"The ball is in the EBU's court" Winner JJ wants ESC 2026 in Vienna "without Israel"
Johannes Pietsch aka JJ, winner of the ESC 2025, criticizes Israel's participation and calls for consequences for the 2026 contest. He also receives support from Switzerland - from last year's winner Nemo.
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- ESC winner Johannes Pietsch, aka JJ, has publicly criticized Israel's participation and called for consequences for future contests.
- He is in favor of excluding Israel from the ESC 2026, as the political circumstances are not compatible with the values of the competition.
- JJ is supported in this by Nemo, the pop star from Biel who won the ESC for Switzerland in 2024 and has also been critical of Israel's participation.
According to a newspaper report,Austria's ESC winner JJ would like to see next year's Eurovision Song Contest in Austria without Israel, which finished in second place this time.
"It's very disappointing that Israel is still taking part in the contest", the Spanish newspaper "El País " quoted 24-year-old Johannes Pietsch as saying.
He continued: "I would like the Eurovision Song Contest to take place in Vienna next year, without Israel. But the ball is now in the EBU's court. We artists can only comment on that."
In a new statement via his record label, JJ has once again taken a stand on the issue and clarified his position: "I'm sorry if my words were misunderstood. Although I criticize the Israeli government, I condemn any form of violence against civilians anywhere in the world - be it against Israelis or Palestinians".
Israel's participation in the ESC is repeatedly criticized
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU), an association of broadcasters from dozens of countries, is the organizer of the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC), which has been held since 1956.
The trained opera singer Pietsch scored the most points in the competition held last Sunday night in Basel with the song "Wasted Love" and won the international music show.
Israel's participation in the ESC has been repeatedly criticized in recent months. The background to this is the war being waged by Israel against the terrorist organization Hamas in the Palestinian Gaza Strip.
This began after the unprecedented massacre by Palestinian terrorists in Israel in October 2023. More than 50,000 people have died in the Gaza Strip since then.
Nemo is also in favor of Israel's exclusion
Nemo, the pop star from Biel who won the ESC 2024 for Switzerland, had also openly spoken out in favor of Israel's exclusion. 70 former ESC participants recently expressed similar sentiments in an open letter.
Singer Yuval Raphael competed for Israel last Saturday evening. She is a survivor of the terrorist attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, when she and a friend were at the Nova music festival where terrorists from the Gaza Strip carried out a massacre.
Her song "New Day Will Rise" came second in the ESC final in Basel; Israel even came first in the public vote. Only the points of the dozens of expert juries from European countries gave Austria and JJ the victory.
