Eurovision favorites KAJ fly the flag for Sweden and make saunas all the rage at the contest

BASEL, Switzerland (AP) — There’s one word you hear more than any other in Basel during the Eurovision Song Contest: Sauna.

The northern Swiss city isn't known as an epicenter of steamy wood-cabin relaxation, but the small municipality of Vora in Finland is, and three local performers have made saunas synonymous with this year’s Eurovision.

KAJ — pronounced “kai” and named for the members’ initials — is bookies’ favorite to win the pan-continental music contest this week with “Bara Bada Bastu,” an ode to steam and heat whose title translates roughly as “just take a sauna.”

KAJ is representing Sweden, but the band members come from neighboring Finland, a country of 5.5 million people and 3.3 million saunas, where they are part of the Swedish-speaking minority.

At Eurovision, the trio perform on a set styled like a rustic cabin in the woods, backed by dancers dressed as lumberjacks or in big white towels. The song has an infectiously catchy chorus, a memorable dance routine and a one-word invocation to “sauna!” that is shouted at KAJ wherever they go.

If they are sick of it, it doesn’t show.

“The Eurovision bubble is a great bubble to be in,” Jakob Norrgård told The Associated Press on Thursday. He’s the J in KAJ, alongside fellow band members Kevin Holmström and Axel Åhman.

Norrgård said that he expected Eurovision to be a welcoming environment, “but not this friendly. This is a bit over the top.”

The band members’ only regret is that they haven’t had a sauna since arriving in Basel for Eurovision, which ends Saturday with a grand final that will see acts from 26 countries compete at Basel’s St. Jakobshalle arena for the continent’s pop crown.

Holmström said that the band is delighted to be an ambassador for sauna culture.

“It’s a thing I really endorse,” he said. “It’s good for people. It is good for me, for both my mental and physical health, and (it’s) also a very social event.”

KAJ was formed in 2009 and built a strong local following with humorous songs in Vora’s local dialect. Not long ago they were performing at birthday parties and in town halls of their home region. They entered Sweden’s national Eurovision selection contest, Melodifestivalen, thinking it might get them some gigs in Sweden.

They unexpectedly won that contest, and their performance in Saturday’s Eurovision final is likely to be watched by more than 150 million people.

The Eurovision winner will be decided by a mix of public voting and points from national juries. Victory for KAJ would give Sweden a record eight victories since the contest was founded in 1956, adding KAJ to a list of Swedish winners that includes ABBA.

It would also mean a huge amount to Swedish-speaking Finns, who make up about 5% of Finland's population — and to sauna enthusiasts.

Sauna-lovers from Vora — along with the Finnish city of Tampere, which bills itself as the sauna capital of the world — drove a mobile sauna 1,500 miles (2,500 kilometers) to Basel, parked it near the Rhine and opened it to the public for free during the weeklong Eurovision festivities. A dip in the chilly river after working up a sweat was optional.

It sparked the kind of cultural cross-fertilization that fans say is the essence of Eurovision. At the pop-up sauna, local Swiss people steamed and chatted with Finns, a Canadian and others. When KAJ dropped by for a visit, they were mobbed by selfie-seeking fans.

“I love Finnish sauna culture, because it celebrates the freedom of choice,” said Dorothee Schulte-Basta, a Vora resident who traveled to Basel with the mobile sauna. “There are no rules in the sauna. Come as you are — everyone’s equal in the sauna.”

Finnish politicians have long used saunas, relaxed but exposing, as an ideal setting for hard talks, a practice known as “sauna diplomacy.” KAJ wear drab suits onstage in tribute to Urho Kekkonen, a long-serving Finnish president who famously deployed the technique in talks with Finland’s overbearing neighbor the Soviet Union.

KAJ never thought a lo-fi song about rural saunas would take them so far at a competition known for electro-pop, outrageous outfits and over-the-top staging.

“When you sit there on the stage and the song is about to start and you see all the LED screens, the millions of lights, and we’re just three dudes sitting and grilling a sausage, the contrast is so funny,” Norrgård said.

“And that’s exactly our type of humor — you shouldn’t be doing this, this is so stupid. It’s funny. It’s really cool as well.”

Kwiyeon Ha and Hilary Fox contributed to this story.

Swedish Eurovision contestants KAJ from Finland, Kevin Holmstrom, Jakob Norrgard and Axel Ahman, from right, give an interview with the Associated Press during the 69th Eurovision Song Contest week, in Basel, Switzerland, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Organizer Dorothee Schulte-Basta talks to the Associated Press in front of a Finnish pop-up sauna promoting the Swedish Eurovision competitor KAJ from Finland during the 69th Eurovision Song Contest week, in Basel, Switzerland, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Organizers Dorothee Schulte-Basta, center, her husband Peter Luettge and Tuomas Paloniemi, left, enjoy a Finnish pop-up sauna promoting the Swedish Eurovision competitor KAJ from Finland during the 69th Eurovision Song Contest week, in Basel, Switzerland, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Swedish Eurovision competitor KAJ from Finland, Kevin Holmstrom, Jakob Norrgard and Axel Ahman, perform their sauna song during their semifinal during the 69th Eurovision Song Contest, in Basel, Switzerland, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Swedish Eurovision contestants KAJ from Finland, Kevin Holmstrom, Jakob Norrgard and Axel Ahman, from left, pose for the camera before an interview with the Associated Press during the 69th Eurovision Song Contest week, in Basel, Switzerland, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

U.S. President Donald Trump says Iran has proposed negotiations after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic as an ongoing crackdown on demonstrators has led to hundreds of deaths.

Trump said late Sunday that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports mount of increasing deaths and the government continues to arrest protesters.

“The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night.

Iran did not acknowledge Trump’s comments immediately. It has previously warned the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.

The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has accurately reported on past unrest in Iran, gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran cross checking information. It said at least 544 people have been killed so far, including 496 protesters and 48 people from the security forces. It said more than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests.

With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.

The Latest:

China says it opposes the use of force in international relations and expressed hope the Iranian government and people are “able to overcome the current difficulties and maintain national stability.”

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Monday that Beijing “always opposes interference in other countries’ internal affairs, maintains that the sovereignty and security of all countries should be fully protected under international law, and opposes the use or threat of use of force in international relations.”

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz condemned “in the strongest terms the violence that the leadership in Iran is directing against its own people.”

He said it was a sign of weakness rather than strength, adding that “this violence must end.”

Merz said during a visit to India that the demonstrators deserve “the greatest respect” for the courage with which “they are resisting the disproportional, brutal violence of Iranian security forces.”

He said: “I call on the Iranian leadership to protect its population rather than threatening it.”

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman on Monday suggested that a channel remained open with the United States.

Esmail Baghaei made the comment during a news conference in Tehran.

“It is open and whenever needed, through that channel, the necessary messages are exchanged,” he said.

However, Baghaei said such talks needed to be “based on the acceptance of mutual interests and concerns, not a negotiation that is one-sided, unilateral and based on dictation.”

The semiofficial Fars news agency in Iran, which is close to the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, on Monday began calling out Iranian celebrities and leaders on social media who have expressed support for the protests over the past two weeks, especially before the internet was shut down.

The threat comes as writers and other cultural leaders were targeted even before protests. The news agency highlighted specific celebrities who posted in solidarity with the protesters and scolded them for not condemning vandalism and destruction to public property or the deaths of security forces killed during clashes. The news agency accused those celebrities and leaders of inciting riots by expressing their support.

Canada said it “stands with the brave people of Iran” in a statement on social media that strongly condemned the killing of protesters during widespread protests that have rocked the country over the past two weeks.

“The Iranian regime must halt its horrific repression and intimidation and respect the human rights of its citizens,” Canada’s government said on Monday.

Iran’s foreign minister claimed Monday that “the situation has come under total control” after a bloody crackdown on nationwide protests in the country.

Abbas Araghchi offered no evidence for his claim.

Araghchi spoke to foreign diplomats in Tehran. The Qatar-funded Al Jazeera satellite news network, which has been allowed to work despite the internet being cut off in the country, carried his remarks.

Iran’s foreign minister alleged Monday that nationwide protests in his nation “turned violent and bloody to give an excuse” for U.S. President Donald Trump to intervene.

Abbas Araghchi offered no evidence for his claim, which comes after over 500 have been reported killed by activists -- the vast majority coming from demonstrators.

Araghchi spoke to foreign diplomats in Tehran. The Qatar-funded Al Jazeera satellite news network, which has been allowed to work despite the internet being cut off in the country, carried his remarks.

Iran has summoned the British ambassador over protesters twice taking down the Iranian flag at their embassy in London.

Iranian state television also said Monday that it complained about “certain terrorist organization that, under the guise of media, spread lies and promote violence and terrorism.” The United Kingdom is home to offices of the BBC’s Persian service and Iran International, both which long have been targeted by Iran.

A huge crowd of demonstrators, some waving the flag of Iran, gathered Sunday afternoon along Veteran Avenue in LA’s Westwood neighborhood to protest against the Iranian government. Police eventually issued a dispersal order, and by early evening only about a hundred protesters were still in the area, ABC7 reported.

Los Angeles is home to the largest Iranian community outside of Iran.

Los Angeles police responded Sunday after somebody drove a U-Haul box truck down a street crowded with the the demonstrators, causing protesters to scramble out of the way and then run after the speeding vehicle to try to attack the driver. A police statement said one person was hit by the truck but nobody was seriously hurt.

The driver, a man who was not identified, was detained “pending further investigation,” police said in a statement Sunday evening.

Protesters burn the Iranian national flag during a rally in support of the nationwide mass demonstrations in Iran against the government in Paris, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)