vote up to 20 times, which contradicts fair competition. Despite these concerns, Martin Green, the director of Eurovision, defended the integrity of the voting system. In addition, the EBU's independent fact-checking platform, Spotlight, made it clear that Israeli advertising campaigns did not violate competition rules, although they were criticized.

This incident shows that the ESC is not just a musical event, but also a platform for political and social discussions. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez even called for a general ban on Israel, which further fueled tensions over the country's participation. Despite all the controversy, JJ received praise from Yuval Raphael for his performance, which is encouraging for the artistic community.

JJ’s comings and goings

After his triumphant victory, JJ experienced further success the following week: He reached number 1 in the Austria Top 40 with “Wasted Love”, which has now had more than 10 million YouTube views. After ESC, JJ took part in promotional appearances in Germany, France, Finland and Great Britain. On June 7th he will appear live on ORF2 at the “Starnacht am Neusiedlersee”, where other well-known artists such as Howard Carpendale and Aura Dione are expected.

As JJ moves into the public eye, musicians and fans are excited about the upcoming events. The Frequency Festival, where Tommy Cash will perform on August 15th, as well as the performances by Abor & Tynna at the Flex in Vienna and at the Diversity Ball in Vienna promise exciting highlights. It remains to be seen whether the political debate about Israel will continue to influence next year's cultural event.

The developments in the ESC's follow-up reporting cast a decisive look at the interactions between music, the public and political statements, which should only increase the fascination for this competition in the future.

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For more information and detailed coverage of the events surrounding the Eurovision Song Contest, including JJ's controversies and successes, take a look at reports from oe24, Jpost and Statista.