Until relatively recently, Finland's relationship with the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) was fraught with anxiety and disappointment.
Since Finland started competing at ESC in the early 1960s, it has only won the contest a single time — in 2006 with Lordi's arena metal anthem Hard Rock Hallelujah. But before that, it really struggled — even placing dead last several times.
However, since that single victory nearly 20 years ago, Finland seems to have found its stride in picking contest-friendly acts and songs — at least it hasn't received zero points at the event for quite some time.
Despite its longtime role as the contest's underdog, Finland will now be seen and heard more than ever, because two acts from Finland will be competing at ESC in Switzerland in May. One is representing Finland and the other, Sweden.
Finland picked Erika Vikman's Ich Komme. The song's unapologetically bold lyrics about female sexuality match Vikman's fearless performance. Apart from its German title and chorus, the track is in Finnish. Initially, the song was among the favourites to win at ESC, according to bookmakers' odds — at least for a while.
Then, to the surprise of many, Sweden picked a comedic trio from Finland called KAJ as their Eurovision contender. The group consists of three Swedish-speaking Finns from Ostrobothnia who have charmed people on both sides of the Bothnian Bay — and in many other places.
International bookmakers have predicted that KAJ will win ESC this year, and by a considerable margin.
The reaction of Finnish media — known for being triggered by any positive mention of Finland around the world — exceeded expectations. Since their win at Melodifestivalen, which secured their place at ESC, the group has performed to packed crowds in Finland and even met President Alexander Stubb at an event in Ostrobothnia.
In a way, Finland now has two Eurovision contenders in the running.
Even though its lyrics are Swedish, KAJ's tongue-in-cheek song is about the pleasures of Finland's most famous export and pastime — taking a sauna. It is also the first Swedish-language song Sweden has sent to Eurovision this century.
ESC's voting arrangement involves each country judging other countries' acts — but not their own. This means Finland will likely vote wholeheartedly for the Swedish act, which is not always the case due to historic competitiveness between the two Nordic countries.
"'It's crazy! It's party!'"
Given the unusual situation, Yle's Eurovision Swedish-language commentator Johan Lindroos, quoted Käärijä's song Cha Cha Cha — Finland's ESC 2023 near-winner.
"As Käärijä would say, 'it's crazy! it's party!'," he laughed. "This is not a scenario that I could have predicted or ever believed to be possible, but it's fantastic."
The Finnish media's enthusiastic KAJ coverage suggests that Finland is rooting at least as much for a Swedish ESC victory as one for themselves.
According to Lindroos, who's also Radio Finland's Head of Music, KAJ has a lot going for them.
"They're really likeable and the song is unbelievably catchy. I mean, it's hard to find something negative about anything they do. Their humour is quite kind and meant for a broad audience," he explained.
"I think Bara bada bastu would work well in whatever language," Lindroos said, noting that song contest audiences are more open to other languages than before.
But if Sweden does win, will Finns still celebrate traditionally? To the uninitiated, national celebrations in Finland start as drinking and shouting at city market squares around the country. Definitely, according to Lindroos.
Those celebrations take place at market squares across the country. Yle News' podcast All Points North examined the 'torille' phenomenon in 2022.
You can hear the episode on the embedded player, via Yle Areena, Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
"I think it would be strange if it wouldn't happen, at least among Swedish-speaking Finns. I think if KAJ wins the whole thing, we'll make it our victory in any way possible," he said.
People outside of the Nordics also seem to think that KAJ will do well. The unassuming trio has been the ESC25 favourite of international bookmakers since their victory in Sweden. At the moment, KAJ has a 40 percent chance of winning, while Erika Vikman stood in eighth place with a three percent chance, according to a compilation of bookmakers's odds.
However, according to Eurovision expert and author Dean Vuletic, it remains to be seen who will win, partially because novelty and comedy songs don't usually do very well at ESC.
"Historically, comical or comedic songs have never won the contest, so it will be a first if [KAJ] does manage to win," he explained.
What about the novelty of "Finland versus Finland?"
Vuletic said that countries often pick artists of other nationalities as ESC contestants, adding that the practice has continued since the very first song contest in 1956. He said that small countries have benefited from the fact that there is no rule stating that Eurovision contestants need to be citizens of the country they're representing.
He pointed to Luxembourg as one beneficiary of this, explaining that the small nation won five times in the first 30 years of ESC.
"I think that people really do want to see songs that aren't in English but rather in their native languages," Vuletic explained.
What about Erika?
It is difficult to imagine two more different acts than KAJ and Erika Vikman. The former is boyishly playful, while the latter is an anthem of female sexual freedom.
Is there a risk that Vikman's racy song will lose out to the homespun charm of three young men in brown corduroy suits?
Vuletic pointed out that Finland's most recent near-win, Käärijä's song Cha Cha Cha, was about getting drunk and partying, and decidedly not child-friendly. But kids all around Finland were singing along to Cha Cha Cha that year.
"It's going to be interesting to see what happens. Somehow I think that racier songs won't do well because I think the [ESC global audience] will just think: 'OK this is a gimmick and we're not gonna fall for it,'" Vuletic explained.
"And you know, musically, there are some excellent songs in the contest this year," he said.
Swedish v Finnish
However, it took a while for Finland's Swedish-speaking minority to embrace Bara bada bastu, according to Riie Heikkilä, a postdoctoral researcher and docent of sociology at the University of Tampere. Heikkilä has researched Swedish-speaking Finns' culture and lifestyles.
In mid-March, the researcher told Yle that Bada bada bastu was considered by some Finnish media outlets as a poor representation of Finland to the outside world.
However she said that opinion seems to have changed after the warm reception Sweden gave KAJ and their song.
According to bookmakers' predictions, Erika Vikman and KAJ are up against Austria's act JJ who will perform the song Wasted Love (which has a 15 percent chance of winning); France's act Louane who is bringing the track Maman (with an 8% chance); Israel's Yuval Raphael will sing New Day Will Rise (5%); the Netherlands' artist Claude is performing C'est La Vie (5%); Czechia's Adonxs' Kiss Kiss Goodbye (3%); and Belgium's Red Sebastian is competing with the song Strobe Lights (3%).
Yle will broadcast the Eurovision Song Contest live on TV1 and stream it on Yle Areena. The contest will run from 13-17 May. The semi-finals are on 13 and 17 May, while the finals will be held on Saturday 17 May. The 69th Eurovision Song Contest is being held in Basel, Switzerland, hosted by public broadcasters SRG SSR and the European Broadcasting Union.
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