Eurovision: will the opera voice win the finals?

Will JJ’s unusual high-pitched voice gives him an edge over the competition?

Predicting the Eurovision winner is always a risky game. There are simply too many moving parts: one’s own tastes, the vote of the professionals; the phone-in vote; and external factors such as politics.

Nonetheless, at this stage of the contest – just over a week before the finals – clear favourites are emerging. One of the most distinctive of these must be JJ, the young singer from Austria that is causing ripples with the song “Wasted Love”.

If you have not been following, JJ’s song stands out from all the other Eurovision songs as he sings in a clear "soprano" type of countertenor voice, more often heard in opera.

 Eurovision and playing Uno

JJ may be familiar to UK viewers as he appeared on The Voice back in 2020. His unusual voice is a natural gift, but one he has trained in music schools and at the Vienna State Opera. He wrote “Wasted Love” with his manager Teodora Špirić, who represented Austria in the Eurovision in 2023.

The song is not opera as such, but his voice gives it an airy feel unlike other songs in this year’s contest. It also stands out because of the outro, where it switches to a rough techno beat for the last 20 seconds. “We wanted to switch up in the song, but we didn’t know to what,” he told William Lee Adams. “So during a toilet break, [producer Thomas Thurner] quickly created the last 20 second. We said, ‘Let’s keep It.”

Does he think the song has a chance? “We were playing the card game Uno backstage with [French contestant] Louane. We decided that whoever wins this match of Uno wins Eurovision. Louane won so we didn’t want to play anymore.” He laughs, promising that his appearance on the night will be “dramatic”.

(Michael Leahy. Source: wiwibloggs et al. Photo : )