Latest news with #SongContest
Euronews
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Euronews
In pictures: Austria welcomes JJ back home after Eurovision win
As JJ, whose full name is Johannes Pietsch, walked through the gate, hundreds of fans on Sunday cheered. Some played his song, others hugged him. The 24-year-old countertenor, whose winning song combines operatic, multi-octave vocals with a techno twist, and who also sings at the Vienna State Opera, held up his trophy in one hand and a big bouquet of roses in the other. He smiled, wiped away tears and told the crowd 'that victory is for you.' JJ is Austria's third Eurovision winner, after Conchita Wurst in 2014 and Udo Jürgens in 1966. Austria's president, Alexander van der Bellen, celebrated JJ in a video posted on X. 'What a success! What a voice! What a show!' he exclaimed. 'All of Austria is happy.' Chancellor Christian Stoecker wrote on X: 'What a great success — my warmest congratulations on winning #ESC2025! JJ is writing Austrian music history today!' The Vienna State Opera also expressed joy over the win. 'From the Magic Flute to winning the Song Contest is somehow a story that can only take place in Austria,' opera director Bogdan Roscic told the Austrian press agency APA. Several Austrian cities were quick to show their interest in hosting next year's contest. Innsbruck Mayor Johannes Anzengruber told APA that 'not everything has to take place in Vienna... Austria is bigger than that,' and the towns of Oberwart in Burgenland and Wels in Upper Austria also threw their hats into the ring. JJ himself said he hoped that Vienna would get the next ESC which he would love to host together with his mentor, Conchita Wurst.
The Irish Sun
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
Eurovision winner looks like he hasn't aged a day 16 years after winning show
THIS Eurovision champ looks like he hasn't aged a day - 16 years after winning the show. The final for the 6 This Eurovision star won the show for Norway Credit: Instagram / @rybakofficial 6 The star is known for playing the violin Credit: Instagram / @rybakofficial 6 Alexander Rybak looks like he hasn't aged a day - seen here when he won Eurovision 2009 Credit: Getty 6 The star looks exactly the same 16 years on - seen here in 2025 Credit: Instagram / @rybakofficial The singer, who's act also sees him playing the violin, was just 23 when he scooped the Song Contest crown. He stole the show with his hugely popular song Fairytale, which saw him sweep the scoreboard. Alexander broke all previous records with his score of 387 points. Read more on Eurovision The track topped the charts once he won, and his album Fairytales was released in 25 countries. Speaking about the song that helped him win, Alexander told the 'It's essentially an old-fashioned oom-pah tune with Tin Pan Alley chords, but people called it a 'modern tune' because I believed in it in the here and now. "I will be forever grateful for the people who stream it and show it to their friends, so that it may live on and be discovered by new generations.' Most read in Celebrity health Alexander has returned to Eurovision several times over the years. He has appeared on several interval medleys and even appeared as himself in the Netflix comedy Eurovision Song Contest: The Story Of Fire Saga. Rylan makes VERY awkward gaffe during first live Eurovision semi-final Alexander also competed again 2018, with the song That's How You Write a Song. This time he placed 15th with 144 points. HOST PULLS OUT Meanwhile, yesterday it was revealed how the BBC were forced to find a replacement after one of the UK's The Beeb shared a statement that said 6 Ncuti Gatwa pulled out of Eurovision at the last minute Credit: Getty The much-loved star is instead being replaced by The BBC said: "Due to unforeseen circumstances, unfortunately "However, we are delighted to confirm that BBC Radio 2's very own Friday night Kitchen Disco Diva A thrilled Sophie said: 'I love Eurovision and it's a privilege to be part of 2025's Grand Final. 6 Sophie Ellis-Bextor will replace him on the show Credit: Instagram/BBC Press office "What an honour it is to announce the UK's jury score on such a special show which always puts music front and centre. "I am very much looking forward to delivering the iconic douze points from the United Kingdom !' GRAHAM RETURNS Fans will be pleased to know that Graham Norton returns to provide his witty commentary for tonight. The national treasure took over from the late Eurovision will kick off this evening at in Basel, Switzerland at 8pm on BBC One. Everything you need to know about Eurovision Here's your complete guide to all things Eurovision: Who was How to host a How many times has How much is Graham Norton paid and what's his When has Eurovision
The Sun
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Sun
Eurovision winner looks like he hasn't aged a day 16 years after winning show
THIS Eurovision champ looks like he hasn't aged a day - 16 years after winning the show. The final for the famous Song Contest gets underway tonight, and this star knows all about performing on the much-loved show. 6 6 6 6 Alexander Rybak shot to fame when he won Eurovision for Norway in 2009. The singer, who's act also sees him playing the violin, was just 23 when he scooped the Song Contest crown. He stole the show with his hugely popular song Fairytale, which saw him sweep the scoreboard. Alexander broke all previous records with his score of 387 points. The track topped the charts once he won, and his album Fairytales was released in 25 countries. Speaking about the song that helped him win, Alexander told the Huff Post in 2022: 'Fairytale lets me have fun with music and experiment with new genres and styles every year. 'It's essentially an old-fashioned oom-pah tune with Tin Pan Alley chords, but people called it a 'modern tune' because I believed in it in the here and now. "I will be forever grateful for the people who stream it and show it to their friends, so that it may live on and be discovered by new generations.' Alexander has returned to Eurovision several times over the years. He has appeared on several interval medleys and even appeared as himself in the Netflix comedy Eurovision Song Contest: The Story Of Fire Saga. Rylan makes VERY awkward gaffe during first live Eurovision semi-final Alexander also competed again 2018, with the song That's How You Write a Song. This time he placed 15th with 144 points. HOST PULLS OUT Meanwhile, yesterday it was revealed how the BBC were forced to find a replacement after one of the UK's Eurovision hosts pulled out at the last minute. The Beeb shared a statement that said Dr Who 's Ncuti Gatwa, is no long able to read out the scores from the UK jury. 6 The much-loved star is instead being replaced by Sophie Ellis-Bextor. The BBC said: "Due to unforeseen circumstances, unfortunately Ncuti Gatwa is no longer able to participate as Spokesperson during the Grand Final this weekend. "However, we are delighted to confirm that BBC Radio 2's very own Friday night Kitchen Disco Diva Sophie Ellis-Bextor will be presenting the Jury result live from the UK." A thrilled Sophie said: 'I love Eurovision and it's a privilege to be part of 2025's Grand Final. 6 "What an honour it is to announce the UK's jury score on such a special show which always puts music front and centre. "I am very much looking forward to delivering the iconic douze points from the United Kingdom!' Sophie will be seen announcing the scores from the British jury. GRAHAM RETURNS Fans will be pleased to know that Graham Norton returns to provide his witty commentary for tonight. The national treasure took over from the late Terry Wogan in 2009 and has been a fan favourite ever since. Eurovision will kick off this evening at in Basel, Switzerland at 8pm on BBC One.
Metro
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
I've watched Eurovision for 45 years — here's my party survival guide
It's time to hang out your finest flag bunting, dust off your scorecards and get the snacks in for one of the biggest TV nights of the year. Yes, Eurovision is upon us once again, and whether you're a superfan or whether it's your idea of televisual hell, there's no escaping the international Song Contest at this time of the year. The 2025 event is taking place tonight in Basel, Switzerland, and if you're heading to a Eurovision watch party and want to seem like something of an expert (despite ignoring the contest for the other 364 days of the year), you might be wondering where to start. Well, here's as good a place as any. I've watched every minute of every contest since 1980, I've been to the whole shebang four times and even reported on it from Vienna and Lisbon. Yep, I'm that person who stays home on Saturday nights in February to watch national finals and tentatively browses Airbnbs in potential host cities before the date has even been set. So, if you're hoping to come across as a top-notch Eurovision expert to rival Graham Norton and Rylan come Saturday night, then fear not — I'm here to help. When is Eurovision 2025? The 2025 Eurovision Song Contest Grand Final begins on Saturday, May 17 at 8pm. Where is Eurovision 2025? The contest is taking place in the city of Basel, after Swiss act Nemo won the trophy last year. Who is the favourite to win this year? Having won the Eurovision Song Contest seven times already, Sweden are once again the bookmakers' favourites. How to watch Eurovision 2025: The final will be broadcast on BBC One and iPlayer from 8pm BST. The show will also be live-streamed on the Eurovision Song Contest YouTube channel. The final will be broadcast on BBC One and iPlayer from 8pm BST. The show will also be live-streamed on the Eurovision Song Contest YouTube channel. Where can I listen to Eurovision 2025? BBC Radio 2 and BBC Sounds will have live commentary of tonight's final from 8pm. As predictable as this might sound — because they've won the thing seven times already — Sweden are on course to score yet another victory in Basel. Only it's not with the song everybody expected. Former Eurovision winner Mans Zelmerlow had been widely predicted to fly the flag for the Swedes with his song Revolution, until his thunder was well and truly stolen by the trio KAJ, who snatched a sensational victory with their song Bara Bada Bastu, a cheery tribute to the joys of taking a sauna. KAJ's chances of winning the contest are said to be hotter than their beloved sauna, with bookmakers giving them a 42% chance of victory. If they do take top honours, it'll make Sweden the country with the most wins in Eurovision history — overtaking Ireland, who have also won seven times. Oh, and by the way, the band themselves are actually from Finland, specifically Ostrobothnia, a Finnish region where Swedish is more widely spoken. And speaking of Finland… Just when you'd got over the sight of a bunch of half-naked dancers writhing around onstage with Olly Alexander in the 2024 contest, this year's event ups the smut level by several thousand percent. Let's start with Finland's Erika Vikman, who's tried before to represent the Nordic nation and has finally succeeded with her growling electropop anthem Ich Komme (yes, you did read that correctly). However, top honours go to Malta's Miriana Conte, whose pop banger Kant (a harmless Maltese word which means 'singing') fell foul of the censors for its title's similarity to a certain swear word you definitely don't want younger viewers to hear. In the words of the UK's Remember Monday, 'Clutch my pearls!' Fortunately, Miriana saved Ofcom the mother of all headaches by changing the song title to Serving, and leaving out the offending term — although we can't guarantee the crowd won't fill in the blanks on her behalf, come the big night. So we've established that KAJ are actually from Finland in spite of representing Sweden, but that's not the only bit of swapsies going on this year. Germany are hoping for success with dance anthem Baller, performed by sibling duo Abor and Tynna, who are actually from over the border in Austria. Danish representative Sissal is actually from the Faroe Islands, and the microstate San Marino has once again turned to Italy for its act, in the shape of DJ Gabry Ponte. Bingo: Fake rain, wind machines, disco balls… these things happen every year, which makes Eurovision perfect for a game of bingo. You can also turn it into a drinking game, and take a sip each time you see a Eurovision cliche on screen — but I'm not taking any responsibility for how, erm, merry you get. Bingo byu/Marijkje ineurovision Personalised score cards: Become your own professional jury and rank each performance as you watch. You can score the performances according to your own criteria, like costume design, quantity of glitter or general outlandishness. Sweepstake: A classic for a reason. Once you know which countries have made it to the final, randomly assign them to the watch party guests and anxiously wait to find out if you have the winning act. You can all contribute some money towards a prize pot, pick out a Eurovision-themed gift for the winner or maybe the glory is enough on its own. The path to Eurovision is often filled with folk heading back for another try, and this year is no exception. Poland are represented by Justyna Steczowska, who was the country's second-ever Eurovision participant in 1995, finishing 18th with the song Sama. Can she go higher this time? Meanwhile, Montenegro's singer Nina Zizic previously appeared in 2013 alongside the duo Who See. As for the better-known participants, the aforementioned Gabry Ponte is better known as one half of Eiffel 95, who topped the charts in 1999 with that best-selling earworm Blue (Ba Da Bee). Tommy Cash, who is representing Estonia with the controversial Espresso Macchiato, has performed across Europe, the US and China, as well as played at Glastonbury. It's Eurovision, so obviously you can expect some pretty fantastic costumes on the night with sparkly, glittery and shiny outfits galore, a few smart suits and a spot of black PVC (hello Finland). However, you can also expect a lot of red this year. Step forward Albania's Shkodra Electronica. The latter's song Zjerm (Fire), is a moody blend of ethnic pop and electronic beats, which speaks of hope, resilience, and a plea for peace and purity in a war-torn world. With a song called Fire it seems only appropriate that singer Beatrice Gjerji will take to the stage in a vivid, fiery red dress. Her costume has been designed by her mother, stylist Irina Dema, who also made the striking frock Beatrice wore at the turquoise carpet opening ceremony. Since the free language rule came in in 1999, meaning countries can decide what language they want their contestant to sing, songs in English have dominated the contest. This year, however, things are different, with only 19 of the 37 songs fully or partly in English. Sweden and Germany are both singing in their native languages for the first time since 1998, and you can also expect to hear everything from Icelandic and Albanian to Serbian, Latvian and Georgian on the Eurovision stage. This year's contest also includes no less than five songs fully or partly in French (France, Luxembourg, Israel, the Netherlands and Switzerland), three in Italian (Italy, San Marino, Estonia), and two featuring German (Germany, Finland). Of course, it would be remiss of us not to mention the act hoping to bring glory to the UK this year. Remember Monday first came to prominence when they appeared on the 2019 series of The Voice UK, during which they were mentored by Jennifer Hudson and made it as far as the knockout rounds. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video They're also the first girl band to represent the UK since Precious in 1999 and the first non-solo act since Joe and Jake in 2016. More Trending If they do win, it'll be the sixth victory for the UK, who last took the trophy with Katrina and The Waves in 1997. However, the country's fortunes haven't been so great of late. Though Liverpool had the honour of hosting the 2023 show on behalf of Ukraine, after Sam Ryder came second in 2022, we've also finished last five times since 2000: in 2003, 2008, 2010, 2019 and 2021. And on two of those occasions — 2003 and 2021 — we didn't score any points at all. Fingers crossed we don't all wake up on Sunday morning thinking 'What The Hell Just Happened…' View More » This article was originally published on May 14. Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: 5 of the best Eurovision films to stream before the Grand Final MORE: Graham Norton 'on many medications' after surgery before Eurovision Grand Final MORE: Mae Muller says she was 'thrown to the lions' at Eurovision 2023
Daily Mirror
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Only the biggest Eurovision fans will correctly guess 100% of our quiz questions
Eurovision is just hours away from starting - so test your knowledge on all things Song Contest in our music-tastic quiz Eurovision is finally here - and you can play along by rating the performances with our interactive widget. After two knock-out semi-finals, 20 qualifiers have been chosen to join the Big Five countries and reigning champions, plus hosts Switzerland on what is set to be a spectacular occasion in Basel. The running order has now been decided, with Norway's Kyle Alessandro due to open the show with his entry, Lighter. Israel 's Yuval Raphael qualified for the final after a public vote despite continued calls for Israel to be banned amid protests over the war in Gaza. The singer, a survivor of the October 7 Nova music festival massacre, will be the fourth act to take to the stage to perform the ballad New Day Will Rise. Fans will have to wait until near the end of the evening to see the bookies' favourite, KAJ of Sweden, who is 23rd in the lineup. Meanwhile, British hopes rest with the country pop group Remember Monday. Band members Charlotte Steele, Holly-Anne Hull, and Lauren Byrne are sixth in the lineup with their energetic song, What the Hell Just Happened? After the UK finished 18th last year, and 25th in 2023, Remember Monday will be hoping they can return to the successes of 2022, when Sam Ryder came second. Now, as you watch the action unfold, you can keep track of your favourite performances by playing along with our interactive widget. Simply rate the artists out of 10 to choose your favourite. Then check back to see how your score tallies with the opinions of other Eurovision fans. READ MORE: Where UK's Eurovision entries are now - from fleeing the country to Glastonbury star Meanwhile, as fans wait for the excitement to start on Saturday, why not take our quiz to test how well you know Europe's premier song contest? Can you recall the year Bucks Fizz performed Making Your Mind Up, when Abba met their Waterloo, or even as far back as Sandy Shaw and Puppet on a String? Or perhaps you came late to the Eurovision party and have fond memories of more recent winners Netta, Maneskin, and last year's champion Nemo? To help get you in the mood for Eurovision we've prepared a quiz testing your knowledge of all the cheesiest Eurovision classics. All you have to do is guess the year of the song and performer. Use the slider to choose the year. Points are awarded for how close you get to the right answer, with 10 for being spot on, nine for one year out, eight for two, seven for three, and so on until you get to 10 years out. Eurovision 2025 lineup (in running order) 1. Norway: Kyle Alessandro – Lighter 2. Luxembourg: Laura Thorn – La Poupée Monte Le Son 3. Estonia: Tommy Cash – Espresso Macchiato 4. Israel: Yuval Raphael – New Day Will Rise 5. Lithuania: Katarsis – Tavo Akys 6. Spain: Melody – ESA DIVA 7. Ukraine: Ziferblat – Bird of Pray 8. United Kingdom: Remember Monday – What The Hell Just Happened? 9. Austria: JJ – Wasted Love 10. Iceland: VÆB – RÓA 11. Latvia: Tautumeitas – Bur Man Laimi 12. Netherlands: Claude – C'est La Vie 13. Finland: Erika Vikman – ICH KOMME 14. Italy: Lucio Corsi: Volevo Essere Un Duro 15. Poland: Justyna Steczkowska – GAJA 16. Germany: Abor & Tynna – Baller 17. Greece: Klavdia – Asteromáta 18. Armenia: PARG – SURVIVOR 19. Switzerland: Zoë Më – Voyage 20. Malta: Miriana Conte – SERVING 21. Portugal: NAPA – Deslocado 22. Denmark: Sissal – Hallucination 23. Sweden: KAJ – Bara Bada Bastu 24. France: Louane – maman 25. San Marino: Gabry Ponte – Tutta L'Italia 26. Albania: Shkodra Elektronike – Zjerm
