ELENA Baravilala is no stranger to the music fraternity.
And if you are a Whitney Houston, Tina Turner or Beyonce’s die-hard fan, Baravilala’s demeanour will give you a slice of what this trio have.
Her latest video Rain has earned her yet another spot at this year’s Fiji Performing Right Association Music Awards (FMRAMA) to be held at the Grand Pacific Hotel next Saturday.
She’s one of the top five finalists for the Best Music Video award alongside Savuto Vakadewavosa, Waisale Qilatabu, Viliame Navoka and Mereani Masani
“I don’t really do things to get recognition as I do it for the love and passion for music and my music has always been about inspiring and empowering people but when it does get recognised I’m just really thankful,” Baravilala said.
The song Rain was written and composed after her trip to PNG .
She returned last year during the election.
She said Fabian Randerath was very instrumental in this song.
“We bounced the song back and forth after I’d written lyrics to the concepts he suggested.
“The song really came out of realising there was so much bareness in love, in hope, in faith around us but we are optimistic of a brighter future if we just have a new perception towards the reality of life that we interface with,” she added.
Baravilala said when people had more positive perspective and had faith, hope and love, that was not just an airy fairy feeling but a reality of life that one can actually walk into.
She said the video and its name Rain was produced with the belief that rain is here to cause life to blossom again in the midst of the cascading darkness that the Earth has found itself in.
Baravilala has been singing most of her life. This is evident in her latest video.
The RnB and Soul lover made her first public appearance when she won the young musso’s acclaim for her school Gospel High.
She then worked with Igelese Ete in 2007 who encouraged her to join the Vodafone MIC Show.
Her supporters such as Mitieli Kau, Tura Lewai, Eisha, Pasifika Voices and her family are the backbone of her success.
“Vanessa Quai then came into the picture and I travelled to perform with her in some South Pacific countries.”
Her music style, Baravilala said, was still a bit diverse from RnB to reggae, Soul, but definitely, she’s all about originality and passionate about developing that further.
The song Rain evolved into the Rain Project which featured 10 aspiring artists who went through a 14-week program.
Each of them are now working with their respective producers and they plan a grand finale, awards night and the launch of the Rain album soon.
