BASEL - Sweden is getting up a head of steam for what could be a record number of Eurovision wins this year with a humorous sauna act.
KAJ, a comedy group more accustomed to playing birthday parties than large arena shows, is already the bookies' favourite to triumph at the extravaganza in Basel, Switzerland on May 17.
With their song "Bara Bada Bastu" (Just Have a Sauna), the Finnish trio pay homage to sauna culture, clad in brown suits and accompanied by an accordion in a wink to Finland's other big cultural phenomenon, the tango.
Dancers in lumberjack shirts grill sausages over a bonfire before appearing in a sauna with towels around their waists, slapping their backs with birch branches.
"We're gonna have a sauna, sauna, steam up and let go of the stress of the day," they sing repeatedly in Swedish, in a catchy chorus that sticks to the brain like chewing gum to the sole of a shoe.
"The melody works internationally. Even I am able to hum the chorus, and I absolutely do not speak the language," laughed Fabien Randanne, a French Eurovision expert and journalist.
The Swedish public chose the song at its annual Melodifestivalen contest -- a national institution broadcast five Saturday evenings in a row that attracts millions of viewers.
KAJ's victory stunned the nation that brought us Abba and two-time winner Loreen, beating out 2015 Eurovision victor and pop heartthrob Mans Zelmerlow, who was broadly seen as the favourite.
"Sweden has usually competed with very slick numbers. Now I have the feeling that the public is a little more open to originality, to something unique," Randanne said.
Melodifestivalen producer Karin Gunnarsson approached KAJ and asked them to send in a demo for the Swedish contest, Swedish songwriter Anderz Wrethov, a Eurovision veteran who co-wrote and co-produced KAJ's song, told AFP.