The Swedish song and act were selected on March 8th via their long-standing and popular national final "Melodifestivalen". There were 5 semi-finals prior to the final where two songs qualified from each, then a second chance vote making a final of 12 songs. The voting was in two halves; firstly an international jury vote then a public vote from either pone voting or app voting, the latter of which is segmented into age groupings. Going to Basel is the group KAJ with the song "Bara bada bastu" (Just take a sauna)
The name KAJ comes from the names of its three members - Kevin Holmström, Axel Åhman, and Jakob Norrgård. The trio are from Vörå which is a Swedish speaking part of Finland. After becoming acquainted through various sporting clubs they became close friends when they attended the same school, and formed the trio in 2009. The band performs in a variant of Ostrobothnian Swedish which many Swedes find hard to understand. Their music spans multiple genres often with a humorous and satirical edge. Over the 15 years they have been together they have six studio albums, a live album and 9 singles. On its release, "Bara Bada Bastu" got to number 1 in both Sweden and Finland - their only charting single in either nation. In addition they have toured Sweden and Finland three times and have also written and performed two musicals.
The song plays on the Finnish love of the sauna and, although in their Swedish dialect has the odd phrases in Finnish and namechecking other Finnish cultural touchstones. The song is also tied together with the short accordion earworm that comes in the instrumental parts. The song progresses as a verse, pre chorus and chorus and runs through this twice. There is then a bridge where the title is repeated before a final chorus - with a key change. As the song ends the title is repeated again and again. During the song the trio are dressed formally in suit jackets, trousers, ties and formal shoes. They are joined by four dancers who start off dressed in check shirts and hats but end up dressed - or should that be undressed - in bucket hats and carefully wrapped towels. The setting of the song changes half way through from an outdoor setting with the trio cooking sausages around a fire to being inside the sauna. In addition there is quite an simple but involved dance routine during the chorus.
On paper this shouldn't work. This walks that fine tightrope between fun & light-hearted with songwriting skill & performance ability without being ‘a joke’. The trio have honed this craft for well over a decade, and you can tell. They know how to work the crowd, how to sell the song and how far to push the boundaries. This song is really fun but when it is twinned with a catchy tune, memorable lyrics, a well thought through stage show and a confident performance all makes for something really appealing. If feels very approachable and personable and appears to go way beyond its language barriers The last time a Swedish entry was in Swedish was 1998, and the last time Swedish appeared at Eurovision at all was in 2012 which was ironically, the Finnish entry of that year. At a time when the world seems a little bleak, gloomy and serious, maybe we all need a little bit of sauna in our lives...
ARTIST - KAJ
SONG - Bara bada bastu
WRITING/PRODUCTION CREDITS - A Åhman, K Holmström, J Norrgård, R Skowronski, K Strandberg, A Wrethov
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