Austrian performer and activist Thomas Neuwirth, better known by his stage persona Conchita Wurst, was BOTD in 1988. Born in Gmunden, a small rural village where he was bullied for being gay, he moved to Graz to study fashion. In 2006, he competed in the Austrian TV talent show Starmania, finishing in second place, and was briefly part of boy band Jett Anders! He developed the drag persona of Conchita Wurst (taken from the Spanish slang for “vagina” and the German word for “penis”), sporting long Victoria Beckham hair with a thick beard, becoming well known in the Austrian cabaret scene. In 2014, Wurst was selected as the Austrian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest, winning the competition with the song Rise Like a Phoenix, a rousing Bond-movie-anthem pastiche delivered with Shirley Bassey-esque gusto. He became an overnight celebrity, though his victory was criticised by Russia and Belarus as “blatant propaganda of homosexuality and spiritual decay”. He later performed at the European Parliament in Brussels and the United Nations Office in Vienna, speaking publicly about discrimination against LGBTQ people. In 2018, he disclosed that he was HIV positive, after a former boyfriend threatened to blackmail him by revealing his status to the press. He continues to perform both as Conchita, and a new androgynous persona called WURST. His current relationship status is unknown.