Singer Thomas Neuwirth's drag persona
of Conchita Wurst on Saturday won the 59th edition of the
Eurovision Song Contest.
Conchita, who beautifully combines
masculinity and femininity by wearing a full beard in her act, won
over the judges with the power ballad Rise Like a Phoenix.
(Video of her performance is embedded on this page. Visit
our video library for more videos.)
In accepting her trophy from last
year's winner, Denmark's Emmelie de Forrest, an emotional Conchita
dedicated the win to “everyone who believes in a future of peace
and freedom.”
“We are unity,” she is quoted as
saying by the
AP.
Some in Eastern Europe had protested
Austria's entry.
Calling the event a “Europe-wide gay
parade,” Vitaly Milonov, the St. Petersburg lawmaker whose 2011
ordinance banning the promotion of “gay propaganda” to minors
inspired a nationwide law that led to calls for a boycott of the
Winter Olympics held earlier this year in Sochi, Russia, asked
Russia's Eurovision selection committee not to send Russian musicians
to Eurovision.
“The participation of the obvious
transvestite and hermaphrodite Conchita Wurst on the same stage as
Russian singers on live television is blatant propaganda of
homosexuality and spiritual decay,” Milonov said.
After her win, Conchita was asked by
reporters whether she had anything to say to Russian President
Vladimir Putin.
“I don't know if he is watching this
now, but if so, I'll say it: We're unstoppable,” Conchita
responded.