10 May 2023 , 02:36
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A BBC reporter appeared to confuse a Eurovision fan with Finland’s competition entrant Käärijä, during a vox pop interview.
The first Eurovision semi-final took place on Tuesday May 9, with Käärijä among the 10 acts selected to advance to the grand final on Saturday.
Following a show preview, BBC North West Tonight aired a selection of interviews with fans, several of whom tipped Finland to go the distance in the competition.
However, many viewers were left confused when one fan was mistaken for Finland’s act, Käärijä, who had just been on stage at the M&S Bank Arena performing their song "Cha Cha Cha".
The Finnish act was popular with the audience (Adam Vaughan/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)Speaking to the unidentified man in a similar luminous green top worn by Käärijä onstage, the reporter remarked “we even managed to catch up with the main man himself”.
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The strapline underneath the interview read “Käärijä– Finland entrant”.
Asked about how Liverpool was as a host city, the man replied: “Incredible. In comparison with all the other countries that I have been (to), this is better organised. Everything is walking distance, and it’s just so friendly. Everything is just so easy around here. It’s incredible.”
Eurovision viewers took to social media to point out the interviewee wasn’t Käärijä, but instead a superfan.
The real Käärijä (Vesa Moilanen/REX/Shutterstock)TV critic and broadcaster Scott Bryan was one of many who tweeted about the situation, writing: "OH MY GOD BBC North West Tonight interviewed a Käärijä fan thinking it was HIM. ABSOLUTELY SENSATIONAL."
Another user wrote: “BBC North West, hate to break it to you but this is not Käärijä.”
A third typed: “Noooooooo BBC North West thought they were speaking to Käärijä but it was a fan cosplaying”.
The artist and superfan were both dressed in similar green costumes (Vesa Moilanen/REX/Shutterstock)A fourth said: “Not the news thinking a fan on the street was THE Käärijä.”
Another commented: “Hahahahhahahaha. I saw him at the arena and the outfit is spot on.”
During Tuesday’s semi-final, the real Käärijä gave a high energy performance of their track Cha Cha Cha, a surreal combination of techno and anthemic pop, prompting a raucous response from the audience.