Thomas Neuwirth personal life. Thomas Neuwirth (Conchita Wurst): biography, personal life. The stellar career of Thomas Neuwirth as Conchita Wurst
Conchita Wurst is perhaps the most scandalous character in modern show business. Victory at the Eurovision Song Contest brought the bearded woman deafening popularity. The reaction of the world community was mixed. But a few years ago it was impossible even in a nightmare to imagine that huge halls would applaud a woman with a beard.
The origins of Conchita Wurst
Conchita Wurst is the stage image of an Austrian singer whose name is Thomas Neuwirth. In the small village of Stria, this then boy Thomas Neuwirth lived from birth. Even at a very young age, he tried on his mother’s dresses and high-heeled shoes more than once. Then he realized that he was sexually attracted exclusively to men.
The guy had a hard time in the village, because he didn’t even think about hiding his views. Tom Neuwirth publicly declared that he was gay back in school. “In 2011, I once saw my reflection in the mirror and really liked myself. I had stubble, my eyes were made up, I realized that I had never looked so good,” Thomas said, and so the idea of creating the image of a Cuban stubble beauty, which he called Conchita Wurst, came about.
The stellar career of Thomas Neuwirth as Conchita Wurst
Nobody was interested in the frail gay boy. And then Thomas Neuwirth took a course towards outrageousness. Having painted on his thin beard, he put on a woman's dress and, clicking his heels, set off to conquer the big stage as a drag artist. Neither the hero of "Hello, I'm Your Aunt" by Alexandra Kalyagin, dressed as a woman, nor Jack Lemmon with Tony Curtis from "Some Like It Hot" caused such a sensation as Thomas Neuwirth with his image of Conchita Wurst. The first song competitions did not bring first places, but the image became recognizable. On social networks such as VKontakte and Facebook, heated battles broke out on the topic of whether Thomas Neuwirth had sex reassignment surgery. At first, the artist was mysteriously silent, but the international Eurovision competition lifted the veil of secrecy over the double life of Conchita Wurst.
No artist in the entire history of the competition was so discussed as a woman with a beard, whose name was Conchita Wurst. Some countries even wanted to cut the time when Conchita Wurst performed from the air. But the organizers considered this a manifestation of homophobia towards representatives of sexual minorities, and threatened those who wished to be excluded from the competition. Song lovers from all over the world had to contemplate a monster with slender legs and facial hair. And “oh miracle!” Tom Neuwirth won the 2014 competition.
A huge scandal broke out. Ardent defenders of moral values unleashed all the dogs on the singer. He, rubbing his beard and batting his thickly painted eyelashes, proclaimed himself a defender of natural manifestations in man. And he said that gender reassignment surgery is the last thing. Before and after the Eurovision festival, he will remain a bearded gay man in women's clothing. And Conchita Wurst dresses very provocatively, judge for yourself by these examples:
- Without underwear. Conchita Wurst especially goes on stage in tight-fitting outfits with no underwear underneath. She seems to be answering a question about the operation. In the light of the spotlights, the outlines of a modest manhood are clearly visible in the video.
- Neckline. The deep neckline on the dress ends at the level of the navel. It is difficult to say what he demonstrates. After all, in the video and photo, virgin naked male breasts are clearly visible. Conchita Wurst reports that despite all the craving for change, she will remain this way, because she is the way God created her, and after the operation her naturalness will be lost.
- Makeup. Conchita Wurst tints his beard for expressiveness. The star jokes that after shaving, he looks 12 years old. It can be dyed within an hour, and the wig is always ready in perfect condition. She doesn’t want to change her hair color because her blonde hair doesn’t go well with her dark stubble.
Life after Eurovision
Continuing to bask in the rays of glory and receive multiple insults, a man, or rather, a woman with a masculine nature, Conchita Wurst, is trying to overturn all biblical values. From the artist’s interview, we can conclude that he is not at all against children studying sexual minorities at school, and pictures of lesbian and gay families being printed in books. After the competition, Thomas/Conchita is eagerly awaited in many countries around the world at various concerts, television shows, and television programs. The only exceptions were some countries of the former USSR:
- Russia. The strange image here seems frightening and repulsive. “This stage image is an insult to the majority of the population of Russia, and indeed of any other country,” said politician Vladimir Medinsky, who organized a collection of signatures among the population in order to not allow the monster into the country.
- Belarus. Belarusians refused to broadcast the artist’s numbers and created a “Belarusian answer” to Conchita Wurst in the form of the zombie group “Sweet Brains”.
- Ukraine. The country, striving to reach Europe through the easiest routes, invited Miss Wurst to various shows. “95th Quarter” is a humorous show that met a world star.
Personal life of a bearded woman
The star's personal life is strange and ambiguous. It is difficult to understand which events from it relate to Thomas himself and which are related to the image of Conchita Wurst.
- Parents adore Tomas/Conchita. They often accompany the star on the red carpet. My father is engaged in the production of meat products. He even loudly named a type of sausage after Conchita Wurst. This is truly a sign of stardom.
- Her husband. Since two different-sex individuals live in one person, if you ask whether Thomas has a husband, he will answer that he does not. But the spectacular Conchita is married. Her husband is a handsome burlesque dancer, Jacques Patriac. The couple loves to pose in front of cameras. In the photo they are happy and smiling.
- Children. Things with the singer’s children are not very clear. “I want to record a new song album, but I don’t know about children yet, I’m only 26 years old and I’m still waiting for my opportunity,” says the artist mysteriously. Since in Europe it is legal to adopt children into homosexual families, the dreams of a bearded mother can come true.
The newly minted defender of all things “other” and “natural,” Tom Neuwirth, has become a guiding light for many transsexuals. The audience of thousands furiously applauds the woman with the beard, Conchita Wurst. “This is the end of Europe,” said one of the famous statesmen of Russia, although even presidents dance wildly with Verka Serduchka, a fellow drag artist.
Video: Conchita Wurst - victory at Eurovision 2014
Conchita Wurst (b. 1988) is one of the most extraordinary world pop stars. The female alter ego of Austrian pop singer and drag queen Thomas (Tom) Neuwirth. In 2011, Thomas created the image of a “woman with a beard”, called it Conchita, and in 2014 won the international music competition “Eurovision”. The transvestite not only shocked the public, but also proved to the whole world that the individual is not always enclosed in a shell and subordinate to public opinion.
Childhood
Thomas was born in the small Austrian town of Gmunden on November 6, 1988. His father is Armenian by origin, his mother is Austrian. The boy's childhood was spent in the small village of Bad Mitterndorf in the province of Styria in southeastern Austria.
Already in early childhood, Neuwirth began to show interest in women's clothing. T-shirts and shorts attracted him less than dresses with heels. And instead of kicking a ball with the boys on the street, Tom arranged photo sessions.
As a teenager, he realized that he was attracted not to girls, but to guys. In a small village of three thousand people, Thomas fully felt fear for his homosexual thoughts and feelings. He experienced discrimination and humiliation from other teenagers. It got to the point that Neuwirth was even afraid to go to the toilet due to constant ridicule. Later, the boy found a way out and asked the teacher for leave in the middle of class, when he knew for sure that no one would be in the restroom.
It was then that Thomas wanted to devote his life to the fight for the fact that every person is worthy of self-determination, and gay people should have the same rights as everyone else.
Youth
Thomas was eighteen years old when he decided to take part in one of the most successful and famous casting shows in Austria - Starmania (third season). This project features aspiring pop musicians. Neuwirth came second, and singer Nadine Beiler won. The guy was inspired by such success, and he decided to make his way to the big stage.
The following year, 2007, Tom became a member of the boy band “Jetzt anders!” (this is a vocal pop group of several attractive guys, aimed mainly at teenage girls). The team did not exist for long - a few months.
Leaving music studies for some time, Neuwirth entered the Fashion School in the Austrian city of Graz. After graduating from the institution in 2011, Tom immediately decided to become a participant in the next casting show “Big Chance”.
Creating the image of Conchita
The “Big Chance” project was carried out on the ORF television channel. Here, for the first time, viewers saw the image of a “woman with a beard” invented by Thomas. He sang the song “My Heart Will Go On” by Canadian singer Celine Dion and ended up only sixth. This did not at all upset the singer, especially since Thomas understood something else: the image he had invented shocked the audience, it was not worth abandoning, but should be continued to be used.
Conchita Wurst continued to participate in German and Austrian television programs. For example, on the RTL channel (Germany), the “woman with a beard”, in the company of other star participants, went to the Namibian desert, where she took a real survival course in the show “Wild Girls”. And in the project “The Most Difficult Jobs in Austria” Conchita had to master the profession of fish processor.
The creation of the “bearded woman” was not an accident. Tom remembered being bullied at a young age and had first-hand knowledge of discrimination. The purpose of the female image with a beard was to convey to all people: everyone should be perceived by what a person is inside, and not by their appearance. It doesn’t matter where he was born and what orientation he has, the main thing is what is going on in the soul of this person. People should respect the human right to live as they want, as long as it does not cause harm to others.
Thomas not only invented Conchita, but also created a separate biography for her. She was born among the mountains of Colombia, not far from the capital, Bogota. Soon after her birth, Wurst moved to Germany, where she spent her childhood and teenage years. Conchita's father's name was Alfred Knack von Wurst, and she was named after her grandmother. “Wurst” is translated from German as sausage, so many publications mockingly called the singer a “bearded sausage.”
Tom Neuwirth immediately made a statement that he himself and his stage image are two completely different destinies and lives. They simply work together and defend their own interests. When Thomas puts on the image of Conchita, he asks to address him as “she”, “Frau”, during this period, in public places, Wurst visits women’s public toilets, and when Neuwirth is not in character, he goes to men’s restrooms.
Conchita grows a real beard, and to enhance the effect, she tints it with eye shadow. The singer's breast volume is created by a push-up bra, and her hair is an ordinary wig. It sometimes takes Thomas up to four hours to create an image and apply makeup.
The hard path to fame
Participation in television projects brought Conchita fame; she became a fairly prominent figure in Austria.
In 2012, Wurst competed in the Austrian qualifying round to represent her country at the Eurovision Song Contest in the Armenian capital Baku. The composition “That’s What I Am” was presented, receiving 49% of the audience votes. She lost only 2% to the hip-hop duo “Trackshittaz”, who went to Armenia, but did not even qualify for the final part of the competition.
In 2013, the Austrian public broadcaster Österreichischer Rundfunk decided not to hold a preliminary national selection and send Conchita to Eurovision 2014. A lot of protests and disputes immediately arose, and on the largest social network Facebook they even created a group called “No Finish Wurst at Eurovision!” Within a few days, the number of participants in the group already numbered in the tens of thousands, and they began to fill it with humiliating and homophobic posts. Although the group was initially created not against Wurst herself, but against her participation in the competition without a national qualifying round.
Serious debates have begun in the country - can a drag queen artist even participate in international events? Conchita's opponents completely forgot about the music and her voice, pouring out all their negative emotions against her personality and image. The comedian and singer who represented Austria at Eurovision 2003, Alf Poyer, made a loud statement in which he said: “If someone cannot understand whether he is a man or a woman, then he should not go to the competition, but to a psychiatric hospital.”
But then the media intervened and began to remind Austrians about other “ambiguous women” who had previously taken part in Eurovision:
- 1998 – Israeli transsexual singer Dana International (1st place);
- 2002 – Slovenian drag queen trio “Sestre” (14th place);
- 2007 – Ukrainian Verka Serduchka (2nd place).
As a result, Conchita still took part in the international competition.
Sensational victory
In May 2014, Wurst traveled to the capital of Denmark, Copenhagen, to represent Austria with the song “Rise Like a Phoenix.” The singer made it to the second semi-final, where on May 8 she scored 169 points and took first place. A day later, on May 10, the final took place, in which Conchita won with a total of 290 points. For the second time in the history of the competition, Austria won Eurovision. Prior to this, in 1966, the victory was won by the composer and singer in the pop and chanson style Udo Jurgens.
The maximum number of points (12) Conchita was awarded by several countries: Belgium, Great Britain, Finland, the Netherlands, Greece, Switzerland, Ireland, Sweden, Israel, Spain, Italy, Slovenia, Portugal. Wurst turned out to be sentimental and met every highest score with tears in her eyes.
Despite the fact that in Russia there is a negative attitude towards “non-traditional sexual minorities”, viewers still put Conchita in third place, and her composition for some time even topped the Russian charts and ratings.
After Eurovision
Hundreds of fans greeted him at the Austrian Wurst airport. The country's reaction to her victory was mixed. Conchita was congratulated by many politicians and representatives of almost all political parties (except for the far-right Liberty party). The winner of Eurovision 1966, Austrian Udo Jurgens, admitted that at first he was shocked, but when he watched a talk show with Conchita, he was extremely surprised at how nice and intelligent she was.
There were also a lot of negative reviews. An Austrian member of the European Parliament said he was ashamed of his country. One of the Serbian channels called Eurovision a “freak show”. Many television channels even stopped broadcasting the competition as soon as it became clear that Conchita Wurst could win. Conservative politicians talked about the degradation of Europe.
After a sensational victory at Eurovision, Wurst recorded the album “Conchita”, which included the composition “Heroes”, dedicated to all fans. So the singer expressed gratitude to those who supported her. The album was released in 2015 and a week later received platinum status. The following year, 2016, the singer went on a tour of German, Austrian and Swiss cities.
Model career
Having won Eurovision, Wurst received many invitations from famous couturiers to try herself as a model for very decent fees.
In the summer of 2014, the famous photographer and fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld arranged a photo shoot of Conchita in outfits from the Givenchy collection for the fashion publication CR Fashion Book. Couturier said that he likes Wurst, and not only because of her gorgeous voice. Conchita did something that no one had dared to do before. She managed to give the concept of “travesty” a completely different meaning, delighting many with her own story and road to success - from a teenager with a traumatized psyche to a sought-after celebrity. Moreover, Lagerfeld said that Wurst can confidently lay claim to the title of fashion icon of the future.
Lagerfeld’s muse, top model Ashley Goode, who was nine months pregnant at the time, took part in this photo shoot along with the extravagant Conchita. Karl explained his choice of models for filming due to their unconventionality and ability to overturn established ideas in the world of fashion and beauty.
Conchita Wurst also made a splash at Paris Fashion Week, becoming a muse for another famous couturier - Jean-Paul Gaultier. The show ended with the appearance of the Austrian singer in a black wedding dress. Gaultier, an open homosexual, directly told reporters that he is a passionate fan of Conchita and during the song contest he sent 76 SMS messages for her to vote at Eurovision.
Personal life
Conchita Wurst is legally married to burlesque dancer Jacques Patriac. They live in Austria.
After Conchita’s enchanting performance at Eurovision, Patriak repeatedly said in interviews that he was endlessly proud of his soulmate and her victory at the prestigious song contest. Jacques also stated that Wurst gave him hope and helped him believe in himself.
After Conchita won Eurovision, some politicians started talking about allowing Austrian gay couples to adopt. The couple hopes that one of the children may be lucky in the near future. Jacques and Conchita really want to have a child, whom their financial well-being will allow them to feed and raise without difficulty.
Book “I, Conchita: My Story”
At the beginning of March 2015, Thomas Neuwirth presented his autobiographical book entitled “I, Conchita: My Story” in Berlin at the Soho House Hotel. In it, Tom told what his path was like from a homosexual boy to a travesty singer, famous throughout the world. He described in detail the discrimination he had to face, how people whistled behind his back and hurled insults at him. At the same time, the singer admitted that all the ridicule and bullying had an impact on him, but did not embitter him.
During the presentation of the book, Neuwirth told how exactly in his life he came out as gay. According to him, this happened during an interview. It turned out that he confessed to journalists before he confessed to his own parents. For those who are planning to do the same, Thomas gave advice that it is better to do the opposite - first inform your relatives, and only then the newspapermen.
As for Tom’s parents, they have already survived the most difficult period and now fully support their child. In an interview with one publication, they called Conchita their daughter.
Cochita Wurst - (real name - Thomas Neuwirth) transvestite, Austrian pop singer.
Thomas Neuwirth was born on November 6, 1988 in the city of Gmunden in Austria. He spent his childhood in Styria, in the southeast of the country. Graduated from the Graz Fashion School in 2011.
At the same time, a separate biography was created for the image of Conchita Wurst, according to which she was born in the mountains of Colombia, near Bogota, and spent her childhood in Germany.
In a 2011 interview, Conchita Wurst stated that she was named after her grandmother, and also revealed her father's name as Alfred Knack von Wurst. In German, "die Wurst" means "sausage", which is why Thomas' image is sometimes called the "bearded sausage".
As stated in Wikipedia, according to the official website, a clear distinction is made between Conchita Wurst and Thomas Neuwirth. It is reported that these are two different people who have completely different destinies, but both “work as a team” and “stand together for tolerance and against discrimination.”
Young artist Thomas Neuwirth always dreamed of a career in show business. In 2006, he took part in the third season of the Austrian casting show for aspiring pop singers Starmania, where he took second place, losing first to Nadine Beiler.
At the same time, he openly declared that he was gay.
In 2007, he founded the pop-rock boy band Jetzt anders!, which lasted less than a year. He gained wide popularity only after he created the stage image of the bearded woman Conchita Wurst.
He came up with the idea for the bearded woman because he was an outsider as a teenager and faced discrimination and bullying. The image of Conchita Wurst became a statement in defense of tolerance and acceptance.
Thomas Neuwirth said that with his image of a bearded woman he wants to encourage the younger generation to be themselves and think that this is good, and also so that people do not care about another person's appearance or where they come from. According to Neuwirth, the main thing is what kind of person is inside, so that people learn to look at and appreciate what is hidden “behind the facade.”
“As a child, I was a victim of discrimination. Now I'm trying to stop it and that's why I look like this. I decided that this is how I would look on stage. I didn’t listen to anyone, I don’t care about other people’s opinions. I want to convey to people that you can look the way you want, regardless of the opinions of others,” Wurst said in an interview with the Russian publication Life News.
The image of Conchita Wurst occurred in 2011, when the performer took part in the casting show of the ORF television company Die große Chance. At the same time, in an interview in a female guise, he says that he met directly with his male “second self” “quite recently.”
The performer Conchita has become a prominent figure in Austria. Recently, already in her image, she starred in the show “The Hardest Job in Austria”, where she had to work in a fish factory, and “Wild Girls”, in which a group of candidates had to survive in the deserts of Namibia along with African tribes.
With the hit “That’s what I am,” transvestite Conchita almost went to Eurovision in 2012, taking second place.
“It is very important for me to go on this stage, not only because I am a musician and will participate in a song competition, but also because I seriously want to teach people a little more tolerance. So what if I have a beard? The person’s personality is more important, not his image,” Conchita (Neuwirth) said in an interview.
In 2013, it was announced that Conchita Wurst would represent Austria at the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 to be held in Copenhagen. This decision by the Austrian national broadcaster ORF caused controversy in the country. Four days after ORF's decision was announced, more than 31,000 people had voted against it on the Anti-Wurst Facebook page.
Conchita Wurst herself stated that she was prepared for a negative reaction to her victory in the selection, but noted that many people who had prejudices against her later abandoned them. She said that she knows that a bearded woman surprises and outrages a number of people, but in doing so it provides an opportunity to discuss the issue and reflect on the nature of xenophobia.
Activists from Belarus and Russia spoke out against Wurst’s performance at the competition, demanding that her number be cut during the broadcast of the competition. However, according to the rules of Eurovision, all its participants are equal, and if someone does not show the competition in full for such reasons, then they will lose the right to participate in it for several years in a row.
In 2011, in an interview with Conchita Wurst, together with burlesque dancer Jacques Patriac, they stated in an interview that they had been married for four years.
Conchita Wurst
Conchita Wurst. Real name: Thomas "Tom" Neuwirth. Born on November 6, 1988 in Gmunden (Austria). Austrian pop singer and drag queen. Winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2014.
Thomas Neuwirth, who became widely known as Conchita Wurst, was born on November 6, 1988 in Gmunden (Austria).
His childhood was spent in the small village of Bad Mitterndorf in Styria.
From an early age, Tom showed an interest in women's clothing, and as a teenager he noticed that he was attracted to men. Living in a conservative village, Tom experienced discrimination against LGBT people. He said that at school he was subjected to collective bullying. For example, because of fear, he only went to the toilet during lessons, when no one was there.
It wasn't easy for his parents either. And they did not immediately accept his unconventional orientation. But then they began to support their son, who, however, they began to consider as a daughter.
At the age of 17, he came out; his parents were the first to know about it. “Moreover, I would not recommend this method of coming out to those who are thinking about how to tell their parents about it. My parents, of course, were shocked by this fact,” he admitted.
“I participated in a TV show. I gave an interview where the host said: “Let’s move on to your personal life.” Then I had two options. I could lie, or I could be honest and say that I like boys. I chose the second path. The interview was supposed to air a week later. Before the interview aired, I went to my parents to tell them what I said in the interview. They were very confused. They didn’t know how to react,” Tom recalled.
At the age of 18, Tom Neuwirth took part in the third season of the Austrian casting show for aspiring pop singers Starmania, where he took second place, losing first to Nadine Beiler.
In 2007, he became a member of the boy band "Jetzt anders!", which existed, however, only for a few months.
In 2011, Neuwirth graduated from the Fashion School in Graz, after which the same year he took part in the Austrian casting show “Big Chance” on the ORF channel, where he first appeared as a woman with a beard, Conchita Wurst, performing the hit My Heart Will Go On. “If someone told me ten years ago that I would become a bearded lady and people would like it, I would have told me to take medicine,” he said.
Having taken only sixth place on the show, Tom did not despair and in subsequent years continued to use the image of Conchita Wurst to participate in various reality shows on television in Austria and Germany - “The Hardest Jobs in Austria” (Die härtesten Jobs Österreichs) in the role of a fish processor, and also in the show Wild Girls on the German television channel RTL, in which, together with other German celebrities, he tried to “survive” in the deserts of Namibia.
As he explained, the idea for a bearded Latina woman came from the fact that he faced discrimination and bullying as a teenager. The image of Conchita Wurst became a statement in defense of tolerance and acceptance of a person as he is. Tom Neuwirth said that he wants the new generation to believe that it is good to be yourself, so that what matters to people is not what a person looks like or where he comes from, but what kind of person he is, so that people learn to look at and appreciate what what is hidden “behind the façade”.
There is no exact version of the appearance of the pseudonym Conchita Wurst. Regarding the name Conchita, Neuwirth gave various comments. According to one version, this is his nickname, which one of his Latin American friends once gave him. According to another version, the name Conchita is simply strongly associated with a “hot Latina,” which is why it was chosen. In another interview, Tom claimed that the name Conchita is a diminutive of the name Concha, which is associated with femininity.
The surname Wurst also allows for ambiguous interpretations. Neuwirth himself has repeatedly in his interviews explained the meaning of the pseudonym by referring to the stable German expression wurst sein, which means “to be indifferent, indifferent” and in this context means that a person’s appearance and origin do not matter. Also, the word Wurst in German means sausage. While the Spanish word conchita is a vulgar term for a woman's vagina, so the name "Conchita Wurst" is a verbal conjunction of male and female.
In 2012, Neuwirth, in the image of Conchita Wurst, participated in the national selection for Eurovision 2012, where he took second place, gaining 49% of the votes and only slightly losing to the hip-hop duo Trackshittaz (51%), who did not even get into the competition the final.
In 2014, Austria still sent Conchita to the 59th song contest Eurovision 2014 to Copenhagen. And on May 8, at the competition, Conchita Wurst with the song “Rise Like a Phoenix” took first place in the second semi-final, scoring 169 points. On May 10, 2014, in the final of the competition, Conchita Wurst received 290 points and became the winner of Eurovision. Thus, Austria became the winner of Eurovision for the second time in its history (the last time was in 1966, when Udo Jürgens became the winner of the competition.
Conchita Wurst - Rise Like a Phoenix. Eurovision 2014
The points received during the voting were composed of 50% from the points of the national jury and 50% from the points of television viewers. In the combined total, Conchita received the maximum 12 points from 13 countries - Belgium, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Great Britain.
A large gap over the participants from the Netherlands, who took second place, was obtained through SMS voting by viewers.
After returning to Austria from Copenhagen, Conchita Wurst was greeted at the airport by hundreds of fans. Representatives of all political parties, with the exception of the right-oriented Freedom Party, congratulated Frau Wurst on her victory. Leading politicians of the country - President Heinz Fischer and Federal Chancellor Werner Faymann personally congratulated the artist.
Austria's victory was criticized by conservative politicians in Poland, Slovakia and Hungary. It was called a sign of decline, decline and degradation of Europe, propaganda for blurring the boundaries between men and women and cultural aggression. In Russia, many politicians also said that the image of Conchita Wurst is propaganda of homosexuality and moral decay.
In the summer of 2014, Conchita Wurst performed at gay pride events in London, Trafalgar Square, Madrid, Zurich, Stockholm, and Antwerp. Conchita also took part in the fashion show of fashion designer Jean-Paul Gaultier, demonstrating a wedding dress. In addition, she took part in photography.
In October 2014, Conchita Wurst became the official advertising face of the largest Austrian bank, Bank Austria. In December 2014, the Austrian magazine Profil named Conchita Wurst "Person of the Year" along with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
On May 15, 2015, the debut album “Conchita” was released, which received platinum status in Austria less than a week after its release. In March 2015 and March 2016, Conchita Wurst was awarded the Amadeus Austrian Music Award in the “Artist of the Year” category two times in a row. In April and May 2016, Conchita Wurst's first tour took place in the cities of Austria, Germany and Switzerland.
