Conchita Wurst Loves 2NE1 – Is It Their Music, Attitude or Style? (Videos)

2ne1

Conchita Wurst says “I love them” about 2NE1

As a writer, I’m fascinated with Austrian singer Conchita Wurst, as she floats my boat in just about every way. Not just her songs, her appearance, her personality and her politics but, as a former radio DJ, I’m also fascinated by her music taste. That’s because I’ve always thought you can tell a lot about people by the books they read and the music they listen to.

As Conchita Wurst doesn’t really read that much, that leaves music, and here her taste is incredibly eclectic.

From the stereotypically obvious choices of Shirley Bassey, Celine Dion, Lady Gaga and Beyoncé to maybe slightly less obvious Sia, Christina Aguilera, Pink and The Pussycat Dolls, much of the music Conchita Wurst (and her creator, Tom Neuwirth) likes is about what I would guess.

But then there are the more surprising ones. Songs from Emeli Sandé, Alicia Keys, Chris Rea, Josh Groban and Katherine Jenkins.

Most surprising in the last few weeks, though, has been Conchita Wurst saying she likes 2NE1. A K-pop (Korean pop) girl group I would not have thought she was even familiar with, let alone actually liked.

Turns out, though, Conchita likes 2NE1. Although she didn’t know how to pronounce their name correctly, which I thought was cute (listen to audio to hear her talk about 2NE1, and their name is pronounced as ’21’ or ‘to anyone’).

Now, I was particularly interested in Conchita saying she liked 2NE1, as I’ve been following them since their first album back in 2010. I even had tickets to their first Bangkok concert until Thailand’s massive floods caused them to cancel, as people couldn’t get to the concert hall. (see a photo I took of what floods looked like on my street)

If you’re not familiar with them, 2NE1 is a four-member girl group that is huge here in Asia. They’re adored by both girls and boys, as their music is amazing, and they have ‘attitude’. The type of attitude Korean women seem to do so well. A mix of looking like the sweetest, cutest, most beautiful doll, and an inner sense of self that means they come out fighting and don’t take sh*t from anyone.

As for their music, 2NE1 performs some of the catchiest pop music you could hope to hear, although it’s an odd mix of R&B, rap, electropop, hip hop and urban, and with a mish-mash of lyrics in Korean, English and sometimes Japanese.

The girls also dress in the wildest clothing, always colorful, always loud, always cutting-edge stylish and, of course, absolutely ‘Korean’. In fact, a typical 2NE1 video is part music, part attitude and part fashion, but always completely fabulous.

For more on 2NE1, watch two of my favorite videos from the girls below.

As for Conchita liking 2NE1, two things here are interesting to me. The first is she still always surprises me, which I shouldn’t be surprised about by now, but sometimes I still am. And secondly, there’s actually a connection between Conchita Wurst and 2NE1.

Karl Lagerfeld, the iconic fashion designer who photographed Conchita last year, and who she has spoken about in almost reverential terms, is a huge fan of CL, the lead singer of 2NE1. CL spent much of her life living in Paris, so she has that French sense of style everyone envies. No wonder Lagerfeld says about her “CL is beautiful… you can’t take your eyes off her”.

As for Conchita and fashion, in the audio file where she talks about 2NE1, she also mentions Asian fashion saying she thinks Asian fashion magazines are “a step ahead of the rest of us” (she’s correct there). But what I liked more than anything was the moment her inner bitch appeared as she mentioned “photoshopping”.

See, that’s why Conchita Wurst likes 2NE1. She has the same ‘attitude’. You go, girls.

 


About Michelle Topham

Brit-American journalist based in Austria, former radio DJ at 97X WOXY, and Founder/CEO of Leo Sigh. I've covered K-drama, K-pop, J-pop, anime, manga and music news for over a decade.