Austria's Eurovision entry Conchita Wurst is facing a transphobic backlash online, with one petition calling the contest a "hotbed of sodomy".

The bearded drag artist, real name Tom Neuwirth, is preparing to take to the stage in Copenhagen next month with power ballad "Rise Like A Phoenix".

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But conservative protesters in Russia, Armenia and Belarus are battling to see Wurst's performance banned.

Reuters reports that a 2013 Russian petition signed by more than 15,000 people requested the state broadcaster to remove Eurovision from its TV schedule.

"Austria will be represented in Eurovision 2014 by the transvestite contestant Conchita Wurst, who leads the lifestyle inapplicable for Russians [sic]," the All-Russian Parent Meeting petition read.

"The popular international competition that our children will be watching has become a hotbed of sodomy at the initiation of the European liberals.

"Russia is one of the only European countries that has managed to maintain normal and healthy family values based on love and mutual support between men and women."

Belarus' petition was similarly worded.

Shape Created with Sketch. Eurovision 2014 contestants Show all 37 left Created with Sketch. right Created with Sketch. Shape Created with Sketch. Eurovision 2014 contestants 1/37 Conchita Wurst for Austria Tom Neuwirth has been performing as his alter ego Conchita since 2011. For this year's contest he will be singing 'Rise Like a Phoenix'. Tom's motto is: 'Be the best version of yourself rather than a bad copy of someone else'. Conchita is a symbol for tolerance and artistic freedom around the world. ORF/Thomas Ramstorfer 2/37 Molly Smitten-Downes for the UK Molly is an up and coming singer-songwriter who will represent the UK in Copenhagen with her own song 'Children of the Universe'. The track includes a strong drum beat and lyrics designed to promote 'love and unity'. BBC/PA 3/37 Vilija Matačiūnaitė for Lithuania Vilija's singing talent was first spotted by her kindergarten teacher. She began a professional singing career aged 18 and will perform 'Attention' at Eurovision 2014. Darius Gražys Vilija Matačiūnauitė "Attention" 4/37 Tinkara Kovač for Slovenia Tinkara will be performing 'Round and Round' for Eurovision 2014. She is a singer, flautist and lyricist who has recorded two albums. Past collaborations include Robert Plant and Ian Anderson. Matej Mljač/ Tinkara Kovač 5/37 The Tolmachevy Twins for Russia These girls won Junior Eurovision in 2006 aged nine. Anastasiya and Maria are all grown-up now and ready to perform 'Shine' in Copenhagen. RTR 6/37 Hersi for Albania Hersi Matmuja is just 24 but has already participated in her country's Eurovision selection festival five times. She has been pursuing a career in both modern and classical music. Her song for the contest is 'One Night's Anger'. Avni Selmani 7/37 Tijana for FYR Macedonia Tijana Dapcevic is well-known as a singer, cellist and actress. Her Eurovision song choice 'To the Sky' fits with her life motto: 'The sky's the limit - nothing is impossible'. Her sister Tamara will perform as her backing vocalist in Copenhagen. Dusan Jaukovic 8/37 Mei Finegold for Israel Mei will be performing 'Same Heart' at Eurovision 2014. She is renowned as one of the most unique singers on the Israeli music scene. Lior Nordman 9/37 Freaky Fortune feat. RiskyKidd for Greece Nikolas Raptakis and Theofilos Pouzbouris are both 23. They will be performing 'Rise Up' for the competition after making their breakthrough online. Freaky Fortune's cover of Katy Perry's 'Part of Me' was championed by blogger Perez Hilton. Maria Delakou / Freaky Fortune feat. RiskyKidd 10/37 András Kállay-Saunders for Hungary András is a long-time lover of Eurovision. He will be singing 'Running' for the 2014 contest - a song with a strong link to his one life. 'I wrote this song about a childhood friend of mine who was victim to child abuse. I would like to raise awareness to this topic.' Dávid Ajkai 11/37 Donatan & Cleo for Poland This duo's song 'My Slowianie' was a hit in Poland and the video has been viewed more than 40 million times on YouTube. They will be singing the song - translated to mean 'We Are Slavic' - in Copenhagen. Respective Broadcasters/EBU Donatan & Cleo 12/37 Suzy for Portugal Suzy performed on-stage for the first time aged 5. She has performed at various musical events and will be singing 'Quero Ser Tua' for this year's contest. Cátia Castel-Branco / RTP 13/37 The Shin & Mariko for Georgia Germany-based band The Shin became famous for interweaving traditional Georgian music with more mainstream influences. 'Three Minutes to Earth' reflects this style. 'It describes the last three minutes of a long walk back to Earth.' Jiji Rejini / GPB 14/37 Firelight for Malta Firelight is a fairly new Maltese country folk-pop band. They only formed last June! Nevertheless they will be performing 'Coming Home' for Malta at this year's Eurovision. Mario Micallef / PBS 15/37 Softengine for Finland Eurovision 2014 will be the first big performance for Softengine. The group arrived at their current line-up last summer and will be performing 'Something Better' in Copenhagen. Marek Sabogal / YLE 16/37 Basim for Denmark Basim is a household name in his native Denmark. He came fourth in the first season of The X Factor in 2008 and will now perform 'Cliche Love Song' at Eurovision. Jens Rosenfeldt / DR 17/37 Pollapönk for Iceland Pollapönk were founded in 2006 and are set to perform 'No Prejudice' in Copenhagen. The song is about a young person with a speech impediment who is afraid of being bullied. Jonatan Gretarsson / RUV 18/37 Can-linn feat. Kasey Smith for Ireland Kasey Smith from Dublin found fame with girlband Wonderland in 2010. The group were tutored by Louis Walsh and Kian Egan. Since then the 23-year-old has been in Nashville focusing on her solo career. She will perform 'Heartbeat' at Eurovision. Philip McMillan / RTE 19/37 Tanja for Estonia Tanja moved to Estonia from Russia aged two months. She will perform her song 'Amazing' in Copenhagen. Stina Kase 20/37 Emma for Italy Emma describes music as 'like drinking, sleeping, eating'. She used to follow her father's band gigs and will sing 'La Mia Citta' in Copenhagen. Flavio & Frank 21/37 Twin Twin for France Twin Twin (not Tin Tin!) won't be letting anyone forget their performance in a hurry. The trio are known for their extravagant style and bouncy stage presence. Twin Twin will sing 'Moustache' at Eurovision. TWIN TWIN 22/37 Sergej for Montenegro Sergej will be singing 'Moj Svijet' in Copenhagen. He began his musical career aged 10 when he won second place in the child festival Our Joy. Kristina Cetkovic / RTCG 23/37 Ruth Lorenzo for Spain Ruth was destined to be a singer after screaming so loudly when she was born. She started singing opera aged six and will be performing 'Dancing In The Rain' at Eurovision 2014. Josep Echaburu - RTVE 24/37 Elaiza for Germany This female trio gained a wildcard for the German national final out of more than 2,200 acts who applied via YouTube. They will perform their own song 'Is It Right?' after beating seven of the German music scene's most famous acts. Ben Wolf 25/37 Sebalter for Switzerland Sebalter will be fulfilling a life-long dream when he performs at Eurovision. His trademark is the fiddle which he began playing aged six. Sebalter will perform 'Hunter of Stars' in Copenhagen. SRF/Merly Knörle 26/37 The Common Linnets for The Netherlands Ilse DeLange and Waylon make up this act who will be performing 'Calm After The Storm' at Eurovision 2014. The pair recently travelling to Nashville to prepare for their appearance. Paul Bellaart / The Common Linnets 27/37 Sanna Nielsen for Sweden Sanna, 29, broke onto the music scene aged 11 and is now one of her country's most famous pop artists. She will be singing 'Undo' for this year's competition. Per Kristiansen 28/37 Paula Seling and OVI for Romania Seling is a multi-talented entertainer who has won awards as a classical piano player. She will be performing 'Miracle' with OVI in Copenhagen this May. Radu Bucura 29/37 Dilara Kazimova for Azerbaijan Dilara is influenced by traditional Azeri folk music as well as rock legends like Freddie Mercury. She will perform 'Start A Fire' for Eurovision 2014. Sergey Illin 30/37 ARAM MP3 for Armenia Aram will be representing Armenia in Copenhagen this May with 'Not Alone'. His shows are unpredictable and unique so we're in for a treat. Arnos Martirosyan/ARAM MP3 31/37 Mariya Yaremchuk for Ukraine Mariya hopes to take home the glory for Ukraine with her own intense track 'Tick Tock'. The plan is for her performance to be 'soulful and simple'. Sergey Illin 32/37 Teo for Belarus Teo, real name Yuriy Vaschuk has experience in singing, composing and arranging. A born entertainer, he will perform 'Cheesecake' in Copenhagen which may or may not be cheesy (we suspect cheesy). BTRC 33/37 Cristina Scarlat for Moldova Cristina was born into a family with traditional music roots and has always been surrounded by music. She graduated from the Moldovan music conservatory in 2006 and will be singing ‘Wild Soul’ in Copenhagen. Vlad Vlas/Cristina Scarlat 34/37 Carl Espen for Norway Carl was born in Bergen in 1982 and will represent Norway at the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest with the song 'Silent Storm'. Kim Erlandsen/NRK 35/37 Axel Hirsoux for Belgium Trumpet-playing Axel from Charleroi will take to the stage in Copenhagen this May to perform 'Mother' for Belgium. Bart Musschoot 36/37 Valentina Monetta for San Marino Valentina was born in 1975 as the second of two children. She describes her music taste as eclectiv and will sing 'Maybe (Forse)' at Eurovision 2014. Augusto Betiula/Valentina Monetta 37/37 Aarzemnieki for Latvia Aarzemnieki (or Foreigners) began as a YouTube sensation in 2013 after Joran Steinhauer wrote a farewell song to the Lat currency. Now the group will sing 'Cake To Bake' in Copenhagen. Linda Rutule/ Aarzemnieki (Latvia) 1/37 Conchita Wurst for Austria Tom Neuwirth has been performing as his alter ego Conchita since 2011. For this year's contest he will be singing 'Rise Like a Phoenix'. Tom's motto is: 'Be the best version of yourself rather than a bad copy of someone else'. Conchita is a symbol for tolerance and artistic freedom around the world. ORF/Thomas Ramstorfer 2/37 Molly Smitten-Downes for the UK Molly is an up and coming singer-songwriter who will represent the UK in Copenhagen with her own song 'Children of the Universe'. The track includes a strong drum beat and lyrics designed to promote 'love and unity'. BBC/PA 3/37 Vilija Matačiūnaitė for Lithuania Vilija's singing talent was first spotted by her kindergarten teacher. She began a professional singing career aged 18 and will perform 'Attention' at Eurovision 2014. Darius Gražys Vilija Matačiūnauitė "Attention" 4/37 Tinkara Kovač for Slovenia Tinkara will be performing 'Round and Round' for Eurovision 2014. She is a singer, flautist and lyricist who has recorded two albums. Past collaborations include Robert Plant and Ian Anderson. Matej Mljač/ Tinkara Kovač 5/37 The Tolmachevy Twins for Russia These girls won Junior Eurovision in 2006 aged nine. Anastasiya and Maria are all grown-up now and ready to perform 'Shine' in Copenhagen. RTR 6/37 Hersi for Albania Hersi Matmuja is just 24 but has already participated in her country's Eurovision selection festival five times. She has been pursuing a career in both modern and classical music. Her song for the contest is 'One Night's Anger'. Avni Selmani 7/37 Tijana for FYR Macedonia Tijana Dapcevic is well-known as a singer, cellist and actress. Her Eurovision song choice 'To the Sky' fits with her life motto: 'The sky's the limit - nothing is impossible'. Her sister Tamara will perform as her backing vocalist in Copenhagen. Dusan Jaukovic 8/37 Mei Finegold for Israel Mei will be performing 'Same Heart' at Eurovision 2014. She is renowned as one of the most unique singers on the Israeli music scene. Lior Nordman 9/37 Freaky Fortune feat. RiskyKidd for Greece Nikolas Raptakis and Theofilos Pouzbouris are both 23. They will be performing 'Rise Up' for the competition after making their breakthrough online. Freaky Fortune's cover of Katy Perry's 'Part of Me' was championed by blogger Perez Hilton. Maria Delakou / Freaky Fortune feat. RiskyKidd 10/37 András Kállay-Saunders for Hungary András is a long-time lover of Eurovision. He will be singing 'Running' for the 2014 contest - a song with a strong link to his one life. 'I wrote this song about a childhood friend of mine who was victim to child abuse. I would like to raise awareness to this topic.' Dávid Ajkai 11/37 Donatan & Cleo for Poland This duo's song 'My Slowianie' was a hit in Poland and the video has been viewed more than 40 million times on YouTube. They will be singing the song - translated to mean 'We Are Slavic' - in Copenhagen. Respective Broadcasters/EBU Donatan & Cleo 12/37 Suzy for Portugal Suzy performed on-stage for the first time aged 5. She has performed at various musical events and will be singing 'Quero Ser Tua' for this year's contest. Cátia Castel-Branco / RTP 13/37 The Shin & Mariko for Georgia Germany-based band The Shin became famous for interweaving traditional Georgian music with more mainstream influences. 'Three Minutes to Earth' reflects this style. 'It describes the last three minutes of a long walk back to Earth.' Jiji Rejini / GPB 14/37 Firelight for Malta Firelight is a fairly new Maltese country folk-pop band. They only formed last June! Nevertheless they will be performing 'Coming Home' for Malta at this year's Eurovision. Mario Micallef / PBS 15/37 Softengine for Finland Eurovision 2014 will be the first big performance for Softengine. The group arrived at their current line-up last summer and will be performing 'Something Better' in Copenhagen. Marek Sabogal / YLE 16/37 Basim for Denmark Basim is a household name in his native Denmark. He came fourth in the first season of The X Factor in 2008 and will now perform 'Cliche Love Song' at Eurovision. Jens Rosenfeldt / DR 17/37 Pollapönk for Iceland Pollapönk were founded in 2006 and are set to perform 'No Prejudice' in Copenhagen. The song is about a young person with a speech impediment who is afraid of being bullied. Jonatan Gretarsson / RUV 18/37 Can-linn feat. Kasey Smith for Ireland Kasey Smith from Dublin found fame with girlband Wonderland in 2010. The group were tutored by Louis Walsh and Kian Egan. Since then the 23-year-old has been in Nashville focusing on her solo career. She will perform 'Heartbeat' at Eurovision. Philip McMillan / RTE 19/37 Tanja for Estonia Tanja moved to Estonia from Russia aged two months. She will perform her song 'Amazing' in Copenhagen. Stina Kase 20/37 Emma for Italy Emma describes music as 'like drinking, sleeping, eating'. She used to follow her father's band gigs and will sing 'La Mia Citta' in Copenhagen. Flavio & Frank 21/37 Twin Twin for France Twin Twin (not Tin Tin!) won't be letting anyone forget their performance in a hurry. The trio are known for their extravagant style and bouncy stage presence. Twin Twin will sing 'Moustache' at Eurovision. TWIN TWIN 22/37 Sergej for Montenegro Sergej will be singing 'Moj Svijet' in Copenhagen. He began his musical career aged 10 when he won second place in the child festival Our Joy. Kristina Cetkovic / RTCG 23/37 Ruth Lorenzo for Spain Ruth was destined to be a singer after screaming so loudly when she was born. She started singing opera aged six and will be performing 'Dancing In The Rain' at Eurovision 2014. Josep Echaburu - RTVE 24/37 Elaiza for Germany This female trio gained a wildcard for the German national final out of more than 2,200 acts who applied via YouTube. They will perform their own song 'Is It Right?' after beating seven of the German music scene's most famous acts. Ben Wolf 25/37 Sebalter for Switzerland Sebalter will be fulfilling a life-long dream when he performs at Eurovision. His trademark is the fiddle which he began playing aged six. Sebalter will perform 'Hunter of Stars' in Copenhagen. SRF/Merly Knörle 26/37 The Common Linnets for The Netherlands Ilse DeLange and Waylon make up this act who will be performing 'Calm After The Storm' at Eurovision 2014. The pair recently travelling to Nashville to prepare for their appearance. Paul Bellaart / The Common Linnets 27/37 Sanna Nielsen for Sweden Sanna, 29, broke onto the music scene aged 11 and is now one of her country's most famous pop artists. She will be singing 'Undo' for this year's competition. Per Kristiansen 28/37 Paula Seling and OVI for Romania Seling is a multi-talented entertainer who has won awards as a classical piano player. She will be performing 'Miracle' with OVI in Copenhagen this May. Radu Bucura 29/37 Dilara Kazimova for Azerbaijan Dilara is influenced by traditional Azeri folk music as well as rock legends like Freddie Mercury. She will perform 'Start A Fire' for Eurovision 2014. Sergey Illin 30/37 ARAM MP3 for Armenia Aram will be representing Armenia in Copenhagen this May with 'Not Alone'. His shows are unpredictable and unique so we're in for a treat. Arnos Martirosyan/ARAM MP3 31/37 Mariya Yaremchuk for Ukraine Mariya hopes to take home the glory for Ukraine with her own intense track 'Tick Tock'. The plan is for her performance to be 'soulful and simple'. Sergey Illin 32/37 Teo for Belarus Teo, real name Yuriy Vaschuk has experience in singing, composing and arranging. A born entertainer, he will perform 'Cheesecake' in Copenhagen which may or may not be cheesy (we suspect cheesy). BTRC 33/37 Cristina Scarlat for Moldova Cristina was born into a family with traditional music roots and has always been surrounded by music. She graduated from the Moldovan music conservatory in 2006 and will be singing ‘Wild Soul’ in Copenhagen. Vlad Vlas/Cristina Scarlat 34/37 Carl Espen for Norway Carl was born in Bergen in 1982 and will represent Norway at the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest with the song 'Silent Storm'. Kim Erlandsen/NRK 35/37 Axel Hirsoux for Belgium Trumpet-playing Axel from Charleroi will take to the stage in Copenhagen this May to perform 'Mother' for Belgium. Bart Musschoot 36/37 Valentina Monetta for San Marino Valentina was born in 1975 as the second of two children. She describes her music taste as eclectiv and will sing 'Maybe (Forse)' at Eurovision 2014. Augusto Betiula/Valentina Monetta 37/37 Aarzemnieki for Latvia Aarzemnieki (or Foreigners) began as a YouTube sensation in 2013 after Joran Steinhauer wrote a farewell song to the Lat currency. Now the group will sing 'Cake To Bake' in Copenhagen. Linda Rutule/ Aarzemnieki (Latvia)

Russia has strict laws in place prohibiting "gay propaganda", which celebrities from Stephen Fry and Elton John to Ellie Goulding and Madonna have fiercely opposed.

Armenian favourite Aram MP3 has joined the anti-trans voices, claiming that his competitor's lifestyle is "not natural" and that Wurst should "eventually decide whether she is a woman or a man".

Wurst responded: "The beard is a statement to say that you can achieve anything, no matter who you are or how you look. If you have problems understanding that, then I would be happy to sit down with you and explain it to you in more detail."

Aram MP3 later apologised and insisted that his insensitive words were "a joke".

Wurst's debut Eurovision appearance will be at the second semi-final on 8 May before the grand final two days later, if successful.

Despite the recent outrage, transgender Israeli singer Dana International won in 1998 with "Diva". Then, last year, Finnish contestant Kristia Siegfrids kissed one of her female dancers during "Marry Me" in protest at her country's ban on gay marriage.

Bookmakers have placed Wurst in their top 10 contenders lists, making the 25-year-old one of the favourites.

"My stance is that I fight for something positive rather than against something negative," Wurst told Radio Free Europe. "I was always an outsider and I was confronted with discrimination. I don't want this to happen to the next generation."