Octoberfest is over, Halloween is just a few
days away. Today I would like to introduce you to a very special guest –
Manuela Horn, your typical down-to-earth yodelling dominatrix next door. Capitalizing
on her Amazon stature and strong versatile voice, this gorgeous Austrian has
cultivated a humorous, good-natured, provocative stage persona incorporating elements of gothic and burlesque. You definitely do not want to miss her house
on Halloween.
MH: My experience on America’s Got Talent was fantastic. It all happened so fast. I would say the best part for me looking back is watching David Hasselhoff drool… he literally did not close his mouth during my performance! Priceless!!!! I have always loved working on TV, and the thrill of performing for a live studio audience with such a big production budget really raised my sights and made me dream of some new roles for myself. It is difficult to measure the change in my prominence and it feels like I have only earned a few jobs from people who remember the AGT performance. In the end the endorsement, probably helps distinguish me in more ways than I know.
MJN: The charming persona you created, is that the product of your personal imagination, or did professional stylists and writers have a hand in it?
MH: Oh, thank you for the compliment you make my day! It is all me, myself and I. I want my performing to inspire an open and laughing heart. AGT had a great team that was very supportive of what I had to offer… they wanted me to shine through and didn’t want to interfere with my personality.
MJN: Can you name any icons in popular culture that influenced your repertoire? I see elements of Lady Gaga and Till Lindemann - provocative imagery that's coming from a very warm and humorous place.
MH: I personally love humor of the unexpected. I think Katie Perry, Lady Gaga, Madonna Adam Sandberg, Weird Al Yankovic in America and Helge Schneider in Germany are big sources of inspiration. Yodeling is such a unique art form that I would like to plant it in every type of music, to reach many music lovers. I also have been called, the Weird Al Yankovic of Oktoberfest, since I rewrite Top 40 hits into drinking songs like “Sipping on beer foam” (Katrina& The Waves “walking on sunshine), “I wanna drink your beer” (Beatles “ I wanna hold your hand”) Polka Phase (lady Gaga “Pokerface”) and so on…
MJN: I love your costumes. It must take a special skill to wear such tight corsets and high heels. You make it look so easy and natural. I imagine if some other girls tried your outfits, they would be in agony very soon.
MH: Thank you, I have been very fortunate to get to work with incredible designers and seamstresses when I can not make them myself…. Jamie Von Stratton from the Burlesque world in Seattle built me incredible interactive costumes and the team from the dinner theater Teatro Zinzanni really took my dominatrix look into a regal direction.
MJN: You are a very generous and hospitable person who opens her house to other people on occasion. Who are some of the most fascinating individuals you've housed? And what are some of the lessons you want your children to take away from all those artistic experiences that you expose them to?
MH: I love how my home is becoming a tour stop for so many performing friends from around the world!!!! Most recently we just hosted, Alexander van Bubenheim while he played with my band for Oktoberfest North West. He is an incredible Hollywood music Producer and works with world-class musicians and superstars and is a very German / direct father. I loved watching him interact with my son and make a tsunami water experiment with action figures in the driveway.
I think the most fascinating regular houseguest would have to be Michael McQuilken. He spent a week with me recently working on a one-woman show on his way to a few dates drumming for Jason Webley… I love it when my kids see what life in the arts looks like. I guess there is a lesson there about how any art is a practice and being open and present is the first step.
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