I’ve been hearing rumors for a few days now that Eurovision Song Contest winner Conchita Wurst was going to be rebranding herself. Changing her name from the lovely Ms. Wurst to the lovely…………. Conchita. You know, like those famous divas Cher, Beyoncé, Madonna and Adele.
So, I wasn’t surprised to see the closing credits of last night’s The Graham Norton Show and see her referred to as just ‘Conchita’, or hear Graham introduce her as such.
Now, while I have to be honest and say I’m a little sad to see my lovely Ms. Wurst drop that surname, (and it’s going to play havoc with my keywords when I write articles about her!), I can more than understand the impetus behind it.
Wurst, in German, is pronounced ‘Voorst‘. In English, by most people? ‘Worst‘.
With a massive launch for Conchita in the US starting later on this month, if I was her, I wouldn’t want to be known as the ‘Worst’ before I’d even managed to show the country how amazing I was either.
Plus, when the fabulous Tom Neuwirth (the man behind the girl) named his new creation Conchita Wurst, he probably wasn’t thinking much beyond naming her for the German-speaking market, and with a last name that had a relevant meaning — ‘wurst’ (in German a colloquialism meaning “it doesn’t matter” — (in Neuwirth’s message) “who you are, where you come from, if you’re male or female, or what your sexual orientation is, everyone should be treated the same”).
After all, I don’t think, even in his wildest dreams, he expected his creation to become as enormous of a star as she did in 2014.
Add in that ‘Wurst’ also has the unfortunate meaning of ‘sausage‘, and all the anti-gay slurs that has managed to engender and, no, it’s not surprising that 2015 is now going to be the year of Conchita.
So, my incredible Conchita (see how quickly I learn?), congratulations on your name change, and my absolute best of wishes for your launch in America.
2015 is going to be an even more amazing year for you than 2014 was, my lovely girl, and what better way to start it than with a slightly new and even more fabulous name.
Besides, let’s face it, you could call yourself Petronella Puddleduck, and we’d all still love you as much as we always have.
As for the rest of you, the phenomenal Conchita and her stunning voice performed ‘Rise Like a Phoenix‘ on The Graham Norton Show’s Christmas/New Year’s Eve special last night, and you can watch it below. Now that’s what I call a superstar performance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sA7SWbnUAQ