Killing Conchita: celebrity persona (de/re)construction as artistic transformation
Article
Article Title | Killing Conchita: celebrity persona (de/re)construction as artistic transformation |
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ERA Journal ID | 124309 |
Article Category | Article |
Authors | Carniel, Jessica |
Journal Title | Celebrity Studies |
Number of Pages | 15 |
Year | 2023 |
Publisher | Taylor & Francis |
Place of Publication | United Kingdom |
ISSN | 1939-2397 |
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. |
Keywords | persona; celebrity; drag; Eurovision; artistic identity; drag queen |
Contains Sensitive Content | Does not contain sensitive content |
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020 | 440599. Gender studies not elsewhere classified |
470208. Culture, representation and identity | |
Byline Affiliations | School of Humanities and Communication |
Centre for Heritage and Culture |
https://research.usq.edu.au/item/z1286/killing-conchita-celebrity-persona-de-re-construction-as-artistic-transformation
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