page_title: Conchita Wurst
section_title: 2014–present: Subsequent career
hierarchical_section_title: Conchita Wurst / 2014–present: Subsequent career
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Conchita/Wurst bei der Verleihung der Amadeus Austrian Music Awards 2019 im Volkstheater in Wien. English: Conchita/Wurst at the Amadeus Austrian Music Award 2019 at Volkstheater in Vienna.
context_page_description: Thomas Neuwirth is an Austrian singer, recording artist, and drag queen who is known for his stage persona Conchita Wurst. Neuwirth came to international attention after winning the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 as Austria's entrant with the song "Rise Like a Phoenix". He uses masculine pronouns when referring to himself but feminine pronouns to describe Conchita.
  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 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.
context_section_description: On 28 June 2014, Conchita performed onstage at Trafalgar Square in central London as the headline act during the city's annual LGBT Pride Parade. She 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. She informed reporters from The Observer that "I don't want to say the other Prides are less good, but I fell in love with London immediately, so today is a very special day for me. All the drag queens looked stunning."
  On 2 July, she opened Madrid's LGBT Pride festival with a concert at Chueca Plaza, there performing alongside Ruth Lorenzo, before performing at Stockholm Pride on 30 July, at Antwerp Pride on 10 August, and at Manchester Pride on 24 August.
  On 9 July, she made her modelling debut on the catwalk at fashion designer Jean Paul Gaultier's Couture show in Paris, where she took the final spot, which is usually reserved for Gaultier's favourite model. In August she modeled Givenchy clothing for Karl Lagerfeld's fashion editorial, "The New Normal", published in Carine Roitfeld's CR Fashion Book. She was invited to attend the 2015 Golden Globe Awards in Los Angeles as part of the Austrian delegation supporting nominee Christoph Waltz.
  On 8 October, Conchita performed to a crowd of 2000 delegates and their staff at an anti-discrimination event held at the European Parliament in Brussels; her speech emphasised the values of tolerance, stating that "As I always say, you don't have to love me, but you have to respect that I'm here." Her appearance had been organised by the Austrian Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Ulrike Lunacek, a member of the Green Party, and while it had the backing of most of the European Parliament groups, it was not supported by the right-wing Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy and European Conservatives and Reformists groups.
  On 3 November, she performed at the United Nations Office at Vienna in front of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon. A spokesperson for Ban described Conchita as a "cultural icon" and asserted that "Everyone is entitled to enjoy the same basic rights and live a life of worth and dignity without discrimination. This fundamental principle is embedded in the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Conchita is a symbol in that sense and I think it's good for them to meet. [The meeting allows us] to reassert his support for LGBT people and for them to ensure that they enjoy the same human rights and protection that we all do." Conchita proceeded to state that she would like to spend a week with Russian President Putin in order to better understand him and his government's stance on LGBT rights.
  Conchita proceeded to begin work on an album influenced by "mature ladies" like Cher, Shirley Bassey, and Tina Turner. Her first post-Eurovision single, "Heroes", was released on 8 November 2014. Conchita performed the song for the first time on Wetten, dass..?.
  On 19 December 2014, it was revealed that Conchita would host the green room at the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 in Vienna.
  On 7 May 2015, Conchita published her autobiography with John Blake Publishing. Conchita's debut album Conchita was released on 15 May 2015. It was preceded by her second single after winning the Eurovision Song Contest, "You Are Unstoppable", which was released on 5 March 2015. "Firestorm" and "Colours of Your Love", two tracks from the debut album, were released as a double A-side single on 7 August 2015.
  On 3 March 2016, Conchita 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.
  Conchita performed for BBC Radio 2's Friday Night Is Music Night on 25 February 2018 at the London Palladium. In April 2018, Conchita praised Israel's Netta Barzilai and her song "Toy" as her favourite song for Eurovision 2018, saying "If she wins I will love it." In August 2018, Turkey's public broadcaster, the Turkish Radio and Television Co
caption: Conchita in 2019
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