Back at the end of January Austrian broadcaster ORF announced they internally selected pop-opera singer JJ to represent the country at Eurovision 2025.
After a little over a month of waiting the song he will take to the Eurovision stage in Basel has officially been released and is called “Wasted Love.”
“Wasted Love” was written by JJ himself, alongside Thomas Turner and Teodora Špirić (better known as Teya from Austria’s 2023 entry).
JJ says the song captures his experience of unrequited love:
– There is a special kind of heartbreak when you have so much love to give, but no place where it can arrive. It feels like floating on the sea on a fragile paper boat. Clinging to every glimmer of hope, just to watch it dissolve under you. And yet there is something undeniably beautiful in this naive devotion. Because in the end it’s nice to just be able to love – no matter how wasted, says JJ.
ORF program director Stefanie Groiss-Horowitz is proud of ORF’s choice on both artist and song:
– We have an extraordinary song and an extraordinary artist this year. JJ is an exceptional talent and a highly sympathetic and highly professional young man who will definitely stand out at the Song Contest.
– With “Wasted Love” we manage to bring a completely different style to the stage again this year. I would like to thank the entire team for this – first and foremost our scouts Eberhard Forcher and Peter Schreiber.
Johannes Pietsch (23), with the stage name JJ, is a countertenor who was born in Vienna and grew up in Dubai.
He came to fame in 2021 when he participated in the Austrian talent show Starmania, where he made it to the finals. The year before he participated on The Voice in the United Kingdom.
JJ is currently performing at the Vienna State Opera and is also studying classical music at the Music and Art Private University (MUK) in Vienna.
Stefanie Groiss Horowitz, Programme Director at broadcaster ORF, says:
– JJ is an exceptional talent! With him, we are sending a unique artist to Basel who brings his own magic to the Eurovision Song Contest stage, with captivating pop and classical singing.
