Bearded Drag Queen Takes Eurovision Song Contest by Storm
Latest
Meet Conchita Wurst, Austria’s competitor in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest — which is a popular televised event in which European countries soothe international tensions through the healing power of song and dance (like Glee, but with geopolitics). Conchita has all of the trappings of a star: a beautiful voice, the ability to make sweeping and dramatic arm movements without looking dumb, a flowing mane of hair that seems to gain graceful sentience in the presence of a wind machine, etc. She also has a beard, much to Russia’s dismay.
According to the AP, Conchita Wurst is the drag persona of 25-year-old Thomas Neuwirth. Conchita’s performance — which involves a lot of alluring glances and a bathtub filled with petals — has enchanted the Eurovision judges, who selected her to perform in the finals in Copenhagen on Saturday. It’s also, predictably, sparked a lot of backlash: protestors in Belarus have urged the state television network to edit her entry out entirely, and Vitaly Milonov, a Russian politician who sponsored legislation that helped pave the way for the nation’s horrible “gay propaganda” law, had some particularly choice words.