You may or may not have heard the name Conchita Wurst, this week’s winner of Eurovision 2014. But who exactly is Conchita Wurst, you ask?
Simply put, Conchita is an Austrian drag artist and singer – born as Thomas “Tom” Neuwirth – who is best known for her genderfuck performances that challenge popular notions of gender as binary (i.e. men must be “masculine” and women must be “feminine”). By performing in elaborate dresses, make up as well as full facial hair, she forces her audience to confront and question their socially constructed biases about how men and women should behave.
Watch her semi-final performance of “Rise Like a Phoenix” at Eurovision 2014 in Copenhagen, Denmark:
As the winner of Eurovision 2014, Ms. Wurst has taken the famous deconstructionist line “gender is a performance” to a whole new level, spitting in the face of rampant global transphobia.
Perhaps some of these other celebrities will follow suit… here’s how we imagine they would look in drag:
1. Barack Obama
2. Snooki
3. Vladamir Putin
4. Rihanna
5. Mel Gibson
6. Shakira
7. Kanye West
8. Kim Kardashian
WE SAID THIS: Kim Kardashian, have you thought about becoming a drag king?