COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — When Austria’s entry takes the stage Thursday at the Eurovision Song Contest in Copenhagen, the spotlight will slowly reveal a lone figure with wide sensual eyes, glossy painted lips, high cheekbones — and a man’s full dark beard.

Conchita Wurst — the alter ego of 25-year-old Austrian Thomas Neuwirth — already has shocked audiences by challenging stereotypes of masculine and feminine beauty with the song “Rise like a Phoenix.”