It’s crazy, it’s party, it’s Käärijä. One of the hot favourites to win Eurovision 2023, Käärijä represents Finland in Liverpool with his song “Cha Cha Cha”.
The unabashed and unpredictable bolero-donning superstar takes listeners on a journey with his metal-dance-pop fusion track.
Scroll down for the “Cha Cha Cha” lyrics
Finland in Eurovision 2023: Käärijä with “Cha Cha Cha”
Käärijä — real name Jere Pöyhönen — is a 29-year-old singer and rapper from Vantaa, Finland. The multi-faceted star released his debut single “Urheilujätkä” in 2016. He has followed Eurovision since he was a little boy, citing Verka Serduchka’s “Dancing Lasha Tumbai” as a memorable performance.
Käärijä entered Finland’s Eurovision 2023 selection show UMK in February. His song “Cha Cha Cha” won the competition, scoring a landslide 539 points — 72 points from the professional juries and 467 points from the voting public.
What do the “Cha Cha Cha” lyrics mean?
Käärijä co-wrote “Cha Cha Cha” with Johannes Naukkarinen, Aleksi Nurmi and Jukka Sorsa. The song is a party track cutting across genres. Käärijä said: “Finland is a party country, a heavy metal country and a pop country – this song brings all of those together”.
The lyrics describe Käärijä’s progressing feelings on a night out. Starting out feeling melancholic, Käärijä heads to the bar with the intention to “mess my head up and to free my mind of fear”. A few piña coladas later, the singer heads to the dancefloor and shakes his troubles away — “this world ain’t making me scared no more”.
“Cha Cha Cha” lyrics – Käärijä (Finland Eurovision 2023)
Songwriters: Johannes Naukkarinen, Aleksi Nurmi, Käärijä, Jukka Sorsa
Original text (Finnish) |
English translation |
|
Rankka viikko ja paljon pitkii päiviä takan Pidän kaksin käsin kiinni juomista niinku Muutama piña colada on jo takana Pidän kaksin käsin kiinni juomista niinku Nyt lähden tanssimaan Cha cha cha Nyt lähden tanssimaan Niinku cha cha cha |
This exhausting week and the many long days are behind Holding on the drinks with both hands tied on them like a A couple piña coladas I have devoured Holding on the drinks with both hands tied on them like I head towards the dance floor Cha cha cha I head towards dance floor Like a cha cha cha |
What do you think of “Cha Cha Cha”? Could Finland win Eurovision 2023? Let us know in the comments section below.
Are these lyrics an official translation? There’s a lot of embellishment in the English that’s just not there in the original Finnish lyrics. Like in the line “with both hands tied on them” where does the “tied” part come from? That’s not what it says in Finnish. I think the translation of “Ja mä jatkan kunnes en enää pysy tuolissa niinku” is a bit confused too. It says “And I’ll keep going till I can’t stay in my chair anymore like a–” You might want to get someone to tighten up the translation.
One quick look at the translation tells me that it’s supposed to be a singable English version rather than a faithful translation. Syllable count and rhymes indicate that… try singing along to the original with those and you will see 🙂
Aah that makes a lot more sense now. Thanks for pointing it out! Indeed the “translation” follows a rhyming scheme. That’s fun. It’s just kind of misleading for wiwibloggs to call it a translation without this explanation.
I go to be the most happy in the world when he win ,is sooo sexy and hot,and have a sort of song also ,perfect winner ,no doubt,
this is so much fun
I know it’s not the same language, but my friends and I call this “dark caramelldansen” lol
it’s kind of got that vibe.
Televote will properly appreciate this, I just hope the juries don’t try to bury this in the final
This is awful. 0/10
So f***ing honest!
The first listen blew my mind, it was a lot of everything and it was cohesive. After a few more listens and analyzing it a bit, I think the song grew on me, I love the message and the way he conveys the feelings of the song.
If Kaarija doesn’t win, at least I wish it gets Finland its second best ever result
I’ve always had a soft spot for the weirdos (AKA Finland and Moldova) and after years lurking the lower part of my Top 10s they finally reached the Spot #1-B (1-A is Italy). He’s one of my biggest discoveries this year (with Joker Out, Teya and Salena and La Zarra (all Top 5 this year)). If Spotify did monthly wrappeds, they would have call me out about him (and Marco) on the March one. The song is very tongue-in-cheek and even if you don’t understand the lyrics, you can kinda feel it, and it has that very Finnish weird, but… Read more »
Finland got first in my random draw for the next jury with estimated average of 8.10.
Germany is the second country with estimated average of 7.71.
Nice message..
Love him love the song the winner for me
Alright, I’ve got to give Kaarija the credit for fooling Finnish drunkards into supporting this song while the lyrics are actually criticizing their behavior, but strictly in terms of the music itself, I can appreciate it to some extent but I’ll just never be a huge fan of it.
It’s not fair what’s happening here, the other participants in this year’s competition don’t get that amount of posts, some countries barely get one post a month.
Maybe stop uploading posts related to this song or the singer? This is already the 20th post about this song or about the singer. Is he paying you to promote the song or something? Sweden, Finland and Norway are really stars on your blog!
We really need more posts about unicorn.. but I think it will be when the rehearsal will start….
We write up lyrics posts for all of the artists. If an artist is popular and makes lots of content, it’s only natural they give us lots of stories. Year on year some of the acts are really quiet – but everybody’s talking about Käärijä. That’s just how news works.
You’re right, I’ve been following the contest for decades and I have never seen so many reaction videos for one song. I stopped counting at 93.
It makes sense, but you’ll agree that stories such as “Käärijä has lost his signature green bolero…and is offering a reward for its return” or “Käärijä boosts interest in the Piña Colada with “Cha Cha Cha”” are not exactly breaking news material.
Finland is also a coffee country, a tango country, a sauna country, a delicious strong salmiak country, a xmas country and the happiest country in the world with the best national selection for Eurovision that is UMK and a future Eurovision winner as well!!
‘the happiest country’ is only the myth, don’t know where this come from?
For a party song, it’s quite sad. Finland is supposedly the happiest country in the world. It’s shame that this kind of behaviour is necessary to get through life. It shouldn’t be. I love this song, but I do hope the listener understands that.
Funny how the article doesn’t mention anywhere it’s specifically actually a light critique of the absurdity of that phenomenon, and Käärijä in person embodies the fact you can live life, party and be free without liquid courage.
At least, that’s how I understood the song, that it specifically outlines that it is NOT a glorifying of alcohol but instead commentary on how you shouldn’t need that to live a little.
That’s how I see the song as well – I only read the translation, but there is a mention that even after several drinks he’s still unhappy. Also in the live performance supports this as well.
Yeah, that’s what I mean, that I hope the point the song is making is not lost on anyone.