Sunday, May 11, 2014

The mandatory Eurovision post

This might become my least read post ever because it's already been twelve hours since Conchita Wurst won Eurovision and I'm pretty sure in another two everybody will be sick of the talk already. All I know is that my enthusiasm about her win is going to carry over to Monday, possibly Tuesday, and maybe far beyond. I am exstatic! There's a number of reasons why someone like her winning arguably one of the biggest prizes you can win for your country in Europe is awesome, one of the best being the fact that this someone is neither a she, or a he, or an it. For a person like me who's looking at it from an entertainment, personality and political angle it was a great result. And since I'm grossly average I assume that Europe shares my angle.

Like most people in my generation I am a passionate supporter of the LGBT community not only because I have less than zero problems with Lesbian, Gay, Bi or Transgender people but because I welcome freedom of expression and appreciate people who are different. And even in transgender circles Conchita Wurst is probably quite unique. I first heard of her when she was on a reality show in Germany last summer in which she was living in a Namibian tribe for three weeks. The people in that tribe asked her WHAT she was so she placed a man on her right and a woman on her left and said "Look, he's a man, she's a woman, and I'm in the middle of both." Because why the frick not?

Of course my generation does not lead society just yet. Without knowing Conchita Wurst, or the guy she also identifies with, we all know she has experienced more hate than most of us. Homophobia, xenophbia or racism might be a smaller problem in my generation but these issues still very much exist. Prior to this competition her own country hated on her, never mind Belarus and Russia who unsurprisingly aren't big fans. With this result, however, Europeans have shown that they are not big fans of Belarus and Russia and their matching dedication to homophobia. Her win is an expression of acceptance and a welcome to everybody who dares to be different. I was happy for the individual who was being celebrated for being herself although being able to do that probably took a whole of a lot of time.

While position two and three were the better songs in my eyes my heart was beating for Conchita as well. Her vocal performance was awesome and based on talent it was a justified win. The song was horrendously cheesy but the drama is working for me. Gay men being dramatic might actually be my favorite thing about them. It was the showcasing of some talent while being well aware that the person behind the voice will probably not be accepted by everyone that impressed me. And Europe. No other contestant was more aware of having haters. A whole participating country is universally known for public denunciation of people like Conchita. Unfortunately for that country it's the bully in the classroom right now, and all the other classmates turned against it and embraced the fat kid!

Conchita was my favorite since I heard she was participating, however, I had no synapse in my brain that believed she could win it. The lack of points by countries such as Russia and Belarus would make a win impossible, I thought. I certainly didn't see 12 points from Israel coming. My actual favorites were Sweden and Holland so I suppose I have shown I am a true European, picking the Top 3 as my three best. I am so average, it's embarrassing. I am the opposite of Conchita and that's why I'm happy she won and I didn't. Being different is a good thing, and loving yourself despite hate from some will also earn you a lot of love. This is the message that won, and arguably not a song...

No comments:

Post a Comment