#trim is always the wurst

[mslanna]

Rafe cosplay update

cut the lining for the jacket fam, i chose the most obnoxious fabric possible it moves when you as much as look at it

odered gold rope trim and stared at other trims for an hour now my eyes bleed and I still ahve nothing

yay

[headingalaxys-spicy]

Thinking of Ludwig slowly becoming a yandere after being in a relationship with his s/o for years and s/o just accepts it because they love him so much. They take every punishment he gives, and feel torn between wanting to escape but they love him too much to leave. They’re timid around him and he takes advantage of that, teasing them for his own pleasure- that’s what I’m thinking about 😅

Hello there you beautiful human. Thanks for waiting in purgatory for your ask to be answered. I hope it satisfies you ✨

Gonna put the warning here : Totally touches on things like toxic relationships that are abusive so if that’s triggering for you then yeaaaah skip this one.

How you first encountered Ludwig: 

You were having a blast at a small German town's annual summer festival. You’d gotten separated from your friend group as you spotted some fancy Deutsch wine crafted by a family doing it for over 200 years. You hadn’t realized that you were pretty drunk when you’d bumped into the German General & spilled your cherry red wine all over him as you took a tumble to the ground. 

“Oh Sheibe! Es tut mir leid! Ich kann diesen Kleidung sauber helfen.” Panicked, you pulled out many napkins and water bottles to assist him with removing the stain. Ludwig may have been annoyed but became relaxed & spellbound by your beautiful face, perfectly framed by your freshly trimmed hair. 

‘Humph. Well, at least they’re remorseful.’ 

“Es ist okay. I have dry cleaners I can drop this uniform off at and more to wear, but…” Ludwig reached into his back pocket to pull out his business card. 

“If you’re around in Berlin & want to get the best Wurst in all of Germany, call or text me. Ciao” 

[He learned his rizz from Italy.] 

The first date was a smooth yet fantastical affair. The two of you dawdled through the sprawling city of Berlin. From the Brandenburg gate to the TV tower, & down to the River Spree. You got to be fully immersed in the capital city of Deutschland by none other than its resolute representative, Ludwig Belischmidt. 

You were dazzled by all the history he knew of, down to tiny details you knew couldn’t be found in a surface-level history textbook. Your admiration of him, combined with your cute face & intellect, make it much easier for Ludwig to catch feelings. 

As the two of you moved past the honeymoon phase and into the waves of a long-term relationship, you began to notice subtle changes in Ludwig. 

He wouldn’t complement or encourage you as much. Instead, his adoration would be criticism or telling you whatever you accomplished wasn’t good enough / didn’t meet his skyscraper-high standards. This breaks down your self-esteem, so you’ll doubt yourself more. Ludwig will want you always to be pining for his approval. 

When you do something that significantly displeases him, he will have you do something that will physically break you down. Ludwig is like a loving but stringent drill sergeant. Here is a short list of things you’ll have to do in order to get back into his good graces: 

50 Push-Ups 

100 Jumping Jacks 

Hold the ‘T’ pose for 30 minutes to an hour 

Planks 

5 to 15-mile runs (depending on how Sadistic he’s feeling, if someone tried to get close to you, and your level of non-compliance will depend on how long you’ll have to run for) 

These are all things that will exhaust you and prevent you from wanting to talk back, argue with him, etc. This rigorous training also mitigates 80%-85% of your free time to socialize with others. 

Ludwig does his best to avoid putting his hands on you because you’re a human. You’re incredibly fragile. You weren’t meant to withstand him at his maximum strength. However, when you cross him, he has a leather belt to put you back in your place. For the most part, it's not something he takes great pride in, but he needs to keep you under control. He’s realized over the years that once you’ve become emotionally attached to him, he could get away with more & more problematic behavior. All he had to do was hit you with the line: “Es tut mir leid, Liebling. I had to. It was for your own good. I’ll make it up to you.” Ludwig will give you a chastised kiss on the forehead. This gesture never failed to make you turn bright red and send butterflies pouring through your guts. Your heart would sprint due to feeling the adrenaline that comes from being in love. However, your nerves would be feeling a dry stick rubbing against them gaining friction that produced a thick smoke. 

Your typical response to his apology would be followed up by a brief: 

“Kein problem. I forgive you, Ludwig.” 

Even though Ludwigs' smile touched your skin like an early morning Fall sunray heating up your chilly skin, the glaring truth about him and his progressively toxic tendencies became far more difficult to ignore as time continued. 

You evaded his gaze this time when you accepted his apology. You wondered how many times he’s said that to you now. 

‘But all relationships are like this. I shouldn’t have upset him in the first place.’ This was one of the many rationalizations that you told yourself. 

You often wondered how many more times you’d hear him say “sorry” when you cried out for him to “stop” or say “Ludwig, please! It was just a mistake!!!” As more lashes came swinging through the air & made the all too familiar crack against your soft skin. It never failed to vivid crimson 4-inch whiplash there. 

‘Is my relationship with Ludwig actually normal, though?’ Came the uncomfortable question that came to your mind every now & again. It normally materialized after you’d faced another grueling punishment of military-style exercise, a lashing, being denied access to friends, fun, and family, a disagreement, etc. You longed not to have to walk in a minefield of broken glass, eggshells, & razors when navigating conversations with him. 

“Y/N?” Ludwig says sternly with a touch of concern. Your lack of eye contact with him when accepting his apology was a subtle signal to him that he had to go all out when he planned your latest couples' make-up trip. It had to be something spectacular. 

“Yes?” You say in an exhausted tone that was weighed down by the conflict between your heart and your head. You continued to stare at the concrete of the garage. 

“Where do you want to go for dinner?” 

Ludwig would ignore your gradually growing frigid demeanor since you’d been together for such a long time. 

‘It’s just a rough patch. They’ll get over their hesitations soon enough. A well-planned and thought-out day always wins Y/N back.’ 

This is what Ludwig tells himself in order to keep up the delusion that he’s doing nothing wrong and that your relationship is normal. It’s always been this way. 

Why would it be any different now? 

A vacation was the only thing Ludwig needed to get the two of you back on track. 

Usually, Ludwig relished in silence, but not when you refrained to talking to him at all. You would at least give a few compliments about something or try to start a conversation. Only having spoken the basic pleasantries of “Guten Morgen” or “Guten Nacht” with no attempt at speaking more did make him feel uneasy. But not enough to make him rethink where he was going next. 

“Y/N, while planning our trip, I thought we could do something far more exciting.” You stopped staring at your food to move your eyes up to meet his. “We’re going to climb up Watzmann.” Ludwig knew damn well you hated heights. 

“And …..why, for the love of God, would you think I’d enjoy that?” Not being able to hold back your disbelief and irritation. 

“Well, all that training you’ve done. It’s time to test your mettle Y/N! You can’t let all of my hard work go to waste!” Utterly oblivious to the fuse he’s just ignited. 

The tense and uncomfortable silence choked any peace out of the atmosphere. It stayed that way for 90 seconds as the sparks set off the bomb. Its flames made its way through your veins. 

This was not what real love looked like. You pushed your plate away & slammed your fork and knife onto it. Your reaction hit Ludwig like a lightning bolt. 

“I'm seriously done with you, Ludwig!” 

With that, you went back to your hotel room in a huff. Some people stared silently at Ludwig, and others watched you march away. 

You never turned back. 

[unicyclehippo]

prompt where lena gets coles online deliveries and kara is her regular butch delivery girl

the luthor’s are a strange and terrible lot, so the public decries. they are terribly smart and terribly ambitious and they lie. lena learned that the first two of these traits are usually good, except when they are joined with the luthor name.

she can’t disagree with the third, though she sometimes wishes the lies she tells were more exciting. not necessarily the type those shit stirrers churn up, but something. as it is, she’s on her nineteenth lie of the day and it’s only—her eyes flick from the large television screen where she’s streaming the conference call down to her watch—8:17am.

‘are we boring you, miss luthor?’ jackson “just jack” spheer asks. he’s not smiling, exactly, and he’s definitely not teasing but to someone who knows him well, as lena does, it’s close enough that that’s precisely what it is. it makes these whole tedious affairs bearable, having him around.

‘no.’ make that twenty. ‘i was merely wondering if we had enough time in this session for me to bring up a project my assets division has begun to work on, but we only have thirteen minutes left and i really would like to talk more about the projected vision of our, ah,’

‘collaboration,’ jack offers.

lena nods. ‘collaboration.’ hes the only one she would take correction or suggestion from, and it’s not because he’s good looking, though he is. the fact is, he’s one of the good ones. one of the truly good ones—a man who wants good things for the world and the people around him more than anything else. it’s unfortunate that he’s had to become a business man to do it but like everything else he attempts, he’s rather good at it.

‘i’d be happy to bore you with the minutiae. if you would all like to move to the section titled “l-corp assisted projects”, i think you’ll be pleased with the ideas my team has come up with.’

the meeting drags on to well over the half hour mark, and this time when lena is pulled away from the screen, she does so entirely.

‘gentlemen, as productive as this was, i do have another meeting lined up,’ lena tells them. the urge to apologise rises up and she smacks it down. it’s not her fault that gareth and trent blabbered on and wasted twenty minutes at the beginning. ‘send any notes to my assistant, and if you have anything you want to discuss next week, put your interest forward in writing.’

the screen blinks off, and lena is careful to make sure that it is disconnected and her computer closed—she’s heard horror stories of calls continuing post disconnection and being recorded and she’d rather the board didn’t see the way she sits on her couch, throws her head back and groans for a long minute.

8:48am and her brain feels like someone has been using it for a pincushion.

water. panadol. some stupid electrolyte drink. then back to work.

despite the trauma of an upbringing utterly absent of love, and the betrayal and incarceration of her beloved brother, and the repeated trauma of bearing the luthor name, there are some perks to being lena luthor. one of which is the kitchen.

beautiful, pristine, cleaned by a lovely woman named susan, and meals prepared by a professional chef once a week.

the fridge is gleaming stainless steel and lena goes over to it, leans her forehead against the metal. it’s not terribly cool but the position relieves the ache at the base of her neck so she remains. without looking, she opens the other door of the fridge and pulls out a water bottle.

‘good thing i always put it in the same place. you might’ve picked up the vinegar or something, otherwise.’

lena shrieks, jumps back and away. she’s met by the repentent and stunningly blue eyes of kara, who cracks a grin.

‘sorry, mate. thought you heard me.’

‘i - no, i didn’t.’

‘i can go out and walk back in, if you want.’ kara nods her head down the hallway, toward the garage, and it is then that lena realises that the other woman is carrying her delivery in short sleeved, muscular, straining, sweating arms.

‘um.’

‘only a joke. mind if i squeeze past? this is the cold stuff.’

‘certainly,’ lena breathes. she’s tempted to stay precisely where she is and really have kara squeeze past. she thinks better of it, which is another flaw of the luthors.

‘busy day already, miss luthor? it’s not that late. but i suppose you’re probably calling people from all over, right? i have to get up early to talk to my sister sometimes—she’s in america at the moment for a conference, so she calls me at, like, two in the morning.’ kara looks out from the fridge where she is stacking various drinks and yoghurts in perfect neat rows. ‘time zones, right? the worst.’

‘absolutely. what conference?’

lena recovers rather well from the surprise and the instant nerves that come from being face to face with kara. she takes her bottle of water and moves to sit at the kitchen bench to listen and chat with kara, her eyes lingering on the movement of strong muscles beneath the red polo shirt tucked into blue jeans that, despite being perfectly work appropriate, is now the constant feature of incescent MA15+ daydreams. as is the woman wearing it. kara danvers, coles delivery driver, fitness buff, journalism student, and utterly utterly lovely and ordinary woman.

‘well, that’s all for today. small delivery,’ kara comments. the fridge door closes lightly with a dull thunk, the muted rattle of glass.

‘last month i had a number of hosting requirements,’ lena explains. ‘a guest or two as well.’

‘ah,’ is all kara says. she seems not to know what to do with herself. scrubbing her hand over the recently trimmed hair at the side of her head, she straightens her glasses and then clears her throat. ‘is that a good brand of yoghurt?’

yoghurt?

‘i haven’t had any complaints. or made any.’

‘great, great.’

‘have you heard of any?’

‘complaints? no.’

‘wonderful.’

‘yeah. alright, well, i’ll be off,’ kara announces. ‘very nice - ah, lovely - ah, nice to see you again, miss luthor. best time of my week.’

‘early monday morning is the best time of your week?’

‘delivering to you is the best time of my week,’ kara corrects her and, rather boldly, meets her eyes and grins. it isn’t her too wide grin when she knows she’s made a truly awful joke, nor self conscious, but rather a new and rather inviting grin.

lena has been on the receiving end of many of these particular looks before. kara wears it well. oh yes.

‘lena.’

‘no, i’m kara.’

lena rolls her eyes, stares up at the ceiling. ‘you’re really not funny.’

‘so says you. my mum says i’m very funny.’

‘she’s lying, darling, mothers do that sometimes.’

kara’s grin shifts into something easier, warmer. more amused. she folds her arms over her chest and lena realises that she’s leaning against the opposite bench. she looks rather at ease in lena’s home. it’s a look she likes. one she will promptly incorporate into her daydreams.

‘call me lena,’ she tells kara, dragging her eyes up from suddenly tense and well-defined forearms and biceps. ‘are you tensing?’

‘i’m flexing,’ kara says with a bit of a grunt. ‘you were staring.’ lena doesn’t deny it. ‘sorry, i mean, you were staring, lena.’

‘oh you can follow instructions.’

‘very well.’

‘is that a promise?’

‘could be. could be an invitation to find out.’

‘enticing. you’re still flexing.’

‘oh, am i?’ kara asks, feigning surprise. ‘i didn’t notice, ‘cause i’m so strong.’

lena’s laughter is loud and, well, her mother would call it her ugly laugh but kara doesn’t seem to think so.

‘don’t you have more deliveries?’ lena asks, hiding her nose and mouth behind a delicate hand.

‘i—yeah. yeah, shit, oh i do!’ kara pushes away from the bench where she had been leaning, a look of shock jolting through her. ‘i have to go! sorry! see you next week!’

‘already looking forward to it.’

//

she is worried when the red polo shirted worker appears on television, carrying a box into some strangers house. the reporter is trotting after kara—god the camera angle makes her shoulders look broad—and asking question after question and lena finally finds the mute button on her remote and clicks the volume on and, as her assistant had told her, the questions are about lena.

‘have you seen any suspicious activity in miss luthor’s house? has the presence of gregory wurst been evident at all?’

lena glares at the reporter. a muck taker of the lowest order. and an idiot.

kara stops at the door, sets down her box with a sigh. ‘look, miss,’

‘ward.’

‘miss ward,’ kara says. ‘i’m not permitted to discuss anything like that. and i’m just a delivery person. i see the fridge and that’s it.’

‘what can you tell us about the deliveries? anything suspicious?’

‘i’m not permitted to discuss that,’ kara says firmly. then, crushingly, she hesitates.

lena feels her stomach drop. not kara too. sure, she doesn’t know the woman but, surely not everyone in the world has to be a tattle tail and an idiot.

‘there was one weird thing.’

lena’s thumb hovers over the off button.

miss ward is nearly salivating. she presents kara with the microphone eagerly. ‘yes?’

‘ten kilos of ligma.’ kara’s face is a study in a control. smooth. serene. at miss ward’s next question, that control wavers and then breaks.

‘ligma,’ miss ward repeats. ‘what’s that?’

[leoninapelliolovesconchitawurst]

ENGLISH TRANSLATION ( Jeannette Nobbe)

VOLSKRANT.NL 31/01/20

by Mennon Pot

https://www.volkskrant.nl/cultuur-media/conchita-wurst-sorry-dat-ik-zo-n-wandelend-cliche-ben~b0477817/

(Conchita) Wurst: 'I'm sorry I'm a walking cliché'.

Above all we know Conchita Wurst as the bearded 'female 'singer who won the ESC in 2014. But we've moved on and are a bit wiser. It´s just Wurst now, but the beard is still there.

With light feathered steps, Thomas Neuwirth (31) enters the conference room of the hotel in Groningen where he is staying: black combat boots, black leather pants, tight black T-shirt, the black beard and the perfect short trimmed jet black hair..

He introduces himself as Tom. It's not difficult to recognise the bearded drag queen Conchita in him. (Kopenhagen, 2014, remember?) but the dress and wig are stowed away for a while. Conchita has a sort of sabbatical, so to speak.

Neuwirth is on tour as a man. Stage name: Wurst. Yesterday evening he performed in Groningen; the next concert will be 7 february at the Melkweg in Amsterdam. His new album 'Truth over Magnitude' also carries the artist´s name Wurst.

Let's get this straight: when the subject is Conchita Wurst, the word 'transgender' sometimes comes a long. Wrongly. Neuwirth is a man, ('but incredibly gay, of course'), who has a choice from now on: being on tour as a drag queen (Conchita) or as a man (Wurst) .

´a lot of fun, being a masculine stage persona', he says. Conchita will turn up again somewhere else.

Holland appreciated Conchita's 'Rise like a Phoenix' with the highest score, almost 6 years ago.

Neuwirth didn't forget: twelve points, douze points from Holland for the bearded diva from Austria.

Then hectic years followed. 'After the Song Contest I thought, I have to make the most of it now, build my fame and cash it in. So I surrounded myself with all kinds of experts, managers, stylists, make/up artists, the whole circus. After 3 years I was exhausted. I couldn´t do it anymore. I told my audience every nigh, be yourself, believe in yourself. But along the way, I forgot myself.´

He got rid of the experts’ circus and is having a relaxed tour now, with a small entourage. He feels good again, although in 2018 he had to announce he is infected with the HIV virus. His manager politely asks, almost in an humble manner, not to talk about that.

Tom doesn´t appear to be very worried about that. There has seldom been a star who starts an interview so cheerfully. ´A great photo shoot and after that talk about things I find beautiful and fun.

Terrific, I was already looking forward to it when I came out of bed.´

´Curriculum Vitae'

1988 – Born as Thomas Neuwirth in Gmunden, Austria

2007 – Candidate at the talentshow Starmania, and boyband Jetzt anders!

2011 – Debut as female persona Conchita Wurst, the debut single `I´ll be there´

2012 - Second place at the Austrian Songfestival

2014 – ESC winner with ´Rise like a Phoenix

2015 – First album ´Conchita´, co-presenter ESC

2018 – Second album ´From Vienna with Love´

2019 – Debut as male stage persona ´Wurst´, third album ´Truth over Magnitude´

2020 – Wurst ´Trust over Magnitude´ Sony Music

Wurst will be performing in the Melkweg in Amsterdam on February 7

SOUNDTRACK

Music from the Motion Picture Titanic ...1997

´My first CD. I was 9 years old when I bought it. `My heart will go on´’changed my life´. As it were, Céline Dion gave me permission to be utterly dramatic and to be over the top. When I came out of the closet, I heard that song in my head.

It was also a liberation for me as a singer. My mom always sang with a thin, high falsetto voice. I thought that was how it should be. Dion taught me, you may yell as hard as you can, with all the power you have in you. When you sing so loud, you can’t fake it. The sound you push out of your body, is the sound of your body, unique and by definition authentic. Céline Dion taught me that singing is something really physical.´

SERIES

The Crown ..Netflix..., 2016 until 2019

´For me it´s getting difficult to watch a movie to the end. I guess that´s because of all the series on Netflix and HBO. My favorite is `The Crown´.. ´the intro alone is so beautiful, that liquid gold that forms a crown, such art. I used to watch it twice. Ít says something about the fact that I can´t choose between the two women who play Elizabeth and the two men who play prince Philip. All the actors are great. The costumes, the stories, the palaces, it´s so delightful. The history also intrigues me, after every episode I checked on Wikipedia if it was really what had happened.

PARTIES

´At Christmas I always come back to Vienna. I love the lights, glitters and decorations, my inner Mariah Carey is looking forward to it every year. Christmas 2019 was extra special because it had been a long time since the whole family came together at my grandmother´s house.´

I would love it to be like that every year... A couple of days being together in one home. Talking, getting to really know my family. Maybe now you think, days on and on with uncles and aunts, such horror! It is easy to say that I don´t really have much in common with these people. But I do, Really. They all have a story and similarities with your stories. Ask them about your life and tell them about yours.´

That´s what Christmas is all about to me. To me, the birth of Jesus has not that much to do with it.´

ISLAND..

I have an agreement with my best friends to go on vacation at least once every two years. We have been to Mykonos a couple of times, THE especially gay island. I´m sorry I sound like a walking cliché.´

The sun, the sea, the beaches, the small streets, so cosy. We rent a house with a pool and for a week or two we live in our own little paradise, actually being a bit tipsy the whole time. Go shopping and cook.´

`What´s also very important, on Mykomos, the wind is always blowing the right way. I love to watch the women, because their dresses and their hair flutter so beautifully.´

STYLE ICON

Victoria Beckham

I was and still am a big Spice Girls fan and I especially admire Victoria Beckham, because she lives her life the way she wants. She appears in tabloids every day, but has survived a crisis in her relationship and has stayed happy with the love of her life and her family. I think that it´s really strong.´

In regard to her style, she can go from very classy to very trashy, I like that. One day she´s wearing a designer dress, the next she and David Beckham are walking in identical jogging suits. She couldn’t care less. I think that it´s inspiring.´

´I think she is utterly authentic, raging through the glamour. Although I have never met her, I´m sure that I could have a lot of fun with her. I´d love to drink some tequila with her for an afternoon or so.´

AGE

30

´I thought becoming 30 was really special, I lost my wild behaviour, came to be more restful. Some way or another I think a lot about some things my mother said: in my twenties, I ignored those lessons, but now I´m 30, I suddenly realised she was right for example how important family and friends are.

I´m 31 now, I have inner peace and my life in order, but I still feel young. I´m convinced that this the best period of my life´. My advise to everybody... be 30.´

ALBUM

Recomposed by Max Richter / The Four Seasons ..2012

I don´t play any instruments and until not too long ago, I didn´t really know much about music. I really found that a pity sometimes. Fortunately, my good friend Martin studies at the School of Musical Arts... !! He´s studying the history of music intensely and tells me about a lot of great composers. I learn a lot from that.´´I never understood classical music and didn´t really know anything about it, but thanks to the listening sessions with Martin I fell in love with Vivaldi..

The pop artist of the classical artists.

´Max Richter interpreted Vivaldi´s Four Seasons and composed it in a modern fashion. It´s a modern, post minimalistic piece, completely different from the original one, but you still recognise it. Greatly done, at the moment it´s my favorite album.´

BOOK

Friedrich Schiller « Ueber die aesthetische Erziehung des Menschen ». About the aesthetic upbringing of the people..´

´A good friend advised me to read the philosophical letters from Friedrich Schiller ..Letters, 1794-1795)

That´s a hard job to do. Because of the old fashioned German I had to read some sentences 5 times. You always have to wrestle yourself through a thick layer of 18th century sexism.

´But further on you´ll find something beautiful. Schiller writes a lot about finding your inner beauty and your own truth. Dare to be yourself. Embrace your darker sides. Those are important as well.´

´At the same time he preaches self-perspective.. don´t take yourself too seriously, you´re not the center of the universe. That is very worthy to me. Namely because I DO think I´m the center of the universe, haha.

`Still it´s very wise of him, to send a message from 1795 to a 21st century queen with a Mariah Carey complex.´

CLUB

Circus in Vienna

´The Arena is a huge complex in Vienna, a concert building with a mega discotheque. A couple of times a year they organize Circus, my favorite gay club night. I always go there with my group of closest friends, but it´s actually a bit of a rule that we lose each other and disappear into the crowd.´

´I roam around all night- Every room, every floor has its own musical theme and decoration. I love the types of people I meet there, their clothes, their fetishisms, everything.´

….Arena Vienna, Baumgasse 80, Vienna

CITY

Amsterdam

´I live in Vienna, I love Vienna and I will always come back there, but the greatest city I´ve been to is Amsterdam – since then I traveled all over the world so I know what I´m talking about.

´Of all the cities I visited, Amsterdam is the only one where I would want to live a period of time. So that´s what I´m gonna do, this summer, for a few months to begin with.´

´I can see that Amsterdam also has the flagship stores from all known store chains. And a lot of tourists, like every special city. But I see all these small jewelry shops where they sell their self-made jewelry. Little bakeries. Cosy streets. And a lot of water. I love water. I love cities with lots of water.´

[leoninapelliolovesconchitawurst]

ENGLISH TRANSLATION (by me)

woman.at (04/07/22)

https://www.woman.at/a/conchita-wurst

Conchita Wurst: The bearded ESC winner in portrait

From the skeptical drag phenomenon to the universally popular glamorous singer. From Conchita Wurst to Wurst and Tom Neuwirth. About an artist who keeps reinventing himself and a woman with a beard who has had a unique career. A portrait of Conchita Wurst.

By Bobby Herrman-Thurner

From Tom Neuwirth to Conchita Wurst. In 2014 she inspired the whole of Europe and made a clear statement for diversity with her appearance at the ESC. Let's take a closer look at who is behind the person Conchita Wurst.

PROFILE - Conchita Wurst

Name: Conchita Wurst, real name Thomas Neuwirth

Date of birth: November 06, 1988

Zodiac sign: Scorpio

Place of birth: Gmunden, Austria

Residence: Vienna, Austria

Profession: singer, drag artist, model, designer, moderator

Pronouns: Tom Neuwirth: he / Conchita Wurst: she

The Conchita Wurst phenomenon

When Conchita Wurst appeared on stage for the first time in 2011 and in front of running television cameras, the astonishment was great. A glamorous chic woman with a beard who can sing? The Austrian audience was initially skeptical, but with the success at the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 and her disarming manner, Conchita was to succeed in a career within a few years that is unparalleled and thereby conquered the whole world.

"Spreading happiness in the world" is her motto. But Tom Neuwirth, the man who breathed life into Conchita Wurst, had not an always easy path to his much acclaimed performances as a drag artist and singer.

Being different as a child in rural Upper Austria, the way to coming out, which then took place publicly during his participation in the casting show Starmania, to making his HIV infection public - an eventful story. What we must not forget, a few years ago he actually wanted to kill Conchita.

Tom Neuwirth: Life before Conchita

Tom Neuwirth grew up in Gmunden [wrong: he was born in Gmunden & grew up in Bad Mitterndorf] in Upper Austria. He noticed early on that he was different from other children and therefore out of the ordinary. He liked to wear skirts to school, which also brought him a lot of criticism. But his flair for fashion - Victoria Beckham is his declared fashion icon - and later attending fashion school would be very useful in his career.

In 2006, Tom took part in the third season of the ORF TV casting show Starmania, which was moderated by Arabella Kiesbauer, in which he came second. Then in 2007 he founded the boy band "jetzt anders!" together with Falco De Jong Luneau, Johannes "Johnny" K. Palmer and Martin Zerza. However, this broke up again in the same year and it became quieter around Tom Neuwirth.

The birth of Conchita Wurst

But in 2011 Conchita Wurst entered the public stage. "Conchita", in English "Vagina" is the Portuguese epitome of femininity. "It's ‘wurst’, where you come from and what you look like", according to this motto the power woman lives, which explains the surname. A fascinating, glamorous appearance, with an A distinguishing feature that stands in contrast to her appearance, which is otherwise read as feminine: a perfectly trimmed beard, her trademark.

"The beard in particular is a way for me to polarize, to draw attention to myself. The world reacts to a woman with hair on her face. What I wish would be for people to think about my unusual appearance – about sexual orientation, but also about being different in itself. Sometimes you have to make it clear to people in a simple and striking way what it's all about." – so Conchita Wurst in the Kurier 2013.

At her first major appearance on the talent show "Die große Chance" (The Great Chance) she only took sixth place, but Conchita was sure of the attention. In 2011, her first single "Unbreakable" was released. "That's what I am" followed in 2012. But great fame was still a long way off, even taking part in the RTL show "Wild Girls – On High Heels Through Africa" ​​in 2013 didn't change anything at first. Until she got the opportunity to represent Austria in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2014.

Rising like a Phoenix: The beginning of a great career

But in the run-up to her performance at the Copenhagen Song Contest, she also drew a lot of criticism, especially from the conservative side. Poland, for example, identified the "decay of modern Europe". But Conchita Wurst was not intimidated and answered in her disarming and open manner:

"How would you feel if your friends, relatives, children, co-workers, etc. were abused in this way? I'm sure there are people around you who are 'different' too. In that sense, I fight continue AGAINST discrimination and FOR tolerance, because I am convinced that in the 21st century EVERYONE really has the right to live as they want, as long as no one else's freedom is restricted or violated, and as far as I know, I didn't hurt anyone," Conchita Wurst wrote in a statement on Facebook

However, those critics were soon to be silenced in the storm of applause that would follow their Song Contest victory. Rise like a phoenix, Conchita Wurst took the title of her winning song literally and launched a great career.

A career straight out of a picture book

Whether it was a reception by the Austrian Federal Chancellor and Federal President, a small concert on Rathausplatz in Vienna or dozens of appearances on TV shows and concerts in over 20 countries - Conchita Wurst became world-famous and celebrated great success. The singer won three Amadeus Awards, including Artist of the Year. At the end of 2014, Conchita Wurst released the single Heroes, followed in early March 2015 by You Are Unstoppable. In the same year her first album was released: Conchita.

Icon of the LGBTQIA+ community

Conchita Wurst not only celebrated successes with her art, but has also campaigned for the rights of the LGBTQIA+ community since the beginning of her career. For example, she spoke before the European Parliament and also with the then UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon about ending discrimination against LGBTQIA+ people.

In 2019 she became an ambassador for EuroPride Vienna and supported Lifeball, the world-famous AIDS charity event in Vienna, for many years.

Conchita Wurst: "I've been HIV positive for many years"

The greater Conchita's successes became, the more not only Conchita but also the private life of her creator Tom Neuwirth came into the public eye. Thus, Neuwirth's public statement about his HIV infection was not voluntary, but forced through blackmail by an ex-boyfriend.

However, Tom Neuwirth was not intimidated by this and made his illness, which is treated very well with medication, public. It is not only since then that he has made it an important task to educate himself about common prejudices relating to HIV infections and AIDS.

Tom Neuwirth: Why Conchita has to die

But back to Conchita, who made a statement in the media in 2017: Conchita must die. The excitement that followed this statement was great. What does this mean and what are the consequences of this statement?

It was time to reinvent himself. Tom Neuwirth was simply in the mood for change, for an end to this perfection that Conchita brought with her.

Because the pressure to look perfect, to do everything perfectly, was great. Not least because Neuwirth had imposed it on himself. In 2019, Conchita Wurst became simply Wurst with a much more masculine side.

From Wurst to Conchita to Tom

On Wurst's first album, T.O.M., there were clearly different sounds than we were all used to from Conchita, namely electropop. No string orchestras, no big dramatic gestures, no glam pop. This transformation wouldn’t be the last either. Not only did Tom Neuwirth aka Conchita, aka Wurst's hairstyle change, but also his style.

Gradually, long hair and long fingernails fell off, instead a trained artist in latex appeared. A personality who cares little about the expectations others have of him/her. Because here the boundaries between Conchita and Tom are becoming more and more blurred. It shows how changeable the artist behind Conchita and Wurst is. Someone who always likes to reinvent himself.

Tom Neuwirth & Conchita - spreading happiness in the world

The singer Tom Neuwirth is currently spreading a positive mood with songs like "CAR (IDHLARGT)" or "Paris (Savoire-Vivre)". With these songs, Tom wants to remind everyone that we have control over how we look at our lives. Do we only see the dark side or do we rather focus on the sunny side of our lives? All of this is up to us.

« Every moment in life is ambivalent and has several sides. The only thing I can decide for myself is whether I train my perception to see the good or surrender to the abyss. »

Facing rough times with a lot of optimism, that is the motto of Tom Neuwirth, who has once again reinvented himself with his new musical direction. But what about Conchita? is she history?

Not at all, Conchita Wurst not only got her own platform on the website of the versatile artist - Wurst TV. Conchita continues to have her place on stage and in TV formats. "Spreading happiness in the world" is what all of Tom Neuwirth's alter egos have in common and so an artist shows us how many sides and personalities a person can have. Playing with clichés, holding out prejudices, thinking outside the box.