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By:
Besarte Elshani
- 18 May 2025 02:02
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The spectacular final of the 69th edition of the European song contest "Eurovision" on Saturday night in Basel, Switzerland, has culminated with the triumph of Austria. The 24-year-old artist JJ with the song "Wasted love" has received both the public and the jury votes in a photo finish where he left Israel and Estonia behind. Albania has also been divided by the jury votes with "Zjerm" by "Shkodras elektronika" but has nevertheless become a hit and has received 173 points from the public who have ranked it eighth
Austria's "Wasted Love" is this year's Eurovision anthem. The song by artist JJ has triumphed in the 69th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It combines pop elements and lyrics that culminate in the liveliness of electronic music. The winning song explores the suffering of unrequited love where the protagonist, as illustrated by the set design, dives into an ocean of love.
With this song, the artist Johannes Pietsch has secured Austria the organization of the next edition of the festival after the 2014 one that came as a result of the victory of Conchita Wurst with the song "Phoenix". It is the third victory of Austria which this year marked the 57th participation. The trophy was also won in 1966 with Udo Jürgens with the song "Merci, Cherie".
While accepting the trophy, 24-year-old JJ gave his message of "more love."
"Love is the greatest force in the world"
"Thank you to everyone who made my dream come true. Love is the greatest force in the world, let's spread as much love as possible among each other," he said after accepting the award. He was emotional and performed the song, as is now a festival ritual.
Austria received a total of 436 points from the national juries and the public. Israel came in second with 357 votes, while Estonia came in third with 356 votes. The victory was no surprise, even though the final was a photo finish. Even with the jury votes, it topped the table with 258 points. Switzerland was second with 214 and France with 180. When it received 173 public votes, Albania briefly enjoyed second place.
The Albanian jury has given its 12 points to France and it is from this country that it has received its only 12 points this year. It has received 2 points from Italy and 10 from Montenegro. In total, Albania is eighth with 218 points and thus ranks in the top 10. But the record still remains in 2012 with Rona Nishliu's "Suus".
A night of spectacle for Europe united by music
Kyle Alessandro with “Lighter”, Norway’s representative at this year’s festival, was the first to perform on the final night. Then came Luxembourg’s song and then Estonia’s. Tommy Cash’s “Espresso Machiato” was one of the most controversial songs for its mockery of Italian stereotypes. There were even calls to ban his performance.
Although Eurovision was founded as a kind of "healing" from wars, in 1956, the event that is supposed to be organized for unity, love and peace, as is repeated in every edition, Israel that has occupied Gaza continues to participate. Meanwhile, since the 2022 edition, the Russian Federation has been denied the right to participate. The European Broadcasting Union had imposed sanctions against the Russian state due to the war that Russia was waging in Ukraine.
As is usually the case with the artistic part that comes as a retrospective of the event's history, the presenters performed Italy's representative songs - "Canzone per te" from 1981 and "Volare" from 1958. The song "Waterloo" by the legendary Swedish band "ABBA" was left to the audience, who sang in unison.
In a behind-the-scenes material on the preparation of the scenography for each performance, it is explained how they have 35 seconds to prepare everything. They have been preparing for three months. The magnificent stage in the “St. Jakobshalle” of two thousand square meters has been a scene of continuous spectacle. In the stadium opposite, there was another stage where “Eurovision” was followed under the open sky by about 35 thousand people. There are statistics like these for the songs as well.
Armenia's song had ten lyricists, more than any other participant in this edition. Meanwhile, Malta, in order to remain in the competition, had to change the lyrics of the song after it was considered vulgar.
"Zjerm" a perfect song for the end of the final night
Albania performed last in order, while San Marino was second to last.
The festival's artistic director, Christer Bjorkman, said that they wanted to close the performance portion of the competition songs with a song that represents class.
"San Marino definitely has a fun song for the audience, everyone sings, a great party. But we also wanted to close with something that is really classy and represents music, because that's what Albania represents. They're so talented, so smart and it's a beautiful piece of work so we wanted to have both at the end. It could have been the other way around, but it just feels right to end this show with a performance like that," said Bjorkman.
With the song that speaks of an ideal world, the duo of “Electronic Shkodra” – Beatriçe Gjergji and Kolë Laca – have brought fire to the “Eurovision” stage. The song that speaks of an ideal world with lyrics while presenting Albanian musical culture with music, which includes the sounds of the çifteli, has also excelled in the final. As is the practice of “Shkodra…”, in the song “Zjerm” with lyrics by the duo, the traditional becomes one with electronic music. The scenography was simple and all that characterized it was the projection of the traditional carpet. Even in the traditional parade of the festival, singer Gjergji took care to carry tradition with her in her appearance. At the very end of her performance, she thanked in Albanian, English and Italian. This is the 21st year of representing the Albanian state in the European song contest.
At the very beginning of the show, last year's winning song - "Nemo" with "The Code" was performed, and then the teams of the competing countries were introduced, and at the end of the performances, among others, the Albanian singer Gjon's Tears performed the song "Tout l'Universe" from 2021, with which he represented Switzerland. Then Luca Hänni performed "She got me" from 2019. An electrifying performance was also brought by the Croatian group "Baby Lasagna", who represented the country last year with the song "Rim tim tagi dim". They also performed this song on the final night of the festival. They performed it as a kind of showdown with "Käärijä" as a mix with his song "Cha cha cha" which represented Finland in 2023.
Organized by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), two semi-finals were held on May 13 and 15. Like last year, this year the winner was determined by combining the jury's and the public's points.
On the first night of the festival on May 13, along with Albania, the following countries qualified from the first semi-final to the final: Norway, Sweden, Iceland, the Netherlands, Poland, San Marino, Estonia, Portugal and Ukraine.
The final ten finalists of the Eurovision Song Contest were revealed on the night of May 15. In the second semi-final, Lithuania, Israel, Armenia, Denmark, Austria, Luxembourg, Finland, Latvia, Malta and Greece secured their place in the final.
In the previous edition held in Malmo, Sweden, singer Nemo with "The Code" that sang about gender identity, mental health and finding oneself, had secured Switzerland's hosting of this year's "Eurovision". He also participated in this organization with the song "Unexplainable". He was the third to bring the trophy to Switzerland, initially winning in the first edition in 1956 with Lys Assia and with Celine Dion in 1988. He was close to victory in 2021, when he was represented by Albanian singer, Gjon's Tears, who was defeated by Italy.
Although the European song contest “Eurovision” – which since its inception in 1956 has aimed to invest in the feeling of peaceful European coexistence – has for several years failed to strengthen this mission and is going through an identity crisis. But above all, it puts on a spectacle that this year culminated in the call for love of “Wasted love” from Austria.
