JJ commented on potentially handing the Eurovision trophy to Israel’s Noam Bettan during a press conference in Vienna.
Exactly one year has passed since Austrian singer JJ won the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 and brought the competition back to Vienna. As tradition dictates, the previous winner is expected to hand over the Eurovision trophy to the new champion, who will be crowned at the climax of Saturday night’s Grand Final on May 16th.
Earlier today, a press conference took place with Eurovision Director Martin Green and additional members of the contest’s production team, alongside the Austrian winner. During the event, the traditional trophy handover was mentioned, and JJ was then asked whether he would present the trophy to any country that wins the competition – including Israel if Noam Bettan secures victory.
Here is how the Austrian singer responded.
The Reserved Response
In response to the question, the Eurovision 2025 winner stated that he would be present on stage at the decisive moment, would see who wins, and would ultimately be there to hand over the trophy to the victorious act.
In practical terms, the singer did not indicate that he would refuse to present the trophy to Noam Bettan in the event of an Israeli victory – at least according to the implication of his remarks.
A Different Tone From Last Year
JJ’s response comes as a surprise given comments he made last year, only days after his Eurovision victory, when he expressed disappointment over Israel’s participation in the contest and claimed that, had the decision been his, he would have removed the country from the competition.
Despite those earlier statements, it now appears that when faced with the reality of the Eurovision stage, the Austrian singer prefers to align himself with the spirit of the contest rather than create unnecessary controversy during one of the competition’s defining moments.
Eurovision 2026: the 70th edition of the contest will take place in Vienna, Austria, on May 12th, 14th, and 16th, 2026. The Wiener Stadthalle arena, which will host the event, is expected to accommodate around 16,000 spectators per show. The contest returns to Austria following the nation’s third historic win with the song “Wasted Love”, performed by JJ. It will be Austria’s third time hosting Eurovision, after previous editions held in the country in 1967 and 2015.
