A group of fans of Swedish Eurovision hopefuls KAJ arrived in Basel on Thursday (May 15) with a sauna they brought from Finland. The four fans left Vora in the southwest of Finland eight days before and drove some 1,

KAJ, the bookies’ favorite to win the pan-continental music contest this week with their track “Bara Bada Bastu,” talk the inspiration behind them wearing suits in saunas and cooking sausages on stage.

BASEL, Switzerland — Most contestants at the Eurovision Song Contest are seeking as much publicity as possible. Israel’s Yuval Raphael is keeping a low profile.

As fans prepare for the annual European Song Contest - which is being hosted in St Jakobshalle, Basel - many have been calling for Israel to be banned.

Protesters with Palestinian flags and banners took part in a "silent" march along one of the city's main streets to demonstrate against Israel’s participation in the pan-continental pop competition.

The city at the crossroads of France, Germany and Switzerland gears up amid global tensions over diversity and inclusion.

The grand final of this year's Eurovision Song Contest takes place on Saturday, May 17, in Basel, Switzerland. It's an annual celebration of melody, rhythm, fabulousness and glitter.

Finnish politicians have long used saunas, relaxed but exposing, as an ideal setting for hard talks, a practice known as “sauna diplomacy.” KAJ wear drab suits onstage in tribute to Urho Kekkonen, a long-serving Finnish president who famously deployed the technique in talks with Finland’s overbearing neighbor the Soviet Union.