Austria won Eurovision 2025 with “Wasted Love,” sung by JJ. He wrote it with Teodora Špirić and Thomas Thurner. The song took the jury vote and the combined vote, but finished only fourth with the televote.
Israel won the televote and ended second overall. Estonia, Sweden and Italy filled out the top five.
The 69th contest ran from May 13 to May 17 at St. Jakobshalle in Basel, with semi-finals on the 13th and 15th and the final on the 17th. Hazel Brugger and Sandra Studer presented all three shows. Michelle Hunziker joined them for the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) organized the event with the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG SSR), which got the job after Nemo won the 2024 contest for Switzerland with “The Code.” The EBU reported a television audience of 166 million viewers across 37 European markets, up three million on the previous edition.
Why Basel
Geneva, Bern, Zurich and Basel all put in bids. SRG SSR shortlisted Basel and Geneva in July 2024, and on August 30 the EBU and SRG SSR named Basel as host. Voters in the Basel-Stadt canton approved the spending in a November 2024 referendum, with 66.6% in favor.
The budget was CHF 61 million. Basel-Stadt put in CHF 35 million, SRG SSR CHF 20 million and the EBU CHF 6 million. The canton ended up leaving CHF 1.7 million unspent.
The arena seats 12,400 and sits in Münchenstein, right on the border with Basel-Stadt. It was the third time Switzerland had hosted, after 1956 and 1989.
Who took part
Thirty-seven broadcasters competed, the same number as the two years before. Montenegro came back after two years away. Moldova pulled out in January, citing economic reasons and the quality of the songs in its national final.
Israel’s entry stayed contentious because of the Gaza war, and some participating broadcasters asked for a discussion about it.
One record fell. Poland’s Justyna Steczkowska, who also competed in 1995, set a new mark for the longest gap between two appearances by the same artist at 30 years. Anna Vissi’s 24-year gap had stood before.
