Conchita Wurst: Growing So Fast, It’s Beautiful to See

conchita wurst raw emotion
Conchita Wurst in soundcheck at Bad Mitterndorf – the best performance she’s ever given. No. I’m not kidding.

 

Because I’m enamoured of Conchita Wurst and her intelligence (sure, her voice is amazing and she’s drop-dead gorgeous, but it’s her intelligence that just floats my boat), I’m adding a thought here to something I wrote earlier. And that’s about, as an artist, how fast Conchita Wurst is growing. A mark of someone incredibly intelligent, I’ve always thought.

That’s because, if you watch and analyze Conchita Wurst and her performance as I do, (sorry, Conchita, I’m a writer, I can’t help it), you’ll soon see one thing. As an artist, she’s growing so fast, and in such power and strength, it really is beautiful to see.

So much so, if you see videos from only a few months ago, the performer that is now up on that stage seems to have little connection to the one back then.

Why?

Stage presence, voice and attitude.

Stage Presence – Although she’s not yet perfect, her stage presence in the last few months has matured so much her performances are lovely to watch.

Whereas before she always sang beautifully, the difference between being a singer who captivates her audience, like a Celine Dion or a Shirley Bassey, and one who just draws their attention, like Conchita Wurst, was obvious. Her performances, while interesting to watch, at the end of the day were a little too ‘flat’.

Not anymore.

In the last couple of months, she’s given several performances that are so captivating, you can’t take your eyes off her on the stage. Even when she’s only in soundcheck and singing alone with just a piano.

In fact, in a recent soundcheck at Bad Mitterndorf, (video below) her performance was so stunning I actually watched it more than a hundred times. And, no, I’m not joking.

Then, when she unveiled ‘Unchain My Heart’ at Landler Kirtag, now that performance was at diva level.

The only giveaway she still has a little growing left to do? When she dances.

Unsure, shy, and nervous, it was obvious from her body language and the way she started to dance and then stopped, she wasn’t confident about it at all. Not surprising when a fan said to me later a friend had once told Conchita she couldn’t dance. Get that kind of thing stuck in your head, and it’s a confidence killer.

Conchita, love, if you’re reading this, remember what you say about people ‘talking rubbish’? Prime example. Right there. You can dance and, man, are you sexy when you do.

 

conchita wurst dancing
Yep. You can dance. So stop listening to rubbish.

Voice – Let’s face it, Conchita Wurst has always had an amazing voice. One that’s so powerful, if you hear it live it must feel like it’s knocking you over.

But, up until recently, if she doesn’t control it, her voice has sometimes had a slight ‘shouty’ quality to it — a little harsh, when it should be rich and warm.

Not anymore.

The way she sings now, even with ‘Rise Like a Phoenix’, is so mature, her voice actually wraps around the music and the words, rather than just sitting flatly on top. And that’s the difference between a good singer and a ‘Weltstar’.

My lovely Ms. Wurst? She’ll definitely be the latter.

Attitude – Finally, attitude, and a huge indicator of the amount of growth Conchita Wurst has experienced in just a few months.

It’s in the way she speaks, moves, walks, carries herself, and how she appears on stage.

In three short months, she’s gone from a sweet and lovely young drag artist who just won Eurovision to a force of nature that is never going to be stopped.

It’s the difference between someone who thinks she may just be good enough, to someone who knows she’s better than most of the people out there.

And that is so beautiful to see, for me, I just can’t stop looking.

 

As for the soundcheck performance I mentioned, ignore the waviness of the first video (heaven knows what YouTube did to it!), just watch her facial expressions, her gestures, the emotion just flooding from her, and listen to her voice. I’m officially on my 150th listening of this, as she’s so captivating I can’t get her out of my head. Oh, and that tongue flick thing she does to the side of her mouth? God, if I was a gay guy, it would drive me wild. Nah. Might as well be honest. It’s driving me wild.

Finally, here’s another video view of the same Bad Mitterndorf soundcheck performance. Filmed from further away by Monika Müller (thanks Monika!), just look at Conchita’s body language. Now there’s someone who is completely in control of everything she’s doing up there, yet so lost in her own emotions. There really are no words.

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!