‘Love is never wasted’: Austria wins Eurovision final as UK finishes 19th

The winning artist was a singer named JJ, real name Johannes Pietsch, who sung a song called Wasted Love.

He scored 436 points in total, comprised of 178 points from the public and 258 from the professional juries.

JJ, a 24-year-old from Vienna, combined elements of opera, techno and high-pitched vocals in his song.

JJ reacts after winning the Eurovision Song Contest, in Basel, Switzerland. (Photo: Martin Meissner/AP)

“This is beyond my wildest dreams,” he said. “It’s crazy.”

JJ said he wanted to give listeners an insight into his deepest thoughts when he wrote the song, and was happy it had resonated with so many fans.

“There’s no wasted love. Love is never wasted. There’s so much love that we can spread around, and we should use love as the strongest force on planet Earth,” he added.

It is Austria’s first victory since bearded drag queen Conchita Wurst won in 2014, and only their third overall.

Among the performers at the St Jakobshalle arena were the UK’s entry Remember Monday, who performed What The Hell Just Happened?

However, the UK’s entry did not score a single point in the public vote. During the jury vote, Remember Monday were awarded 88 points, leaving them in 19th place overall.

The home nation, Switzerland, also got zero points from the public, but still finished 10th.

Remember Monday from the United Kingdom perform the song ‘What The Hell Just Happened’ (Photo: PA)

Israel received 357 votes to finish second, despite two English pro-Palestinian protestors trying to rush the stage during singer Yuval Raphael’s performance.

Raphael, an October 7 survivor, sang the heartfelt New Day Will Rise, and her performance was met with a mix of cheers and boos by the audience.

Swiss broadcaster SRG SSR said a crew member was hit with paint, after two people tried to rush on stage through the barrier after Raphael’s performance.

The activist group Youth Demand, which is calling for a trade embargo on Israel, said its supporters David Curry, 22, from Manchester, and Meaghan Leon, 27, from London, had been arrested.

“They were stopped,” an SRG SSR spokesman said. “One of the two agitators threw paint and a crew member was hit.

“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 spokesman for Basel police said: “The organiser handed the two people over to the police. The police checked the two people and then released them. It is now up to the organiser to decide whether to press charges.”

People in Switzerland protest against Israel’s participation in the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest. (Photo: Muhammet Ikbal Arslan/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Denmark’s Claude Kiambe sang C’est La Vie, a song inspired by his mother’s advice that there are good and bad moments in life, and at the end of the performance he broke down in tears and thanked the audience.

Finland’s Erika Vikman sang tongue-in-cheek song Ich Komme and it finished with her taking off on a giant microphone with sparks flying.

Also taking to the stage was Norway’s Kyle Alessandro, the youngest Eurovision act this year at 19 years old, who sung the fiery song Lighter.

Alessandro has an exam on Monday morning and is taking part on the date of his country’s National Constitution Day.

Israeli singer Yuval Raphael sang New Day Will Rise (Photo: AFP or licensors)

Swedish singer Nemo, who was last year’s Eurovision winner, opened the contest with his performance of the song that secured him victory, The Code, while wearing a white dress.

The winner was determined by viewer votes in the participating 26 countries, and juries made up of the music industry.

The rest of the world also had a poll, and their votes are bundled into a single bloc called the “rest of the world vote”.

The UK’s national jury votes, led by 12 points for Latvian group Tautumeitas, were announced by singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor. The 12 public votes were awarded to Israel.

Ellis-Bextor was tapped for the role after Doctor Who actor Ncuti Gatwa pulled out of being the British Eurovision spokesperson due to “unforeseen circumstances”.

Basel’s government said more than half a million people have visited the city so far this week after the competition returned to Switzerland, which first hosted it in 1956 in Lugano.

Additional reporting by Press Association

TOP 10 FINISHERS IN EUROVISION 2025 (with total points in brackets):

1. Austria (436)
2. Israel (357)
3. Estonia (356)
4. Sweden (321)
5. Italy (256)
6. Greece (231)
7. France (230)
8. Albania (218)
9. Ukraine (218)
10. Switzerland (214)