VIENNA — The Austrian government and national broadcaster ORF are grappling with where to host the next Eurovision Song Contest and how to cover the cost, officials said on Sunday after their country’s entry won the competition for the third time.

Apart from jubilation at the resounding victory overnight of “Wasted Love” by 24-year-old Filipino-Austrian operatic singer Johannes Pietsch, known as JJ, much of the public discussion in Austria has been about the tens of millions of euros hosting the event will cost.

JJ won this year’s tilt ahead of Israel’s Yuval Raphael, a survivor of the Oct. 7 attacks, who sang “New Day Will Rise” in the world’s biggest music competition, which was watched by more than 160 million people across the world.

The contest’s final in Basel, Switzerland, came days after Austria’s new centrist coalition government presented a budget dominated by belt-tightening measures. As the country heads towards a third year of recession, its budget deficit has grown well beyond the European Union’s limit of 3% of economic output.

Asked by his own broadcaster how the cost of the event would be covered, ORF chief Roland Weissmann said: “If I had a perfect answer today, that would be a bit like witchcraft. But in the days before (the final) when there was a chance we would win, we did start thinking about it.”

“We are in intensive discussions with Austrian officialdom,” he said, adding that there would be a “transparent process” to determine where the contest would be held.

Vienna, by far the country’s largest city, hosted the event 10 years ago after bearded drag queen Conchita Wurst won with “Rise Like a Phoenix.” Mr. Weissmann said many other cities and communities had already expressed an interest.

Speaking on ORF moments after Mr. Weissmann, Vice-Chancellor Andreas Babler of the Social Democrats, who is also culture minister, was guarded, saying only that “serious discussions” were underway.

JJ has said he would like the contest to be held in Vienna, his hometown. He also told ORF he had some other requests, including hosting the event himself.

“I would like to fly into the opening ceremony. That would be great. But we still have to discuss that,” JJ said, adding that it would be similar to the official video of his song in which he appears to float in the air.

Official discussions on funding are likely to focus on how the Austrian share of the costs should be spread between entities like ORF, the government, and the host city or state.

According to the Eurovision Song Contest’s website, the event is mainly funded by participating broadcasters’ fees, contributions by the host broadcaster and host city, as well as revenue from items like sponsorship deals, ticket sales, and public voting for songs.

While hosting the event is at odds with the government’s savings drive, there is little doubt that funding will be available, and ministers have also looked on the lighter side.

Finance Minister Markus Marterbauer posted overnight on Instagram a satirical website’s headline that said to avoid the cost of hosting the next contest he had voted for the favorite, Sweden, 3,000 times.

His caption: “It wasn’t enough…”

TIME NOT WASTED
The win was Austria’s third in the competition, following Conchita’s success and Udo Juergens’ victory in 1966.

JJ combined elements of opera, techno, and soprano heights in his song “Wasted Love,” winning the hearts of the professional juries and telephone voters.

“This is absolutely insane. My dreams came true,” said the singer. “It’s out of this world.”

Going into the final, the Filipino-Austrian was second favorite behind Swedish comedy trio KAJ, whose song extolling the joy of saunas had been the hot favorite with bookmakers before finishing fourth.

Switzerland, hosting after Swiss rapper and singer Nemo won last year’s contest in Malmö, Sweden, finished 10th.

JJ said he wanted to give listeners an insight into his deepest thoughts when he wrote the song, and was happy it had resonated with so many fans.

“There’s no wasted love. Love is never wasted. There’s so much love that we can spread around, and we should use love as the strongest force on planet Earth,” he added.

Fans traveled from across Europe and beyond to Basel, with 100,000 people attending Eurovision events in the city, including the final.

Eurovision, which stresses its political neutrality, faced controversy again this year due to the war in Gaza.

Israel’s entrant, Raphael, was at the Nova music festival during the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas militants on southern Israel that killed 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage, according to Israeli officials.

The singer was the most popular among the general public to finish behind Austria, which was the most popular contestant among the juries.

Pro-Palestinian groups urged the European Broadcasting Union to exclude Israel over Gaza, where more than 50,000 people have been killed in the ensuing offensive by Israel, according to local health officials.

Around 200 protesters mounted a demonstration in Basel on Saturday evening, while two protesters attempted to get onto the stage during Raphael’s performance but were halted by security officials. Nobody was injured.

Spanish public broadcaster RTVE also showed a message before the start of the Eurovision show saying “When human rights are at stake, silence is not an option. Peace and Justice for Palestine.” — Reuters

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