Thomas "Tom" Neuwirth (born 6 November 1988), better known by his drag stage persona Conchita Wurst, is an Austrian singer. Wurst came to international attention when winning the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 in Copenhagen, Denmark with the song "Rise Like a Phoenix".
Born in Gmunden, Neuwirth studied fashion before embarking on a singing career through the 2007 casting show Starmania. He subsequently became a founding member of the short-lived boyband Jetzt Anders!. In 2011, Neuwirth began appearing as Wurst – a drag persona noted for her beard – and came second in the Austrian preselection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2012. Wurst was successfully selected to represent Austria at the Eurovision Song Contest 2014, where she proved victorious. Wurst's entry and victory courted controversy, being condemned by some of the continent's social conservatives and right-wingers who saw her performance as a promotion of LGBT rights. Conversely, it brought her international attention and established her as a prominent LGBT icon.
Neuwirth describes himself as a gay man and uses female pronouns to describe his Wurst character, but male pronouns when referring to himself.
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In 2006, Neuwirth took part in the third edition of the Austrian TV show Starmania, finishing in second place (Nadine Beiler placed first). One year later, Neuwirth founded the boyband Jetzt Anders!, but the group disbanded during the same year.
It was after this that Neuwirth developed the persona of Conchita Wurst, a bearded woman. In the German language, "Wurst" means "sausage", although Neuwirth relates the choice of last name to the common German expression "Das ist mir doch alles Wurst", which translates as "it's all the same to me", and "I don't care", stating that the name emerged from the first meaning of that expression. The name "Conchita" meanwhile had been adopted from a Cuban friend of his. Neuwirth asserted that the inclusion of the beard as part of the Wurst character was "a statement to say that you can achieve anything, no matter who you are or how you look." The inclusion of a beard as part of the drag look was not unique, having been pioneered in the 1970s by The Cockettes in San Francisco and the Bloolips in London.
Neuwirth clarified that he is not transgender, and is instead a gay man; he uses female pronouns to describe his Wurst character, but male pronouns when referring to himself. Neuwirth created a fictional back story for the Wurst character, claiming that she was born in the mountains of Colombia and is married to the Frenchburlesque dancer Jacques Patriaque, a real individual who is a friend of Neuwirth's. He compared the use of the character to American singer Beyoncé's adoption of the Sasha Fierce alter ego, or Lady Gaga's use of various costumes, being a way to protect Neuwirth's own private life.[7]
Wurst's first appearance was on ORF's show Die große Chance in 2011, where she achieved 6th place.[11] In 2012, she competed in the Austrian National Final for the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 and came second. Wurst then appeared in the ORF show The Hardest Jobs of Austria, working in a fish processing plant, and in Wild Girls, in which a group of candidates had to survive in the deserts of Namibia together with native tribes.
Tom Neuwirth
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