With it being a week since Austria’s JJ won the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 it is time to look back on our press trip to the hometown of one of this year’s fan favourite acts: KAJ. Our editors Bente and Elleke embarked on a journey to the small town of Vörå in Swedish speaking Finland.
Even though KAJ was high up with the bookmakers to win the ESC, they ended in 4th place after a nerve wracking televote. But that does not make the community of Vörå any less proud of them. Below we will give a recap of our adventures in Vörå!
We and ESC Insight were invited by the municipality of Vörå to attend the festivities during the KAJ-week they organised, with the cherry on top: a big watch party with (almost) the whole town for the Grand Final.
The journey started Thursday the 15th of May at Vaasa Airport, Finland where we were picked up by a lovely busdriver who immediately started to tell us stories about the town and KAJ. One thing became clear immediately: everyone in Vörå has some connection to them or knows them personally. We took a short stop in Vaasa to look at the KAJ exhibition in the local theatre, which showcased their long musical-theater career. It even had a fun surprise for us: a disco bastu! After a quick bastu party we made our way to the train station to pick up the rest of the group and head off to our final destination Vörå!
On our way there we made a stop at the ‘Välkomin ti KAJLAND’ sign before driving into town and hearing anecdotes from the busdriver about where KAJ first met. Even those who do not personally know Kevin, Axel, and Jakob still know of them. These guys have left their mark on every spot in the village, and in that way, everyone kind of knows them anyway. Fun fact: to this day, no one knows who placed the KAJLAND sign there!
Before the Semi-Final 2 we had a bit of free time so Bente and I decided to take the bikes provided by the hotel to cycle to the iconic City Grill where KAJ first met to eat some dinner! We also got the chance to explore the town’s centre before returning back to the hotel for an Eurovision Quiz hosted by Ben from ESCInsight. Afterwards we had the pleasure of watching Semi Final 2 on a big screen and seeing Finland’s Erika Vikman go further to the Grand Final together with Austria’s JJ.
The next day a bus tour was organised for press and fans alike, which was inspired by KAJ’s song ‘Kom ti byin’ taking us around Vörå and its surrounding areas, showcasing all the highlights named in the song. Here it really became visible for us how it was like to grow up in the small rural community in Österbothnia. The bus took us through farmlands and the forest surrounding the municipality. It quickly became clear where they got their inspiration from for the song ‘Kom ti byin’ but also why it was so important to the community that KAJ participated in the Eurovision Song Contest. Their song and background finally highlighted a forgotten part of Finland and brings the two countries Sweden and Finland closer together. While talking to some of the locals the one word we kept on hearing was pride, they are proud of KAJ, of where they come from and of their beautiful community. We couldn’t help but smile whenever we heard one of the locals talk about them passionately and their enthusiasm for showing us around was heartwarming. Despite being residents of Finland, a country famously known for its quiet and introverted citizens, it was not difficult at all to talk to the locals. Those living in and around Vörå were extremely kind and curious about the internationals that showed up in their community. The same pride can perhaps be part of the explanation here- it encourages openness and a natural curiosity from both sides. We both wanted to know the other’s connection to KAJ. In this way, the boys from KAJ created international connections beyond Eurovision.
The last stop we made during this tour was of course the sauna! After sweating it out and letting go of all the stress it was time to return back to the hotel for some much needed down-time. Reflecting on the bus tour, it was not just a tour of places that were important for KAJ’s song. Firstly, it showed the places that made them who they are. Sitting on that bus between location A and location B allowed time to reflect on what exactly makes KAJ the way they are. Every place you pass has in some way or shape contributed to the people they are now, and the music they create. Seeing this in person truly allows for a different and newer understanding of KAJ and their music. Secondly, those who joined the tour were not just journalists- we talked to several people who were locals in the area, and saw the tour as an opportunity to visit places they had not seen in a long time. An elderly woman told us she signed up for the tour to visit places she had seen in her childhood, but not since. KAJ doesn’t just bring people to places within Vörå, it brings them back to places with newfound interest and enthusiasm. On this tour, the size of Vörå’s population stood out to us again. As a small town, many stories are intertwined. For instance, the actor at the museum was also performing in the local band on Saturday. And our tour guide? He casually mentioned in the last five minutes of the tour that he had been Kevin, Axel, and Jakob’s music teacher for two years, and how proud he was of them. All of these instances shape such an interesting connection between Vörå and KAJ that we, as outsiders, barely scratched the surface of.
Saturday was the last full day of our press tour, where we enjoyed a bastu meet-up, where locals brought their portable saunas for everyone to enjoy, there was live music, food and even old cars and motorbikes on display! The atmosphere was buzzing and everyone was ready to support KAJ later that evening. Before the Grand Final started there was a tractor parade through town, in which the local youth showed their support for KAJ!
After that there were numerous activities organised in the hotel Norvalla, you could do a KAJ quiz, make your own sauna-hat and get KAJ themed food and drinks! Live entertainment was also organised on the big stage, before the screening of the Grand Final. The local folk dance group performed a traditional dance to the tunes of ‘Bara Bada Bastu’ getting everyone in good spirits.
At 22:00 local time the opening tunes of the Eurovision theme song started and everyone got ready to watch and cheer together. The audience cheered very loudly for both Finland and Sweden, showing that they are truly united by music this year!
When it was time for Sweden to perform, everyone stood up to clap and dance along to the song, you could really feel how happy and proud the crowd was of ‘their’ KAJ!
Then came the most nerve wracking moment of the night: the votes.. the audience cheered loudly when Iceland gave Sweden their ‘douze points’ but it soon became clear that KAJ would not win the ESC. When the final points were announced and KAJ finished 4th, the cheers were still loud and you could feel that they were still so proud of them!
Sunday morning it was time to leave beautiful Vörå behind, the busdriver that first picked us up was also the one to bring us back to the airport, even though he was disappointed they did not win, he was very happy that it led to international press visiting Vörå, and putting this small rural town on the map! For us editors it was a press trip we will never forget, the people, the love, the energy and the beautiful surroundings have left a mark on us… and we will forever sing ‘Bara Bada Bastu’ when it’s sauna time!
One of the main takeaways for us was the connection between Vörå and KAJ. The pride that this community has for this group surpasses any result, regardless if they had reached 26th or 1st place. Kevin, Axel, and Jakob are not just names that create KAJ- they are someone’s friend from school, their student, or a somewhat frequent visitor to the local grocery store. Even those who don’t know them personally still know them. They speak the same distinct accent as them, and have visited the same places that they have, carry the same pride for these 3 underdogs turned fan favourites. To feel like a part of that community for those 3 minutes in the Grand Final was something we never experienced before across several past press trips. We experienced what it was like to be a part of Vörå, without visiting Vörå ever before. KAJ is Vörå, and Vörå is KAJ. You cannot understand one without the other. The authors have truly left a piece of their hearts in Vörå and its wonderful, proud, loving community that has shown kindness and support on a level rarely experienced before in the Eurovision community.
We would like to thank Vörå municipality and Ben Robertson from ESC Insight for organising this amazing trip!
