Get to know KAJ, the Finnish band representing Sweden in ESC25
Finnish band KAJ has been voted to represent Sweden in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) in Basel, Switzerland. In the Melodifestivalen final, held on March 8th, the comedy band’s catchy sauna-themed “Bara Bada Bastu” left behind Swedish superstar, Eurovision titan Måns Zelmerlöw with seven points. How on earth did we get here?
Although the name may not ring many bells even in their home turf, Finland-Swedish band KAJ are no newcomers to the scene. The trio was founded in 2009 by Kevin Holmström, Axel Åhman, and Jakob Norrgård, whose first names make up the KAJ acronym. They perform mainly in Swedish and hail from the small municipality of Vörå (Vöyri), located on the west coast of the country and known for its distinct dialect, Vörå.
The trio released their debut album, Professionella Pjasalappar, in 2012. So far, they have amassed a discography of six studio albums under the KAJ name (and one rockabilly album under the pseudonym Vörjeans), as well as one live recording. They have also produced two musicals for Wasa Theatre.
The band’s member Jakob Norrgård has explained that with “Bara Bada Bastu”, they wanted to write a song showcasing Finnish culture and that they were inspired by the "weirdness aura" of previous Finnish Eurovision entries, referring to previous Finnish ESC representatives Käärijä and Windows95man. According to competition rules, at least one of the songwriters must be Swedish, so KAJ worked with songwriter Anderz Wrethov. The lyrics to “Bara Bada Bastu” are mainly about sauna and bathing, with some Finnish words and references thrown into the mix. The song has been named an example of the epadunk genre, which has grown very popular in Sweden in the past few years.
Game changers from Finland?
When KAJ won Melodifestivalen, the surprise was probably as big in Sweden as it was in their home country. For one, Sweden has not sent a song sung in Swedish to ESC in 27 years – exactly after it was permitted to enter the competition with a song that is not in the country’s native language. Also, the style of “Bara Bada Bastu” can be considered so vastly different from Sweden’s typical ESC entries, which usually have been slick and radio-ready pop music in the vein of Loreen and Måns Zelmerlöw, that some of the local music industry has already claimed that “atmosphere at the Swedish song contest has completely changed". Still, last year’s Swedish ESC representatives were also non-Swedes, Marcus & Martinus, whom KAJ are now following.
Baffled with the song’s success, initially the members of KAJ stated that they wanted a recount of votes. Meanwhile, the Finnish media has already analyzed the phenomenon as a “new symbol of neighborly love” – mind you that in 2023, the ESC finals became a tough contest between Sweden’s Loreen and Finland’s Käärijä, where Finland won the popular vote but became second in the overall contest due to the lack of love from the professional juries. This year, immediately after the Swedish Melodifestivalen final, the bets for KAJ’s song jumped to number one, with 18% winning chance, on the Eurovisionworld website.
Finland’s representative at ESC 2025 will be Erika Vikman with her song “Ich Komme”. Vikman’s bets for winning the competition is currently at number 6 spot, with a 5% winning chance. So this year, there is a chance we could even end up in a race between Finland and... Finland!