Eurovision Song Contest 2025
The Eurovision Song Contest 2025 was the 69th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It consisted of two semi-finals on 13 and 15 May and a final on 17 May 2025, held at St. Jakobshalle in Basel, Switzerland, and presented by Hazel Brugger and Sandra Studer, with Michelle Hunziker joining for the final. It was organised by the European Broadcasting Union and host broadcaster the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation, which staged the event after winning the for with the song "The Code" by Nemo.
Broadcasters from 37 countries participated in the contest, the same number as the previous two editions. returned after a two-year absence, while, which had originally planned to participate, later withdrew due to economic reasons and the quality of the songs competing in its national selection. 's participation continued to cause controversy in the context of the Gaza war, with some participating broadcasters calling for a discussion on the issue.
The winner was with the song "Wasted Love", performed by JJ and written by him along with Teodora Špirić and Thomas Thurner. Austria won the combined vote and jury vote, and placed fourth in the televote. won the televote and finished in second place, with,, and completing the top five. The EBU reported that the contest had a television audience of 166 million viewers in 37 European markets, an increase of three million viewers from the previous edition.
Location
The 2025 contest took place in Basel, Switzerland, following the country's victory at the with the song "The Code", performed by Nemo. It was the third time that Switzerland had hosted the contest, having previously done so for the inaugural contest in and the, held in Lugano and Lausanne respectively. The selected venue for the contest was the 12,400-seat St. Jakobshalle, which serves as a venue for indoor sports and concert events. The arena is located in the municipality of Münchenstein in Basel-Landschaft, right by the border with Basel-Stadt.
The Messe and Congress Center Basel complex hosted several events related to the contest. It was the location of the Eurovision Village, which hosted performances by contest participants and local artists as well as screenings of the live shows for the general public; and the EuroClub, which organised the official after-parties and private performances by contest participants. The "Turquoise Carpet" event on 11 May 2025 began at the Basel Town Hall and ran through the Middle Bridge, with the contestants and their delegations being presented before accredited press and fans, before ending at Messe Basel, where the opening ceremony was held. The St. Jakob-Park stadium held a screening of the final along with performances by four previous Eurovision entrants, with entry charged for the public; the stadium was also featured on the live broadcast and was referred to as "Arena Plus" for the occasion. The Eurovision Street was located at Steinenvorstadt.
Bidding phase
After Switzerland's win in the 2024 contest, the local authorities of Geneva expressed their interest in hosting the 2025 edition at Palexpo and submitted a formal application. On the same day, the president of the Basel-Stadt government, Conradin Cramer, also expressed interest in Basel hosting the 2025 event. On 12 May, Olma Hall in St. Gallen was proposed as a potential venue.On 13 May, Lugano, which hosted the inaugural contest in 1956, ruled out a bid to host in 2025. The president of Bern's cantonal government Philippe Müller expressed his reluctance to host the contest in the de facto Swiss capital, but the cantonal government itself later announced its support in organising the event in Bern. Meanwhile, Zurich's city council held a "high priority" meeting to discuss a bid. On 14 May, Lausanne, which hosted the 1989 contest, ruled out a bid to host in 2025, citing a lack of infrastructure. On 15 May, Biel/Bienne declared its interest to be associated with and co-host the event. On 17 May, the local government of Fribourg stated that it was examining a potential bid. On 5 June, the Basel-Stadt government confirmed that it would bid, proposing St. Jakobshalle and St. Jakob-Park as possible venues. On 6 June, Biel/Bienne and Bern's municipalities announced a joint bid. On 12 June, St. Gallen announced that it would not submit a bid due to not meeting the requirements to host the event.
The host broadcaster, the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation, launched the bidding process on 27 May 2024, by issuing a list of requirements for interested cities. Basel, Bern, Geneva, and Zurich officially declared their interest and finalised their bids on 28 June. Representatives from the host broadcaster visited the four bidding cities in early July, and shortlisted Basel and Geneva on 19 July. On 30 August, the European Broadcasting Union and SRG SSR announced Basel as the host city, with St. Jakobshalle as the chosen venue. A referendum was held in November 2024 within the Basel-Stadt canton to approve the expenditure for organising the contest, which passed with the support of 66.6% of voters.
Key:
Host city
Shortlisted
Submitted a bid
| City | Venue | Notes | |
| Basel† | St. Jakob-Park | Hosted the 2016 UEFA Europa League final and will host matches of the UEFA Women's Euro 2025. The proposal was dependent on the construction of a roof to cover the stadium. | |
| Basel† | St. Jakobshalle | Hosts the annual Swiss Indoors tennis championships. | |
| Bern with Biel/Bienne^ | Neue Festhalle | Proposal set around a planned music venue, constructed within the complex. | |
| Geneva* | Palexpo | Hosted the annual Geneva International Motor Show. It also hosted the 2014 Davis Cup semi-finals and the 2019 Laver Cup. | |
| St. Gallen | Olma Hall | — | |
| Zurich^ | Hallenstadion | Hosted the annual Zurich Open from 1993 to 2008. | |
| Zurich^ | Swiss Life Arena | Planned venue for the 2026 IIHF World Championship |
Participants
Eligibility for participation in the Eurovision Song Contest requires a national broadcaster with an EBU membership that is capable of receiving the contest via the Eurovision network and broadcasting it live nationwide. The EBU issues invitations to participate in the contest to all members.On 12 December 2024, the EBU initially announced that broadcasters from 38 countries would participate in the 2025 contest, including, returning after a two-year absence. On 22 January 2025, announced its withdrawal, citing economic reasons and the quality of, thereby reducing the number of participating countries to 37.
The contest featured two returning artists for the same country: Justyna Steczkowska had previously represented in, and Nina Žižić had appeared with Who See for. Steczkowska's return 30 years after her first appearance broke the record for the longest gap between two participations by the same artist, which was previously held by Anna Vissi with a gap of 24 years between her entries for and.
| Country | Broadcaster | Artist | Song | Language | Songwriter | |
| RTSH | Shkodra Elektronike | "Zjerm " | Albanian | |||
| AMPTV | Parg | "Survivor" | English, Armenian | |||
| SBS | Go-Jo | "Milkshake Man" | English | |||
| ORF | JJ | "Wasted Love" | English | |||
| İTV | Mamagama | "Run with U" | English | |||
| VRT | Red Sebastian | "Strobe Lights" | English | |||
| HRT | Marko Bošnjak | "Poison Cake" | English | |||
| CyBC | Theo Evan | "Shh" | English | |||
| ČT | Adonxs | "Kiss Kiss Goodbye" | English | |||
| DR | Sissal | "Hallucination" | English | |||
| ERR | Tommy Cash | "Espresso Macchiato " | Italian, English | |||
| Yle | Erika Vikman | "Ich komme" | Finnish, German | |||
| France Télévisions | Louane | "Maman " | French | |||
| GPB | Mariam Shengelia | "Freedom" | Georgian, English | |||
| NDR | Abor & Tynna | "Baller " | German | |||
| ERT | Klavdia | "Asteromata" | Greek | |||
| RÚV | Væb | "Róa" | Icelandic | |||
| RTÉ | Emmy | "Laika Party" | English | |||
| IPBC | Yuval Raphael | "New Day Will Rise" | English, French, Hebrew | Keren Peles | ||
| RAI | Lucio Corsi | "Volevo essere un duro" | Italian | |||
| LSM | Tautumeitas | "Bur man laimi" | Latvian | |||
| LRT | Katarsis | "Tavo akys" | Lithuanian | Lukas Radzevičius | ||
| RTL | Laura Thorn | "La poupée monte le son" | French | |||
| PBS | Miriana Conte | "Serving" | English | |||
| RTCG | Nina Žižić | "Dobrodošli" | Montenegrin | |||
| AVROTROS | Claude | "C'est la vie " | French, English | |||
| NRK | Kyle Alessandro | "Lighter" | English | |||
| TVP | Justyna Steczkowska | "Gaja " | Polish, English | |||
| RTP | Napa | "Deslocado" | Portuguese | |||
| SMRTV | Gabry Ponte | "Tutta l'Italia" | Italian | |||
| RTS | Princ | "i=unset" | Serbian | |||
| RTVSLO | Klemen | "How Much Time Do We Have Left" | English | Klemen Slakonja | ||
| RTVE | Melody | "Esa diva" | Spanish | |||
| SVT | KAJ | "Bara bada bastu" | Swedish, Finnish | |||
| SRG SSR | Zoë Më | "Voyage" | French | |||
| Suspilne | Ziferblat | "Bird of Pray" | Ukrainian, English | |||
| BBC | Remember Monday | "What the Hell Just Happened?" | English |