The benefits of modern social media meant that Laura Rizzotto could continually interact with what became known as her 'Funny Girl Squad' - lots of Instagram pictures, FB posts and tweets flowed from this lady in the run-up to the live Supernova shows in Latvia. That fan and public interaction will have helped Laura top the jury and televote in both SF3 and the Supernova Final, giving her the win over more established acts like Markus Riva and fan favourites such as MADARA. She headed the SMS, Jury and televote polls and was no lower than third elsewhere, providing her with the Latvian ticket to Lisbon:
Now regular readers will know that I have been following the Latvian process from when it was three minutes audios of the big 63 list and October 22nd was the first time that I heard any of "Funny Girl" - from that moment, I was starting to be reeled in by this song :
It appears at 2.39 in this recap video and the ten seconds would have even been enough to make me want to listen to more of it. After listening to the full song, it obviously got a LIKE from me, as did only 15 others - my short pithy one liner about "Funny Girl" at the time was this:
Looking at that now, I am quite proud of my precising ability, as those ten words do summarise Laura and her song perfectly. When I next reviewed the Supernova process in December, my LIKE button would have only been pressed for seven of the 21 entries left in the process and only one entry had made it into my excellent category of 9.0/10 or above - guess which one? This was now after seeing the first video with Laura performing this wonderful song:
On the whole, I am not a massive fan of lyric videos because the main intent is to convey those words and not much else - there is seldom much in the way of the artist performing or even singing. What I got with this portrayal of "Funny Girl" was the whole package - I could try to put it all into words again but I think that I did a damn fine job the first time in my article on December 19th:
"And so we arrive at my number one entry from Supernova this year. Why does this one get the nod over all the others? In one word...
One thing this entry has that my other favourites don't is a narrative, a story, a link that connects many listeners with Laura as she relates her tale. Unrequited love, infatuation in one direction only never to be returned by the other, the dreaded 'Friend Zone'. I love "Funny Girl" - it is a great story and shows the real pain and sadness of a beautiful woman, whose best bud is someone that she wants to have for her own but she is just his witty and reliable friend. Aside from the lyrics, I loved this jazz/pop arrangement with the instrumentation adding so much to the song under the surface, allowing her voice to take full control and add layer on layer of emotion. The other plus that Ms Rizzotto has on her competition at the moment is that this video demonstrates her performance skills - how she connects with the camera, the sadness in her eyes, her gorgeous pout, together with the ability to convey that this story could be a real one for her. For such a slow paced song with minimal changes in vocal volume, this entry is totally engaging - voice, music and lyrics all come together to give us a song with a story, quite the rarity in modern day pop. As you can tell, I absolutely adored this entry and I hope that the staging helps to take this through to the Final and beyond..."
At the end of the post, I flagged up how Laura and "Funny Girl" were one of the bonuses of the 2018 Eurovision season at that stage and that feeling hasn't changed for me at all. This song was my tip for the Latvian win from that point onwards and I was naturally delighted that last Saturday (February 24th) my tip became a reality, as Laura blitzed the competition with yet another amazing performance:
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Watching the Supernova performances again, I actually felt that her best overall performance was in SF3 - not because there was anything wrong with the Final display (her outfit wasn't as 'fussy' and took less attention away from her singing and acting skills, if truth be told) but I think that her vocals were the best live I have ever heard them:
Swap the dress from the Final with that performance and you have my ultimate favourite staging and vocal! The one thing that I had yet to focus on in my "Funny Girl" journey were those lyrics to this song - Laura is the composer of this entry and this shows off yet another strength of this artist:
It is only when they are written out that you realise how much is crammed into those three minutes and how, when you read them, you realise how much emotional reality there is in this song and how truly relatable it will be to most listeners and viewers out there. A beautiful poem, fitted to exquisite jazz/pop music, sung wonderfully well and acted out perfectly - there is simply nothing else touching this song for me at the moment and it will take something truly special to displace this entry from my number one placing this year!
Just to keep up with the rapidity of all of the different nation's entries coming has meant that I have had to cover two songs with each post - I trust that my readers will indulge me with breaking from that for this one entry. "Funny Girl" is a Eurovision highlight for me - Laura Rizzotto, 50% Brazilian 50% Latvian and 100% singer/songwriter based out of New York City, has found herself hurtling along on this Eurovision 'railroad' and will hopefully pull into Gare do Oriente Station in Lisbon on Final night, May 12th, having the opportunity to present this crowning achievement for the second time in the Altice Arena and give Latvia a fitting finish at Eurovision 2018.
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It appears at 2.39 in this recap video and the ten seconds would have even been enough to make me want to listen to more of it. After listening to the full song, it obviously got a LIKE from me, as did only 15 others - my short pithy one liner about "Funny Girl" at the time was this:
"Funny Girl - superb vocal, thoughtful lyrics, very evocative and powerful, almost jazz/pop"
Looking at that now, I am quite proud of my precising ability, as those ten words do summarise Laura and her song perfectly. When I next reviewed the Supernova process in December, my LIKE button would have only been pressed for seven of the 21 entries left in the process and only one entry had made it into my excellent category of 9.0/10 or above - guess which one? This was now after seeing the first video with Laura performing this wonderful song:
On the whole, I am not a massive fan of lyric videos because the main intent is to convey those words and not much else - there is seldom much in the way of the artist performing or even singing. What I got with this portrayal of "Funny Girl" was the whole package - I could try to put it all into words again but I think that I did a damn fine job the first time in my article on December 19th:
"And so we arrive at my number one entry from Supernova this year. Why does this one get the nod over all the others? In one word...
COMPLETENESS
One thing this entry has that my other favourites don't is a narrative, a story, a link that connects many listeners with Laura as she relates her tale. Unrequited love, infatuation in one direction only never to be returned by the other, the dreaded 'Friend Zone'. I love "Funny Girl" - it is a great story and shows the real pain and sadness of a beautiful woman, whose best bud is someone that she wants to have for her own but she is just his witty and reliable friend. Aside from the lyrics, I loved this jazz/pop arrangement with the instrumentation adding so much to the song under the surface, allowing her voice to take full control and add layer on layer of emotion. The other plus that Ms Rizzotto has on her competition at the moment is that this video demonstrates her performance skills - how she connects with the camera, the sadness in her eyes, her gorgeous pout, together with the ability to convey that this story could be a real one for her. For such a slow paced song with minimal changes in vocal volume, this entry is totally engaging - voice, music and lyrics all come together to give us a song with a story, quite the rarity in modern day pop. As you can tell, I absolutely adored this entry and I hope that the staging helps to take this through to the Final and beyond..."
At the end of the post, I flagged up how Laura and "Funny Girl" were one of the bonuses of the 2018 Eurovision season at that stage and that feeling hasn't changed for me at all. This song was my tip for the Latvian win from that point onwards and I was naturally delighted that last Saturday (February 24th) my tip became a reality, as Laura blitzed the competition with yet another amazing performance:
Swap the dress from the Final with that performance and you have my ultimate favourite staging and vocal! The one thing that I had yet to focus on in my "Funny Girl" journey were those lyrics to this song - Laura is the composer of this entry and this shows off yet another strength of this artist:
Ain’t it funny, ain’t it funny
Oh, it all started as a joke
But now I’m falling, now I’m falling
The punchline is getting old
Cause I’ve been keeping to myself
For way too long, yeah
Ain’t it funny, ain’t it funny
I made you laugh every time we spoke
I locked my heart in hesitation
But somehow, you cracked the code
I tore down my walls
Wrecked the ceiling
Ready to bare it all, but
You’re looking at her, she’s looking at you
I’m falling apart, what can I do
To make you feel that way about me too?
And it’s getting hard, I’m not gonna lie
To keep in the dark all I’m feeling inside
When you walk in smelling like her perfume
What was I thinking?
I’m just the funny girl to you
Can you see me, can you see me
Like a fire rising in the smoke?
Can you hear me, can you hear me
Open up with every note?
Cause I’ve been playing to myself
For way too long
Oh, I tore down my walls
And I wrecked the ceiling
Ready to bare it all
What was I thinking?
You’re looking at her, she’s looking at you
I’m falling apart, what can I do
To make you feel that way about me too?
And it’s getting hard, I’m not gonna lie
To keep in the dark all I’m feeling inside
When you walk in smelling like her perfume
What was I thinking?
I’m just the funny girl to you
So tell me what you’re looking for
I promise you, I got it all
What does it take to make you see?
I am right here
And if you ever need to cry
I’ll be the one who makes you laugh
Yeah, I’ll be your funny girl
Your funny girl
You’re looking at her, she’s looking at you
I’m falling apart, what can I do
To make you feel that way about me too?
And it’s getting hard, I’m not gonna lie
To keep in the dark all I’m feeling inside
When you walk in smelling like her perfume
What was I thinking?
I’m just the funny girl to you
It is only when they are written out that you realise how much is crammed into those three minutes and how, when you read them, you realise how much emotional reality there is in this song and how truly relatable it will be to most listeners and viewers out there. A beautiful poem, fitted to exquisite jazz/pop music, sung wonderfully well and acted out perfectly - there is simply nothing else touching this song for me at the moment and it will take something truly special to displace this entry from my number one placing this year!
--------------------------------------------------------------
Just to keep up with the rapidity of all of the different nation's entries coming has meant that I have had to cover two songs with each post - I trust that my readers will indulge me with breaking from that for this one entry. "Funny Girl" is a Eurovision highlight for me - Laura Rizzotto, 50% Brazilian 50% Latvian and 100% singer/songwriter based out of New York City, has found herself hurtling along on this Eurovision 'railroad' and will hopefully pull into Gare do Oriente Station in Lisbon on Final night, May 12th, having the opportunity to present this crowning achievement for the second time in the Altice Arena and give Latvia a fitting finish at Eurovision 2018.
Laura Rizzotto - Head of the "Funny Girl squad"...
Martin Palmer - fully paid up member!