BBC mistakes hardcore Eurovision fan for Finnish entrant Käärijä

11 May, 2023

Finland’s representative for Eurovision 2023, Käärijä and his lookalike

The BBC has accidentally interviewed a hardcore Eurovision fan, after believing that he was this year’s representative for Finland, Käärijä.

A fan-favourite from this year’s instalment of the iconic song contest, Käärijä recently turned heads at the first semi-finals for his eccentric neon green outfit, featuring puffy sleeves, a bare chest and a spiked collar. However, the look has since inspired a few hardcore Eurovision fans, and led to a few attendees taking to the streets of Liverpool, sporting the same look.

One Käärijä fan, however, seems to have pulled off the look a little bit too well, and even convinced a few journalists that he was “the man himself”.

The man, who actually turned out to be a member of an Australian Eurovision fan group was approached on the street by reporters for the news programme BBC North West Tonight, who declared to viewers that they had “managed to catch up with the main man himself”.

“How do you think Liverpool’s done out there?” The news reporter asked the lookalike, to which he responded: “Oh, incredible. In comparison with other countries I’ve been to, this is better organised, everything is in walking distance.”

“It’s just so friendly. Everything is just so easy around here,” he continued. “It’s incredible.”

Since it aired, the moment has now gone viral across social media, with Eurovision fans quickly poking fun at the blunder. “I watched the BBC reporters CHASE this completely random man down to do this interview,” one attendee explained on Twitter. Another joked about the interview clip, writing: “When you order a Eurovision finalist off Wish.” Check out the interview clip below, along with some fan reactions.

Käärijä made it through to Saturday night’s final (May 13) following his performance at the first of the two semi-final rounds. He is representing the country with his industrial electronic song, ‘Cha Cha Cha’.

This year’s edition of the song contest is taking place in Liverpool, due to the ongoing conflict taking place in Ukraine — who were the winners of the contest in 2022. Other fan favourites for this year’s instalment include Sweden’s Loreen, who has been named as most likely to win, as well as Norway’s Alessandra and Tvorchi, who is representing Ukraine with the song ‘Heart Of Steel’.

Representing the UK this year, following on from Sam Ryder’s impressive 2022 performance, is 25-year-old Mae Muller, who will be performing her track ‘I Wrote A Song’ at Saturday’s finale.

Ahead of his spot at the finale, Finland has teamed up with metaverse developer Zoan to create a “photorealistic” copy of Helsinki in battle royale game Fortnite, which will be used to promote Finnish Eurovision representative Käärijä.

“Käärijä is all about breaking boundaries, stirring the pot and creating new ways to connect with fans, so this kind of innovative promo campaign with the gaming world felt immediately like a natural and great opportunity,” said Ida Karimaa, the A&R at Monsp and Warner Music Finland.

In other Eurovision news, earlier this week, fans in Liverpool were left feeling emotional after a short film was aired ahead of the semi-final rounds, featuring late television presenter Paul O’Grady.

The comedian and presenter appeared briefly in the clip titled ‘Welcome To Liverpool’ with one of his beloved dogs. It is believed to be his final television appearance and was recorded shortly before his death in March.

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