Truely in Love with you #LA #theunstoppables pic.twitter.com/ZIqbOtk5zU
— Conchita Wurst (@ConchitaWurst) January 9, 2015
When it comes to Conchita Wurst, there is always some thought going on in my head. The one I’ve been mulling over the last few days involves Conchita, her recent trip to Los Angeles for the Golden Globes, and her path to superstardom. Because I have always had a certain idea about Conchita since I first heard about her. An idea about where she will end up, and who she will be, and her trip to LA solidified that for me.
Conchita and Los Angeles dreams
The minute I heard Conchita was heading to LA for the Golden Globes, I knew this trip would be a turning point for her. As I watched her at the LA Press Club, delightedly clapping her hands in an open-topped car, in photos on her Twitter account, smiling as she walked on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills and, of course, on the red carpet at the Globes, I was sure of it.
Because Conchita Wurst fell in love with LA, with the culture, the people, the place, and with the idea that it’s a city where you can do anything, be anything, have anything, and thousands of people will not only agree with you, they’ll even cheer you on. As someone who lived in LA for six years, and still misses that ‘I can fly’ feeling LA gives you, I know how that feels.
So while some people insist Conchita Wurst will stay in Austria, I disagree. As a home base, sure, and as a place where she will always spend time with family and friends, but as a place to grow an international career, and to be able to do everything this amazing person wants to do? Not very likely.
I also know, with absolute certainty, Conchita will end up living in LA, at least part of the year. Because it’s a city where she is in her element — surrounded by creative, open-minded people, in the heart of the entertainment industry, and with opportunities open to her she won’t get anywhere else.
After all, I can see in Conchita Wurst, and her creator Tom Neuwirth, exactly what I know about myself. They are people who, while they are proud of their country, and love family and friends and adore being around them, what is more important than anything is pursuing their dreams, even if doing so means sometimes being away from the people and place they love.
Conchita Wurst and superstardom
So we come to superstardom, and to something I sensed while Conchita was at the Golden Globes.
Her realization that, while she might be a big star in parts of Europe, in America she barely exists. That truth hit home when she stepped onto the red carpet, and was surrounded by the biggest stars in the world. I could see it on her face.
But what was even more interesting to me about Conchita on the Golden Globes red carpet, in the company of all those people more famous than her, is something that emitted from her in waves so strong I could feel it. The absolute determination to someday be as big, or bigger, than any of them.
Because she, or here I should probably say ‘he’, is a person who uses adversity or feeling ‘lesser than’ as a means to encourage himself to work harder, to be more successful, and to become that world-wide superstar he (she) has every intention of being.
Which is why I know, without one single solitary doubt, she (he) will ultimately become that superstar who will be famous and loved in America, and as big as any of those on the Golden Globes red carpet, because a person this emotionally strong, this talented, and this determined doesn’t have it in them to fail.
See, Conchita, what just a little trip to Los Angeles does for you? Imagine what it will be like when you’re living there. (Me? Evil? Nah).