Austria welcomes JJ back home with cheers, hugs and roses after he wins the Eurovision Song Contest

JJ, centre, from Austria arrives at the airport in Vienna, Austria, Sunday, May 18, 2025, after winning the Grand Final of the 69th Eurovision Song Contest, in Basel yesterday. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)

VIENNA -- Austrian fans enthusiastically welcomed classically trained singer JJ back home at Vienna airport on Sunday after he won the 69th Eurovision Song Contest with “Wasted Love.”

As JJ walked through the gate, hundreds of fans cheered, some played his song and others surrounded the new star, hugging him and asking for autographs.

The 24-year-old countertenor, whose winning song combines operatic, multi-octave vocals with a techno twist, and who also sings at the Vienna State Opera, held up his trophy in one hand and a big bouquet of roses in the other. He smiled, wiped away tears and told the crowd “that victory is for you.”

JJ, whose full name is Johannes Pietsch, was Austria’s third Eurovision winner, after bearded drag queen Conchita Wurst in 2014 and Udo Jurgens in 1966.

“This is beyond my wildest dreams. It’s crazy,” said the singer when being handed the microphone-shaped glass Eurovision trophy after his win in the Swiss city of Basel on Saturday night.

On Sunday night, JJ told reporters in Vienna that “I don’t think you’ll realize that you did it at all until you’re on your deathbed.”

‘All of Austria is happy’

Austria’s president, Alexander van der Bellen, celebrated JJ in a video posted on X.

“What a success! What a voice! What a show!” he exclaimed. “All of Austria is happy.”

Chancellor Christian Stoecker wrote on X: “What a great success -- my warmest congratulations on winning .ESC2025! JJ is writing Austrian music history today!”

The Vienna State Opera also expressed joy over the win. “From the Magic Flute to winning the Song Contest is somehow a story that can only take place in Austria,” opera director Bogdan Roscic told the Austrian press agency APA.

Several Austrian cities were quick to show their interest in hosting next year’s contest. Innsbruck Mayor Johannes Anzengruber told APA that “not everything has to take place in Vienna. ... Austria is bigger than that,” and the towns of Oberwart in Burgenland and Wels in Upper Austria also threw their hats into the ring.

JJ himself said he hoped that Vienna would get the next ESC which he would love to host together with his mentor, Conchita Wurst.

A nail-biting final

Israeli singer Yuval Raphael came second at an exuberant celebration of music and unity that was shadowed by the Gaza war and rattled by discord over Israel’s participation.

JJ won after a nail-biting final that saw Raphael scoop up a massive public vote from her many fans for her anthemic “New Day Will Rise.” But she also faced protests from pro-Palestinian demonstrators calling for Israel to be kicked out of the contest over its conduct of the war against Hamas in Gaza.

At a post-victory press conference, JJ said the message of his song about unrequited romance was that “love is the strongest force on planet Earth, and love persevered.

“Let’s spread love, guys,” said JJ, who added that he was honoured to be the first Eurovision champion with Filipino heritage, as well as a proudly queer winner.

Eclectic and sometimes baffling

The world’s largest live music event, which has been uniting and dividing Europeans since 1956, reached its glitter-drenched conclusion with a grand final in Basel that offered pounding electropop, quirky rock and outrageous divas.

Acts from 26 countries -- trimmed from 37 entrants through two elimination semifinals -- performed to some 160 million viewers for the continent’s pop crown. No smoke machine, jet of flame or dizzying light display was spared by musicians who had three minutes to win over millions of viewers who, along with national juries of music professionals, picked the winner.

Estonia’s Tommy Cash came third with his jokey mock-Italian dance song “Espresso Macchiato.” Swedish entry KAJ, which had been favorite to win with jaunty sauna ode “Bara Bada Bastu,” came fourth.

The show was a celebration of Europe’s eclectic, and sometimes baffling, musical tastes.

The war in Gaza clouded the contest

This year’s contest was roiled for a second year by disputes over Israel’s participation. Raphael -- a survivor of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on a music festival in southern Israel that triggered the Gaza war -- was met by a mix of cheers and boos as she sang.

Swiss broadcaster SRG SSR said a man and woman were stopped as they tried to climb over a barrier to the stage at the end of her song. It said a crew member was hit by paint thrown by the pair. Raphael’s team said she was left “shaken and upset.”

The Oct. 7 cross-border attacks by Hamas militants killed 1,200 people, and roughly 250 were taken hostage into Gaza. More than 52,800 people in Gaza have been killed in Israel’s retaliatory offensive, according to the territory’s health ministry.

Pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel protests both took place in Basel, though on a much smaller scale than at last year’s event in Sweden.

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By Philipp Jenne And Kirsten Grieshaber

Grieshaber reported from Berlin. Associated Press writer Jill Lawless in Basel, Switzerland contributed to this report.