“I must kill her” – Tom Neuwirth to quit being Conchita

Clear words from Tom Neuwirth today. The man behind Conchita opened up to the German newspaper Die Welt am Sonntag. He said he is pretty much done with the bearded lady. The only question now is when shewill disappear… Could 2017, with a new album, be her final year?

The interview

Conchita (or Tom…?) gave an interview and spoke about the future. He said he felt that she, since winning the Eurovision Song Contest, achieved what could be achieved. Neuwirth wants to create a new persona, but that leaves us with the question what he’ll do with Conchita. His answer…:

I must kill her.

Yes, you read that right: Tom Neuwirth wants to kill off his persona and start a career with a new character. He highlights that the new character doesn’t necessarily have to be Tom Neuwirth himself, but it will not be a bearded lady.

Conchita’s look

Wurst had been changing lately, as many fans already noticed. Europe got to know her in 2012, when her song That’s What I Am finished second in Austria’s national final. In 2014, ORF decided to internally select her for Copenhagen, where she managed to get the victory. In her look back then, Conchita clearly focussed on looking as feminine as possible, with a gala dress and full make up. She often spoke of her role as drag queen and highlighted that Tom Neuwirth does not want to be a woman, but simply a drag queen.
After Eurovision, we started to see less and less of the character that won the Eurovision Song Contest in Copenhagen. More than once, she appeared as simply Conchita, without the Wurst attached to the name. On all social media channels, the Wurst is still there, though.

In recent television appearances, she appeared more and more masculine. There was less make up, the beard was real and chest hair was sometimes on display. Instead of ‘just’ being a drag queen with a beard, Neuwirth’s character challenged many gender ideas more than she did before. It was most notable during an interview on German television, in January 2017, as you can see on the left.
Back then speculation already started regarding Conchita’s future. Would Tom ever get to the point of dropping the character and appear as himself? It seems Tom has indeed reached that point with his bearded character.

A new album

Will the Wurst be gone from now on? No, that’s not the case. In the interview, Neuwirth stated that he, as Conchita, would be making a new, second album. That album will, if all goes to plan, be released in 2017. On Instagram, Conchita highlighted that her disappearing will not happen now, but it’s rather unsure if there will ever be a third album.
What do you think? Has Conchita achieved what she could achieve? Is it time for her to go or should Tom Neuwirth keep her going?