The amazing transformation from male singer to bearded diva has turned Eurovision winner Conchita Wurst into a global superstar.

Around 170 million people watched the Austrian triumph when she was awarded a staggering 290 points for her performance of Rise Like a Phoenix in Copenhagen on Saturday night.

With the performance earning her millions of fans, experts are predicting she could stand to earn as much as £25 million, becoming the biggest Eurovision winner since Abba, who triumphed in the 1974 competition. 

But before transforming into alter-ego Conchita Wurst, the 25-year-old whose real name is Thomas Neuwirth, tried to find fame in a boyband called Jetzt Anders, which translates into English as ‘Now Different’. 

The boyband were put together by Austrian casting show, Starmania in 2007, where they reached the final.

But Thomas returned to the show in 2011 transformed as Conchita Wurst complete with long hair, fluttering eyelashes and the now world-famous beard. 

Conchita was then selected to represent Austria in this year’s Eurovision contest with her eventual victory sending Twitter into a frenzy, generating 5,384,678 tweets.

Accepting the trophy, she said: ‘This is dedicated to everyone who believes in a future of peace and freedom. We are unity.’

But her victory caused outrage with some with one hardline Russian politician, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, even told national TV stations that her win meant ‘the end of Europe’. He added: ‘They don’t have men and women any more. They have “it”.

‘Fifty years ago the Soviet army occupied Austria. We made a mistake in freeing Austria. We should have stayed.’

Austria’s victory could be a good omen for Britain – the last time the country won Eurovision, in 1966, England won the World Cup...