Eurovision 2025 was held in Switzerland, the country that launched Celine Dion’s global career. Broadcasters and fans kept hinting that she might return for a powerful live moment. Instead, viewers learned that her ongoing struggle with Stiff Person Syndrome still makes high pressure performances unsafe. The whole night turned into a lesson in how far hype can go, and how strongly health can still say “no.”
Even on air, Graham Norton kept hoping out loud. He joked, he teased, he almost spoke her into existence. People online were cheering him on, saying he wanted Celine there more than anyone on earth. But as the Grand Final rolled on, one thing became clear. She was not coming.
In the end, viewers got only a pre-recorded message that aired earlier in the week. In it, Celine said she wanted “nothing more” than to be in Basel. She thanked Switzerland for believing in her and remembered that 1988 night as a “life-changing moment.”
Her fight with Stiff Person Syndrome has not gone away. The same woman who stunned the world at the Paris 2024 Olympics from the Eiffel Tower could not risk a live, high-pressure performance now.
Switzerland will always have a special place in my heart
In the end, the spotlight did not fall on a legend from the past, but on a new voice from Austria. JJ’s performance of “Wasted Love” turned into the real turning point of the night. With 436 points, he carried Austria to victory and proved that even on a night of missing icons, fresh talent can still own the stage.
JJ – Wasted Love (LIVE) | Austria 🇦🇹 | Grand Final | Winner of Eurovision 2025
In the middle of all this, it helps to remember why people believed Celine might walk out in Basel at all. Just a year earlier, she stepped onto one of the biggest stages on earth and stunned millions during the Paris 2024 Olympics. Singing “Hymne A L’Amour” from the Eiffel Tower, she looked and sounded like the same world class star who once won Eurovision for Switzerland.