“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.”

Austrian singer, actor and drag queen

Conchita Wurst is the stage persona of Thomas Neuwirth, an Austrian singer, actor, media personality and drag queen. He is known internationally for winning the Eurovision Song Contest in 2014 for Austria with “Rise Like a Phoenix”. Under the name Conchita Wurst, Neuwirth became a public figure beyond music as well as performance. The persona has been widely associated with a bold, glamorous image, and with a song that brought him broad attention across Europe.