Conchita Wurst

“I like to party at Christmas. We always have a duck, which my brother prepares.”

“If you've got the chance to really speak your mind and do what you feel and express yourself how you want, then this is freedom. Drag is freedom.”

“There's a big difference between when I'm Tom and when I'm Conchita. Conchita uses very proper German; Tom talks in an Austrian dialect. Conchita gets mad if she is kept waiting; Tom is lazy.”

“I mean, I would love to see the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, dressing up in a more cosy way, if she feels like doing it.”

“The first song I remember listening to in a language other than German was 'Goldfinger,' by Shirley Bassey. I was seven years old at the time and I had no idea which language it was or who the lady was singing it, but it touched me and I realised that it was the sort of music I liked.”

“I can always spot an Australian queen by her high, high end wig. Australian drag queens have the best hair in the world - the best.”

“It was a huge honour to play at the Palladium with the BBC Concert Orchestra.”

“I'm not a politician, only a singer.”

“As Conchita, I've got everything that I need to be glamourous and in the spotlight, giving interviews, doing photo shoots. And on the other side, there's Tom, this shy, boring boy. And I love to be shy and boring when I'm in private.”

“You have to be respectful. Don't ask for respect if you are not respectful. It's not depending on your sexuality, your gender or the colour of your skin. It should be in the focus to live a respectful life.”

“Being a teenager in a small Austrian village was not fabulous. I tried to fit in and changed myself to be part of the game. I now realise I can create the game.”

“Because of the discrimination during my time as a teenager I decided to live my life as I want it.”

“I think that anyone who is in any way creative or is creating something, whether an architect or fashion designer, I think if you have the opportunity to create something that is fully you, it frees your mind and your spirit and gives you the opportunity to really find yourself.”

“I'm not the biggest fan of my first album.”

“I would prefer a society where we don't have to explain ourselves. But I get that many people just need those labels to understand it. And if I make my situation or beliefs more understandable by putting labels on it, I'm happy to do it.”

“I see myself as quite boring and simple.”

“I love huge dramatic songs with ridiculously big orchestral parts.”

“I don't focus on negativity, I focus on the good things.”

“It is an honour and it's flattering that people refer to me as someone they trust or get inspired from.”

“The beard is a statement to say that you can achieve anything, no matter who you are or how you look.”