Jere Pöyhönen (; born 21 October 1993), known professionally as Käärijä (), is a Finnish rapper, singer and songwriter. He represented Finland in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2023 The Eurovision Song Contest 2023 is the upcoming 67th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It is set to take place in Liverpool, United Kingdom, after , winner of the with the song "Stefania" by Kalush Orchestra, was unable to meet the demand ...

with the song " Cha Cha Cha", finishing first in the public vote and coming in second place with 526 points. His entry topped the charts in Finland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Sweden, and reached the top ten in thirteen other countries including the United Kingdom, becoming the first ever song in Finnish to reach the top 10 of the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

Musical career

Pöyhönen grew up in the Ruskeasanta neighbourhood of

Vantaa Vantaa (; sv, Vanda, ) is a city and Municipalities of Finland, municipality in Finland. It is part of the inner core of the Greater Helsinki, Finnish Capital Region along with Helsinki, Espoo, and Kauniainen. With a population of (), Vantaa i ...

Greater Helsinki Greater Helsinki ( fi, Helsingin seutu, Suur-Helsinki, Swedish: ''Helsingforsregionen'', ''Storhelsingfors'') is the metropolitan area surrounding Helsinki, the capital city of Finland. It includes the smaller Capital Region (''Pääkaupunkiseutu' ...

, as the son of Mikko and Arja Pöyhönen. He discovered his passion for music while learning to play the

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

, and started producing music in 2014. His stage name, owing to his gambling hobby, is derived from the phrase '' rahaa'', "to make a quick buck". Pöyhönen released his music independently until 2017, when he was signed to the record label

Monsp Records Monsp Records is a Finnish record label founded by Keijo "Kepe" Kiiskinen in 1997 and owned by Warner Music Group since May 2019. From punk to hip hop Some of the first releases of Monsp Records in the late 1990s featured punk music, but since ...

. He subsequently released the double single "" / "". The following year, he released an

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

, titled . In 2020, his debut album was released. On 11 January 2023, Pöyhönen was announced as one of seven participants in , the Finnish national selection for the

. His entry "Cha Cha Cha" was co-written with Aleksi Nurmi and Johannes Naukkarinen, and was released on 18 January 2023. At the national selection competition he finished in first place with a total of 539 points (467 points from the televote and 72 points from the juries), thus becoming the Finnish representative for that year's Eurovision in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

. Performing in the first semi-final, held on 9 May 2023, Pöyhönen finished first with 177 points and thus qualified for the final. In the final, he topped the public vote with 376 points, but ultimately finished in second place with 526 points overall to Sweden's entrant Loreen. Ahead of Eurovision, Finnish software company Zoan created an experience inside the popular online video game '' Fortnite'', where players can visit a virtual rendering of

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

's famous Senate Square with Käärijä signs and stages. With the release, Finland became the first country in the world whose capital city has a photorealistic twin in ''Fortnite''. Käärijä was nominated at the

2023 MTV Europe Music Awards The 2023 MTV Europe Music Awards were planned to take place on 5 November 2023 at the Paris Nord Villepinte in Paris, France. The ceremony was cancelled on 19 October due to the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, becoming the first EMAs to be cancelle ...

in the Best Nordic Act category, which he went on to win.

Artistic style and influences

Pöyhönen's image as Käärijä started off with a bowl cut and a yellow suit, but during performances he would get too warm, remove the suit and perform mostly shirtless, which became a part of his brand. On social media Pöyhönen uses the name "Paidaton Riehuja", which translates to "shirtless rampager", and is a reference to his

punk rap Punk rap is hip hop music influenced by the rebellious ethos, and sometimes musical characteristics, of punk rock. The genre has been described as being influenced by styles such as trap music, punk rock, heavy metal and lo-fi music. One o ...

song of the same title. He has expressed his belief that going topless should be acceptable regardless of body shape or size. Pöyhönen has described Rammstein as a major influence of his, and he has a Rammstein tattoo across his chest. Sometimes, a mysterious yellow-clad

doppelgänger A doppelgänger (), a compound noun formed by combining the two nouns (double) and (walker or goer) (), doppelgaenger or doppelganger is a biologically unrelated look-alike, or a double, of a living person. In fiction and mythology, a doppelg ...

on rollerblades, also known as "Häärijä" (or "Paidaton Kiehuja" on social media), has been observed in connection with Käärijä. In promotion for the Eurovision Song Contest 2023, the artist has used the phrase "it's crazy, it's party" to describe "Cha Cha Cha", which became an

Internet meme An Internet meme, commonly known simply as a meme ( ), is an idea, behavior, style, or image that is spread via the Internet, often through social media platforms. What is considered a meme may vary across different communities on the Internet ...

and was adopted by his brand as a merchandise catchphrase.

Personal life

Pöyhönen has spoken about suffering from ulcerative colitis since his teenage years, culminating in emergency intestine removal surgery in 2014. The scar of the

stoma In botany, a stoma (from Greek ''στόμα'', "mouth", plural "stomata"), also called a stomate (plural "stomates"), is a pore found in the epidermis of leaves, stems, and other organs, that controls the rate of gas exchange. The pore is bor ...

he had to use for five months afterwards is still visible on his lower stomach. He has stated he wants to be open about his experience with the disease, to encourage others to get checked for it. Pöyhönen used to play ice hockey from 2009 to 2013, before he started his musical career.

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Käärijä 1993 births Living people 21st-century Finnish male singers Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Finland Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 2023 Finnish-language singers Finnish electronic musicians Finnish hip hop musicians Finnish rock musicians Finnish male singer-songwriters Finnish singer-songwriters Finnish rappers People from Vantaa Singers from Helsinki Warner Music Group artists People with ulcerative colitis