Top 102 Quotes & Sayings by Conchita Wurst

I am not a team player. I will not share the stage with anyone.

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

It's easy to say, 'This is just a joke.' You know, the bearded lady? And I feel the need to smash it with every performance just because I want to be clear this is not a joke.

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

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

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

I love huge dramatic songs with ridiculously big orchestral parts.

Being LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender) in Russia is anything but fun.

Dressing as a woman meant I began to accept my body, and I enjoyed seeing women get jealous. They ask me how I get my waist this size; how I manage to walk in heels as if I've done it all my life.

I prefer to do my own make-up.

Being a teenager, a gay teenager, in such a small village is not that much fun. I am part of the gay community and most gays have a similar story to mine.

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

I don't see myself as someone you should look up to.

I like to party at Christmas. We always have a duck, which my brother prepares.

When I'm standing in front of all those lawmakers in the European Parliament, then I'm a speaker, when I'm singing, I'm a singer. If I'm on the catwalk, then I'm being a model. That can all happen in one week or even on the same day.

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 love myself and the bearded lady is fun and expresses everything I feel.

I'm a drag artist, and we put so much effort into creating characters, so the easiest way to show us respect is to call us by the name we gave ourselves and refer to the gender we have chosen to be on stage.

Eurovision is this bubble of inclusivity and respect, and it's so beautiful, if only the whole world would be in this bubble. It is a family that will never forget about you.

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 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 don't see myself as a political figure.

Being a teenager in a small Austrian village was not fabulous. I tried to fit in and changed myself to be part of the game. I now realise I can create the game.

I have a very busy life, and I love meeting people, but I also like to be alone.

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

Be the best version of yourself rather than a bad copy of someone else!

Over the years I've realised that there's nothing wrong with me. But there was a long way for me to go to get back to this loud and outgoing kid, and to get to the point where I could say, 'Yeah, I'm gay, so what?'

I see myself as quite boring and simple.

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.

My goal is a Grammy so my songs will have to be good.

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

I've figured out over the years, you can only hurt me if I love you; if I don't know you, I really don't care.

I don't focus on negativity, I focus on the good things.

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.

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.

As I always say, you don't have to love me, but you have to respect that I'm here.

If people really want to know whether I am a woman or transsexual, I take it as a compliment. It means I'm doing my job well.

We Europeans really have the picture of this very open-minded Australia.

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

I can always spot an Australian queen by her high, high end wig. Australian drag queens have the best hair in the world - the best.

Kids go crazy for the Krampus tradition and dress up as little monsters - they have beautiful masks, handmade from wood. Our village in Austria puts on a special play in which the creature tells an old beggar to repent his sins; when he refuses, he's beaten up by lots of Krampuses at once.

I dream of a world where we don't have to talk about unnecessary things like sexuality, who you love.

The most important thing will be when we actually stop talking about sexual orientation. The moment we reach that point when that is not important any more, we've reached a big goal which is a long way in front of us.

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'd done drag since I was 14, for special occasions, and in 2010 a friend of mine with her own burlesque group was looking for a host. During a party I was just fooling around, taking the microphone, saying stupid, funny things, and she asked me afterward if I wanted to host her burlesque show every Saturday.

From Vienna with Love' will build a bridge across the globe from Vienna to Sydney, full of music, love and fun. I am really looking forward to performing with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and fabulous guest artists who all have ties to Vienna and telling a story with music that inspired me and songs from my debut album.

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.

I love women. I grab every inspiration I can from women and for me it's a bit of fun.

I always say that tolerance doesn't depend on a country, because there is hate everywhere.

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

But yes, I really feel great in Austria, I love my home and Vienna is just the best place to be.

It is an honour and it's flattering that people refer to me as someone they trust or get inspired from.

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.

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.

I'm not the biggest fan of my first album.

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.

One year, my parents hired someone in the village to dress up as Krampus for a surprise visit to our home - and they regretted it for ever. I went to the door and this huge creature was standing there. I think I passed out.

It's my music. If it's not good enough, then that's how it will be.

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.

Because of the discrimination during my time as a teenager I decided to live my life as I want it.