On a high: Austria's JJ wins Eurovision 2025
JJ topped the votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, giving Austria its first victory since Conchita Wurst's triumph in 2014 with "Rise Like a Phoenix."
After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel on 357 and Estonia on 356.
"Thank you, Europe, for making my dreams come true," said the 24-year-old countertenor, whose real name is Johannes Pietsch.
"Love is the strongest force in the world. Let's spread more love.
"This is beyond my wildest dreams. It's crazy."
"Wasted Love" saw him hit the high notes while mixing opera and techno.
In his Eurovision song about the experience of unrequited love, JJ blended lyricism and balladry before ending with a techno flourish.
His performance was filmed in black and white, in the 4:3 ratio of the monochrome television era.
Sweden had long been the bookmakers' hot favorite to win the 69th edition of the contest with the comedy trio KAJ's "Bara Bada Bastu" on the delights of sweating it out in a sauna.
But they faded away as the votes came in, finishing fourth ahead of Italy, Greece and France.
Separate jury and viewer votes from each of this year's 37 participating countries — with equal weight — plus an extra vote from the rest of the world combined, decided who won the coveted microphone-shaped trophy.
An estimated 160 million people across Europe and beyond were expected to tune in for the annual TV spectacle, where kitsch, glam and spectacular staging go hand in hand.
The 26 finalists took the stage carrying their national flags at the start of the show, to the thundering sound of a traditional drum corps.
The songs in contention were a showcase of Europe's different musical scenes.
They included a Portuguese guitar ballad, a Maltese diva, Lithuanian alternative rock, an Italian singalong, a Greek power ballad, ethereal Latvian choral folk and German booming beats.
Finland's Erika Vikman — who gained momentum during Eurovision week with the orgasmic "Ich Komme" — finished by being hoisted in the air on a spark-emitting golden microphone, triggering a big response in the arena.
Poland's Justyna Steczkowska, 52, set a new record between Eurovision appearances, returning 30 years after her first appearance in the competition.
The Netherlands' competitor Claude broke into tears after performing his song "C'est La Vie."
French singer Louane, who lost both her parents as a teenager, performed her song "Maman," with falling pieces of cork representing the sands of time. The song's final word was spoken by her own daughter.
And Malta's Miriana Conte finished her diva big number "Serving" by bouncing up and down on an exercise ball.
Israel's participation in Eurovision 2025 prompted a series of protests in Basel over the war in Gaza.
Israel's entrant Yuval Raphael survived the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that sparked the Gaza war, hiding beneath bodies as Hamas gunmen attacked a music festival, killing hundreds.
During the performance of her song "New Day Will Rise," loud whistles could be heard in the arena and two people tried to get on stage.
"At the end of the Israeli performance, a man and a woman tried to get over a barrier onto the stage. They were stopped. One of the two agitators threw paint," a Eurovision spokesman said.
"The man and the woman were taken out of the venue and handed over to the police."
Elsewhere in Basel, pro-Palestinian demonstrators clashed briefly with riot police. Blows were exchanged and police used tear gas.
Some 6,500 excited ticket holders packed out the St. Jakobshalle arena in Basel, dressed up to the nines and ready to party.
"This is my first live show at Eurovision. I have goosebumps, I'm so excited!" said Luena Beeler, 20, wearing a red sequin-covered Tirol-style dress, and a big Austrian flag on her shoulders.
"This is one of my life dreams!"
Some 36,000 partygoers were watching a live transmission of the show at the football stadium opposite the arena, and held a mass singalong of Swedish four-piece ABBA's smash hit "Waterloo," which won Eurovision 1974.
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Japan Times
2 days ago
- Japan Times
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Japan Times
3 days ago
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Gaza's young musicians sing and play in the ruins of war
A boy's lilting song filled the tent in Gaza City, above an instrumental melody and backing singers' quiet harmonies, soft music that floated into streets these days more attuned to the deadly beat of bombs and bullets. The young students were taking part in a lesson given on Aug. 4 by teachers from the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music, who have continued classes from displacement camps and shattered buildings even after Israel's bombardments forced them to abandon the school's main building in the city. "When I play I feel like I'm flying away," said Rifan al-Qassas, 15, who started learning the oud, an Arab lute, when she was 9. She hopes to one day play abroad. "Music gives me hope and eases my fear," she said. Al-Qassas hopes to one day play abroad, she said during a weekend class at the heavily shelled Gaza College, a school in Gaza City. 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Palestinians shelter in tents, as seen from Gaza College, where instructors from the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music train Palestinians on music. | REUTERS Three female students practised the song "Greensleeves" on guitar outside the tent, while another group of boys were tapping out rhythms on Middle Eastern hand drums. Few instruments have survived the fighting, said Fouad Khader, who coordinates the revived classes for the conservatory. Teachers have bought some from other displaced people for the students to use. But some of these have been smashed during bombardment, he said. Instructors have experimented with making their own percussion instruments from empty cans and containers to train children, Khader said. A broad smile Early last year, Ahmed Abu Amsha, a guitar and violin teacher with a big beard and a broad smile, was among the first of the conservatory's scattered teachers and students who began offering classes again, playing guitar in the evenings among the tents of displaced people in the south of Gaza, where much of the 2.1 million population had been forced to move by Israeli evacuation orders and bombing. Then, after a ceasefire began in January, Abu Amsha, 43, was among the tens of thousands of people who moved back north to Gaza City, much of which has been flattened by Israeli bombing. For the past six months, he has been living and working in the city's central district, along with colleagues teaching oud, guitar, hand drums and the ney, a reed flute, to students able to reach them in the tents or shell-pocked buildings of Gaza College. They also go into kindergartens for sessions with small children. Palestinian musician Osama Hajhuj writes notes on a whiteboard at Gaza College, in Gaza City. | REUTERS Teachers are also offering music lessons in southern and central Gaza with 12 musicians and three singing tutors instructing nearly 600 students across the enclave in June, the conservatory said. Abu Amsha said teachers and parents of students were currently "deeply concerned" about being uprooted again after the Israeli cabinet's Aug. 8 decision to take control of Gaza City. Israel has not said when it will launch the new offensive. Hunger and fatigue Outside the music teachers' tent, Gaza City lay in a mass of crumbling concrete, nearly all residents crammed into shelters or camps with hardly any food, clean water or medical aid. The students and teachers say they have to overcome their weakness from food shortages to attend the classes. Britain, Canada, Australia and several of their European allies said on Aug. 12 that "famine was unfolding before our eyes" in Gaza. Israel disputes malnutrition figures for the Hamas-run enclave. Sarah al-Suwairki, 20, said sometimes hunger and tiredness mean she cannot manage the short walk to her two music classes each week, but she loves learning the guitar. "I love discovering new genres, but more specifically rock. I am very into rock," she said. Mohammed Abu Mahadi, 32, said he thought music could help heal Gazans psychologically from the pain of bombardments, loss and shortages. "What I do here is make children happy from music because it is one of the best ways for expressing feelings," he said. | REUTERS Palestinian health authorities say Israel's military campaign has killed more than 61,000 people, including more than 1,400 going to aid points to get food. Israel says Hamas is responsible for the suffering after it started the war, the latest in decades of conflict, with the October 2023 attack from Gaza when its gunmen killed 1,200 people and seized 250 hostages according to Israeli tallies. Music therapy In a surviving upstairs room at Gaza College, the walls pocked with shrapnel scars, the windows blown out, three girls and a boy sit for a guitar class. Their teacher Mohammed Abu Mahadi, 32, said he thought music could help heal Gazans psychologically from the pain of bombardments, loss and shortages. "What I do here is make children happy from music because it is one of the best ways for expressing feelings," he said. Elizabeth Coombes, who directs a music therapy program at Britain's University of South Wales and has done research with Palestinians in the West Bank, also said the project could help young people deal with trauma and stress and strengthen their sense of belonging. "For children who have been very badly traumatized or living in conflict zones, the properties of music itself can really help and support people," she said. Ismail Daoud, 45, who teaches the oud, said the war had stripped people of their creativity and imagination, their lives reduced to securing basics like food and water. Returning to art was an escape and a reminder of a larger humanity. "The instrument represents the soul of the player, it represents his companion, his entity and his friend," he said. "Music is a glimmer of hope that all our children and people hold onto in darkness," he said.
Japan Times
03-08-2025
- Japan Times
A weekend in Naeba: Rain or shine, the fun never stopped at Fuji Rock '25
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