A classically trained Austrian countertenor, JJ, won the 69th Eurovision Song Contest hosted in Basel Switzerland on Saturday with a storm-tossed Wasted Love, a song calculated to show off the performer’s extraordinary vocal range.

JJ is the stage name of the Vienna-born Johannes Pietsch, who grew up in Dubai and was introduced to singing through karaoke parties and to opera by his father. At 24, Pietsch is already a singing contest veteran, having taken part in The Voice UK and Starmania. He attends the Music and Arts University of the City of Vienna.

Pietsch is the third Austrian to win Eurovision, after another countertenor Conchita Wurst in 2014 and Udo Jürgens in 1965.

JJ triumphed in a tight vote ahead of the Israeli performer Yuval Raphael, Estonia’s Tommy Cash and Sweden’s hotly tipped, sauna-themed entry KAJ.