WATCH: Valentina Monetta Talks Eurovision 2014, Jazz and More!

La storia di Valentina Monetta did not end when she released an album of the same name last July. Since then San Marino’s Eurovision veteran has, among other things, performed at Stockholm Pride, unveiled a video for her song “L’Amore Verra”, and written a raft of new songs for her forthcoming album, which will be released in January.

Valentina and her team want the album to soar even higher than her debut effort. So she flew to London this week to record at The Oven Studios. It felt like an oven, y’all, because Valentina and her forthcoming music are hot, hot, hot! Wiwi and Valentina spent some time talking about her plans for Eurovision 2014, the pain of not qualifying for the final at Eurovision 2013, and what it was like to hear negative comments about “The Social Network Song” in 2012. There’s also plenty of juice about her personal life, y’all. “I’m single, yes,” she tells us. “It’s very difficult for me to stay with one person.”

You can watch our 15-minute interview in its entirety below. We’ve also listed some highlights below the video in case you are in a rush.

What You Need to Know

• Valentina’s new album will include at least seven songs, one of which will be her Eurovision 2014 number. She and her team have not made any decisions about the song yet. As her people tell me: “It’s better to have too much to choose from than not enough.”
• They will complete the album by the end of November and will begin thinking more about Eurovision in January.
• Valentina told us that she does not yet know whether she will have backing vocalists with her in Copenhagen. She may be on stage alone. She may not have dancers. She is considering all options.
• Valentina has penned several of the songs on her forthcoming album.
• Ralph Siegel has composed a jazz number for Valentina, but she cannot yet reveal any more details about it. However, she did tell us that Ralph knows her much better now than he did in 2012. Surely this bodes well for their artistic collaboration!
• When SMRTV approached Valentina to sing at Eurovision again, she knew she had to take another chance. “This is a big pressure for an artist like me,” she says. “But I don’t want to say no in my life. When I have a possibility I want to take this possibility that life gives me.”
• Valentina is in talks to perform a duet with a famous Italian musician, potentially for a festival in Italy. It does not appear that she will be singing a duet at Eurovision.
• Valentina fancies a man who lives in another country. As she says: “I have one person in my heart, but it’s difficult to meet him. I’m here. He is in another country. But I think about love every day with my music.”

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