Käärijä is the stage name of Jere Pöyhönen, a Finnish rapper, singer and songwriter born in 1993 in Vantaa, Finland. He built his name on the Finnish rap and hip-hop scene through the 2010s and released his debut album, Fantastista, in 2020.
Everything changed in 2023, when he represented Finland at the Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool with "Cha Cha Cha", a genre-bending blast of rap, metal, electronic music and schlager. With his neon green bolero jacket and wild, high-energy show, he won the public televote and finished second overall, and the song became the first ever Finnish-language track to reach the UK top ten. His playful, boundary-pushing style has made him one of Finland's most beloved modern performers.