KaYra: This song is not that funny, despite the optimistic melody, it is a tragedy wrapped in a colorful paper

Photo: Jurga Urbonaité

"Alligator" grabbed my attention right away when I heard it for the first time but when I saw it on stage I went nuts for it to the point where I got a little emotional during the semifinal performance, and I'm very excited to see what the final performance will look like, meanwhile let's get to know more about KaYra, here are her answers:
Name: KaYra
Birthday: September 18
Height: 169 cm
Favorite color: Yellow
Favorite food: Everything my Grandma cooks
What’s your strangest talent? I can make myself cry immediately
What is the strangest thing you have in your room? Probably myself 
What are you really good at? Cooking and shopping
What are you really bad at? Cleaning and any sports
Childhood idol: Whitney Houston, my mom
Childhood memory: I burned my fathers car down (it was an accident)
Celebrity crush: Jason Momoa
Who would you cast to play you in a movie about your life? Kristen Wiig
What would the title of that movie be? Imperfect
Favorite movie: ”Breakfast at Tiffany’s”
Favorite TV series: “Friends”
Dish/Snack/Beverage/Candy we should try if we ever visit Lithuania: Šimtalapis
What is your guilty pleasure? “High school musical” and “Ben&Jerry’s”
If you were a boy for a day, what would you do? I don’t think it would be that different. Probably, everything I do everyday. 
Can you recommend us a song (old or new) from a Lithuanian artist? Aktorių Trio - Paukščiai
Can you teach me some interesting words in Lithuanian? Aštuonkojis - Octopus.

Hello KaYra! Welcome to the Eurovision universe!

How would you describe yourself as an artist?
Creative, sometimes spontanious, sensitive, flexible, expressive, giving, loving, very passionate, sincere, devoted.

You are one of the participants of Pabandom iš naujo! 2020, how did it all begin?
I’m a huge fan of ESC since forever. I tried to participate once, 6 years ago, but I was very young and didn’t understand back then, what this competition means to me. Now I see it as an opportunity of bringing my message to the world, telling my truth and showing that my country is full of love and colors. I want to make my friends and family proud, who are, by the way, so supportive. I didn’t want to participate in Eurovision without a good song and message. And one day, I came home after a gig and realised, how tired I am of pretending. Pretending of being someone I’m not. So I tried to write a song about it. I created a lot of different characters in my mind, characters from my past, or just fictional ones. My music video shows the ironic view of my thoughts about being true to myself. I see this as a very big problem nowadays. People stopped talking, being sincere and open. Social media is doing a bad influence on us, I think. We are comparing us to the others, we are pretending and scared of showing the reality. For me, as an actress/ singer/ artist it is especially relevant, because I am always in some kind of character on the stage. And the saddest part is that you actually don’t know if people like you when you are not a charecter, but just your true self. So as you can see, this song is not that funny, despite the optimistic melody, it is a tragedy wrapped in a colorful paper, and I just love this contrast.

“Alligator” is the title of your song, and it is written by you and Marius Leskauskas. How was it to work with him?
I was pleasantly surprised when I heard the bells, birds and other interesting sounds in the song. That was a moment when I thought: “Wow, it’s totally me!”. I thing we did a pretty good job together, he heard me and gave some fun ideas. 

What’s the story behind the song?
It’s a story of my life. I think, many of our lifes. It is about the insecurities, fears and being our true selves. What if they don’t like me? What if I’m different? What if the society won’t accept me? It is about dealing with ourselves and self love. 

What can we expect to see on stage for the performance?
It will be colorful and different. That I can promise.

Photo: Jurga Urbonaité

Tell us about the music video of "Alligator":
It is the ironic view of some characters, we create during our lives. Sometimes it is very hard to not pretend, and it’s more safe to be someone else. One person described it all: “It is a tragedy wrapped in a colorful paper.”

What do you like about Eurovision?
It’s an opportunity to represent your country and show the world your point of view, your music, maybe even make a statement. It is positive, colorful and entertaining. I love it.

What do you dislike about Eurovision?
Nothing. Maybe the political part, a little bit.

Tell me the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear the word:
Brain: Pinky
Loud: Jennifer Lopez
Scarecrow: Pumpkin
Flame: Candle
Pancake: Blueberries

What are your plans for 2020?
Well, I have one of the main roles in Lithuanian tv series called “Monikai reikia meilės”, which I am planning to continue, obviously. And there are some new songs on my mind, I want to record. But for now, I am focused on Eurovision.

Is there anything you want to say to close the interview?
Yes. Just be yourself, treat people well and take care of everyone around you. Don’t forget that we are all the same and we all deserve love. 
Love,
KaYra

Thanks to KaYra for the interview!

Facebook: KaYra-Kristina-Radžiukynaitė
Instagram: radziukynaite.kayra