Sweden at Eurovision 2025: The winners of Melodifestivalen 2025, the band KAJ, are currently leading the betting odds for Eurovision 2025. They have an impressive musical career, but does it justify all the hype? Get to know the betting favorite!
The Swedish national selection, Melodifestivalen 2025, ended with a massive twist as the band KAJ, with their song “Bara Bada Bastu” (in English: “Just Sauna”), was announced as the grand winner of one of Europe’s most beloved music competitions. The victory, dramatic in its own right, quickly turned into a true cultural earthquake – not just in Sweden, but also in Finland, the homeland of the band members.
The band KAJ – comprising Kevin Holmström, Axel Åhman, and Jakob Norrgård – are three childhood friends who speak Swedish and hail from Finland, a minority group that makes up about 5% of the population. They grew up in the small town of Vörå (in Finnish: Vöyri), an area with a concentrated Swedish-speaking population alongside Helsinki. In this region, Swedish is not just a language but an entire identity, and the band is known for singing in the local dialect – including their winning hit, currenty leading the betting odds for Eurovision 2025 with 25% winning chances.
Listen to the Swedish song for Eurovision 2025:
From a Local Band to a National Conversation Leader
KAJ is not a new discovery. The trio began performing together back in 2009, while still high school students. Since then, they have performed across the Vaasa region in Finland, written and staged two musicals at the local theater: “Gambämark” in 2018 and “Botnia Paradise” in 2021, and starred in a show called “Nästan Unplugged,” which aired in 2018 on the Swedish-language channel of the Finnish national broadcaster, YLE.
In 2013, they received an award from the Harry Schaumans Foundation, and in 2015, they were honored as “Honorary Finns of Ostrobothnia,” the region they hail from. Their current song, despite being about saunas, touches on the core of Finnish cultural consensus and has become a rare unifying force.
Why Is This So Important?
The significance of “Bara Bada Bastu” for Sweden is clear: it marks the first time since 1998 that a Swedish song will be performed at Eurovision in Swedish – a change made possible after the rule requiring songs to be sung in their country’s official language was abolished. However, for Finland, the song represents a much deeper cultural shift. In a country where the right-wing party “True Finns” campaigns to abolish Swedish-language education in schools, KAJ has achieved what politicians could not: uniting groups that speak different languages in Finland – all thanks to a song about saunas.
The song also includes Finnish words like “yksi, kaksi, kolme, sauna” (in English: “one, two, three, sauna”) – a phrase enthusiastically sung by children across Finland today.
A Profound Shift in Consciousness
The Swedish-speaking community is often perceived as elitist or snobbish by the general Finnish public. Most Finns’ knowledge of this culture is sometimes limited to figures like “The Moomins.” Now, suddenly, a band emerges that manages to make this culture accessible in a humorous, sincere, and even highly popular way.
In a headline published in the central newspaper of the Swedish-speaking community on the eve of Melodifestivalen 2025’s final, it was excitedly stated that KAJ’s mere participation in the competition had transformed the image of Finnish-Swedish culture overnight. Indeed, the band’s impact reached Sweden’s prestigious newspaper “Dagens Nyheter”, which enthusiastically reported on their success.
A Wave of Sympathy and Excitement
Suddenly, many Finns are showing interest in learning Swedish. Finland’s television network broadcasted KAJ’s victory party live from Vörå on March 10th, where approximately 5,000 fans attended a live performance held at the local school’s sports field – a show that was broadcast worldwide.
From Sauna Band to International Phenomenon
KAJ has already become a global sensation: their song climbed to the top of Spotify charts in Finland and Sweden and even reached first place on Spotify’s global viral hits chart. Following their success, the band embarked on a tour that will include Finland and Sweden’s major summer festivals, including the prestigious Ruisrock.
With deep roots in Finland and uncompromising humor, they continue to amaze: in a K-pop-inspired music video for their song “Pa To Ta Na Kako?”, they dyed their hair pink, blue, and white – a process that took weeks to reverse. “KAJ, maybe consider wigs next time?” humorously remarked a fan blog. Watch the clip of “Pa To Ta Na Kako?”:
Worthy Competitors
The road to victory was not easy: in the Melodifestivalen final, KAJ faced singers who had already tasted Eurovision success. John Lundvik, who participated in Eurovision 2019 with “Too Late For Love” and finished in fifth place, and Måns Zelmerlöw, who won Eurovision 2015 with “Heroes” and came in second this time with his song “Revolution”.
However, after a close race on the scoreboard, KAJ managed to surpass Måns and secure the coveted ticket to Basel. What’s their secret? Perhaps it’s the song, perhaps it’s the humor – or maybe there really is something magical about the sauna culture.
KAJ’s Love for Eurovision
KAJ’s first Eurovision memory was watching the Olsen Brothers win for Denmark in 2000 with “Fly On The Wings Of Love.” They shared:
“It made us want to play guitar and write catchy songs. We especially loved the Danish version of the song. There we were, at age 7, singing in Danish – a sweet memory.”
Their true Eurovision heroes are Lordi, who won Eurovision 2006 with “Hard Rock Hallelujah.” They also mentioned their favorite karaoke song, Roger Pontare’s “When Spirits Are Calling My Name” from 2000, and the song that always gets them dancing: Ruslana’s “Wild Dances,” Ukraine’s winning entry from Eurovision 2004.
Ready for Basel – And More Sauna
KAJ is ready for the next stage – to turn up the heat in Switzerland. The city of Basel, where the upcoming Eurovision will be held, is known for its abundance of saunas and also embraces the nudity tradition common in Sweden and Finland. So KAJ members, don’t forget to pack… nothing.
Sweden at Eurovision 2025:
“Bara bada bastu” (in English: “Just take a sauna”) is the title of the song that will be performed by band KAJ, who will represent Sweden in the first semi-final of Eurovision 2025, taking place on May 13 in Basel, Switzerland. The song was written by the band members – Kevin Holmström, Axel Åhman, and Jakob Norrgård – along with Anderz Wrethov, Kristoffer Strandberg, and Robert Skowronski.
Wrethov is no stranger to the Eurovision world, having written numerous Eurovision songs, including “We Will Rave” by Kaleen, who represented Austria in Eurovision 2024, “Fuego” by Eleni Foureira, who represented Cyprus in Eurovision 2018 and finished in second place, and “Voices” by Tusse, Sweden’s representative in Eurovision 2021. The song is performed in Finnish and Swedish.
KAJ – Who Are You?
KAJ is a Swedish-Finnish music and comedy group from Vörå, Ostrobothnia, Finland, consisting of Kevin Holmström, Axel Åhman, and Jakob Norrgård. The group’s name is derived from the initials of its members’ first names. They are known for their humorous performances and songs primarily in Swedish, particularly in the Vörå dialect.
The group has released several albums, including “Professionella Pjasalappar” (2012), “Lokalproducerat Pjas” (2014), “Kom ti byin” (2016), “Gambämark” (2018), “Botnia Paradise” (2021), and “Karar i arbeit” (2024).
Sources: escinsight, eurovision.tv.
Eurovision 2025: This will be Sweden’s 63rd participation in the Eurovision Song Contest. Sweden joined the competition in 1958 and has won it seven times over the years. Sweden’s most recent victory was at Eurovision 2023 with the song “Tattoo,” performed by the singer Loreen.
