Eurovision is upon us and the first of two Eurovision semi-final nights has taken place in the Swiss city of Basel. There has been performances from 18 of the 37 countries in the contest.
The first semi-final took place on Tuesday, May 13, with the results seeing some fan favourites including Croatia and Belgium kicked out of the competition, while outsiders Portugal and Iceland reached the grand Eurovision final.
The second semi-final will take place tonight, May 15. Sixteen artists will compete in the second semi-final, including UK entry Remember Monday with their track ‘What The Hell Just Happened?’
Bookmakers’ favourite KAJ, are representing Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest. They will sing ‘Bara Bada Bastu’, a song about the restorative powers of the sauna. The catchy song is performed by the first ever Finnish act to represent Sweden at the competition.
The song is the first Swedish-language song that has been submitted by the country since 1998. It will be sang again at the Eurovision final on Saturday, May 17.
While 26 countries will perform to be crowned Eurovision champions, only one will come out on top. Here is everything we know about the favourites to win the competition:
Who are KAJ?
KAJ are Sweden’s Eurovision entry for 2025, they are the first ever Finnish act to represent Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest. The group comprises comedians and musicians Kevin Holmström, Axel Åhman and Jakob Norrgård.
In their native Finland, they have released seven albums and also written and performed two musicals at the Wasa Theatre. The group sailed through the first semi-final which took place on Tuesday, May 13.
Other favourites they will be competing against in the competition are Estonia’s Tommy Cash and The Netherland’s Claude. Italy’s Lucio Corsi, Spain’s Melody and Switzerland’s Zoë Më.
They ended up representing Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest after receiving an email from Melodifestivalen, an annual song competition organised by Swedish public broadcasters Sveriges Television (SVT) and Sveriges Radio (SR).
The Eurovision finalists said: “That is an offer we couldn’t refuse and to our great joy we were selected to participate in the competition!
“Since we are a part of a Swedish-speaking minority and have always followed Melodifestivalen closely, it was a great honour and opportunity for us.”
The song KAJ will perform is “Bara Bada Bastu”, which is inspired by the Finnish sauna culture. The group saw it as a funny way to play with stereotypes and bring the sauna to Sweden.