TEL AVIV — With a powerful but low-key ballad, the Netherlands won the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest, an unapologetically kitschy event with 41 participating countries held this year in Tel Aviv.

Billed as the world’s biggest singing competition with a global television audience of 200 million, Eurovision was lifted this year by a guest appearance by Madonna and enough glitz, plumes of fire and special effects to invigorate even the blandest Europop.

But the winner, Duncan Laurence, 24, opted for a more minimalist approach surprisingly devoid of gimmicks. He sang his moody solo, “Arcade,” about a broken heart, while accompanying himself on the piano.