13) Finland – Eurovision’s Cha Cha Championpublished at 21:14 British Summer Time 13 May 2023
Mark Savage
Watching at the venue
Get ready to have your brain rewired. Finland’s Käärijä has created one of this year’s most unhinged, bravura performances; making him a real challenger for Loreen’s supposed crown.
Cha Cha Cha is a song about the drudgery of the week; and how getting blind drunk and forgetting your worries is the best solution.
The opening couple of minutes are dark and gnarly, full of detuned synths and snarling vocals, until Käärijä downs a piña colada.
That instant, the arena floods with rainbow coloured lights and the music transforms into the sort of thing you’d hear on a Pokémon game.
Discombobulating and bizarre, it’s also a work of outright genius.