Our queens slayed, served and delivered at RuPaul’s DragCon LA 2023. You know how the Philippines is a strong contender in international beauty pageants and talent contests? Our queens showed that they have what it takes for both as they displayed charisma, uniqueness, nerve and talent, and embodied both Filipino strengths and represented us fiercely at DragCon.Cheers erupted when the queens made their grand entrance on the pink carpet during the Queens Walk. All Stars 2 Winner Alaska kicked off the parade. She was followed by winners from other seasons and franchises, including our very own Precious Paula Nicole. Our queen looked stunning in a golden barong-inspired dress. When she posed for the press by the end of the pink carpet, we felt so proud.
One by one, our Filipino queens emerged on the runway—Turing, Viñas DeLuxe, Marina Summers, Eva Le Queen, Minty Fresh, Corazon, Gigi Era, Prince and Xilhouete. All of them served looks! Our favorites were Viñas’ black dress with so many lips dangling from it—she is the self-proclaimed Pambansang Bunganga ng Pilipinas, after all; Eva Le Queen’s all-white ensemble served elegance and opulence. In the world of drag, the Philippines is a first world country. There were three other Filipino queens from the original US franchise who walked the runway: Manila Luzon, who is the host of “Drag Den,” Jiggly Caliente, resident judge on “Drag Race Philippines” and Ongina, one of the hosts of the “Drag Race Philippines” edition of “Fashion Photo Ruview.”
We visited the booths after and were pleased to see that there were already lines of fans waiting to meet Precious, Viñas, Minty and Marina. A lot of Filipino fans had come out to support them.
Swarming with fans
Gigi Era’s booth, which was on the other side of the hall, quickly became our favorite booth. The tiyanak shirt (a nod to her iconic runway look and the unforgettable quote “When I think of tiyanak, I think of tiyanak.”) that she was selling was so funny. Of course we had to buy one. Gigi was super nice, and Miss Ma’am was great at spilling tea. She even joked that we could write everything she said (but would we?).
While the main floor of the hall was swarming with fans looking for and lining up at the booths of their favorite queens, there were shows happening on the main stage and live tapings of the Wow Presents Plus show “Bring Back My Girls,” where queens from different seasons and franchises reunited for a hilarious interview with host TS Madison.
We headed to the main stage to catch the performance of Precious. She had the audience eating out of the palm of her hand. Turing, Minty, Eva and Corazon also performed on Day 1 of DragCon while Prince and Marina performed on Day 2. They all slayed but the most notable performance—perhaps not just among the Filipino queens but also including any queen from any franchise—Viñas DeLuxe’s rendition of Mariah Carey’s song “We Belong Together.”
Standing in front of a big screen which was showing a music video of Mariah Carey singing the same song, Viñas started lip syncing. We didn’t immediately realize what was happening, but we thought they looked eerily alike. Soon, we realized that our queen wasn’t only lip syncing, she was copying Mariah to a T—from her hair, makeup, outfit, facial expressions, body movement and, most importantly, arm and hand movements! When what she was doing dawned on everyone, we all lost it! The crowd went wild. Later she told us that she’s been practicing that act for three years now.
‘The ultimate!’
DragCon’s official Instagram account posted a video of the performance and people continued to lap it up. Season 5 lip sync assassin Coco Montrese expressed her awe in a comment: “Come on arm-ography and lip and body sync. That’s the ultimate!!! I could watch this forever! WERQ! The best!”
We can’t stop watching Viñas’ performance either. We refuse to say how many times we’ve watched the video.
On Day Two, it was the “Drag Race Philippines” girls’ turn to do a live taping of “Bring Back My Girls.” It was a hoot. The episode is a must-watch—we can’t wait for it to come out. It has comedy, drama, action, suspense, shade, and more comedy. Fans showed all out support to the queens here—they gathered, a mix of Filipino and yes, non-Filipino fans as well. And so many of them got in line for the Q&A that there wasn’t enough time to answer everyone’s questions.
Speaking of fans, we met an ultimate super fan of RuPaul’s Drag Race who has tattooed the names of all the drag race queens on his back, including the “Drag Race Philippines” queens. James Robinson, aka Tattooed Super Fan, said his favorite Filipino queen is Precious. He was so touched by her sweetness when he met her at DragCon UK and again at DragCon LA.
DragCon is a special event where you can come as you are or as your alter ego and no one will judge you. Like Precious says, “Ito ang Disneyland ng mga bading.” The atmosphere is always fun, friendly, and accepting. And it has now become extra special for us Filipinos as we have our local queens representing us on the world stage. Thank you to all our queens for making us all proud.
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