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Conchita to make train and tram announcements

Things are going to sound a little different on Vienna’s public transport in May - with the voice of Austrian Eurovision winner Conchita Wurst greeting people at underground stations and on trains and trams around the city during the Song Contest.

Published: 4 March 2015 11:23 CET

Conchita to make train and tram announcements

Conchita Wurst. Photo: EPA/HERBERT NEUBAUER

The Eurovision semi-finals are being held in Vienna’s Stadthalle on May 19th and 21st and the final takes place on May 23rd.

Bearded drag queen Wurst won the Eurovision Song Contest for Austria in May last year.

"Conchita Wurst will record announcements for trains and stations, in German, English and French," Wiener Linien transport spokesman Answer Lang told Austrian broadcaster ORF.

Lang said he could not yet give details as to what exactly Wurst would say. “The announcements will be concentrated particularly on public transport around Song Contest locations,” he added. They will be broadcast during the Song Contest week, and maybe earlier.

Vienna looks set to temporarily rebrand itself in May, with the slogan "City of Vienna – # 12 points" appearing on posters and billboards around the capital. It refers to the maximum number of points possible in the competition.

Alexander Wrabetz, director of Austrian broadcaster ORF, said everything will be done to ensure Vienna scores top points as a host city.

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IN PICS: Thousands protest in Malmö against Israel's participation in Eurovision

The protesters gathered at Malmö’s Stortorget Square, with many waving Palestinian flags or wrapping their necks with the Keffiye, the scarf that is a symbol of the Palestinian struggle against occupation.

According to police, between 6,000 and 8,000 people took part in the demonstration.

“Everything as gone according to expectations. Everything is calm and there are no disturbances so far,” Jimmy Modin, the police’s press spokesperson told Sweden’s public broadcaster SVT.

Photo: Johan Nilsson/TT

Some signs reference the disqualification of the The Netherlands’ entry Joost Klein, even though the European Broadcasting Union has asserted that the member of the production team who has accused him of threatening behaviour was not connected to a national delegation in any way.

Photo: Johan Nilsson/TT

The youth wing of the Left Party carried a sign saying, “Genocide: Nul points — no occupying powers at Eurovision”.

Photo: Johan Nilsson/TT

The protesters than moved in a procession down Södergatan and Södra Förstadsgatan, Malmö’s two main pedestrianised shopping streets, to the the Triangeln shopping, before moving down towards Slottsparken, the park where the protest is due to finish.

Photo: Johan Nilsson/TT

Members of other communities in Malmö carried banners, such as this one saying “Latinos for Palestine”.

Photo: Johan Nilsson/TT

Some of Malmö’s Jewish community also joined the march, with one protester carrying a Jews for Palestine banner.

Photo: Johan Nilsson/TT

Danish police had provided riot vans to help Swedish police control the protest, but at the time this article was posted, there had been no reports of violence.

Photo: Johan Nilsson/TT

Photo: Johan Nilsson/TT

Photo: Johan Nilsson/TT

Photo: Johan Nilsson/TT

When the protest reached the Triangeln shopping centre it dispersed and spread out over the square in front.

Photo: Johan Nilsson/TT

When The Local was leaving Malmö Arena in Hyllie, there were a handful of demonstrators staging an unsanctioned protest, who police were asking to stop.

Photo: Richard Orange

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