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Eurovision final 2025: Catch up with the top five favourites

Mark Savage
Music Correspondent
Sarah Louise Bennett / Alma Bengtsson / Getty Images A montage of Eurovision contestants Erika Vikman, Kaj, Louane, JJ and ClaudeSarah Louise Bennett / Alma Bengtsson / Getty Images
Bookmakers have tipped them for success (L-R): Erika Vikman, Kaj, Louane, JJ and Claude

The Eurovision Song Contest reaches its grand final on Saturday night in Basel, with 26 countries fighting for the coveted glass microphone trophy.

The competition feels less predictable than recent years, when acts like Loreen (Sweden, 2023) and Kalush Orchestra (Ukraine, 2022) were ordained to win before they'd even sung a note.

Currently, bookmakers have installed Sweden at the top of the table, with their delightfully bonkers sauna sonnet, Bara Bada Bastu.

But here's the thing: A novelty number has never won. Voters typically prefer songs about triumph over adversity, and stonking great pop anthems.

Ideally, they want a stonking great pop anthem about triumph over adversity, and there are plenty of those sprinkled through tonight's running order.

We spoke to the five contestants with the best odds, to find out what makes their Eurovision entries stand out.

SWEDEN: KAJ – BARA BADA BASTU

Getty Images Kaj on stageGetty Images
  • Chance of winning: 39%
  • Language: Swedish
  • Genre: Epadunk
  • Spotify streams: 43.9m

KAJ are the first Finnish act to represent Sweden at the Eurovision, hailing from the coastal town of Vörå, where Swedish is still the main language.

A comedy troupe who met at school, they've been performing together for more than 15 years – and were the surprise winners of Sweden's Melodifestivalen, where the public selects the country's Eurovision entry, earlier this year.

Their song, Bara Bada Bastu, is an accordian-led tribute to sauna culture (Finland has more than three million saunas, one for every two people).

"It felt like a natural thing to sing about," says Kevin Holmström. "We really like the sauna. It's universal."

The first Swedish-language entry since 2012, the song extols the practice's stress-busting virtues. Is that why Finland is consistently ranked as the world's happiest nation, I wonder?

"It's a chicken and an egg situation," laughs Jakob Norrgård. "I don't know which came first, the happiness or the sauna, but the sauna definitely brings your pulse down."

The trio have brought a mock sauna to the Eurovision stage this year, complete with birch branches, hot coals and dancers in skimpy towels. In the lyrics, they ask, "how long can you last":[]}