I didn't invent the bearded lady. It's been around for ages, and there are so many bearded drag queens out there - but they're not in the mainstream as I am.

I love huge dramatic songs with ridiculously big orchestral parts.

The first song I remember listening to in a language other than German was 'Goldfinger,' by Shirley Bassey. I was seven years old at the time and I had no idea which language it was or who the lady was singing it, but it touched me and I realised that it was the sort of music I liked.

I was actually a very confident little kid. I would go to kindergarten in a skirt.

I am happy being a man in a dress. Some people get confused and think I'm a trans woman, but I'm strict about the difference. What I do is performance, it's staged, it's glamour - it's not real life. But for trans people, being born in the wrong body - there's nothing glamorous or easy about that.

There's a big difference between when I'm Tom and when I'm Conchita. Conchita uses very proper German; Tom talks in an Austrian dialect. Conchita gets mad if she is kept waiting; Tom is lazy.

People only look at my beard for a moment. Then it melts away and it's just another part of me. It's like the most natural thing, that this is what a bearded lady looks like. It's beautiful to see.

The main topic I'm always talking about is equality, and I get that it's politics, but it shouldn't be. It should be the most normal thing ever. There's bullying and discrimination about the colour of your skin, your religion. And it must end.

It's just unbelievable that nearly every gay human being knows who I am now - that's overwhelming.

If you've got the chance to really speak your mind and do what you feel and express yourself how you want, then this is freedom. Drag is freedom.

I started out as being a diva in a golden dress and now to a more bearded drag artist guy in boots.

It was a huge honour to play at the Palladium with the BBC Concert Orchestra.

The private person Tom Neuwirth and the art figure Conchita Wurst respect each other from the bottom of their hearts. They are two individual characters with their own individual stories, but with one essential message for tolerance and against discrimination.

I'm not that powerful to take out the masculinity of a beard.

You have to be respectful. Don't ask for respect if you are not respectful. It's not depending on your sexuality, your gender or the colour of your skin. It should be in the focus to live a respectful life.

I'm not perfect, I just do what I think is right. So if I can't fulfil people's expectations, I'm sorry, but it's not my fault.

I just want everybody to be respected. It shouldn't be politics because for me it's not, one of the most natural things in our society should be to be respectful.

Conchita is a symbol of the fact that you just can live a wonderful life when you do what makes you happy.

The beard is a statement to say that you can achieve anything, no matter who you are or how you look.

I'm jealous, I'm moody, I'm really not good to be around as a boyfriend.

Expectations are dangerous. I recommend not having any, if only to avoid disappointment.

I don't understand why people spend so much time thinking about me if they don't like what I do. I couldn't care less about things I don't like.

I think that anyone who is in any way creative or is creating something, whether an architect or fashion designer, I think if you have the opportunity to create something that is fully you, it frees your mind and your spirit and gives you the opportunity to really find yourself.

If you want to be a bearded lady then you are allowed to do that because you're not hurting anybody.