I really have to stop watching pre-Eurovision Song Contest Conchita Wurst videos. Because in half of them, she’s so interesting, something she says gets stuck in my head and the only way to stop it burrowing in there and settling down for a nice long rest is to write about it. (Sorry Conchita, but these incessant articles I write about you are obviously far more your fault than mine).
So what’s burrowed its way in today, and from which video?
The video is an interview Conchita Wurst did with Krone TV a month before Eurovision. A video Conchita’s fabulous Russian fan club, RusUnstoppables, added English subtitles to yesterday. The comment I’m thinking about is the last thing she says in the interview.
But anyhow, I won’t stop making music, no matter how the Song Contest ends, at least I deeply wish that. It would of course be nice if I were remembered, and I will do my best to assure that I won’t be forgotten.
Looking back on that comment, nine months down the road, and seeing not only Conchita’s incredible win, but also all the amazing things she’s done since then, makes me kind of sad. Sad that she had to spend much of her time before Eurovision defending being the one chosen to go and hoping that, if nothing else, after Eurovision she wouldn’t be so quickly forgotten.
What that comment also says to me is, even though she obviously wanted to win just like every other artist, she had never allowed herself to hope she would. In fact, all she was wanting from Eurovision was to be able to talk to the media, to give a good performance and to hope, when all was said and done, people would remember her.
Because, let’s face it, if she hadn’t made the final, or had ended up with a poor place, she would have soon been back in Austria where the bigots would have made sure she was known forever more as “that uppity drag queen who thought she was somebody”.
And it’s here where I wonder, if even Conchita herself really has an idea how much she gambled on Eurovision? Because when you take a step back and look at it objectively, you can see she gambled everything. On three minutes on a stage. Three minutes that would make or break her entire career.
And it’s then I understand what is Conchita Wurst’s saving grace in everything she does. Her innocence.
The innocence that causes her to believe people are basically good. The innocence that tells her she’ll ‘catch’ those people who don’t like her when she gets up on stage and sings. The innocence that tells her to wish for a Grammy because, even if she doesn’t get it, “one will encounter so many wonderful things on the way”. And the innocence that sent her to Eurovision honestly thinking, if she didn’t do well, she could still carve a career out of the ashes that would have been left.
And what’s amazing about Conchita Wurst and her innocence is it’s that, more than anything, that will get her to international mega-stardom and to that Grammy she’s always wanted. Because, unlike others who constantly worry about things going wrong and so dissipate their power, Conchita Wurst’s innocence causes her to keep her power all to herself by only allowing her to focus on things going right.
And, when you do that, they usually do.
Besides, as one of Conchita’s favorite people says:
I advise you to say your dream is possible and then overcome all inconveniences, ignore all the hassles and take a running leap through the hoop. Even if it is in flames.
― Les Brown
And that is what Conchita Wurst, in all her innocence, always does. Which is just one more reason why for me, I’ll always bet on her succeeding.