Project Description

RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE

“Werq The World Tour”

@ Big Top, NSW

09/02/19

(Live Review)

Reviewer: Amelia Torresan

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The time has come for you to lipsync FOR. YOUR. LIFE!

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Every fan of the American TV show ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race‘ knows that this one sentence foreshadows a performance by legendary queens that falls nothing short of a spectacular. The lights dimmed and the music started, four male dancers opened the show with Frank Sinatra‘s “Come Fly With Me,” setting up the theme for the night. Season 10’s stunning showgirl Asia O’Hara descended down the stairs and then one by one, each of the queens were introduced. Everyone looked stunning and the crowd was going wild for their favourite queens as they appeared onstage. After the performance ended, Asia commenced her role as the night’s host, which, in true Asia O’Hara fashion, she NAILED. She interacted with the audience, talking to a groom to be, the oldest drag queen in Australia who educated her on Courtney Act‘s birthplace, and also cursing out the people who were still entering the venue and hadn’t gotten to their seats (which had the crowd in stitches).

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The first solo performance was by Season 10’s bodybuilder Barbie: Kameron Michaels who performed a Cher medley, paying homage to her songs, including ‘Burlesque‘ (which was the theme of her performance) and ‘Believe‘. Kameron‘s lip-sync skills are undeniable as she danced through the isles and revealed a sparkly bodysuit under the coat she was initially wearing! After striking a pose to signal the end of her performance, Kameron took the time to show off her practiced Aussie accent, which was impressive enough to convince us that she was a local!

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Next queen up was Season 9/10 queen: Eureka O’Hara, serving Ursula from The Little Mermaid realness with her ‘Poor Unfortunate Souls‘ routine. Her costume was a great interpretation of the sea witch’s appearance, especially the octopus tentacle half-skirt that flowed behind her as she performed. Her backup dancers took the characters of Flotsam and Jetsam and the set included special guest Asia O’Hara as Ariel, accompanied by Flounder and Sebastian. I was living for this moment because The Little Mermaid is one of my favourite Disney films and Eureka definitely did a great job paying homage to it!

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Taking a break from the performances, Asia O’Hara returned onstage in another stunning outfit to host the Ellen Degeneres-esque game ‘Wig in a Box‘ where she would get three audience members to choose wigs that represented different artists from a bag and whatever they picked, they had to lip sync to. It was so incredibly hilarious to see three completely different personalities perform three iconic songs including: Britney Spears‘ “Work B*tch,” SIA‘s “Chandelier,” and P!nk‘s “So What!” I bet you could guess what those wigs looked like!

Now boarding: flight to Seoul! Next queen to perform was one of my personal favourites, season 8’s Kim Chi, performing a heartfelt rendition of Jessie Ware‘s “Say You Love Me.” She started the number  looking like a beautiful, lilac flower and every time the beat dropped, a there was a new costume reveal. Piece by piece was pulled from her dress, imitating a flower shedding its petals. I knew Kim Chi‘s performance was going to be spectacular but I did not expect that the yellow fabric that made up the underside of her dress was actually 4 dancers! This then reveal a short, bright yellow dress draped in purple rhinestones, reflecting the playful yet fashion-forward nature of Kim Chi. My newly made friends who were sitting beside me and I were cheering till our throats were dry and our wigs were well and truly snatched.

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A wrestling-inspired performance featuring the Season 10 clan: Asia O’Hara, Eureka O’Hara and Kameron Michaels followed Kim Chi’s set and was super fun to watch. Each of the queens lip synced to a different song – all following the same theme of being a fighter – as their move in the match. A bit of friendly competition (even if it is staged) makes for a great performance because it was fun and feisty!

Season 5’s Detox was up next and her performance was purely sexual, doused in red light and giving me Uma Thurman in Pulp Fiction vibes. Let me just say I’m glad this show was for ages 15+ because it was definitely on the verge of being NSFW and I enjoyed every moment of it because it was completely in line with her image!

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Now, for my absolute favourite performance of the night, Season 7’s victor Violet Chachki and her Dita Von Teese-inspired burlesque performance to Kylie Minogue‘s “The One.” Everything about the it was stunning and polished: her lip-sync skills, her outfit, the performance as a whole. I was in awe the entire time. The reveal of her feather headdress as a pair of fans slayed me and blew me away and each reveal after that had me on the edge of my seat, eyes glued to her the entire time. An acrobatic hoop descended from the ceiling and she started spinning and doing tricks on it mid-air which was astounding. I can definitely see why she was the victor of Season 7, because her talent is incredible.

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Now boarding: flight to Tokyo! Lucky last performance of the night was Naomi Smalls of season 8 and All Stars 4 performing a Japanese-themed performance, her outfit being the biggest indication of that. Her soundtrack included her own track ‘Pose‘ and Israel’s 2018 Eurovision song ‘Toy‘ by Netta (at least that’s what I think it was). But her performance was constant reveals – clothing reveals and even wig reveals from a bun to her classic long straight locks. It was stunning and high fashion, which is totally on brand for the ‘Legs of All Stars!’

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The queens reunited once more for a group performance and they all looked like stars against the night sky. I thoroughly enjoyed myself that night, especially being such a big fan of the show and I would 100% attend another RuPaul’s Drag Race event in the future!

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Check out Wendy Robinson’s gallery of the show here

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