Ira Losco has come clean about her addiction to hats in a revealing new music video featuring Michela.
The video for Losco’s new single ‘Cannonball’, which also doubles as a documentary, offers a glimpse into the singer’s struggles with hats.
“I’ve always managed to keep my hat addiction hidden from the public. I rarely wear hats when I’m outside. But behind closed doors, I’m a headwear fiend,” Losco told Bis-Serjetà.
The X Factor judge says she first began wearing hats in 2002, when she took part and came second in the Eurovision Song Contest.
“At the after-party, the French contingent were passing around berets, so I took one and put it on. I was young and impressionable and didn’t know what I was getting myself into.
“After that, I went into a pretty bad spiral and started wearing all kinds of hats. Snapbacks, flat caps, top hats, sombreros, fedoras… literally anything I could put on my head.
“This year I bought my 2,000th hat, and my partner said I had to sort myself out.”
The Cannonball video starts with a shot of an adoring crowd at one of Losco’s concerts, followed by several shots of her looking tired and jaded.
“I always feel really nervous right before a gig, and wearing hats helps me calm down. Sometimes it gets so bad that I wear lots of different hats stacked on top of each other. Then when I finish the gig, I need to wear a hat to keep the performing buzz going.”
The video then cuts to a scene of the singer trekking across a mountainous landscape in Texas, before arriving at a specialist hat rehabilitation clinic.
“Texas has a lot of people who are addicted to wearing cowboy hats, so they know their stuff.”
So why did Michela tag along?
“Since X Factor she’s been following me around wherever I go. It’s a bit annoying sometimes, but I appreciated the company in Texas.”
Initially, Losco found it hard to accept that she had a problem.
“At first I was like, ‘What’s wrong with wearing hats? They’re fashionable and protect your head from the elements.’ Clyde Parker, the guy who ran the rehab sessions, asked me why I felt the need to wear a fez to bed. I kicked over a chair and stormed out. Even Michela didn’t follow me.”
Gradually, Parker helped Losco to come to terms with her addiction, and she began making an effort to get better.
“Eventually I was able to go to a bar full of people wearing hats and not feel tempted to wear one myself.
“I mean, I got hammered on shots, but that’s an addiction for another music video.”
Losco said she hoped she could serve as an inspiration to other Maltese people who were addicted to hats.
“Incidentally, one of those people is Michela. She got addicted to hats while we were in line-dancing in the bar. But it’s not my fault that she copies everything I do.”
