Popularly known as ‘the bearded lady’, Conchita won the Eurovision Song Contest with the James Bond-like theme Rise Like A Phoenix before a global TV audience estimated to be around 180 million people in 45 countries. Hundreds of fans and well-wishers gathered at Vienna International Airport waving banners and many with beards lovingly drawn on their faces to show their support for their victorious homecoming queen. Tom Neuwirth was born on 6 November of 1988, while his alter ego, Conchita Wurst, was born in November 2011 when he performed under his stage name for the very first time.
As Tom Neuwirth he began his career on the talent show Starmania in 2007 and then as part of the boy band Jetzt anders!, but was in 2011 when he took the stage of the talent show Die große Chance as the bearded lady, Miss Conchita Wurst. Since then, he has been a symbol for tolerance and artistic freedom in Austria and beyond. In 2012 Conchita participated in the Austrian final for the Eurovision Song Contest finishing second with the upbeat song “That’s what I am”. In the exclusive interview below to the HoP of ESCToday, Sergio (Sanjay) Jiandani, Conchita Wurst answered all the questions about several topics ( see the video below ). The butcher Joe Aichinger, 38, created the sausage featuring the singer’s portrait as a tribute to Wurst. He said the sausage was “extra spicy, just like she is,” and said it was selling well.
His shop is near her family home in Bad Mitterndorf, southern Austria, where she paid a special visit, got into a uniform and helped to sell the sausage to locals. On the honour, Wurst said: “It looks good, but I never imagined it would be so big.” She continued: “Wurst is after all my name, it’s from the German expression it’s all sausage, which means I don’t care. It’s all sausage after all if I am man, or a woman.” According to reports, village priest Michael Unger was also a fan of the sausage. He said: “I am proud that she stands true to herself.”