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Music : Drag Act Conchita Wurst Wins Eurovision

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The most talked-about act before the competition, Austria’s Conchita Wurst has won the Eurovision Song Contest in Copenhagen with “Rise Like a Phoenix”, a very “007” power ballad.

The drag performer, whose real name is Tom Neuwirth, developed a consistent lead as voting progressed, and ended up with 290 points. The “bearded lady”, as the 25-year-old is known, had stirred controversy especially in some eastern European countries like Russia, just to name one of them.

“This night is dedicated to everyone who believes in a future of peace and freedom. You know who you are. We are unity and we are unstoppable,” the winner said as she was presented with the trophy.

Congratulations to Conchita Wurst, whose triumph gives Austria its first Eurovision victory since 1966.

Watch her performance after the jump and let me know your thoughts.

Dave

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There are 26 comments

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  1. Alfonso

    I think this is so awesome, not because she is a drag queen or because he is gay, but because she gathered the attention of a lot of people and they gave her the victory…
    In this times when there is a lot of controversy I will say like she said: “It’s dedicated to everyone who believes in peace and the future… you know who you are, we are unity and we are unstoppable!

  2. Chip

    If you ask me, Conchita won based on the (clearly outstanding) vocal talent, and probably got a BOOST from the “drag queen” angle.

    Why? Firstly, most European countries (Russia and some other outliers notwithstanding) are way ahead of the USA in recognizing the value and worth of the LGBT population, and are way ahead of us (the USA) in accepting “our population” as-is (that is, not requiring us to meet other social norms to be accepted).

    Secondly, the old adage from advertising likely applied: “there is no such thing as BAD publicity!” Standing out as a drag queen likely got Conchita more publicity (and more votes) than otherwise might have been there had the same performance been made by “Tom” (in pants).

    Yes, a WIN for our community, but especially a WIN for Tom/Conchita — a performer with some REAL TALENT (and quite the set of lungs!)

  3. mauibro51

    This rising star is Faw-Keen aMAZing. Kudo’s Tom! I mean MISS Conchita, that is. SWEET! Congratulations to the entire crew, btw.

  4. DER FLEDERMOUS

    I CAUGHT HER ACT AT THE COUNTY FAIR LAST YEAR AND IT WAS BADASS. HER BACKUP SINGERS WERE TWO TRANSEXUAL MIDGETS DRESSED UP LIKE MASAI. BRAVO FRAU CONCHITA

  5. fitzi

    Im gonna go with Blond511. And also, either shave or put on some guy clothes. The beard and the chick threads are disconcerting to say the least. Sounds kinda like an Adele knock off

  6. bn8isgr8

    not being able to compare to the rest of the contestants i can’t say s/he should have won or not but am all for the sentiments expressed. on a side not a few years ago i saw a link (maybe from here) that was a euro drag show from the canary islands, i think. the performers were so over the top with the gigantic transformer like costumes and dance numbers. anyone know the name of this contest?

  7. Lowell

    OMG,SO TALENTED,some fan needs to make a 007 video with that as the soundtrack,(that’s backwards but ya get what I’m saying!)I am in AWE of the talent and beauty ,not to mention brains for getting so many people onto her side with the WIN!!

  8. Will

    A much better song – in fact a GREAT song – than the performance. But the message about the win couldn’t be more timely.

  9. mike

    As a Drag Queen myself, I find Conchita crossing boundaries and making people think within our on messed up view of entertainment! No one has to like everyone or everything they see, But we do need to except the issue of equal within our Gay Community and remember Drag Queens thru the first blow for equal rights. and He looks Freaking HOT!!!

  10. Danny

    The song is so so and the whole bearded lady thing is really nothing to be proud of if you ask me.

    The highlight of the night was Jessica Mauboy “Sea of Flags”

  11. jojo

    I think its sad that all those assholes are now shaving there beards because “beards are no longer manly” for some reason. I thinks its awesome I’m going to grow mine out. Lol

  12. Del

    Her and her voice feel contrived. No matter what anyone thinks or feels, she is the winner! I hope she cashes-in!

  13. Dale Richardson

    The song was great. The voice was great, but was total turned off to performance by the. Victor/Victoria look. Had he/she picked either sex to come out as would have made the performance easier to watch. He/she did a video to the song and was even worse. As long as I don’t look at the screen I love the music. Sad really

  14. Jackson

    I was very impressed with her talent. I think Rob and Blond 511 are those bitter gays we read about that no matter how positive the action they are never happy I didn’t see either of you two Gentlemen on stage belting out a stellar performance!!!! Rise up girl do your thing!!!! Way to go!! Congrats to Austria.

  15. Kevin

    I feel sorry for anyone that lost to that singing. Horrible voice. Only won due to the freak factor in my opinion.

  16. Hunter0500

    While it is entirely his/her/something else’s right to present him/her/something else -self in whatever from he/she/something else is comfortable with, Conchita Wurst’s visual presentation is confounding. So confounding, that it is a topic covered in college level classes. The social/ethical/moral question is about rights and the trumping or a balance thereof. Is it an individual’s right to present WHATEVER they wish about themselves to society OR is it the right of members of society to be able to recognize and understand who/what an individual is so they are able to relate to the person and communicate with them. Conversely, is an individual obligated to present a vision of themselves that conforms to a set (all be they loose) of social norms or is it the obligation of members of society to accept, work with, deal with WHATEVER vision an individual presents?

    There isn’t one hard and fast answer here that favors either the individual or society. Overall it’s a question of balance. Individuals, however, will quickly fall into polar and divisionary camps hurling foul flags at the others.

    For me personally, Conchita Wurst’s voice coming from behind a beard under long flowing hair in a female style on top of a long flowing gown is confounding. If Conchita has some buring desire to wear a beard, fine. But if it’s his/her/something else’s purpose in wearing the beard to confound others, that in itself is worthy of a foul flag. I understand as a member of society I’m required to respect him/her/something else as an individual, but it’s difficult at best to be able to relate to him/her/something on a one-to-one individual level when common ground is gone. Of course in meeting him/her/something else, the logical place to start would be to say “hello”. And then maybe “honey, you have a beard many guys would kill for. Could you tell me about it?”

  17. darryl

    I was curious to see what all the hub bub was about this bearded lady. Once I saw it i was very impressed with the whole performance. Not only did i look past the beard itself, i also judged the total performance for what it was. If they didn’t think she could out sing many of the others including actual women, she would have been bumped off early in the competition. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, so don’t tear her down for going for it. Would she last on America’s Got Talent?


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