This year in the Latvian Supernova 2018, many new talented singers will be hoping to win the chance to represent the middle Baltic state in Lisbon, Portugal at the Eurovision Song Contest 2018. EuroVisionary introduces you to one of the competitors, Laura Rizzotto.

Laura is already an accomplished musician having released three albums, Made In Rio, Reason To Stay and Ruby.

Laura will be singing the soulful ballad Funny Girl. Commenting to EuroVisonary,  Laura describes the song as being about embracing vulnerability and owning your feelings.

Funny Girl tells the story of a girl who falls in love with her best friend. She always keeps him amused, while keeping her true feelings a best-kept secret. Finally, she decides to reveal her true feelings, but alas it is too late as the guy has fallen for someone else.

To him, our girl has only become his friend, his Funny Girl.

Laura feels that everyone experiences emotions that are difficult to describe, making us invisible to others who do not have a clue about our hidden emotions. Laura continues that music is a powerful tool which can be used to express feelings we often keep to ourselves.

The message behind the song is to be brave and embrace vulnerability. Do not let fear of rejection stop you from expressing your true feelings, else you may end up watching life happen from the sidelines. Taking risks is part of the art of living an accomplished life, so turn fear into courage.

Laura has now released the video for Funny Girl.

Laura’s Statement About The Video

Laura told Eurovisionary that In the official music video, “My goal was to highlight the contrast between two internal states of the girl: portray her vulnerable, overwhelmed with feelings she is unable to express  and characterize her as an amusement, just a ”funny girl”, which is how she feels perceived by her love interest. I wanted to explore this frequent mismatch between self-perception and perception of others.

My artistic statement in the “Funny Girl” official music video was inspired by two notorious characters: the Harlequin, the comic servant whose main function is to amuse others, and the Joker, which functions as a “wild card” in most playing card decks. Both characters are known for causing disruption and have a lot in common with the  “Funny Girl” soul searching.

The Harlequin spices up the play and is often regarded as a fool.  He also plays the dramatic function of a sad clown. Likewise, the “Funny Girl” is also an entertainer, who secretly struggles with her own inner conflict.

The Joker is often underestimated, much like the “funny girl”. Despite his clownish and silly appearance, he is actually a very powerful character,  with the ability to influence the game in unpredictable ways.

The Funny Girl music video was a collaboration with some of my closest friends in New York City. It was directed by French-Venezuelan director Anthony Faure and shot and edited by cinematographer Kevin Chiu.

We took advantage of the natural light and built the set with vintage props available on site. The core idea was to invite viewers to a journey into the “Funny Girl” emotional world: passionate, intense, magical and mysterious. It is almost like a dark fairy tale. The video has many layers of meaning in details, such as saying “Funny Girl” in American Sign Language – ASL, reversed choreography and a hidden Latvian flag on set. Have you found it?

Enjoy the video in full below.