The song, "Espresso Macchiato," had attracted controversy over its use of what some saw as stereotypes about Italy and Italians. This did not seem to do any harm on the night, and Estonia finished the night with 357 points, just one point behind second-placers Israel – and 36 points ahead of pre-tournament favorites Sweden.

Co-written by Johannes Naukkarinen and Cash himself, "Espresso Macchiato" had swept all before it at February's Eesti Laul, the annual competition to find Estonia's Eurovision entry.

Accompanied by his security guard dance troupe, Cash then sailed through the first semi-final in Basel, held on Tuesday, booking his place in the 69th Eurovision Song Contest Grand Final in Basel.

Dear @TOMMYCASHWORLD, you made Estonia so proud today. Me oleme Sinu üle nii uhked

Congratulations to Austria for winning the @Eurovision.

— Kristen Michal (@KristenMichalPM) May 17, 2025

On Saturday night, Cash was the third performer to take the stage out of 26. He took in a fairly modest 98 points from the international juries from all 37 participating nations. When the public vote was announced, this brought in about a massive 258 points, punting Cash to as high as second, as entries from Sweden, hosts Switzerland, and other strong contenders like France, failed to overtake Estonia.

Israel also saw a turn in fortunes when its public vote, of 297 points, was announced, pushing it up to first place ahead of Austria, the latter then clear leader from early on in the international jury vote count-up.

Austria then needed 100 or more public vote points, however, and managed this with 78 to spare, to leapfrog Israel and take the 2025 title with 436 points all told for the song "Wasted Love," by performer JJ. This was Austria's first win since Conchita Wurst took the title in 2014, and its third overall victory in competition history.

Sweden, long at the top of all prediction charts, finished fourth.

International juries which awarded Cash points for "Espresso Macchiato" included those from neighboring Finland and Latvia, Lithuania, Austria, the U.K., Australia, Ukraine and Switzerland, though Estonia did not get the maximum 12 points from any jury.

As for Estonia's own jury, the maximum 12 points went to last year's winners and hosts Switzerland, while other results included 10 points going to neighboring Finland, eight to Sweden, and three to Latvia.

The jury consisted of singers Ott Lepland and Elina Nechayeva, both of whom have represented Estonia at the Eurovision, joined by ERR's Owe Petersell and musician Indrek Sarrap.

The audience phone-in result from Estonia gave 12 points to Sweden, 10 to Finland and eight to Latvia, though none to eventual victors Austria.

The last time Estonia placed as high as third came in 2002 with the song "Runaway," by Sahlene. Tallinn hosted that event, as Tanel Padar and Dave Benton had won the competition for Estonia the year before.

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