Every year many people around the world sit down to watch the Eurovision Song Contest. We have seen it all; from Russian grannies to hard-core Vikings to hyperactive Irish twins. This year the contest was held in Copenhagen, Denmark, where the main theme would be Tolerance. Conchita Wurst (on social media more likely to beknown as the bearded lady) won this year, awarded with a staggering 290 points . An audience of some 170 million people watched as Wurst gave a real meaning to this year’s theme; performing as a drag queen.

With a full beard and a fishtail dress, perfectly fit to her body, Wurst sang Rise Like a Phoenix (with a James Bond theme to it), leading her to her victory generating well over 5 million tweets. Looking at social media around this event, Wurst’s performance became a big controversy.

Russian men posted pictures of themselves shaving off their beard. Petitions were made online in Armenia, Belarus and Russia; all governments which passed a law, last year, to ban ‘Gay Propaganda’. They wanted Wurst removed out of broadcast in their countries. Overall; the opinions about the bearded lady and her winning the contest are widely spread. Some are ecstatic, others are the exact opposite.

The Eurovision Song Contest was first held in 1956, and is now organized every year. It was created to help unite countries after World War 2. It is meant to be non-political.

To me, the contest is mostly about the music. I wouldn’t call myself a true Eurovision Contest fan. However if I have time, I find myself watching parts of the show and the awarding part at the end. I think that every year there are some really amazing artists with good songs and performances. The thing that I don’t like about the contest, is that (even though it is not meant to be) it often is a political contest and not about the music at all.

Politics seeped in this year’s contest in many ways. The Russian contestants; 17-year-old twin sisters were booed at when they performed and when they were awarded their points (mostly from neighbouring countries duh). It was expected that Russia’s entry wouldn’t benefit from its annexation of Crimea and the intransigence on gay rights.

So much for a non-political event.

Then the voting. At first glance Eurovision’s voting follows geography. Countries in the Balkan, favour each other. This is mostly based on cultural aspects rather than political, according to Eurovision Expert: Paul Jordan. The UK, Ireland & Malta have been voting for each other for years now.

Greece and Cyprus have always voted for each other — and not for Turkey. Why? Well, both countries are connected to one another on cultural and historical level. They share a media landscape & language. People have family living in the other country and so on.

Countries also use the event as a promotional tool. For example Turkey promoted its European character to try and get into the European Union. In 2004 Turkey hosted the show and named the theme: ‘Under the Same Sky’ suggesting that they wanted to be under the same sky as the countries whom are part of the EU.

This year experts predicted that Russia wouldn’t necessarily suffer from the continuous tension between itself and the Ukraine. However they did expect Ukraine to benefit from the tension. They expected that the viewers would feel sorry for the people of Ukraine and therefore be more likely to give points to the woman in the hamster wheel. Which turned out to be right. Ukraine got 113 points whereas Russia ended with 89 points.

Moving back to Conchita Wurst. Or should we say: Thomas Neuwirth? Because the ‘bearded lady’ performing on stage is the 25-year-old’s alter ego. Now, as I said before, some people agree with the winning of the lady with the fluttering eyelashes, the long hair and — yes — the globally known beard.

But some don’t. They believe that Wurst was only chosen because of the statement that she was making. People became wild over Facebook and Twitter. Some made jokes about the bearded lady, others totally embraced and supported her and what she stands for. Russian men posted pictures of themselves, shaving off beards in protest, whereas celebrities supported Wurst by posting pictures of themselves with a beard.

Whatever people may think about miss Conchita Wurst, she came in with a bang and she got everybody talking about her and I would like to finish this blog with miss Wurst’s words of dedication:

This night is dedicated to everyone who believes in a future of peace and freedom. You know who you are. We are a unity and we are unstoppable.