The Austrian pop star and drag queen Conchita Wurst is celebrating her 27th birthday on Friday, 6 November. Born Thomas "Tom" Neuwirth in 1988, Conchita became known internationally after she won the Eurovision Song Contest 2014, wherein she performed "Rise Like a Phoenix". Her victory also earned her the name, "Queen of Austria".
In celebration of this LGBT icon's birthday, we decided to round-up some of her best performances and a few interesting facts about her:
- She was born in Gmunden and was raised in the small town of Bad Mitterndorf amid the Styrian countryside. She says that although it was a great place to grow up, she faced a lot of problems for being gay: "Being a teenager, a gay teenager, in such a small village is not that much fun. I am part of the gay community and most gays have a similar story to mine."
- In 2006, she took part in Starmania Season 3 and finished second place -- with Nadine Beiler winning the competition.
- "Wurst" in German means sausage and she chose the name owing to the German expression "Das ist mir doch alles Wurst", which roughly translates to "I don't care". Wurst is also a slang word for penis, whereas Conchita is a slang word for vagina in Spanish.
- Despite looking like a lady in every other way, Wurst sports a beard as "a statement to say that you can achieve anything, no matter who you are or how you look."
- She founded and was a member of the boy-band Jetzt Anders!, which disbanded almost immediatelly.
- Here is how Wurst used to look before taking on the bearded lady persona:
Enjoy some of Conchina Wurst's best performaces on her birthday:
