JJ triumphed with Wasted Love: Austria celebrates ESC victory!

JJ triumphed with Wasted Love: Austria celebrates ESC victory!

On May 26, 2025, Austria celebrates a remarkable musical success: The 24-year-old opera singer JJ won the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 on May 17 with his song "Wasted Love". This marks the first victory for Austria since the triumphant appearance of Conchita Wurst in 2014 and the third overall victory in the history of the competition, according to Udo Jürgens in 1966.

JJ, who comes from Vienna, convinces with a unique combination of opera, techno and soprano. According to [USA Today] (https://www.usatoday.com/story/ententainment/2025/05/18/eurovision-song-contest-2025-winner-jj-austria-wasted-love/83710094007/ Israeli singer Yuval Raphael, who took second place with "New Day Will Rise". The competition was followed by over 160 million people worldwide.

chart dominance and streaming record

After his victory, "Wasted Love" immediately reaches first on the Austrian Singlecharts and sets a new streaming record with over a million streams in just one week. 5min.at reports that JJ received the official "number 1 award" for this success. The entire three upper places of the charts are occupied by Austrian artists: “Connected” by RAF Camora and Reezy, while “Baller” from Abor & Tynna, who represented Germany at the ESC, is in third place.

In addition, a total of twelve songs from this year's Eurovision Song Contest are represented in the current charts, which underlines the great popularity of the competition in Austria. Tommy Cash with "Espresso Macchiato" takes fifth place, followed by Kaj and her song "Bara Bada Bastu" in seventh.

a moving competition

The competition in Basel was not just a musical highlight. Pro-Palestinian groups called for Israel's exclusion from the competition due to the conflict in Gaza. During the event, around 200 protesters demonstrated, and some tried to get on the stage, but were prevented from doing so by security forces. RTVE, the Spanish radio, showed a message as a sign of solidarity to support human rights before the start of the show.

Austria has been participating in the Eurovision since 1957, with Bob Martin at the time with his song "Where, little pony?" last place. Udo Jürgens, who won the first victory for Austria with "Merci Chérie" in 1966, remains an important figure in the history of the competition, which serves as inspiration for many national artists. JJ has now impressively linked this great tradition and provided new enthusiasm with his victory.

The Austrian government, represented by Chancellor Christian Stocker and Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger, congratulated JJ on his success and expressed the desire that the next Eurovision event was to take place in his hometown Vienna. With the return to the top of the Eurovision, Austria again shows how music can cross borders.