Quotes

The one hit song that I have tremendous gratitude for is Boots, because it has a life of its own. It's like being identified with a brand name.

My mom has obviously had a powerful influence on my life, and her voice can describe certain things that I couldn't see in myself.

I come from playing sports. I compete, so I gotta be better than I was last year. I gotta get better, and that better gotta come from just growing. From learning new stuff to working on it, experience it in life, and failing.

Technically, my first acting job was in one of my videos for a song called 'Retrospect For Life,' which Lauryn Hill directed and featured an actress by the name of N'bushe Wright, who played my girlfriend who was about to be pregnant. I remember being so nervous about it, but now I feel like I can conquer the world with it.

I was in the heart and soul of Baltimore. I definitely felt a connection to the people. They're really hard-working people that want to have a better life. And I saw the struggle that exists there.

It's never too late - in fiction or in life - to revise.

I am a scholar of life. Every night before I go to sleep, I analyze every detail of what I did that day. I evaluate things and people, which helps me avoid mistakes.

I'm still strong and in the best shape to continue living my life.

I wish my real life could be as simple and scripted as it is on television.

Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you're kind, amazing things will happen.

If life gives you lemons, make some kind of fruity juice.

There are few things more liberating in this life than having your worst fear realized.

The nightmare is you spend the rest of your life being funny at parties and then people say, 'Why didn't you do that when you were on television?'

There are a couple of things I would have liked to have done, but the producer or director couldn't stretch the concept to allow for my size. Whenever that happens, I just say, 'Deal with it, and try to get the weight off, and get on with your life.'

I did sketches and had the best time of my life because people were laughing. I was not self-conscious, because they laughed when I wanted them to.

As far as havin' someone to talk to on the road, for instance, who's not a guy - it's saved my life many times to have Ann in the same group.

I have a very busy life, and I love meeting people, but I also like to be alone.

You have to be respectful. Don't ask for respect if you are not respectful. It's not depending on your sexuality, your gender or the colour of your skin. It should be in the focus to live a respectful life.

I am happy being a man in a dress. Some people get confused and think I'm a trans woman, but I'm strict about the difference. What I do is performance, it's staged, it's glamour - it's not real life. But for trans people, being born in the wrong body - there's nothing glamorous or easy about that.

Dressing as a woman meant I began to accept my body, and I enjoyed seeing women get jealous. They ask me how I get my waist this size; how I manage to walk in heels as if I've done it all my life.

Because of the discrimination during my time as a teenager I decided to live my life as I want it.

Conchita is a symbol of the fact that you just can live a wonderful life when you do what makes you happy.

Once I decided to be a different person on stage, I got the chance to be larger than life and over the top, which I love.

If you are prepared to admit to others and to yourself who you really are, then you can have a fantastic life. Of course, you need to have a thick skin to get through it all.

Winning the Eurovision contest is just a door opener, this is not that you're set for life. Definitely not, don't mistake that, because you really have to work your behind off to sustain in this business.