His latest album From Vienna with Love has already topped the charts in his native Austria. And while it may merely be the latest in a long list of accomplishments, Conchita tells us that it’s still very special to him.
“I’m over the moon — this really is a dream come true,” he said in our YouTube live chat on wiwi.tv. “That’s the soundtrack to my life.”
“It’s so overwhelming that I now have all of these songs that I have been singing for years and years on my own, in the shower or whatever, and now I’m performing them with an actual orchestra.”
Singing in front of an orchestra may be an amazing feeling — but it’s also slightly stressful.
“It’s a whole new experience. Listening to my music, and obviously for me performing my music, with an orchestra….it’s nerve-wracking. I have to be honest. So many people, and I get so nervous, and they are all depending on me. And they are all the best musicians you can get. I just want to live up to their standards. But I enjoy it so much. It’s like a huge heart that is beating — this orchestra — and it pulls you in and you can bathe in the sound.”
The wide range of covers on the album — from Celine Dion’s “All By Myself” to Sam Smith’s “Writing’s On the Wall” — wasn’t a walk in the park. One song in particular — Barbara Streisand’s “The Way We Were” — was a real challenge technically.
“That was a tough one. In some moments in the song it’s quite high and I’m good at singing high and loud. But singing high, but then a mixed voice, it’s a challenge. It truly was a challenge. And I didn’t know humming was so hard. Humming is not that easy — at least when you’re in a vocal booth and try to deliver it.”
In recent months a lot of readers have asked us why Conchita prefers to be referred to as he rather than she.
“Time has passed and I learned so much about myself and the world. I used to be this drag persona in the golden dress and very feminine and I loved it. But time has changed and I evolved and got different points of views when it came to superficial things. Like fashion. I’m just not that interested in that style I used to wear. It’s basically just life that happened. These days I feel more comfortable if someone addresses me as he — but you never know.”
Is new music in the pipeline?
“I’m working on my third album. It’s been a minute, I know. We’ve been talking about that album for years and years. I already listened to it for months and months. It’s already on my playlist because you’re working constantly with the songs and try to evolve them and make them perfect. I’m working on new stuff that will definitely be more electronic and experimental, if you will. I’m very excited about how people will receive it.”
What was it like watching Austria’s Cesar Sampson leading after the jury vote at Eurovision 2018?
“Once you become Miss Universe, you really don’t like the upcoming competition when you have to give away your crown. For me it was a special moment when Austria was in the lead. I was very excited — don’t get me wrong. Cesar delivered perfectly and he’s such a good artists and the song was great. But there was a part of me that though, ‘Already now? Can’t we wait for another 10 years or so?’ But it was very exciting and we became third which was just amazing.”
You can watch the full interview at the top of this post and on the wiwibloggs YouTube channel. Are you loving Conchita as much as we are? Do you have a message for her on her birthday (November 6)? Let us know down below!
Referring to Conchita as “she” is such a hard habit to break! There’s only one slip in this article. 🙂
The new record sounds great, Rise Like A Phoenix would’ve sounded even better had it competed back in the live orchestra days.
My favorite track is “Have I ever been in Love” co-written by Conchita
https://youtu.be/IwbvCQgHeDc
Happy Birthday, Thomas!
It was such an impressing gala at Vienna´s “Konzerthaus”: what a fantastic sound of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra and what a voice, Conchita!!!! Loved already your Eurovision Performance but you were breathtaking here.
Wish you simply the best – happy birthday, Conchita!
I thought Israel was in the lead after the televote ? Why are we headed to Israel then?
After the JURYvoting, Austria was in the lead 🙂 And then after the TELEvoting, Israel won the competition. Conchita refers to when the juryvoting was over and he saw Austria in the lead 🙂
Lol…..That was a sarcastic question probably to get the writer to correct their mistake
Your sincere answer to that is cute
Lol 😀 I just read Conchita’s ANSWER and thought, @Onetimeuser said that Conchita was wrong, but he was not, because Conchita refers to Austria after the juryvote. Now I see that the QUESTION has a mistake. Haha, great misunderstandings 😀 😀
I have one thing to say: I love “Writing’s On The Wall” by Sam Smith so much! That’s why I’m always getting nervous with cover versions. But Conchita’s version is awesome! 😀 And the long note on “On” at the end makes me speechless 🙂 Amazing version!!! Happy Birthday Conchita <3