Killing Conchita: celebrity persona (de/re)construction as artistic transformation

Article

Carniel, Jessica. 2024. "Killing Conchita: celebrity persona (de/re)construction as artistic transformation." Celebrity Studies. 15 (4), pp. 541-555. https://doi.org/10.1080/19392397.2023.2256429
Article Title

Killing Conchita: celebrity persona (de/re)construction as artistic transformation

ERA Journal ID124309
Article CategoryArticle
AuthorsCarniel, Jessica
Journal TitleCelebrity Studies
Journal Citation15 (4), pp. 541-555
Number of Pages15
Year2024
PublisherTaylor & Francis
Place of PublicationUnited Kingdom
ISSN1939-2397
1939-2400
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1080/19392397.2023.2256429
Web Address (URL)https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19392397.2023.2256429
Abstract

Conchita Wurst rose to fame as the bearded drag queen who won the Eurovision Song Contest in 2014. Through Conchita, the artist Thomas Neuwirth found greater success in his career than he had achieved performing under his own name and non-drag image. Despite this, the specific image and persona of Conchita quickly became limiting for his own artistic expression and growth, leading Neuwirth to introduce a second persona, WURST. This article explores the construction and function of these personas for Neuwirth, arguing that the introduction of WURST has allowed Neuwirth to reconstruct ‘Conchita Wurst’ as a more versatile performance identity and artistic brand than achievable via the Conchita or WURST personas. It demonstrates how persona can be used strategically to disrupt and transform artistic careers, and how the celebrity of a persona can be leveraged into a form of brand recognition even after that persona is discarded.

Keywordspersona; celebrity; drag; Eurovision; artistic identity; drag queen
Contains Sensitive ContentDoes not contain sensitive content
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020440599. Gender studies not elsewhere classified
470208. Culture, representation and identity
Byline AffiliationsSchool of Humanities and Communication
Centre for Heritage and Culture
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