The last two months, the betting companies and fans seemed to be united: "Bara bada bastu" should win the European Championship. But it didn't happen, instead it's JJ with "Wasted love" – a techno-pop song with opera influences – that takes home the competition.
In an interview with German program leader Hazel Brugger, the Austrian singer says that the message in "Wasted love" is that love is never wasted.
Love is the strongest force that exists and hate is the most unnecessary force that exists.
When asked what he's going to do now, the artist answers:
Sleepless. I've had four sleepless nights before this. I'm completely exhausted.
KAJ: Incredible Relief
KAJ had to settle for a fourth place. However, the trio is not disappointed.
It's an incredible relief. You've been building, building, building for two weeks now, says KAJ's Jakob Norrgård to TT after the competition.
Two months, adds artist colleague Axel Åhman.
The performance on the Eurovision stage in Basel was the group's best so far, they agree.
We had a blast on stage, we did an amazing show. The audience gave it all and then Europe voted and we became fourth, says Jakob Norrgård.
Israel Won the Audience Vote
The final was a real nail-biter, where Israel was long in the lead with high scores from both the jury and the viewers. Austria received fewer votes from the viewers – but since the country became the jury's favorite, JJ took home the competition anyway.
Behind the artist name hides the Austrian-Filipino singer Johannes Pietsch. 24 years old, he has previously competed in the British version of "The Voice". His voice also took a hit from performing "Wasted love" one more time at the end, JJ reveals after the win.
I'm classically trained, but it just became screaming, he says.
Inside the arena in Basel, there was great jubilation and Swedish flags waving during KAJ's performance – but when it was time for the jury votes, they were no favorite. Sweden's only 12-pointer came from Iceland. But the trio received more public votes than Austria, which ended up fourth, while KAJ came third among the viewers.
Kristina "Keyyo" Petrushina delivered Sweden's votes. Sweden's 12 points went to Austria, 10 points to Switzerland's "Voyage" and 8 points to France's "Maman".
Käärijä and Baby Lasagna Back
It was Switzerland that hosted and last year's winner Nemo kicked off the competition. Program leaders were Michelle Hunziker, Hazel Brugger, and Sandra Studer, who herself competed for her home country in 1991.
Finnish Käärijä and Croatian Baby Lasagna performed a joint act during the evening. First, a kind of battle of their respective Eurovision runners-up "Cha cha cha" and "Rim tim tigi dim". Then they performed their joint single "Eurodab".
1. Austria: 436 points
2. 357 points
3. Estonia: 356 points
4. Sweden: 321 points
5. Italy: 256 points
6. Greece: 231 points
7. France: 230 points
8. Albania: 218 points
9. Ukraine: 218 points
10. Switzerland: 214 points
11. Finland: 196 points
12. Netherlands: 175 points
13. Latvia: 158 points
14. Poland: 156 points
15. Germany: 151 points
16. Lithuania: 96 points
17. Malta: 91 points
19. Norway: 89 points
20. United Kingdom: 88 points
21. Armenia: 72 points
22. Portugal: 50 points
23. Luxembourg: 47 points
24. Denmark: 47 points
25. Spain: 37 points
26. Iceland: 33 points
27. San Marino: 27 points
