Countries from across Europe — and a few beyond, like Israel and Australia — have sent an act to Eurovision. The performers will take the stage at St. Jakobshalle arena in semifinals on Tuesday and Thursday that will choose 20 acts to go through to the final.

Sweden has been named as a favourite to win Eurovision 2025 as the country continues to dominate the competition.

BASEL, Switzerland (AP) — Competition in the 69th Eurovision Song Contest kicked off Tuesday, with sauna-loving Swedish entry KAJ gaining a place in the final and five countries going home after the first of two semifinals of the pan-continental music extravaganza.

Sweden’s 2025 Eurovision entry KAJ are one of the favourites to win this year’s contest, thanks to their quirky and infectious song “Bara Bada Bastu”. KAJ are the first ever Finnish act to represent Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest, while “Bara Bada Bastu” is the first Swedish-language song the country has submitted since 1998.

The first semi-final also saw strong performances from Belgium and Netherlands, and a video appearance from iconic Canadian singer Celine Dion.

With Eurovision 2025 semi-finals set for May 13 and 15 in Switzerland, leading crypto sportsbook Cloudbet reports Sweden's KAJ has emerged as the market leader. The meme-driven entry “Bara Bada Bastu” is currently trading at odds of 2.12 in Cloudbet’s outright winner market.

CELINE Dion left Eurovision fans in tears as she made a surprise appearance during the semi-final of the song contest. The Canadian superstar, 57, stunned BBC viewers last night when she popped up

According to Bennett, there is some validity to this, with every Eurovision song falling under six broad lyrical themes: "love, unity, self-assertion, partying, history and songs about making music".

Basel is set to host the 2025 contest following Switzerland's Nemo's victory last May in Sweden with their song 'The Code', a reflection on their non-binary identity