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Croatia's Let 3 in the Eurovision studio 2023

Punked up Croatia: Let 3 let loose

02 May 2023 at 12:09 CEST
Croatia's Let 3 in the Eurovision studio 2023 Corinne Cumming / EBU
The indefinable Let 3 are bringing their song ‘Mama ŠČ!’ to Liverpool. Straight from the heart of Croatia’s punk scene, they’ve got a show like no other for the Eurovision Song Contest 2023. Mama kupila traktora!
Let 3 rehearsing Mama ŠČ! for Croatia at the First Rehearsal of the First Semi-Final at Liverpool Arena
Chloe Hashemi / EBU

Let 3 smashed Croatia’s national selection competition Dora, winning both the audience and jury votes to be crowned as champions. They’re well known in the country for their incredible live performances and theatrics, which might be what pushed them so far ahead of the other 17 acts at Dora. Since then, Mama ŠČ has taken off across Croatia and other European nations. They’re a band used to shocking audiences, so their onward journey will no doubt contain a few more surprises. Let’s just hope they studied the Eurovision rulebook on the plane to Liverpool!

The Croatian punk band hit the stage for their first rehearsal on Sunday 30 April, and we knew this was never going to be a tame performance. Let 3 arrived wearing their trademark outlandish garb, with tongue firmly in cheek; and that set the tone for what was to come wonderfully. Then they end with quite the shock - also in relation to their clothing! Whilre all around them, graphics, props and their own inimitable brand of humour are used in abundance.

Let 3 rehearsing Mama ŠČ! for Croatia at the First Rehearsal of the First Semi-Final at Liverpool Arena Sarah Louise Bennett / EBU

It’s frankly incredible that the official Eurovision 2023 Live Blog was able to tear its eyes away from the stage for even one second, but once it regained composure, it commented: "Read in English, the lyrics to this song feel like a nursery rhyme or a lullaby, but with tractors, kissing and war. It’s a three-minute epic that isn't sending us to sleep any time soon, but it IS making us want to go dancing. Whilst wearing a kilt and a sailor hat."

Let 3 started a winter rock festival in 2015 called Antivalentinovo (Anti-Valentine’s Day), which still runs today. It was designed for anyone who doesn’t want to celebrate love in a commercial way, those who are alone, or those who have non-traditional relationships. Speaking of gifts of admiration, they say a fan once gave them a biscuit in a rather unusual shape - we’ll let you use your imagination. We’ll be sticking to custard creams in Liverpool!

As would be expected, Let 3’s taste in music is rooted in rock. Their mixtape is packed with edgy music from across Europe, including Immigrant Song by British legends Led Zeppelin and Zadnje Riječi by Ivanka Mazurkijević and Damir Martinović Mrle. The song that will get them on the dancefloor, they say, is the brilliantly quirky Hello, How Low? by Mr. Lee & IvaneSky featuring DJ Demian.

You can learn more about Let 3 from Croatia right here.