At Eurovision 2012, he urged viewers to “Woki mit deim popo” as part of the energetic rap duo Trackshittaz. Now Lukas Plöchl has revealed another side to his talents, as he was unmasked as the Climate Hero on The Masked Singer Austria.
Lukas had lasted four episodes as Der Klimaheld — the Climate Hero. He performed wearing a one-of-a-kind superhero costume made entirely from recycled items, including soda bottles, computer and bicycle parts and a solar panel. The costume also featured a glowing green heart.
Lukas may be best known as one half of the rap duo Trackshittaz, but after the group split in 2015, he has been performing solo under the name Wendja.
His time on The Masked Singer let him show off different sides of his performance talents. In the first week, he performed the French-language “Formidable” by the Belgium singer Stromae. The next week he did indie-folk with Bon Iver’s “Skinny Love”.
Then he got to perform in German and rap with “Out of the Dark” by the ’80s Austrian star Falco. In this week’s episode, he performed Coldplay’s tender ballad “Fix You”, moving one of the judges to tears, then tackled Ellie Goulding’s “Love Me like You Do” in the sing-off.
Sadly that was to be his last performance on the show. He was voted out and unmasked. Under his eco-mask, Lukas revealed his beard and lustrous flowing dark locks, a change from the shaved punk style he sported eight years ago in Baku.
Lukas told Austrian newspaper Kurier that singing “was a test of courage for me. Singing was always such a sore point for me. Rapping is something, I’m well versed in. I just don’t have the experience with singing, but I really enjoy doing it.”
Other Austrian stars appear on The Masked Singer
Lukas wasn’t the only former Austrian Eurovision star on The Masked Singer. Austria’s 2017 Nathan Trent is one of the three regular judges on the series. This week he was joined by Austria’s Eurovision 2018 star Cesár Sampson, who appeared as the weekly guest judge.
Meanwhile, a popular fan theory is that one of the remaining acts, the Yeti, is Austria’s Eurovision 2011 singer Nadine Beiler. Perhaps offering a Eurovision clue, this week Yeti performed “Rise Like a Phoenix”.
The Masked Singer Austria continues, with Geistergräfin (the Ghost Countess), Karpfen (the Carp), Lipizzaner (royal horse) and the Yeti battling it out to be the king or queen of the mask.
What do you think? Were you surprised to see Lukas Plöchl on The Masked Singer? Should he return to represent Austria at Eurovision as a solo artist? Tell us your thoughts below!
I think of Trackshitazz as the only act to ever beat Conchita! Obviously different song. I also enjoyed their performance, however vulgar or crass they can be. I liked how the crowd in Baku we’re enjoying it, in contrast to the dead crowd in the final that year.
Are the group (or just him) still popular/well remembered in Austria?
Am I the only one who actually enjoyed Austria in 2012? Sure it’s trashy and cheap, but serves as a guilty pleasure. It has quite a memorable beat.
Weirdly enough, if they hadn’t won the selection in 2012, Conchita would’ve went with a pretty meh song, done not so well and we probably wouldn’t have had her at all in 2014 as a result.
And Lukas was 2nd behind Nadine Beiler in the NF that year. „Oida tounz“ was waaaaaaaaaaay better than „woki mit deim popo“, funnier, cathier, less sexist, more likeable over all. They would‘ve done quite well with it, I think