AUSTRIA, CONCHITA WURST & 'RISE LIKE A PHOENIX'

Conchita Wurst (Tom Neuwirth)

Today, The Watsons have continued working in Rennette Watson's candidature to participate in the next Eurovision Song Contest.

Firstly, The Grandma has offered them a new Cambridge Key English Test A2 Example.

Lately, she has been talking to them about Conchita Wurst, the Austrian singer who became the Eurovision Song Contest winner in 2014 singing Rise like a Phoenix a powerful song that claimed about resilience and surviving against intolerance.

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Thomas Neuwirth (born 6 November 1988) is an Austrian singer, recording artist, and drag queen who is known for his stage persona Conchita Wurst, also known mononymously as Conchita.

Conchita came to international attention after winning the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 as Austria's entrant with the song Rise Like a Phoenix.

Neuwirth uses masculine pronouns when referring to himself but feminine pronouns to describe Conchita.

More information: Conchita Wurst

Born in Gmunden, Austria, Neuwirth moved to Graz to do his matura exam with a focus on fashion, before embarking on a singing career through the 2007 casting show Starmania. He subsequently became a founding member of the short-lived boy band Jetzt Anders!.

In 2011, Neuwirth began appearing as Conchita -a female character noted for her beard- and came second in the Austrian pre-selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2012.

Conchita Wurst (Tom Neuwirth)

Conchita was selected to represent Austria at the Eurovision Song Contest 2014, where her performance received the most points and resulted in her winning the contest. It brought her international attention and established her as a gay icon, resulting in invitations to perform at various pride parades, the European Parliament and the United Nations Office in Vienna.

Tom Neuwirth raised in the small town of Bad Mitterndorf, in the Styrian countryside in Austria. He has stated that the mountainous area was a wonderful place to grow up, but that he faced prejudice for being homosexual: 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.

From an early age he recognised that he was different from other children, initially believing that this was because there was something wrong with him. He 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. Aged 14, Neuwirth moved to Graz to attend school, with a focus on fashion. His fashion icon was Victoria Beckham.

More information: Conchita Wurst-Twitter

In 2006, Neuwirth took part in the third edition of the Austrian TV show Starmania, finishing in second place, Nadine Beiler placed first. One year later, Neuwirth founded the boyband Jetzt Anders!, but the group disbanded during the same year.

It was after this that Neuwirth developed the drag persona of Conchita Wurst, a bearded woman. In the German language, Wurst means sausage, although Neuwirth relates the choice of last name to the common German expression Das ist mir doch alles Wurst, which translates as it's all the same to me, and I don't care, stating that the name emerged from the first meaning of that expression.

The name Conchita meanwhile had been adopted from a Cuban friend of his. In an interview he also explained that conchita is Spanish slang for vagina and Wurst is German slang for penis.

Conchita Wurst (Tom Neuwirth)

Neuwirth asserted that the inclusion of the beard as part of the Wurst character was a statement to say that you can achieve anything, no matter who you are or how you look. The inclusion of a beard as part of the drag look was not unique, having been pioneered in the 1970s by The Cockettes in San Francisco and the Bloolips in London.

Wurst's first appearance was on ORF's show Die große Chance in 2011, where she achieved 6th place. In 2012, she competed in the Austrian National Final for the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 and came second. 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.

On 10 September 2013, Austrian national broadcaster ORF announced that it had selected Wurst to represent Austria at the Eurovision Song Contest 2014, to be held in Copenhagen, Denmark, in May 2014.

More information: Conchita Wurst-Instagram

At the second semi-final on 8 May, Neuwirth, as Wurst, qualified for the final on 10 May. At the finals held in Copenhagen on 10 May 2014, she won the competition with 290 points. This was Austria's first Eurovision win since Eurovision 1966.

On returning to Austria, she was greeted at the airport by a crowd of over 1000 cheering fans, many wearing fake beards and singing Rise Like a Phoenix. To journalists, she expanded on the message of tolerance which she had championed at Eurovision: It was not just a victory for me but a victory for those people who believe in a future that can function without discrimination and is based on tolerance and respect. President of Austria Heinz Fischer asserted that it was not just a victory for Austria, but above all for diversity and tolerance in Europe.

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 also announced that he would be releasing new music as WURST.

More information: BBC

Hey, I'm just a singer in a fabulous dress,

with great hair and a beard!

Conchita Wurst