Tomorrow is the night we’ve all been waiting for: the Eurovision 2025 final. And all eyes will be trained on Swedish group KAJ, the competition favourites, as they take to the stage for their act Bara Bada Bastu.
They’re standing on the shoulders of giants: after all, Sweden were the ones who sent ABBA to Eurovision glory in 1974.
But don’t come expecting ABBA-esque vibes from KAJ. Their sauna-themed song has risen the ranks of the European countries, and now they’re the favourites to win. It’s all very weird: here’s what to know about them.
Who are KAJ?
KAJ are a Finnish-Swedish music and comedy group made up of Jakob Norrgård, Kevin Holmström and Axel Åhman (the name is pronounced ‘kai’ and is a composite of their initials).
Formed in 2009, they built a strong following over the years with their songs – which were sung in the local Vörå dialect. This is a variant of Finnish, which is only spoken by about 5 per cent of the Swedish population.
Until recently, they were mainly performing at birthday parties and small local venues. But they got the Eurovision gig by winning the Melodifestivalen – the annual Swedish singing contest whose winner gets to go to Eurovision.
They started out as the underdogs (in fact, they only entered because they thought it might get them a few more gigs), and then they ended up both winning and going straight to the top of Spotify’s global viral chart. No small feat – and a win at Eurovision would give Sweden a record eight victories since the contest was founded in 1956.
And they’re enjoying the journey so far. “The Eurovision bubble is a great bubble to be in,” Norrgård told the Associated Press ahead of Saturday.
What will they be singing?
Their song, Bara Bada Bastu, leans heavily on the bonkers Finnish acts of years gone past. It literally means, ‘let’s take a sauna’, and is performed in Vörå, with heavy helpings of backup music from the accordion. In it, the trio perform on a stage featuring a cabin in the woods and backing dancers dressed as lumberjacks, and (later) in white towels.
Sadly, a line about dropping soap was cut from the final version, but there’s still more than enough to enjoy here.
“When you sit there on the stage and the song is about to start and you see all the LED screens, the millions of lights, and we’re just three dudes sitting and grilling a sausage, the contrast is so funny,” Norrgård told the Associated Press.
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“And that’s exactly our type of humour — you shouldn’t be doing this, this is so stupid. It’s funny. It’s really cool as well.”
How can I watch?
The show starts at 8pm on BBC One on Saturday, May 17. Set your alarms!