As it happened: Austria's JJ wins the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest in Basel

Live Reporting
Watch & listen

Summary

Austria's JJ wins the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest in Basel, Switzerland
"Love is the strongest force in the world, let's spread more love," the 24-year-old says as he collects the trophy for his song Wasted Love
UK's Remember Monday collect nul points from the public, and place 19th overall - one place below Olly Alexander last year
Hosting a Eurovision-themed feast? Share with us how you're celebrating tonight's special show - we've already seen what might be the contest's youngest fan

Live Reporting

Edited by Rorey Bosotti and Johanna Chisholm with Helen Bushby and Emma Saunders in London, and Mark Savage in Basel

Auf Wiedersehen from us!published at 01:07 British Summer Time 18 May
Helen Bushby
Culture reporter

Image source, Getty Images
It has been quite a night - those scores at the end of the evening threw in plenty of surprises. A big congratulations to JJ and Austria!
Commiserations to the UK's Remember Monday, who may have finished in 19th place, but the country-pop trio still managed to get 88 points from the jury vote.
Sadly, the public vote was 0, which will have been a huge disappointment.
But aside from Sam Ryder's epic score of 466 in 2022 when he came second, Remember Monday still managed to achieve our best score since 2017, when Lucie Jones came 15th with 111 points.
We're ending our coverage for this year's 2025 Eurovision, but we'll see you back here next year, in some Austrian city - yet to be announced.
- The best photos from Eurovision Song Contest 2025
- Austria wins with last-minute vote, as UK comes 19th
Tense tallies and steamy sets - highlights from Eurovision 2025published at 01:05 British Summer Time 18 May
André Rhoden-Paul
Live reporter

Image source, Reuters
Image caption,
Sweden's Kaj turned up the heat with a sauna on set
We're soon going to be ending our live coverage, but you're catching us at the tail end of a dazzling night of performances, and a rather tense read out of the votes.
Here's a quick look at highlights from Eurovision 2025:
- All eyes on Basel: Watched on by millions of viewers, 26 countries across Europe took to the stage for chance to win the Eurovision trophy
- Suspenseful results: Israel chased to the top of the leaderboard after the initial public votes were announced, only to be beat out by Austria's JJ who clinched the victory with 436 points
- Surprises and steamy sets: Favourites Sweden's Kaj - who finished fourth overall - brought out a sauna on stage as they turned up the heat with song Bara Bada Bastu
- "Shaken and upset": Is how Israel's Yuval Raphael described its delegation when two protesters tried to storm the stage during her performance
- Better than last year: The UK's Remember Monday impressed with their harmonies, but came 19th overall - one place below Olly Alexander from last year
How the UK public votedpublished at 00:47 British Summer Time 18 May
Emma Saunders
Culture reporter

The Brits gave Israel's Yuval Raphael the maximum amount allowed - 12 points - they also gave top marks to last year's Israeli entrant, Golan.
This year, we also gave 10 to Poland and eight to Lithuania.
Image source, EPA
JJ is a counter tenor, but what does that mean?published at 00:45 British Summer Time 18 May
Helen Bushby
Culture reporter

Image source, Getty Images
Austria's JJ has an incredible vocal range, and he hit some eye-wateringly high notes during his winning performance tonight.
He's a counter tenor, a term applied to men who are able to sing in the higher registers, namely those above the usual range of a tenor. Most men are a tenor or a bass, while women fall into the alto and soprano ranges.
"Countertenors are, give or take, able to sing the same range of notes as female contralto, external and mezzo-soprano singers," says the BBC's Classical Music online magazine, external.
"Contralto falls within the alto range and is the lowest range of female voices, while mezzo-sopranos are somewhere between altos and sopranos, not being able to hit the lowest notes of the former range nor the highest notes of the latter."
It goes on to list famous counter tenors, saying Polish breakdancing countertenor Jakub Józef Orliński, external, born in 1990, is the most famous counter tenor working today.
Other names include Germany's Andreas Scholl (born 1967), and British singers Alfred Deller (1912-79) and James Bowman (1941-2023).
'A tad harsh on UK': The view from the Eurovision Villagepublished at 00:37 British Summer Time 18 May
Seb Cheer
Reporting from the Eurovision Village in Basel

Image source, Seb Cheer/BBC
The moment Austria's JJ - a fan favourite for a long time - was crowned, it may have caused one of the loudest sounds I've ever heard.
For British fans here, there was disappointment at the result, but pride at their act's performance.
Hannah Matthews, who is originally from Llanelli, South Wales, but lives in Basel, said Remember Monday "performed wonderfully under pressure" and gave a "great all-round performance".
The result was "a tad harsh" on the UK, according to her friend Sinead, who is Irish.
The room is emptying quickly as Euphoria by Loreen plays, so we're off in a race against the tram queues.
Austria's JJ performs on stage after winning Eurovisionpublished at 00:17 British Summer Time 18 May

We can now bring you a few more pictures of this year's Eurovision winner, JJ, as he heads back to the stage to collect the award and perform his winning song, Wasted Love:
Image source, Reuters
Image caption,
Contrary to his predecessor Nemo, seen here applauding him with the hosts, JJ didn't break the award when he collected it
Image source, Reuters
Image caption,
JJ performs on stage after winning the Eurovision trophy
Image source, Reuters
Image caption,
JJ put his head in his hands as he was announced winner
Austria wins for a third timepublished at 00:09 British Summer Time 18 May
Emma Saunders
Culture reporter

Image source, Reuters
Austria has won twice previously, in 1966 and 2014. The contest was held in Vienna in 2015.
"Love is the strongest force in the world, let's spread more love," says JJ as he picks up the trophy.
UK came 19thpublished at 00:04 British Summer Time 18 May
Emma Saunders
Culture reporter

Remember Monday came 19th - that's one place below Olly Alexander last year.
Austria clinch itpublished at 23:59 British Summer Time 17 May
Breaking
Mark Savage
BBC Music correspondent, reporting from the Eurovision final

With 178 points in the public vote, Austrian singer JJ wins Eurovision 2025!
His total is 436 points, pushing Israel into second place.
Switzerland get 0 points in the public votepublished at 23:59 British Summer Time 17 May
Helen Bushby
Culture reporter

A sharp intake of breath in the arena and the newsroom as Switzerland get nul points in the public vote, along with the UK.
UK gets 0 points from the public votepublished at 23:53 British Summer Time 17 May
Breaking
Emma Saunders
Culture reporter

Remember Monday gave it their all with some fabulous vocals but have now dropped down the leaderboard after the public vote - a very disappointing nul points.
The jury votes are finishedpublished at 23:46 British Summer Time 17 May
Mark Savage
BBC Music correspondent, reporting from the Eurovision final

With the jury votes all counted, Austria are at the top of the leaderboard, with Switzerland in second and France third.
The UK is in a pretty respsectable 10th - but it's worth remembering we got nothing in the public televote last year.
It's all been quite chaotic, with no clear favourite emerging. Eight juries gave Austria the maximum 12 points, but Italy was close behind, topping the poll in six countries, and France the favourite for five others.
It could still all change...published at 23:43 British Summer Time 17 May
Emma Saunders
Culture reporter

Don't forget that this is just the juries' votes so far - everything can change once we get the public votes in and it happens very quickly!
Countries on the right-hand side of the table can easily leapfrog up the leaderboard and vice versa.
Possibly the best seat in all of Basel?published at 23:39 British Summer Time 17 May
Nadia Ragozhina
Reporting from the Eurovision Song Contest

I've had the best seat in the house for this Eurovision final - sitting next to our number one expert: Mark Savage.
He has been very hard at work writing up all those brilliant posts faster than the speed of light, while also sharing extra snippets of his extensive knowledge with the team AND singing along to his favourite songs.
Yes, you heard that right, Mark definitely has his favourites and even knows the lyrics. But I won't spill more.
Sophie Ellis-Bextor announces the UK jury votepublished at 23:33 British Summer Time 17 May
Helen Bushby
Culture reporter

The UK has given its 12 points to Latvia!
The jury votes show how open this year's contest ispublished at 23:30 British Summer Time 17 May
Mark Savage
BBC Music correspondent, reporting from the Eurovision final

Austria might be top of the table right now, but we've had 11 different countries getting the maximum 12 points.
It shows how close this year's contest is... Despite what bookmakers said in advance.
The UK now has more than Olly Alexander got last yearpublished at 23:25 British Summer Time 17 May
Helen Bushby
Culture reporter

Remember Monday now have 53 points - beating Olly Alexander's overall score of 46 last year, so this is a big improvement! The jury vote is still ongoing, and then we get the public vote. Hold onto your hats...!
How well has the UK done in recent years?published at 23:23 British Summer Time 17 May
Helen Bushby
Culture reporter

The UK has had a chequered time at Eurovision over the last decade, as you can see below.
The high point was of course Sam Ryder coming second in 2022, when Ukraine won, in marked contrast to the year before, when Måneskin won for Itally, while the UK's James Newman came last.
2017 saw the UK fare better, when Lucie Jones came 15th in the year that Portugal's Salvador Sobral won.
All eyes will now be on this year's UK entry, Remember Monday, with What the Hell Just Happened.
No pressure ladies...
Céline, our hearts will go on, even if you don'tpublished at 23:22 British Summer Time 17 May
Mark Savage
BBC Music correspondent, reporting from the Eurovision final

So the interval has ended without an appearance from Céline Dion.
During rehearsals, the hosts practised a moment where they re-played the star's video message from earlier in the week.
When that failed to materialse in the actual broadcast, many of us in the press centre presumed Queen Céline was on her way.
In the end, nothing. Maybe she'll appear to present the winner's trophy, but the prospect of a performance is receding fast.
Remember Monday's family and friends 'couldn't be prouder'published at 23:18 British Summer Time 17 May
Kate Moore
Reporting from the streets of Basel

The Remember Monday's family and friend party is in full swing here in Basel.
Sara, who is Charlotte’s boyfriend’s mum, couldn’t be prouder.
“I thought they did amazingly well - so graceful, so poised. They were iconic!!”
Meanwhile Darcy Arnold-Jones confirms the girls' performance was Bridgerton-inspired.
And Charlotte’s flatmate Luke says that the girls are amazing - and he couldn’t be prouder