Laura Rizzotto

Laura de Carvalho Rizzotto (; born 18 July 1994) is a Latvian-Brazilian singer, songwriter, pianist and guitarist. She released her debut studio album Made in Rio in 2011 through Universal Music Brazil, which included the single "Friend in Me". In 2014, she independently released her second studio album Reason to Stay, and independently released the extended play RUBY in 2017.

Rizzotto represented Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 in Lisbon, Portugal, with the song "Funny Girl", but placed twelfth in the second semifinal and didn't qualify to the final.

Early life and education Rizzotto was born on 18 July 1994 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She has an older brother and a younger sister. Her father is a Brazilian of Latvian, Austrian and Italian descent, with his mother being born in Liepāja and raised in Riga, and her mother is Brazilian with Portuguese roots.

Rizzotto and her family moved to the United States in 2005, and settled in Edina, Minnesota for a year.

Career Rizzotto began her professional music career at 15 years old, when she started doing her first professional shows as a singer/songwriter in her hometown, Rio de Janeiro. Shortly after, she signed her first record deal with Universal Music Brazil. She went on to release her debut studio album Made in Rio in 2011, which featured 15 original tracks (12 in English and 3 Portuguese versions) written by Rizzotto and some in partnership with her brother. The album was produced by Paul Ralphes and Eumir Deodato.

In April 2017, Rizzotto was the moderator of the Music and Culture panel at the Brazil Conference, at Harvard University.

In 2018, Rizzotto self-released RUBY, her third solo project and first EP. Rizzotto also composed the soundtrack for "Where Thoughts Go", a multi-award-winning VR experience that was featured in many festivals around the world, including the Tribeca Film Festival. She also represented Latvia in the Riga Jazz Festival and was invited to perform at the United Nations.

In January 2018, Rizzotto participated and won first place in the Supernova 2018 contest, the National Latvian Selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2018. She performed her winning song 'Funny Girl' at the Eurovision Song Contest in Lisbon, but failed to qualify for the grand final. She placed 12th in the semi-final with 106 points.

Discography Studio albums + List of studio albums, with selected chart positions Title Album details Peak chart positions BRA Made in RioReleased: 15 August 2011 Label: Universal Music Brazil Formats: CD, digital download — Reason to StayReleased: 16 January 2014 Label: Independent Formats: CD, digital download—

Extended plays + List of extended plays, with selected chart positions Title Extended play details Peak chart positions BRA RUBYReleased: 30 October 2017 Label: Independent Formats: Streaming —

Singles