Indie-rock veteran Conor Oberst has become the latest musician to be the focus of a lookalike contest, with the Bright Eyes frontman going so far as to show up at the event.
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Taking place on Friday (Aug. 1) at Omaha, NE community space Floors, Floors, Floors, the event was first announced in early July as a fundraiser for youth music organization Omaha Girls Rock.
Having initially “started as a joke,” attendees were invited to attend dressed as Oberst as part of the lookalike competition, with the indie-rock motif being underlined by the promise of the first 40 people to show up being given a single American Spirit cigarette.
Playing into the humor of the event on social media, one commenter had previously asked what the contingency plan would be if the real Oberst attended the festivities, with organizers noting that “he can play but he can’t win.”
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However, in a recap of the evening, the winner of the competition revealed that despite a limited number of entrants, both Oberst and his Bright Eyes bandmate Mike Nogis attended the event, with Oberst bestowing the victor with a “giant trash bag” full of his old clothes.
“I was cleaning out my closet so you get a big bag of my clothing,” Oberst can be heard saying in a video from the night.
The competition took place just weeks after Bright Eyes wrapped up the European leg of their ongoing tour in support of 2024 album Five Dice, All Threes, and days after the release of their new song “1st World Blues.” The band will be hitting the road later this month for a run of North American dates, with further shows in Asia scheduled for November and December.
The concept of lookalike competitions being recognized by their subjects is far from a new one. In October, a Manhattan Timothée Chalamet lookalike contest featured the actor making a guest appearance, while December saw Drake donating $10,000 to the prize pot of a competition focused on him.
Famously, Dolly Parton also attended her own lookalike contest, though rather than simply show up, the country icon decided to compete – ultimately failing to take home the grand prize.
“All of these other beautiful drag queens had worked for months and weeks getting their clothes and all that, and they were dressed like me,” Parton recalled to ABC’s Nightline in 2012.
“So, I just got in the line and I just walked across [the stage] and they just thought I was some little, short gay guy. And I got the least applause but I was just dying laughing inside. I say it’s a good thing I was a girl or I’d be a drag queen.”
