{"id":7230,"date":"2025-05-14T06:04:22","date_gmt":"2025-05-14T06:04:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=7230"},"modified":"2025-05-14T06:04:22","modified_gmt":"2025-05-14T06:04:22","slug":"celine-dion-delivers-surprise-eurovision-message-as-swedens-kaj-qualify-for-2025-grand-final-in-basel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=7230","title":{"rendered":"C\u00e9line Dion delivers surprise Eurovision message as Sweden&#8217;s KAJ qualify for 2025 grand final in Basel"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>C\u00e9line Dion made a rare appearance at the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest during Tuesday\u2019s first semi-final in Basel, Switzerland.<\/p>\n<p>The Canadian-born singer, who won the 1988 competition for Switzerland, addressed fans in a brief video message recorded ahead of the event.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;d love nothing more than to be with you,&#8221; Dion said. &#8220;Switzerland will forever hold a special place in my heart. It&#8217;s the country that believed in me and gave me the chance to be part of something so extraordinary.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>View this post on Instagram<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>A post shared by Eurovision Song Contest (@eurovision)<\/p>\n<p>The singer, who has been largely absent from public life due to stiff-person syndrome, a rare neurological condition, last performed at the Paris Olympics in 2024. Eurovision&#8217;s return to Switzerland heightened speculation about a live appearance, though this was not realised on the night.<\/p>\n<p>Sweden\u2019s KAJ, a trio whose name reflects the initials of members Kevin, Axel and Jakob, were among ten acts to qualify for Saturday&#8217;s grand final. Their entry, &#8220;Bara Bada Bastu&#8221;, a comic accordion-led anthem celebrating sauna culture, is a strong contender, with bookmakers giving it a 40% chance of winning. A win would mark Sweden\u2019s record eighth Eurovision title.<\/p>\n<p>Other qualifiers include acts from Ukraine, Iceland, Albania, and the Netherlands.<\/p>\n<p>The final line-up will be completed following Thursday\u2019s second semi-final. Automatic spots are reserved for the \u201cBig Five\u201d countries\u2014France, Germany, Spain, the UK, and Italy\u2014alongside last year\u2019s winner, Switzerland.<\/p>\n<p>Dion concluded her message by thanking Switzerland for its support and expressing hope and pride for the night\u2019s events. Former contestants then performed her winning song, &#8220;Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi&#8221;, in tribute.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>View this post on Instagram<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>A post shared by Eurovision Song Contest (@eurovision)<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>C\u00e9line Dion made a rare appearance at the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest during Tuesday\u2019s first semi-final in Basel, Switzerland. The Canadian-born singer, who won the 1988 competition for Switzerland, addressed fans in a brief video message recorded ahead of the event. &#8220;I&#8217;d love nothing more than to be with you,&#8221; Dion said. &#8220;Switzerland will forever [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7230","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7230","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7230"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7230\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7230"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7230"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7230"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}