Austria celebrates: JJ wins ESC with Wasted Love and more!

Austria celebrates: JJ wins ESC with Wasted Love and more!

Basel, Schweiz - Today, on May 18, 2025, Austria celebrates a glamorous victory at the 69th Eurovision Song Contest in Basel. The 24-year-old countertenor JJ, bourgeois Johannes Pietsch, triumphed with his emotional Popera ballad "Wasted Love". With this victory, Austria not only remains true to its successful ESC history, but also takes a significant step in musical diversity.

"Wasted Love" stands out through its unique operatic vocals, which differ significantly from the club hit "The Code" of last year's winner Nemo. In his acceptance speech, JJ asked for more love and promised to work to spread positive energy. With 436 points, he prevailed clearly against the competition: Israel took second place with 357 points and Estonia followed in third place with 356 points (https://www.npr.org/2025/17/17-5402096/austria-eurovision-69-jj-wasted-love) reported.

an emotional moment for JJ

The announcement of the victory was an overwhelming moment for JJ. The young artist broke out in tears when he accepted the trophy and described his victory as "crazy". "My dreams have come true," said JJ in a moving winner's appetite, in which he also emphasized that there is no wasted love. His emotional performance was accompanied by an impressive black and white aesthetics that the audience captivated.

JJ, who was born in Vienna and grew up in Dubai, had an extraordinary musical career. The talented countertenor, who appeared at "The Voice UK" in 2020 and in 2021 at "Starmania", attracted attention with his unique voice and emotional performance. Together with Teodora Spiric and Thomas Turner, he wrote the winning song "Wasted Love", which is supplemented by fragmented electronic beats in the last part of the play. 

the historical victory and outlook on the future

This victory marks the third success for Austria at the Eurovision Song Contest, the first two had Udo Jürgens in 1965 and Conchita Wurst in 2014. It is particularly noteworthy that JJ is the first Philippino to win the competition, which is celebrated by the Filipino community as a historical moment. He expresses the desire to moderate the next ESC together with Conchita Wurst and plans to celebrate the contest with his family in the hotel, with his 85-year-old grandfather live in Basel.

Another exciting aspect is the expected venue of the 70th Eurovision Song Contest: Vienna, since Austria is selected as the host of the event after it has won this year. JJ particularly wishes that the next event will take place in Vienna because his friend lives there. The Eurovision family looks at the coming months full of anticipation and the opportunity to experience new talents and impressive performances. JJ's victory is not only regarded as a personal triumph, but also as a source of inspiration for young queer people, as Starzip determines.