Eurovision win sparks joy - and fears over the costs - in Austria

Austria's triumph in the Eurovision song contest on Saturday has sparked a wave of joy across the country, but also a bit of fretting about how to pay for hosting the event next year.

- Deborah Cole

The cash-strapped public broadcaster ORF, which would bear the bulk of the organising costs along with the still-to-be-named host city, admitted that the win by the Vienna-born singer JJ was a mixed blessing at a time of belt-tightening.

The surprise victory of JJ, whose full name is Johannes Pietsch, leaves ORF on the hook to put on the 2026 contest, which will mark the 70th anniversary of the competition.

Stefanie Groiss-Horowitz, ORF's programme director, accepted the official invitation sealed in a large envelope after JJ triumphed over the favourites from Sweden and joked: "The suitcase with the money is coming as well?"

Even JJ delivered an immediate mock apology: "No way! What have I done? Sorry to ORF. It's going to be expensive."

Groiss-Horowitz later told Austrian media that she was "incredibly happy" for the singer-songwriter and for ORF, "because it is of course a giant project".