100 best things Conchita has done from 2014-2017 (#30-21)

100 best things Conchita has done from 2014-2017 (#30-21)

And this is when it gets a little harder, as the twenty or thirty things I think are the absolute best things Conchita has done over the last three years are often so beloved, they are hard to go through and put in any semblance of order — although I do know, and have known for a long time, which are in my top three, and that is not going to change.

30 — Conchita and Hape Kerkeling on ‘Stöckl’

In April, 2015, Conchita sat down on an Austrian show called ‘Stöckl’ to talk with German actor and comedian Hape Kerkeling, and this interview show stood out to me much more than many of the others due to how utterly delighted she was to be in his presence.

Because Hape Kerkeling has been an idol of hers and of Tom Neuwirth’s for a long time so, when she finally got chance to site down across from him, she could not hide how happy she was.

Plus, Kerkeling was so nice to her and so complimentary, I’m guessing she probably left that TV studio practically buzzing.

Here are the articles I wrote about the interview a few months after it took place.

Conchita and Hape Kerkeling — part one

Conchita and Hape Kerkeling — part two

29 — Conchita on On N’est Pas Couché

It’s another talk show that is featuring in my top 30, and this time it is a French talk show called On N’est Pas Couché that Conchita appeared in during mid-2015.  

A show that, as much as I love watching Conchita, drove me crazy due to the horrible way the French dub over English conversation. To a point where it makes Conchita speaking English difficult to hear but, if you understand French, hard to figure out what is being said in the translation there as well.

But, bitching aside, Conchita on On N’est Pas Couché was just the loveliest thing, as she is so sweet, so charming and just oozing that vulnerability that I have always thought makes people love her so much.

Plus, this was during the period where she was her most beautiful and that alone is worth a watch.

28 — Conchita at a fan meeting in Vienna

The first time I met Conchita Wurst was at a fan meet and greet in Vienna, half an hour before I was scheduled to interview her. And what struck me when she walked into the room to face thirty or so fans, was how eerily quiet everyone suddenly got as she appeared.

After all, the aura she has around her is one of absolute star power which was something most fans seemed to be taken aback by.

That being said, she is absolutely lovely with fans, with every single one of them. Even with the ones who are too grabby, get too close or otherwise step over that line of appropriateness that really shouldn’t be crossed. Especially if she is to feel safe.

But one fan meeting in particular made me love her even more, and that was when Conchita appeared at Austrian broadcaster Hitradio Ö3 for a private reading of parts of her new book “Ich Conchita“.

A meeting in which one young fan dissolved into floods of tears the minute Conchita appeared and, no matter how much she tried, could not control herself.

Other celebrities may have been freaked out by that or not have thought about what to do to help make the fan calm down.

Not Conchita, she stood up and marched towards the fan, gave her a huge hug, said “Everything is good, I’m not Madonna”, and then marched back to her seat.

27 — Conchita is a hit on ‘Fashion Police’

One of the things on Conchita’s bucket list was to appear on the American TV show ‘Fashion Police‘ and, in true Conchita style it usually seems what she wants she eventually gets.

But Conchita did not just appear on a 10-second snippet of ‘Fashion Police‘ just to have the outfit she wore eviscerated. Instead, she was a mega hit, with her own segment of the show and with show host Kathy Griffin calling her ‘my kind of drag queen’.

Sadly, the segment is no longer available on YouTube but, put it this way, it was perfect. You can read what I wrote about it here:

Conchita is a mega-hit on ‘Fashion Police‘ and Kelly Osbourne almost cries

26 — Conchita hits the red carpet at the Golden Globes

In early 2015, Conchita was invited to appear on the red carpet at the Golden Globes in Los Angeles as part of the Austrian delegation supporting nominee Austrian actor Christoph Waltz.

It was Conchita’s first visit to the United States, her appearance on the red carpet surrounded by some of the most famous people in the world was obviously intimidating for her but, unless you know that girl well,  you would never have guessed.

After all, not only was she stunning in a gorgeous Alexis Mabille gown, she was even fabulous when being interviewed, even though sometimes it was obvious she was struggling to express herself.

But again, if you didn’t know her well, she had you fooled.

25 — Conchita sings at Stockholm Pride and wows the crowd

After Conchita’s 2014 Eurovision win, she spent some of her summer performing at gay pride events all over Europe.

One of the best performances she gave at a pride event was at Stockholm Pride, where she sang ‘Rise Like a Phoenix while descending down an impossibly steep staircase wearing a pair of the highest heels you have ever seen and a gorgeous JC Hoerl dress.

And I particularly loved this performance, as it was around this time Conchita was really owning the song. So much so, her performances of the song just got better and better.

Besides, just listen to those powerhouse vocals.

24 — Conchita’s first performance at G-A-Y in London

Conchita gave a performance at the iconic London gay club G-A-Y a few weeks after she won Eurovision in 2014.

Her performance was lovely, she looked incredible and it was one of the first times I realized how big of a star she was going to be.

Because she just had that star quality few people have oozing from her every pore. Even though, it was obvious she was also very nervous. But, as performances go, she killed it.

And, the audience was brilliant, and loved her.

 

23 — Conchita gives a phenomenal midnight show at Almdudler Trachtenpärchenball

For the most beautiful Conchita, and the one who has finally figured out what having stage presence means and is now kicking ass with it, watch Conchita perform in a midnight show at Vienna’s Almdudler Trachtenpärchenball. in late 2014.

Because, wearing a long black strapless gown, doing more of those sexy ‘tongue flicks’ she still does to this day than I had seen up to then, and absolutely killing her performance of ‘Unchain My Heart‘, she was absolutely majestic.

 

22 — Conchita is awarded Vienna’s Goldenen Rathausmann

Conchita being awarded Vienna’s Goldenen Rathausmann is one of my favorite moments of her last three years.

Because this award is only given to people who have done something absolutely remarkable.  And, while that in and of itself is nice, what is even more important about this award is what I saw when I first wrote about it three years ago:

So, although my first response when I see this news is to be so incredibly proud of her and what she has achieved I could quite literally burst, I’ve also been thinking a lot about what it’s taken for her to get there.

Years of hard-work and disappointments. The ability to ignore the homophobic and bigoted abuse that has been hurled at her from all directions. The strength of character to remain dignified, polite and professional, even when targeted with hatred from not only people in Eastern Europe and Russia, but also from some of her fellow Austrians after it was announced she would represent Austria at Eurovision.

The insistence on treating other people kindly, whether they deserve it or not. And the damned bloody-mindedness and incredible drive to keep on doing what she loves, regardless that half the world seems intent on stopping her.”

And three years later, my opinion about this has not changed. She deserved that award, and Austria should still be down on bended knee thanking her for being ‘the face of Austria’.

 

21 — Conchita in an advertising campaign for Bank Austria

In October, 2014, Conchita kicked off an advertising campaign for Bank Austria. A campaign that, at the time, some fans did not like because they felt she was ‘selling out’, while others didn’t like it because they were bigoted homophobes.

As is always the case with Conchita, though, she just promoted the Bank Austria campaign in as professional a manner as she always does, and ignored the lot of them.

But what I loved about this campaign even more than it was a lovely one, was that it was a huge deal for a conservative institution like Bank Austria to endorse Conchita Wurst, as it really did legitimize her almost as much as her win at Eurovision 2014 had done.

After all, Austria is a very conservative country (I live there now, and I’m learning that more and more every month), so for them to have a bearded drag queen as the face of Bank Austria, that took some courage and then some.

Watch the video above for some of the campaign. It really was a lovely one, and she seemed to be so happy to be doing it.

Meanwhile, there are still 20 more things to go in the ‘100 best things Conchita has done’ list. I’ll be back in a few days with 10 more.

100 best things Conchita has done #100-91

100 best things Conchita has done 90-81

100 best things Conchita has done #80-71

100 best things Conchita has done #70-61

100 best things Conchita has done 60-51

100 best things Conchita has done 50-41

100 best things Conchita has done 40-31

About Michelle Topham

I'm a Brit-American journalist, former radio DJ at 97X WOXY, and Founder/CEO of Leo Sigh. I'm also obsessed with music, anime, manga, and K-dramas. Help!

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