LOS ANGELES–It’s Eva Le Queen’s turn.
After Marina Summers’ stellar run on the second season of “RuPaul’s Drag Race: UK Vs. The World,” another “Drag Race Philippines” alum is headed for the global stage. Eva Le Queen will be competing in the inaugural season of “RuPaul’s Drag Race Global All Stars,” which will start streaming on August 16 on Paramount Plus in the United States, Crave in Canada and Wow Presents Plus in the Philippines and the rest of the world. Eva Le Queen, who made it to the top 4 of “Drag Race Philippines” and is known for serving opulence and eloquence, is sure to bring the country pride.
She will be up against queens from “Drag Race” franchises from all over the world: Alyssa Edwards of the US, Athena Likis of Belgium, Gala Varo of Mexico, Kitty Scott-Claus of the UK, Kween Kong of Australia, Miranda Lebrão of Brazil, Nehellenia of Italy, Pythia of Canada, Soa De Muse of France, Tessa Testicle of Germany and Vanity Vain of Sweden.
We caught up with her at RuPaul’s DragCon LA where we talked about “Global All Stars” and how she prepared for it.
All hail Eva Le Queen. Bring home that crown.
“Global All Stars,” so exciting, what can you tell us?
“Global All Stars” siguro in layman’s terms, it’s like the Miss Universe of drag, because it’s just one queen per country. It’s not like your usual “Vs. the World” format where there’s a host country versus x number of queens. Ito talagang one is to one lang and it’s the inaugural season so I’m really excited. It sends a beautiful message that there are different ways and kinds of doing drag from all over the world.
And Philippines, we’re the only Asian representation so there’s huge pressure because I’m not just representing a country, I’m representing a continent. I’m very excited because there’s so much talent, beauty and culture that I want to show from that side of the world, to the world, and of all the people who could be there, I was handpicked for that role. I was asked to do it, I didn’t even have to apply for it. They just asked, “Are you ready to compete again?” And I said yes.
What was your reaction when they said it was this format?
Initially, I didn’t know what it was. I was just asked, do you want to compete again? I thought it was another “Vs. The World”… but then it’s “Global All Stars” and I was like, wow. The beautiful thing is everything now makes sense… Since “Drag Race Philippines,” I wanted to focus on professionalizing drag and elevating drag back home.
I have so many projects and so many initiatives for the community in the Philippines and then I was given an even bigger platform to speak for it, na sa Pilipinas we can do this, then maybe other countries can do it as well.
One of the many reasons we love you is that the work that you do is not just for you, you’re doing it for all the queens. Why are you passionate about this? Why is this important to you?
I think it’s my purpose. Before drag, I’ve been doing corporate, I was part of HR, I know Labor Code. I’ve experienced doing drag for pennies or coins. In retrospect, everything that I’ve been through in life, all the experiences, the knowledge that I have, the skill sets that I have, it almost feels wrong for me not to do something with it. And I have drag right here. Parang pinagsama ko lang yung experiences ko before to elevate it.
Ultimately, I was led to be in this position. I don’t think any other queen has gone through the same experiences as I did. It was written for me. I think is my supreme destiny talaga.Nagkataon lang na ito yung mindset and skills na meron ako, I put it in drag and use it for everyone.
You’ve had to keep “Global All Stars” a secret for how long?
For almost a year.
How does it feel now that people know?
It’s crazy because they told us like in a very short span of time, “Oh, by the way, we’re dropping it in the next couple of days.”
Is it true that you were flying when they dropped the news?
Yeah, I was mid-air when the “Global All Stars” promo dropped. When I landed in LA, my phone was vibrating. I said I will not watch it until there’s a camera there. I want to document my own reaction because I waited for this.
You know what, I did the same thing that I did [after filming] “Drag Race Philippines.” Kinalimutan ko siya. I went on with my life, just forget about it kunyari muna. Now, it’s been a crazy past few days… Finally I can talk about it… I am the Filipina global glamazon. And that’s a title that I hold.
How different was the preparation for this versus your preparation for “Drag Race”?
It takes a village to bring Eva to life. I have a team. I believe that if you want to achieve greater heights, you really have to have a strong foundation. If you see Marina Summers, there’s more than 10 people behind her. Since we are practically in the same family, we have built our own team… There’s Camp Summers, there’s Queen’s Council, there’s Playhouse.
We reached out to our network. So I have a fashion director Ryuji Shiomitsu who is the fashion director of Mega, I started doing improv classes, I even took voice lessons from teacher Sweet [Plantado] of The Company and I took dance lessons from Joe Abuda. You know, I prepared for this, making sure that I did not leave any stone unturned.
Miss Universe prep talaga!
I even took sewing lessons from Job Dacon. Lahat ng skill sets. The runways, we tapped some of the best Filipino designers in the country—Ehrann Montoya, Leo Almodal, Mara Chua… I think the difference now is when I started in “Drag Race Philippines,” ako lang mag-isa. It was all just a journey for myself. But this time, for “Global All Stars,” I had to make sure that I left no stones unturned. That was our motto: #nostonesunturned. Because you never know what’s gonna happen and you can’t be underprepared. We did everything, we had a team and I’m very, very proud of what we have created and we’re gonna show it to the world.
How does it feel to be back at DragCon? What have been the highlights for you?
For me, DragCon is that one moment where I get to see and hear stories of fans from this side of the world. I always love going to DragCon because I always love hearing how much they love Filipino drag, especially from non-Filipinos who always come here. It’s big. It’s always huge for me… for me, there’s always that personal layer to it. I always ask them what they like about Filipino queens or “Drag Race Philippines” because our humor might be twisted, different in a very Filipino way, and they appreciate it.
Every time, they say that they really love it. Yun yung pinupunta ko dito every year eh… The only difference is this year, people are telling me that they’re rooting for me in “Global All Stars.” For people to be happy, to share that same happiness and pride with you, Filipinos and people who are non-Filipinos alike… It’s been less than a week since it dropped so may aftershock pa siya.
You’re very close to Marina. Did she give you any tips before you went to do the show? What advice did she give you, if any?
Marina has always been there every step of the way. Para siyang biro ni Universe. Nung dumating siya [after doing “UK Vs. The World”], I picked her up from the airport. We had this dinner and I said, oh my god, sis, when is it going to be my turn? I was telling her, Marina, you are the lighthouse to the next big dream. For us Filipinos, you are the lighthouse.
You show us that you can go here to by just being you… We were just having that talk and then a few days later I received the call. I was like, ‘Te, pinag-uusapan lang natin ‘to nung isang araw and I just received a call.
Marina has always believed that I should be always be who I am… because definitely, people will come and compare us. It’s natural. Of course, we’re the first two Filipino queens from the Philippine franchise to compete in a global season so they will always say, “Ay si Marina ganito, si Marina ganyan…” No. You are Eva. She said to me, “Maraming bagay na ikaw lang ang may kayang gumawa (There are a lot of things that only you can do).” We inspire each other that way.
“Drag Race Philippines” Season 3 has just been announced. What are your thoughts? Do you have early favorites? What’s your advice for the queens of Season 3?
I’m really excited for season three of “Drag Race Philippines” because I know some of these kids and it’s going to be a very sickening season. Pure talent, big personalities … I know they’re just going to bring it and I’m so excited for the Filipinos to embrace them because I’m sure they’re going to love this season.
Early favorites of course will be some of the queens that I know: Maxie, Myx Chanel, of course, Khianna from CDO, very very talented. Tita Baby, of course, oh my god, meron na namang panibagong (there’s going to be another) Tita. I just love it. My advice is just be you. Kasi if your’e superstar, it’s either you have it or you don’t. Don’t try to manufacture or produce your airtime to create relevance. People will love you. They need to own it.
If you’re a star, if you’re a star in the making, own it. There’s really no point trying to fake things, so just be yourself so you will shine better. It’s gonna be tough, roller coaster siya and it’s gonna change your lives forever. Embrace it, live in the moment and just bask in the limelight.
How has “Drag Race” entering the Philippines changed the drag scene in the country?
I think it created opportunities. It opened up doors that were not open before. For me, the best thing that happened in “Drag Race” is that it created influence for drag queens to be able to take control of their own careers. Dati, you’re at the mercy of the clubs, kung gusto ka ng owner ng bar, kung papapasukin ka pa niya next week o hindi (if the owner of the club likes you, if they’ll let you go to work next week or not). Now you can do drag brunches, you can mount your own roasts, you can create so much opportunity.
You can go to TikTok, you can do brand campaigns, there are drag queens who started walking for Philippine Fashion Week… there’s just so many other opportunities for drag queens. It’s only a matter of being creative and being true to yourself and knowing how to sell what you have. The market is there. I always say this, if not for the fans who are rallying behind the queens, we wouldn’t have reached this… I think it’s a synergistic energy between the queens and the audience that loves them. They want to see more and we give more… It’s really that push and pull. I think we can really expand this. It’s high time to do drag in the Philippines.
What else do you want to tell our readers?
2024 is the year of Asian drag excellence. Filipino queens are now taking their space on the map to be known to the world. It’s only a matter of time that we bring in more international queens to our country. Yes, long live Filipino drag.
