EUROVISION Song Contest winner Conchita Wurst missed her show at the Edinburgh International Festival last night after her Syrian band members were denied visas.
The Austrian, who won the annual music competition in 2014 with Rise Like a Phoenix, was scheduled to take the stage at last night’s showing of the New European Songbook.
However, she was forced to cancel when the three Syrian-born members of her Vienna-based backing band, Basalt, were all denied visas.
The refusal comes despite the event’s official status as a permit-free festival.
Organisers are now working to bring the drag star and her band to the capital before the month is out.
The festival said: “We are very disappointed to announce that the Syrian artists were unsuccessful in their application for visas to perform live at the concert.
“The concert will go ahead with a specially recorded introduction by Conchita and Basalt and a film of their performance.
“The International Festival has issued an open invitation to Conchita and Basalt to perform later at this year’s Festival. If this is not possible, the invitation will be extended to the 2018 International Festival.”
The world-famous arts showcase is on the Home Office list of permit-free festivals, which allows artists who need a visa to enter the country to apply for a standard visitor’s visa, rather than a working visa. The rule also applies to support staff.
Basalt applied to enter the UK on this basis, but was unsuccessful. The trio formed in Austria last year.
The New European Songbook includes musicians from the continent performing with those who have recently arrived there in two nights of new music.
Wurst said: “Due to the unfortunate fact that my friends Amjad, Noor and Almonther from Basalt were unsuccessful in their visa application to enter the UK, I am not performing at the Edinburgh International Festival tonight.
“We are all very sorry.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here