Austria has won the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 in Swiss host city Basel, in the country's first victory since bearded drag queen Conchita Wurst won in 2014.
Operatic singer JJ won on Saturday ahead of Israel in the world's biggest music competition, which was watched by a television audience of more than 160 million people across the world.
The win was Austria's third in the competition, following Conchita's success and Udo Juergens' victory in 1966.
JJ, a 24-year-old from Vienna, combined elements of opera, techno and high-pitched vocals in his song Wasted Love, winning the hearts of the professional juries and telephone voters.
"This is beyond my wildest dreams," said the singer, whose real name is Johannes Pietsch. "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.
"Dear JJ, you have moved Europe with your voice and sung Austria into the spotlight," Austrian Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger said on X.
Switzerland won the right to host Eurovision after Swiss rapper and singer Nemo won last year's contest in Malmo, Sweden.
Fans travelled from across Europe and beyond to Basel, with 100,000 people attending Eurovision events in the city, including the final.
Hermann Heyn travelled from Chile for a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
"We came from really, really far away for this," he told Reuters. "We are not even competing, but we needed to be here."
Eurovision, which stresses its political neutrality, has also faced controversy again this year due to the war in Gaza.
Israel's entrant, Yuval Raphael, was at the Nova music festival during the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas militants on southern Israel that killed 1200 people and saw 251 taken hostage, according to Israeli officials.
Pro-Palestinian groups urged the European Broadcasting Union to exclude Israel over Gaza, where more than 50,000 people have been killed in the ensuing offensive by Israel, according to local health officials.
About 200 protesters mounted a demonstration in Basel on Saturday night, while two protesters attempted to get on to the stage during Raphael's performance but were halted by security officials. No one was injured.
Spanish public broadcaster RTVE also showed a message before the start of the Eurovision show saying "When human rights are at stake, silence is not an option. Peace and Justice for Palestine".
