I apologize before I start this, because I’m operating on only two hours of sleep, and am loaded up with Christmas cake and one more glass of wine than I should have had, so I’m more than a bit giddy. Which is why it’s no wonder I’m fixating on Conchita Wurst on last night’s “Starweihnacht bei Alfons Haider“. Then again, how could you not? Because, God, she’s so pretty.
But here’s what I find fascinating about Conchita last night, even more than all that pretty (which I’ll still get to in a moment, of course).
She’s sat at a table with two other women and Alfons Haider (who, by the way, is a lovely man), but from the minute the group appears on screen, your eyes are drawn to no-one but her. Even though the two other women are beautifully dressed, and seem to have delightful personalities, and Alfons Haider is, well…….Alfons Haider, the only person you’re that interested in looking at is Conchita Wurst.
And, sure, it could be because I’m a huge fan, and so my eyes are always automatically focused on her but, no, it really isn’t that.
It’s the sheer ‘presence’ she has that, even when she’s sitting fiddling with her bracelet or a ring, and not even looking at the camera, you cannot take your eyes off her.
That’s because Conchita Wurst has a luminous quality, but one that is mixed with an incredible sense of vulnerability. Both things that Marilyn Monroe and Princess Diana were also famous for, and that contributed to their being spoken of as having the ‘it factor‘. That thing you can’t even define, but you know it when you see it.
It’s the ability to draw the eye from across a crowded room, and the presence that causes everyone within viewing distance to be captivated. Throw in the Princess Diana way Conchita Wurst has of looking down, and then looking back up at you, (she’s shy, even though most people would never guess it), and she’s the kind of person that 50 years ago literally would have stopped traffic.
Now, Conchita Wurst is always special. She just is. But on Starweihnacht bei Alfons Haider” on Christmas Eve, that quality she has was magnified.
I don’t know if it was that gorgeous JCHOERL dress she was wearing, or that her eyes looked even bigger than normal, or that she kept rocking her feet backwards and forwards on those ridiculously beautiful and ridiculously high heels, or that she was slightly nervous which manifested itself in even more of the looking down and then up than normal but, whatever it was, Conchita Wurst on Starweihnacht bei Alfons Haider” was………. mesmerizing.
What makes all of this even more fascinating to me, I’ve never met the woman (yet) but I can promise you one thing. She doesn’t know she has the ‘it factor’. I mean, she might ‘think’ she has it but, no, she doesn’t know.
And that’s what makes her even more appealing. That innocence she has about her that, if she keeps it, is going to guarantee her superstardom like she has never even dreamed of.
Because people like Conchita Wurst aren’t born often and, when they are, that incredible mixture of talent, charm, beauty, vulnerability and innocence will captivate millions. It’s the ‘it factor’, and she has it in spades.
Now, watch my lovely Ms. Wurst on Alfons Haider’s Christmas Eve show in the three videos below. See what I mean?