24/5/14: This year’s Eurovision winner has quickly come to represent so much more than just her native Austria in the continent’s most unapologetically gauche talent show since globally televised talent shows began.
Conchita Wurst’s win is thought to both embody and champion liberal thinking and acceptance in a 21st century Europe over more regressive sentiments taking stronghold of late behind the old ‘Iron Curtains’.
So, it was natural that London’s LGBT crowd were out in no small measure to celebrate the coming of ‘The Bearded Lady’ to superclub Heaven’s main floor last Saturday.
Like a pheonix, Ms. Wurst rose from the wings in a cutaway black gown and canary heels to the roar of the boys and girls cramming the big room. From ‘Rise Like A Pheonix’, her winning number, to ‘My Heart Will Go On’ – Conchita climaxed the night with soaring ballads and Mariah-esque arm gestures to boot.
Naturally, Ms. Wurst was hardly the shy and retiring type, and any admirers wanting a picture and a chat after her star turn could find her in the VIP room – more than ready to mingle. So it was, this year, a true vision indeed for Europe!
Heaven, under the Arches, Villiers Street, Charing Cross, WC2N 6NG
Words by Yafeu-Khamisi Rodway-Brown
Photos by Chris Jepson
