| For the first time in the history of Eurovision, five girls and five record players will take to the stage of the Eurovision Song Contest – it’s Suntribe, a girl band that is hugely popular in Estonia. The band is made up of Mari-Leen Kaselaan, Rebecca Kontus, Daana Ots, Laura Põldvere, and Jaanika Vilipo. They are all under 22 years old, they all go to school and they have all been learning music for several years.
Their hobbies include motorbikes, modelling, swimming, folk dance and cooking. Their musical role models are Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone, Madonna and Anouk. Their choreographer is Jüri Nael – the only person in Estonia to hold a Masters degree in theatrical dance production. The girls’ stage outfits are made by the most glamorous fashion designer in Estonia – Gerly Tinn.
SVEN LÕHMUS
31-year-old Sven Lõhmus is one of the most prolific writers and producers of pop music in Estonia and he usually writes both the lyrics and the music to his songs.
In his first band, which he started at the age of six, Sven played keyboards with other kids of his age. And as a grown up musician, Sven has brought together more than ten bands and written over 100 hits. In fact, most of his songs have reached the top of Estonian music charts! As proof of his talents, Sven has four golden discs for ‘Songwriter of the Year’ hanging on the wall of his home studio.
Sven has already taken part in seven Estonian national finals for the Eurovision Song Contest. The closest he came to victory was two years ago when the Estonian audience picked a song called ‘Club Kung-Fu’ that had been produced by him and performed by girl band Vanilla Ninja. Interestingly, Vanilla Ninja will perform at the competition as a Swiss entry.
This year, Sven sent two songs to the Estonian national Eurovision contest, and one of them, ‘Let’s Get Loud’ performed by Suntribe, won the national final by a massive margin from other contestants.
‘Let’s Get Loud’ is a joyous, uplifting song which took Sven just two hours to compose. Apart from music, Sven is interested in books and movies. He has been practising karate for six years and is currently a green belt. And he is now throwing his energy into flying planes and motor racing. |
