100 BEST THINGS CONCHITA HAS DONE SINCE SHE WON EUROVISION, 2014-2017 (#80-71)
While going through the thousands of things Conchita has done in the last three years, I’ve already decided I’m in the middle of a monumental task. After all, not many people get the chance to do the unique and incredible things she has been able to do, and there are just so many of them.
That being said, numbers 80-71 were actually quite easy as they are all things that, while personal favorites, I also think are good examples of just how beautifully, graciously and with such good humor Conchita has done every single thing she has involved herself in.
So much so, she has been one of those rare celebrities people meet — whether they are singers themselves, fashion designers, make up artists, TV presenters or just the general public — and afterwards never have one single bad thing to say about her. Ever.
These 10 things, though, I think are ultra-special as they show a Conchita becoming a little more open, a lot more comfortable with herself and, in one case, a Conchita that didn’t let the adversity she was dealing with negatively affect her or her performance.
80 — Conchita’s make-up tutorials
While this series of Conchita make-up tutorials did not get anywhere near the number of views they should have done, they really are a beautiful example of how much more open and authentic Conchita has become as the years have gone on.
Plus, why I think they belong on the list of ‘100 best things Conchita has done‘ is they are such a stark contrast to the first make-up tutorial she did, long before Eurovision when she was still Conchita with a funny voice, an overly done personality and a fake feminine way of being.
In these newest make-up tutorials, though, Conchita is the way you just know she is when she is in private with her team –relaxed, jokey, giving them hell (it’s her social media manager André Karsai behind the camera lens she’s being obnoxious to), and often off on some string of consciousness trip without finishing her train of thought, so nobody knows what she’s talking about.
I think they’re lovely and, if you haven’t watched them, you really really should. The playlist of six videos is here.
79 — Conchita says “I Do” down under
As I have already said in the previous two ‘100 best things Conchita has done‘ articles, while she always spoke up about things she believed in, in recent years she has been doing more of it.
And doing it in a way that, unlike before where there often seemed to be almost an ‘apology’ behind her political opinion, nowadays it just is what it is and, if you don’t like it, she can’t help that and she doesn’t care.
One of the political statements she made in late 2016 was making sure her name was linked to the Say ‘I Do’ Down Under campaign. An Australian political campaign that was kicked off to help garner support for Austrialians 4 Equality.
A campaign started in an attempt to get gays and lesbians in Australia the right to get married.
And I particularly loved this political statement she made as, in the photograph released for it, she not only looked strong and powerful and happy with herself, she also gave off an air of “If you’re against equal marriage, wtf is wrong with you?”
78 — Conchita’s Instagram account goes into high-gear
When Conchita finally figured out social media or, at least figured out her Instagram account (she doesn’t handle the rest of her social media, André Karsai her social media manager does), I was happier than you could possibly know.
Because I’d sat there for over two years muttering at my computer screen “Come on, love, upload a photograph” as Conchita herself disappeared for weeks at a time and her Instagram account became a dead zone.
But finally, in September, 2016, the Instagram lightbulb went on in Conchita’s head as she figured out not only how important her Insta account could be for her career (here’s why, if you don’t know), but also that she was not “bothering her fans” every time she uploaded a photograph.
And, sure, since then, she has still disappeared for a week or two now and again but, in general, we get new photographs several times a week, and fans now love her more than ever (if that is even remotely possible?)
As for her Instagram account, it’s gorgeous. Because that girl has a good eye for the perfect photograph, so almost every one she uploads is stunning.
Check the photograph above if you don’t believe me. It’s one she uploaded just a few minutes ago.
And, if you have not subscribed to her Instagram account yet, please subscribe, as having a lot of Instagram followers really does help her career. Plus, hopefully, it encourages her to post even more often.
77 — Conchita’s surprise duet with Revolverheld
I still come back to listen to this surprise duet Conchita performed with Revolverheld’s lead singer Johannes Strate every few months, as not only is the song so incredibly beautiful but Conchita’s performance is one of the most touching things I’ve seen her do.
As, in this one, you can quite blatantly see her alter ego Tom Neuwirth up on that stage.
Not Tom Neuwirth as he is today, but the one from nine years ago. And I can’t explain it any better than I did in my original article, so I’m asking you to read that. So you can see why I love this performance so much, and why I think it is one of the best things she has ever done.
76 — Conchita sings ‘Walk Away‘ at Hommage an Udo Jürgens
Conchita doesn’t do an awful lot of cover songs originally recorded by incredibly famous people but, when she does, she has a knack of making you forget the original recording as she makes the song completely her own.
This was the case when Conchita performed at Hommage an Udo Jürgens, a live concert and a TV show recorded to honor Austria’s most famous singer before Conchita hit the spotlight — Eurovision Song Contest winner the late Udo Jürgens.
She sang ‘Walk Away‘, the first song Udo Jürgens ever entered at a Eurovision Song Contest back in 1964, and she managed to make everything about this then 51 year old song as modern as if it had just been recorded for the first time the day before.
And just listen to those last couple of notes. Because that is someone who doesn’t need auto-tuning, as she can simply sing.
75 — Conchita Wurst releases her autobiography ‘Being Conchita‘
While a couple of things about Conchita’s autobiography ‘Being Conchita‘ bugged me (mainly the way it was written, but that was her ghost-writer not her), I still enjoyed reading it immensely.
Because it filled in some of the gaps of how Conchita became Conchita, and what Tom Neuwirth went through as he was finding his way to her.
Things that, to this day, I think were still glossed over and made to seem far less awful than they really were for him at the time, but things that explained a lot to me about why she is the way she is now — especially when it comes to being such an introvert.
And yes, at age only 26 at the time, it is young to already have an autobiography published.
Then again, in just that short life, she had already experienced so much more than most people.
74 — Conchita appears on German TV show DAS!
To me, Conchita’s appearance on the German TV show DAS! back in August, 2015 was Conchita at her most perfect.
Gorgeous hair, stunning make-up, beautifully trimmed beard, a chic outfit and a way about her that was smart and funny and oh so sweet.
But that is not the reason why I think her appearance on DAS! deserves to be on the list of ‘100 best things Conchita has done‘.
Instead, it is because I love how elegant, composed and calm she is, but also how so incredibly authentic.
In fact, this appearance was recorded right at the beginning of when Conchita had finally grown into herself. And here she was honest and real and solid — and, while still polite, respectful and lovely — was finally starting to get rid of the same fake sounding answers she always used to give during other TV show, and answer how she really felt.
The result was one of the nicest and most interesting interviews she has done.
73 — Conchita performs at Life Ball, 2014
Conchita’s live performance at Life Ball, 2014 is not worthy of being on the list of best things she has done because it’s so perfect. It’s not.
It is, however, so worthy of being on the list because it was a performance Conchita gave in which the sound problems on stage were so horrendous she could not hear herself properly on her in-ear as she performed (that seems to happen to her a lot in Austria and, to some extent, you have to wonder why).
But, in the professional way Conchita always acts, even in the most awful of situations, she got through that performance with most people not ever even realizing there was a problem at all.
And, to say she had only won Eurovision a few weeks before and so was quite new to having this much of the world’s attention on her, and was under a spectacular amount of pressure at that time, it is astounding to me that she did so incredibly well.
72 — Conchita’s Google Hangouts
Also back in 2015, Conchita recruited a group of fans, both German-speaking and English-speaking, to help her do two live Google Hangouts. One in German and one in English.
And what was fabulous about these live events was how gracious, kind and lovely she was, while at the same time being utterly honest, completely herself, quite self-deprecating and very very funny.
The hangouts were also one of the first times we saw Conchita interacting with a group of fans for more than just a few seconds, and they were a perfect example of just how lovely she is to everyone and what incredible social skills she has, especially when it comes to small talk.
(And, at the risk of sounding rude here, and it’s not how it’s intended, I’ve lived in Vienna for almost a year now, and let me tell you Austrians who are good at small talk are rare indeed. It’s just not a skill that seems to feature in the culture).
71 — Eleonora White
The first time we ever got to see Conchita without a beard (well, at least after she won Eurovision) was on photographs taken at Austria’s Tuntenball when she shaved her beard completely, Conchita disappeared, and Tom Neuwirth re-emerged as Eleonora White.
A bushy blonde haired, white spectacled, dressed completely in black, strict looking woman who seemed to belong more in The Devil Wears Prada than she did on Conchita’s Instagram page.
But there she was, and with nothing more than the tags “#tbt such fun at #tuntenball last saturday! #eleonorawhite 😂 #theunstoppables“ to explain to fans who she was.
So who was she?
Another Tom Neuwirth alter ego, and this one he so obviously delighted in pushing in front of people’s faces after the event, as if to say “I was there, and I saw you, but you didn’t see me”.
And the audacity, cheekiness and plain nerve of that, I think is fabulous.
So there we have it — numbers 80 through 71 of the ‘100 best things Conchita has done‘.
100 through 91 can be found here.
90 through 81 can be found here.
And I’ll be back with 10 more tomorrow. Stay tuned!