Wasted Love

Wasted Love

JJ

Last week’s Eurovision Song Contest produced a winner that is actually worthy of mention on our Music of the Week. The Song Contest is a curious annual event that has been held for almost 70 years and has households across Europe faithfully spending a Saturday night in May before the television set.

This year’s winner comes from Austria. Johannes “JJ” Pietsch, born in 2001 in Vienna with family roots from the Philippines, is a counter-tenor who sings at the Vienna State Opera. His falsetto voice can reach to soprano heights.

JJ is only 24 years old but an expert performer and obviously a rather talented artist.

For his first steps in classical singing, JJ taught himself during his teenage years by imitating famous arias. In 2022, he was granted admission to the Music and Arts University of the City of Vienna (MUK).

The winning song of 2025, which was written about the authentic experience of unrequited love, communicates vocal mastery above the usual Song Contest level as well as contemporary elements that convinced both the expert jury and the viewers’ vote.

“This song perfectly captures my experience with unreciprocated love. There’s a unique kind of heartbreak in having so much love to give but nowhere for it to land. In the end, simply being able to love—no matter how wasted—is a beautiful thing in itself.”

The young artist—together with two of his friends, Teodora Spiric and Thomas Turner—wrote the lyrics as well as the score. It turned out to be a genuine masterstroke.