The Eurovision Song Contest reaches its grand final on Saturday night in Basel, with 26 countries fighting for the coveted glass microphone trophy. The competition feels less predictable than recent years, when acts like Loreen (Sweden, 2023) and Kalush Orchestra (Ukraine, 2022) were ordained to win before they\u2019d even sung a note.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Currently, bookmakers have installed Sweden at the top of the table, with their delightfully bonkers sauna sonnet, Bara Bada Bastu. But here\u2019s the thing: A novelty number has never won. Voters typically prefer songs about triumph over adversity, and stonking great pop anthems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ideally, they want a stonking great pop anthem about triumph over adversity, and there are plenty of those sprinkled through tonight\u2019s running order. We spoke to the five contestants with the best odds, to find out what makes their Eurovision entries stand out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
KAJ are the first Finnish act to represent Sweden at the Eurovision, hailing from the coastal town of V\u00f6r\u00e5, where Swedish is still the main language. A comedy troupe who met at school, they\u2019ve been performing together for more than 15 years \u2013 and were the surprise winners of Sweden\u2019s Melodifestivalen, where the public selects the country\u2019s Eurovision entry, earlier this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Their song, Bara Bada Bastu, is an accordian-led tribute to sauna culture (Finland has more than three million saunas, one for every two people). \u201cIt felt like a natural thing to sing about,\u201d says Kevin Holmstr\u00f6m. \u201cWe really like the sauna. It\u2019s universal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The first Swedish-language entry since 2012, the song extols the practice\u2019s stress-busting virtues. Is that why Finland is consistently ranked as the world\u2019s happiest nation, I wonder?
\u201cIt\u2019s a chicken and an egg situation,\u201d laughs Jakob Norrg\u00e5rd. \u201cI don\u2019t know which came first, the happiness or the sauna, but the sauna definitely brings your pulse down.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The trio have brought a mock sauna to the Eurovision stage this year, complete with birch branches, hot coals and dancers in skimpy towels. In the lyrics, they ask, \u201chow long can you last?\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOh, we can make it last all evening,\u201d confirms Jackob. \u201cA sauna party that lasts for hours.\u201d
\u201cI like to do it with a lot of intervals,\u201d says Axel \u00c5hman. \u201cTwo to three hours, going in and out, having something to drink, maybe even snack on a sausage outside, and then go back in \u2013 just to make it a calm and long session.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And how does Finland feel about the fact the trio are representing their neighbour and Eurovision rival? \u201cFinns love a bargain, so this is great,\u201d laughs Jackob. \u201cSweden gets to pay for everything, but it\u2019s a Finnish win as well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Austria has the best opening couplet of the year: \u201cI\u2019m an ocean of love \/ And you\u2019re scared of water.\u201d \u201cIt\u2019s about my personal experience with unreciprocated love,\u201d says singer Johannes Pietsch, who performs under the name JJ. \u201cIt felt like I was walking a one-way street.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 24-year-old is moonlighting at Eurovision from his day job at the Vienna State Opera, where he\u2019s had roles in The Magic Flute and Von der Liebe Tod.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cA sold-out show at the opera holds 1,600 people, so that\u2019s nothing compared to the Eurovision audience,\u201d he says (last year\u2019s TV broadcast was seen by 163 million people). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pietsch\u2019s song, Wasted Love, is a turbulent ballad that makes spectacular use of his counter-tenor, with an EDM twist. On stage, he performs in a ramshackle sailing boat, clinging to the mast as the ocean threatens to consume him. It\u2019s one of the night\u2019s most arresting performances, and it requires a lot of preparation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the opera singer in me, I practice every day.\u201d he says. \u201cI have to do vocal warm-ups to keep the voice active and before I go on stage, I always do ten push-ups and one-minute planks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Reaching the Eurovision final has been a dream since he watched Conchita Wurst win for Austria in 2014. Could he replicate that success in Switzerland? \u201cThat would be great for Austria. I would love to do that. I would call Conchita my mother, so I\u2019d love to make her proud.\u201d (BBC)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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