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EUROVISION

Conchita to release debut album

Austria's bearded drag queen sensation Conchita Wurst, winner of last year's Eurovision Song Contest, said Thursday that her debut album would be released on May 13th.

Published: 5 March 2015 14:09 CET
Conchita to release debut album
Photo: EPA/SOEREN STACHE

"Conchita" the album contains 14 tracks but will not feature "Rise Like a Phoenix", the rousing James Bond-like song that won Wurst (real name Tom Neuwirth, 26) Eurovision in Copenhagen last May.

Wurst, whose name was among the top ten Google searches of 2014, has also used her new fame to campaign for gay rights, performing in front of the European Parliament and for UN chief Ban Ki-moon.

"As Conchita, I've got everything that I need to be glamourous and in the spotlight, giving interviews, doing photo shoots," she told AFP in an interview in December.

"And on the other side, there's Tom, this shy, boring boy. And I love to be shy and boring when I'm in private."

In May Austria's capital will host this year's Eurovision, and Vienna's public transport operator announced this week that during the annual extravaganza recorded announcements would be made by none other than Wurst.

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EUROVISION

Sweden among favourites after leaping through to Eurovision final

Cornelia Jakobs, Sweden's entry to the Eurovision Song Contest, burst into tears and jumped onto presenter Mario Acampas, after shooting through to the final on Thursday night.

Published: 13 May 2022 08:09 CEST
Sweden among favourites after leaping through to Eurovision final

Jakobs was emotional at the press conference after her victory, telling the story of her progress from an “largely unknown” indie artist to the Eurovision stage. 

“There are a lot of feelings right now in this little body, an extremely large amount of feelings that can’t really fit in, so they’re exploding,” she said, before beginning to cry. “But I’m so happy and overwhelmed by all the support I’ve got from all these fantastic countries.” 

When the time came to pick lots for which half of the final she would appear in, she leapt onto Mario Acampas, the presenter asking questions at the press conference, wrapping her legs around his waist and clasping herself tightly to his torso. 

He then walked her over to the bowl where the lots were lying. 

“I want you to choose the second half,” she said to him. “Imagine that I have a pistol here and on the count of three I’m going to shoot you if you don’t choose.”

He refused to pick for her so she took one herself and got the second half. 

Jakobs, with her song, “Hold me closer”, was the clear favourite to go into the final, and will go through alongside Finland’s The Rasmus, and his song Jezebel, Serbia’s Konstrakta with “In corpore sano”, as well as entries from Belgium, Czechia, Azerbaijan, Poland, Estonia, Australia, and Romania. 

You can see her performance on Thursday in the video below. 

In the final, she will meet the other favourites, which include Ukraine, Italy, and the United Kingdom. 

The final will be shown on Sweden’s state broadcaster SVT at 9pm on Saturday. 

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