Drag queen Conchita Wurst, "the bearded lady" from Austria, was the hands-down winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 held in Copenhagen, Denmark.

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She was voted the winner of the 59^th staging of the popular song contest, one of the most enduring TV programs in the world, by TV audiences throughout Europe. Some 11,000 persons attended the finals at the B&W Hallerne in Copenhagen.

The onstage drag persona of 25-year-old Thomas Neuwirth won for her rousing performance of the ballad "Rise LikeA Phoenix." Wurst/Neuwirth scored 290 points and became Austria's first Eurovision winner since 1966.

She took to the stage in a shimmering skintight dress. Wurst sported long hair flowing down to her chest and a full beard that has become her hallmark.

"For me, my dream came true," Wurst said after Eurovision 2014. "But for society it showed me that people want to move on, to look to the future. We said something, we made a statement."

Neuwirth described his alter ego Wurst as an "art figure." Interestingly, Neuwirth refers to himself as "herself" and as a "she" when talking about Wurst. In private life, however, Neuwirth calls himself "Tom" and refers to himself as a "he." Neuwirth is a man in his daytime job.

Neuwirth said he created the drag queen Wurst when he was a teenager to cope with feeling discriminated against. Wurst is the German word for sausage.

Rene Berto, Wurst's manager, said Worst's win was a victory for tolerance, which was an important theme promoted by the contest's organizers.

"Let's change the world and make it a little bit better," Berto said. "Conchita always says 'Wish for the moon and you'll reach at least the stars,' but now we just landed on the moon. Let's change our way of thinking. Conchita is just a woman with a beard."

Her victory, and her presence at Eurovision, generated immense controversy throughout the Europea and in Russia, which has anti-gay laws on its books. The governments in Russia and Belarus received frantic petitions from citizens calling on them to edit out Wurst's segment in the Eurovision finals. Russians in the audience booed Wurst as she sang in the finals.

The Netherlands placed second and Sweden placed third in the finals of Eurovision 2014.

Eurovision has been held every year since 1956 and today draws a TV audience of 180 million people in 45 countries across Europe.