Entertainment

Glam Gets Candid With Global Superstar, Conchita Wurst!

We sat down with the Austrian stunner to ask her the questions that others wouldn’t…

Ahhhhh! Don’t mind us, we are just recovering from having sat down with global drag superstar Conchita Wurst! We spent 15 minutes with the Austrian stunner in the hope that some of her exceptional beauty would rub off on us! Failing that, we wanted to rack her brain for the all the hottest tips that simpletons like us can put into place to look a little more like her (with or without the beard).

There’s something particularly nerve-racking about walking into a room that you know contains an international celebrity. It’s made considerably worse when they’re known to be stunningly beautiful. And when you’ve spent your day walking around the city with her face plastered across shop fronts, billboards and magazine covers it’s safe to say those nerves will turn you into a bit of a flustered mess.

So when I walked into the stunning Mayfair Hotel to find Conchita Wurst casually sipping on a glass of bubbles I was already all of a flutter. As I bustled in she stood up and said in her enchanting accent ‘Oh my god, you’re so beautiful!’

Well, any nerves I once had just flew straight out of the floor to ceiling windows. I’m certain my face would’ve been bright red in replacement though.

Sitting down with Conchita you’re almost immediately drawn in by how captivating she is. I’m not sure if it’s the accent, the eyes or the aura but something just pulls you straight in, whilst still putting you at ease.

We got straight to the nitty gritty. And by nitty gritty I obviously mean cake. The table had been adorned with a beautiful tiered cake stand filled with a delicious high tea spread. But there was one SA treat that was missing from the mix, a treat we feel that it’s essential any new visitor try… The humble Balfour’s Frog Cake.

Conchita was impressed by our frog cakes...

Conchita was impressed by our iconic Frog Cakes!

Don’t despair Glam readers! Like a true passionate Adelaidian, I came prepared! In my handbag I had stashed a sticky frog cake (pink of course) as the sweetest SA welcome gift for a very sweet lady.

I got on to asking what she knew of Adelaide and what her experience of Adelaide had been so far. As it turns out, it hadn’t been much more than my frog cake. When visiting Australia earlier in the year to discuss her being the face of the Feast Festival, she admitted she had no idea where Adelaide was. Well, we’re sure to make it an experience she’ll never forget.

She’s particularly excited to go exploring in the wine regions, “Although I secretly wish the press wouldn’t be present for that one,” she chuckled. Obviously a girl going for our hearts.

CONCHITA WURST

On to the reason Conchita is here today, the fabulous Feast Festival. She told us how surprised she was to learn that the Festival has almost spanned over two decades. “It’s sad to say that acceptance of the LGBTI community was not a common thing in many countries twenty years ago. So the fact that Feast has been here for that long is so great… to be an ambassador for the whole Feast Festival it’s really an honour”.

Her show The Art of Drag: A Night With Conchita is one of the major headlines of this year’s Feast Festival. Another of course, being Stephen Fry’s performance. It’s pretty spectacular that stars of this calibre are getting behind something that South Australia pioneered. We asked if upon leaving her show we’d be filled with the ferocity of a diva ready to take on the world? She’s not entirely sure if that will be the overall message.

Instead the focus will be less on ‘The Art of Drag’ and more on ‘A Night with Conchita’. This show will be intimate, as she is passionate about getting to know her audience as they get to know her. She may have dominated the stage at Eurovision, but there’s much more to this tale than winning a competition.

So can girls be Drag Queens too? Well of course! Kim Kardashian wears more makeup than half the drag world combined, we laughed. We asked for her top drag tips for Queens of every kind. ‘Well, my drag is not the typical kind. I’m not quick with the jokes on stage. I’m not really over the top”. She has heard though, that at the Sunday events there will be queens who have been in the business for over 60 years! “Those are the ladies we should be asking for tips! I bet they know some good tricks”.

Myself with the Queen!

Myself with the Queen!

As far as picking her brain for beauty and fashion tips goes, we kept it short and sweet.

Her number one beauty product – “Lashes darling! You can dress everything else up or down, but lashes are what make your face pop!”

Her number one travel item – “Sunglasses. Because if you don’t have those lashes on, no one will know.”

Number one fashion faux pas – “Wearing something you don’t love just because someone else told you to. That’s what ends in you saying ‘Ugh, what was I thinking!?'”

Fashion icon – “Victoria Beckham.” She said this without even taking a second to think. Bam.

But through all these messages that I took on board (note to self: must buy fake lashes) the topic we always kept coming back to was to be true to yourself, and to have fun. And isn’t that really the essence of drag?

It’s also the underlying message I think you take from talking to a strikingly beautiful ‘woman’, who happens to have a full beard. The bottom line of the Feast Festival is acceptance. Not just of the wider community, but also of yourself. I honestly can’t think of a person who embodies and even personifies that message more than Conchita Wurst.

Feast Festival kicks off this Friday and is jam packed with love and laughter all the way through. Check out more info here.

Photos by Jackie Tran Photography.

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