Wiki
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Release Date
14 May 2015
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Length
12 tracks
Conchita Wurst (also mononymously known as Conchita) is an Austrian pop recording artist and drag queen portrayed by Thomas "Tom" Neuwirth (born 6 November 1988). Wurst came to international attention after winning the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 as Austria's entrant with the song "Rise Like a Phoenix". Neuwirth uses masculine pronouns when referring to himself but feminine pronouns to describe Wurst. Following her coronation in Eurovision, international media dubbed Conchita as the "Queen of Austria".
Born in Gmunden, Austria, Neuwirth moved to Graz to do his matura exam with a focus on fashion, before embarking on a singing career through the 2007 casting show Starmania. He subsequently became a founding member of the short-lived boy band Jetzt Anders!. In 2011, Neuwirth began appearing as Wurst – a female character noted for her beard – and came second in the Austrian pre-selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2012.
Wurst was selected to represent Austria at the Eurovision Song Contest 2014, where her performance received the most points from voting. Wurst's entry and victory courted controversy, being condemned by social conservatives and right-wingers who saw her performance as a promotion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) rights. Conversely, it brought her international attention and established her as a gay icon, resulting in invitations to perform at various pride parades, the European Parliament and the United Nations Office in Vienna.
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