Bess will be the Finnish spokesperson for the Eurovision Song Contest 2023.
Bess will reveal the points of the Finnish jury during the final of Eurovision 2023. Essi Launimo, better known as Bess, competed in Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu 2022 with “Ram pam pam” and finished third in the final. Despite not winning, “Ram pam pam” was the most streamed song in Finland in 2022 and broke records by staying at number 1 on the Finnish Airplay Charts for 19 weeks. She also won four awards at the 2023 Emma gala; Artist of the Year, Song of the Year, Pop Artist of the Year and Most Streamed Domestic Song of the Year.
The following countries have also announced their spokespersons for Eurovision 2023:
- Albania – Andri Xhahu
- Azerbaijan – Narmin Salmanova
- Cyprus – Loukas Hamatsos
- Estonia – Ragnar Klavan
- Greece – Fotis Sergoulopoulos
- Israel – Ilanit
- Netherlands – S10
- Poland – Ida Nowakowska
- Romania – Eda Marcus
- San Marino – John Kennedy O’Connor
- Spain – Ruth Lorenzo
- Switzerland – Chiara Dubey
- Ukraine – Zlata Ognevich
Who is Käärijä?
Jere Pöyhönen, better known as Käärijä, was born on October 21 1993 in Vantaa in the Greater Helsinki Region. His stage name comes from the Finnish phrase “kääriä rahaa” (to make a quick buck), as this was a recurring joke with his friends about gambling.
The song that Käärijä will perform in Liverpool is called “Cha Cha Cha”. It was written and composed by Johannes Naukkarinen, Aleksi Nurmi, Jukka Sorsa and Käärijä. It is the first Finnish-language entry in Eurovision since 2015.
Käärijä will close the first semi-final on May 9.
Image Source: Yle / Milla Määttä, Nelli Kenttä | Source: Yle
Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest
Finland first participated in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1961. They debuted alongside Spain and Yugoslavia. Finland has finished last in the contest on 10 occasions and has received ‘nul points’ three times. It wasn’t until 2006 that Finland won the Eurovision Song Contest. Lordi represented the country in Athens with the song “Hard Rock Hallelujah” scoring 292 points, a record total at the time.
