(CNN) — “People say I’m a funny guy,” says Finnish rapper Käärijä while lying in the sauna truck he’s been shipping across northern Europe. He wears only tight leather shorts, spiky green sleeves, and an aggressive bowl cut.
“But I always tell them: I’m just a normal guy from Finland.”
Käärijä is not a normal guy; He’s infectiously eager in a head-shaking outfit, with a laugh that cuts through the steam in his sweaty private hangout. But at the Eurovision Song Contest, he’s just the latest in a long line of eccentrics winning the continent’s music-loving hearts.
“I just want to make people happy when I go on stage and do my crazy stuff,” says Käärijä, who is far more comfortable in the heat than this CNN reporter. “You have to take a shower afterwards,” he tells me clearly.
The Eurovision Song Contest – the happiest, happiest and most heartwarming event of the year in Europe – is a magnet for many of the region’s exceptional musical performances. Each year it receives more than 150 million television viewers worldwide, drawing crowds of fans to the host city – this year Liverpool, England, where the event is being staged on behalf of last year’s winners Ukraine.
The grand finale will be streamed live on Saturday night at 8pm BST (3pm ET) and one country will be crowned this year’s winner.
Again, Käärijä’s reputation precedes him. “The Finn – he has a different vibe,” the participant from Lithuania told CNN. “If he comes out, it will be dramatic,” Armenia added.
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Käärijä says he feels most comfortable in the sauna, leather shorts or not.
Käärijä brags about knocking down multiple pina coladas in his power rap Cha Cha Cha, a title that’s a lot less intimidating when read via Google Translate. “I’m not afraid of this world… when I’m pouring myself champagne,” he warns.
This unfazed demeanor will serve him well compared to some serious competition. According to the bookies, he’s in for a two-pronged Nordic showdown with Loreen, Sweden’s returning Eurovision queen, whose 2012 smash hit ‘Euphoria’ topped the competition and became a staple at clubs across Europe.
The win more than a decade ago was “one of the most important moments in my life,” Loreen told CNN. “Before ‘Euphoria’ I was a struggling artist trying to find my way.”
She’s now one of Sweden’s most celebrated Eurovision-loving contestants of all time – maybe just one win away from getting her own money-making hologram. Or as she puts it, “I’m a servant of creativity, darling.”
“It’s like home for me, the Eurovision community,” Loreen said. “It’s a safe place for me.”
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Loreen is a Eurovision Queen and she has the tip to win again this year.
In many ways, the fight for this year’s crown symbolizes the two extremes on offer at the Eurovision Song Contest – a polished singer with a minimalist, TV-friendly performance juxtaposed with a cacophony of delightful Euro-silliness.
But Eurovision has a bit of everything. “It’s like the perfect musical salad,” Lithuania’s Monika Linkytė told CNN. Pi, a member of German pop metal band Lord of the Lost, says Eurovision “reminds me of ‘The Hunger Games’ – but you trade death for joy and competition for camaraderie.”
Everyone talks about energy – their energy, the energy of the crowd, the energy of their home countries. Loreen used the word 11 times in a 12 minute interview. There is so much energy in Liverpool that it’s a miracle the lights in the arena didn’t go out.
Amidst the love, joy and energy, however, there is competition – and some acts have already been dropped in the semifinals.
Ireland’s Wild Youth, led by an Elvis Presley wax figure someone left in the sun, failed to garner much enthusiasm with “We Are One” – a song that reads like a ChatGPT-generated ode to futility and like a Advertisement for a supermarket sounds assortment of barbecues.
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Rockers Lord of the Lost told CNN King Charles was “curious” about their costumes when he visited the Eurovision website.
“The truth is they never give Ireland a chance,” the band ranted in a now-edited Instagram post that went down like a lead balloon among the Liverpool crowds.
Only the strongest 26 participants can advance and the variety on display is breathtaking. We have former contestants of the Albanian version of The Voice, the Swiss version of The Voice, the Georgian version of The Voice and a winner of Estonian Idol who also has an appearance on the Baltic show . Regional version of “The Voice”.
Many acts are real stars in their home countries, but the Eurovision Song Contest is the big equalizer – so behind every artist is a team of publicists desperate to get their talent known.
Portugal claims its singer Mimicat, a real estate agent in a past life, has a “cheeky” stage presence, a claim CNN has not been able to independently verify. Georgia’s Iru was “drowned in music” from a young age, poor thing. Serbia’s Luke Black doesn’t just make music; He “designs his own destiny” with “storytelling wrapped in cinematic sounds”. He is also often depicted holding a lobster to his face, presumably for artistic reasons.
Switzerland is less boastful – merely pointing out that Remo Forrer has “solid vocal cords”.
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Teya and Salena from Austria play Who the Hell is Edgar?, which is about being inhabited by the ghost of Edgar Allan Poe.
And this is how Linkytė describes the meaning of her ballad: “Anything you have in mind can actually be the truth, I think. But we have so many doubts about the dreams we have that for the most part we don’t accept those dreams.” That settles it.
By the way, this is the most global Eurovision ever. For the first time, viewers around the world can vote – and while few artists here would credit Tim McGraw or Toby Keith as their inspiration, Americans can still get involved if they watch on Saturday.
For Linkytė, however, this is news. “You can choose? Are you serious??” She yells. “Americans: I love you guys so much!”
Brits aren’t usually quite as smitten with Eurovision fever as their continental friends – perhaps because they haven’t had a winner this millennium – but the show’s hosting has changed that.
And what a show it is: last year’s winners and runners-up, Ukrainian rap group Kalush Orchestra, and Brit Sam Ryder will each perform on Saturday, as will the majestically off-kilter 2007 Ukrainian contestant, Verka Serduchka.
Organizers said they turned down a request from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to deliver a speech at the show – although his office later claimed he never delivered a speech – but Ukrainian Tvorchi canceled his dress rehearsal on Friday and hopes to hold one send the message home.
“We feel a great sense of responsibility,” Jeffery, a member of the duo, told CNN. “We know what we have to do; We know what mission we are here for.”
Mae Muller flies under the British flag. As is the case with all things fun in Britain, her choice briefly incensed the country’s culture warriors, who expressed outrage to discover she had once been critical of Boris Johnson. The backlash was mitigated, however, by the fact that criticism of Johnson has become arguably the country’s favorite pastime over the past year.
Punk rockers Let 3 are known for performing nude at home in Croatia. At Liverpool they have some really – unique? Let’s move on to the “unique” costume selection.
Anthony Devlin/Getty Images
Let 3 deliver an anti-war anthem in a very special way.
Meanwhile, Lord of the Lost provide the obligatory heavy metal punch. You may be surprised to learn that they supported Iron Maiden on their European tour last year. (You might also be surprised to learn that Iron Maiden are still touring.)
But even their lead singer, Chris Harms, is a softer form of Rock God. Harms has adopted several abandoned kittens – two of them are named Piwo, Polish for “beer” – and feeds them a milk bottle. “You can’t let them die, these little guys,” he told CNN.
In the hometown of Lennon and McCartney, we have a veritable lyrical hodgepodge to please the ears on Saturday. Austrians Teya & Salena tell CNN they went to the Eurovision Song Contest songwriting camp (that’s a thing in Europe, folks) to create their entry, which describes how they inspired the spirit of writer Edgar Allan Poe be inhabited since the 19th century.
“Maybe someone out there knows where Shakespeare is so I can get a taste,” they sing as they trawl through the English-language literary canon.
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Pasha Parfeni absorbs his surroundings.
The deadline for final submissions came too soon for the brunette from Armenia, who accidentally submitted the world’s most unbearable Hinge biography instead. “I just want to make art, read books and just find someone who likes me enough to kiss my face,” she sings. “I want to go exploring with him and visit old bookstores.”
The truth is that most artists don’t care where they end up on the leaderboard after a long, hard and drunk night out on Saturday. “You’re talking to five guys who are going to win a lot of hearts,” says Harms.
Unfortunately, not everyone has time for this breezy fairy nonsense. “I expect to win,” Pasha Parfeni tells me. The bookmakers have a different opinion. But Pasha is Moldova’s Eurovision guy – he’s been here twice, participated in the national selection a couple of times and has been a co-author on previous entries.
He’s “quite tall” at home, he notes in a thoughtful voice as he hands his media manager an e-cigarette, eyes hidden behind sunglasses. “I’m in love with all my songs,” adds Pasha — especially this year’s. He even provides some completely impartial analysis for free. “The meaning is pretty deep, we have many layers here,” he says.
Whoever wins, this year’s Eurovision Song Contest reignited Britain’s enthusiasm for the competition and brought together an incredibly strong array of talent.
And of course energy. Loreen says her first task in the event of victory will be to “give some energy back” to her team. “And I might have a glass of wine.”