Behind Estonia’s lyres and sunglasses: It must be 5MIINUST x Puuluup

Eurovision isn’t getting just one Estonian band this year, but two. Pop favourites 5MIINUST have teamed up with Puuluup, famous for their skills on the Talharpa, a rare wooden lyre from northern Europe. It’s clearly a winning combo, because they stormed through Estonia’s national selection competition, Eesti Laul, eventually winning their Eurovision spot through a public vote.

Both bands have been making music for around a decade, but their sounds are very different. Their Eurovision entry (nendest) narkootikumidest ei tea me (küll) midagi is the first song they’ve made together, and they wanted to make it all about breaking social barriers and overcoming prejudice — they say it marks their opposing reputations, 5MIINUST as “wild boys” and Puuluup as “pristine.” Next, they’re planning to release an album together. There are only 2 guarantees: sunglasses and lyres.

5MIINUST have only ever taken their sunglasses off during a performance once, and that was when they won Eesti Laul. Will there be an encore in Malmö?

And, in a fact that perhaps nobody needed to know, 5MIINUST do not wear underpants, while Puuluup do. Marko and Ramo from Puuluup also claim that they are two of only three people in the world earning a living from playing the Talharpa.

Ramo from Puuluup says his Eurovision hero is MARO, who competed for Portugal in 2022 with the touching song Saudade Saudade, finishing in 9th place. He says it’s: “The most adorable song and performance”.

When we asked 5MIINUST x Puuluup to come up with a list of their favourite songs, we can imagine they had a lot of fun. Dancing was no doubt involved. Not least when they picked Crazy Frog’s Axel F and Scooter’s Hyper Hyper. 

They also love the iconic Kate Bush’s Wuthering Heights, Bedwetters’ Monsters, and in the world of classical music, Sibelius’ Finlandia, Op. 26, No.7. Not forgetting musicals, My Favourite Things sung by Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music also features on their playlist — and now on ours, thanks for the reminder. Do they love Ariana Grande’s 7 Rings as much? Or even the early 2000s Favourite Things by Big Brovaz?

It might feel like these songs are all wildly different (Crazy Frog and Sibelius in the same line up?), but somehow you can hear their influences in 5MIINUST x Puuluup’s unique sound, which marries a love for music with fun.

5MIINUST x Puuluup told us that if there’s ever a movie of their lives, Brad Pitt would play all 6 of them: “2 with underwear, 4 without.” The first rule of lyre club: you do not talk about lyre club.

Look out for 5MIINUST x Puuluup on upcoming episodes of the Official Eurovision Song Contest Podcast.

You can learn more about 5MIINUST x Puuluup from Estonia right here.