Conchita Wurst is gay, and has described himself as a drag queen.
26 Facts About Conchita Wurst
2.
Conchita Wurst's performance received the most points and resulted in her winning the contest.
3.
Conchita Wurst occasionally wore a skirt to kindergarten and then school, although subsequently felt that he could only be happy doing so in the attic of his home.
4.
The name "Conchita Wurst" had been adopted from a Cuban friend of his.
5.
Conchita 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.
6.
On 10 September 2013, Austrian national broadcaster ORF announced that it had selected Conchita Wurst to represent Austria at the Eurovision Song Contest 2014, to be held in Copenhagen, Denmark, in May 2014.
7.
In March 2014, Conchita Wurst's song was revealed as "Rise Like a Phoenix", with bookmakers placing her entry as one of the ten favourites to win.
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Conchita Wurst's victory was the first time a singer won without backing singers or dancers since 1970.
9.
Conchita Wurst's entry gained high scores from Western European countries as well as some in the East, such as Georgia and Ukraine.
10.
Conchita Wurst later confirmed to reporters that this was a message meant for politicians who opposed LGBT rights, including President of Russia Vladimir Putin, whose administration had implemented a law restricting LGBT rights in June 2013.
11.
On returning to Austria, Conchita Wurst was greeted at the airport by a crowd of over 1,000 cheering fans, many wearing fake beards and singing "Rise Like a Phoenix".
12.
Vienna's tourist board hoped to use Conchita Wurst to encourage more gay holidaymakers to visit the city, using her image on the Facebook page "Gay-friendly Vienna".
13.
On 28 June 2014, Conchita Wurst performed onstage at Trafalgar Square in central London as the headline act during the city's annual LGBT Pride Parade.
14.
Conchita Wurst was introduced onstage by actor and LGBT rights campaigner Ian McKellen, and performed to a crowd of over 300,000 alongside acts Samantha Fox and Sinitta.
15.
Conchita Wurst was invited to attend the 2015 Golden Globe Awards in Los Angeles as part of the Austrian delegation supporting nominee Christoph Waltz.
16.
Conchita Wurst is a symbol in that sense and I think it's good for them to meet.
17.
Conchita Wurst proceeded to begin work on an album influenced by "mature ladies" like Cher, Shirley Bassey, and Tina Turner.
18.
Conchita Wurst performed the song for the first time on Wetten, dass.
19.
On 7 May 2015, Conchita Wurst published her autobiography with John Blake Publishing.
20.
On 3 March 2016, Conchita Wurst performed at the Sydney Opera House accompanied by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and together with Australian stars like Courtney Act and ESC 2015 participant Guy Sebastian as a part of Sydney Mardi Gras festival.
21.
Conchita Wurst performed for BBC Radio 2's Friday Night Is Music Night on 25 February 2018 at the London Palladium.
22.
In 2019, Neuwirth revealed that he would be splitting the characters, Conchita would continue with the more feminine style of performance and a new mononymous persona called WURST would allow for a more masculine expression, Neuwirth announced that he would be releasing new music as WURST.
23.
In 2019, Conchita Wurst became a permanent judge on the drag competition reality series Queen of Drags alongside Heidi Klum and Bill Kaulitz.
24.
Neuwirth created a fictional back story for the Conchita Wurst character, claiming that she was born in the mountains of Colombia and is married to the French burlesque dancer Jacques Patriaque, a friend of Neuwirth's.
25.
Conchita Wurst compared the use of the character to American singer Beyonce's adoption of the Sasha Fierce alter ego, or singer Lady Gaga's use of various costumes, being a way to protect Neuwirth's own private life.
26.
Conchita Wurst wrote through an Instagram post that he felt compelled to come out as HIV-positive due to persistent threats from a former boyfriend that he would publicly reveal Neuwirth's status.