KAJ Faces Tough Competition in European Song Contest

Right now, the expectations for an eighth Swedish victory in the European Championship are extremely high. KAJ has a 42 percent chance – compared to Austria's 21 percent, when the betting companies' odds are compiled by Eurovisionworld.

But the comedy group doesn't think it will be that easy when it comes down to it – and the European TV audience and jury groups have their say.

Jakob Norrgård says, "I felt during the semifinals that there's nothing that's certain here. There are so many great songs and many who have surprised."

The group themselves counts Claude from the Netherlands, France's Louane, and Finland's Erika Vikman among their top competitors.

Kevin Holmström said to TT in an interview on Wednesday, "You really get the feeling that the French delegation is going for the win."

Austria Second

Austria's JJ with the song "Wasted love" is tipped as second. Behind the artist name hides Austrian-Filipino singer Johannes Pietsch, and the contribution is a techno-pop song with opera influences.

Finland's Erika Vikman has sailed up to fifth place on the betting lists after Thursday's semifinal. But if she takes home the victory before KAJ, the Finnish-Swedish trio will only be happy, they have previously said.

Axel Åhman means, "If Erika wins, then we'll celebrate properly!"

23 out of 26

Whoever settles in to watch KAJ compete tonight will have to wait a while. The Swedish contribution will perform as number 23 out of 26 in Saturday's competition. If KAJ wins, it will be Sweden's eighth victory in the European Championship, in that case, the most of all countries in the program's history.

The trio is, however, a bit tired of talking about the favorite position and a potential Swedish victory.

Jakob Norrgård says, "It's the only question we're tired of, how it feels to be at the top of the betting. It's hard to say anything other than that we're trying to keep a cool head."

1. Norway: Kyle Alessandro – "Lighter"

2. Luxembourg: Laura Thorn – "La poupée monte le son"

3. Estonia: Tommy Cash – "Espresso macchiato"

4. Israel: Yuval Raphael – "New day will rise"

5. Lithuania: Katarsis – "Tavo akys"

6. Spain: Melody – "Esa diva"

7. Ukraine: Ziferblat – "Bird of pray"

8. United Kingdom: Remember Monday – "What the hell just happened?"

9. Austria: JJ – "Wasted love"

10. Iceland: VÆB – "Róa"

11. Latvia: Tautumeitas – "Bur man maimi"

12. Netherlands: Claude – "C'est la vie"