Content warning: brief mention of conflict

Saturday 17th May 2025 marked the 69th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest Grand Final hosted in Basel, Switzerland.  This followed Swiss non-binary musician Nemo’s victory with the Code at Malmö, Sweden, in 2024, and marked the third time Switzerland has hosted the musical competition, having won the first edition of the contest in 1956. 

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Once again, Eurovision brought 26 countries together, including the United Kingdom, for a bonanza of camp fun, outlandish outfits, extravagant set designs and quirky songs.

Once again, Eurovision brought 26 countries together, including the United Kingdom, for a bonanza of camp fun, outlandish outfits, extravagant set designs and quirky songs. The show, which lasted over four hours, was seamless, if drawn-out. Graham Norton resumed his role as the UK’s commentator and punctuated the night with wry, witty humour. 

While Eurovision is underlined by a desire to be ‘United by Music’, the long-running controversies of alleged tactical, geopolitical voting and the issue of Israel’s participation in the competition created more division than harmony in the European landscape. 

The victory was ultimately taken home by Austria’s 24-year-old musician JJ with his debut single ‘Wasted Love’, a pop-opera fusion ballad. JJ performed with an impressive countertenor range, within a dramatic, theatrical black and white, nautical-themed stage design, and earned his victory with 258 points from the jury point and an additional 178 from the public televote, bringing him a grand total of 436 points. 

Israel’s Yuval Raphael, survivor of the October 7th 2023 attacks, came a close second place with her piano ballad ‘New Day Will Rise’. Her appearance was met with a mixed reception of boos and cheers following Pro-Palestinian protests in Basel shortly before the final. During her performance, there was an attempted stage disruption by a man and woman who were escorted off the premises, and a Eurovision crew member was hit with paint during the outbreak.

The UK’s entrant Remember Monday came a disappointing 19th place out of 26. Remember Monday, comprised of West-End performers Lauren Byrne, Holly-Anne Hull and Charlotte Steele, energetically performed their pop number ‘What The Hell Just Happened?’ The song had beautifully delivered vocals and a catchy hook but lacked genre cohesion. Despite a strong jury vote where the UK placed 10th with 88 votes, an improvement on 2024 Olly Alexander’s 46 points, ‘What The Hell Just Happened’ failed to connect with European audiences. The girlband graciously received the dreaded nul points from the public vote, a phenomenon the UK has now experienced for the second year running. 

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[Eurovision’s] escapist fun is becoming more and more difficult to persevere under the pressure of political tensions and critical public scrutiny

Honourable mentions must go to Finland’s Erika Vikman’s disco track Ich Komme which was performed with provocative gusto. Malta’s Miriana Conte had already hit headlines after having to change the title and lyrics of her song from ‘Kant’ to ‘Serving’ due to suggestive wordplay. Sweden’s offbeat sauna-inspired hit Bara Bada Bastu was tipped to be a favourite to take home the title of the competition but ultimately placed fourth. A big topic of conversation was the highly-anticipated appearance of former Eurovision winner Celine Dion who did not end up gracing the Swiss stage. 

Eurovision 2026 is expected to take place in Vienna, Austria, but the show’s escapist fun is becoming more and more difficult to persevere under the pressure of political tensions and critical public scrutiny. This raises concerns about the true security of the show’s presence on TV screens.

Who knows; maybe next year will be our year? We will have to wait and see.

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