Vancouver's Drag Superstar Showdown! Week 1 Recap

Frequently the music scene and the arts scene overlap, and one of the more spectacular examples of that are drag performances. This year TFD Presents is back to host the 12th year of Vancouver's Next Drag Superstar! Support the Scene was given the opportunity to come out and shoot the show on January 30th, and we decided to give you a recap of what went down during week 1's performances. 

This years competition is taking place once again at Celebrities Nightclub. Every week they have a different guest judge to help decide who will continue from that week's performances. This week's guest judge was the incredible Jaylene Tyme, who was Miss Congeniality of Season 5 of Canada's Drag Race. Alongside Jaylene was last year's winner, Androgynass, and Tommy of TFD Presents. The show was hosted by the lovely Genesis, the winner of the 10th year of VNDS.

The winners have an incredible prize package, that includes a photoshoot, cash, and of course a very shiny crown and jewels. 

The evening started out with a delightful introduction of the judges, with the ever entertaining Jaylene Tyme coaxing a chorus of, "ohhhhhh yeaaaaaah" out of the delighted patrons. They gave a rundown of what they were being judged on; things like social media, costume, lip syncing, stage presence, professionalism, and more. They ended with an explanation that the bottom 2 would have a lip sync battle to determine who would be moving forward, and who would be eliminated from this weeks competition.

The theme for tonight's event was one that everyone loves; Decades. Each performer was assigned a decade and expected to create a look to suit. Unfortunately they had a performer drop out, which meant the lovely host took on the spare decade, and what an incredible option they received; the 70's. They chose to reflect this with the sparkle of a white strappy and sparkly mini dress, and matching heels. 

They followed this with an initial look at everyone's outfits. This would, of course, be followed by everyone's favorite part; the lip sync performances. 

One by one, we met all of the evenings performers and were introduced to their decades.

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Michelangela // 1900's - She came out in a long red silken skirt, complete with bustle, and a blue velvet bodice with a matching hat. She proudly told the crowd of her Chilean heritage, that the color coordination was representative of the flag, and how excited she was to bring the heat. 

Queen Kong // 1950's - She wore a 50's Dior gown, with the vintage style of a Chinese dress morphed with a wedding dress. A beautiful red dress with gold accented panels and embroidery throughout. Red chopsticks in her hair and shiny white high heels.

 

Janet Jacksoff // 1970's - She came out with hair as big as her heart, and a sign that read "Drag is Rebellion, Drag is Resistance, Drag is Love". She really stood out with neon pink layered chiffon scarves and neon pink leather boots. She was filled with the snarky sass one would expect out of a lady of the 70's. She was knocked out first last season, and seemed excited to throw a little shade over it.

Malandro // 1980's -  With a maroon blouse, pencil skirt, nylons and a set of clear heels, Malandro was rocking the '80s. A blonde up-do with a cute black bow and gold accented jewellery. Last year, Malandro came in second place.

Mikki Wikki // 1990's - In a long black skirt and a matching black bikini top, Mikki was feeling the decade. They wore elbow length black gloves and silver jewellery that popped. A stunning set of black and red heels completed the look. They spoke of growing up in the age of YouTube. 

Nara // 2000's - Tapping into her inner Brittany, she dazzled in a patchwork styled denim dress, with a long slit up the leg. Over top she wore a blue fluffy waist-length sweater. She is quite new to drag.

Ra // 2012 - Inspired by the Victoria's Secret Fashion show from that year, they stood out in a set of sheer black and sparkly chaps and a silver Versace bikini underneath. A matching silver cowboy hat and a set of beautiful white wings behind them tied everything together. 

Clem // 2020's - Pulling from one of the most iconic looks of this decade, Clem leaned into their inner Eilish, with bright green hair and a long black sweather, chunky black leather boots, and white nylons. 

 

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After the first look at each performer was completed, they moved onto an incredible lip-sync performance. 

        Performance: Queen Kong

In a pink fuzzy jacket, with an animal print bra and pantie set underneath, and a set of black kneel high boots to tie it together, Queen Kong was eye catching. Opening with a skit from the movie Boomerang, featuring a favorite scene of "No Man Can Turn This Down", and seguing into a lip sync of a "Work This Pussy" remix. Fantastic movements on stage that landed in amazing splits, and although her timing was a little off with the song on occasion, she nailed it. The judges commented on her musicality and movement being on point, commended her on the full hair change she pulled off between the introduction and lip sync, and how spectacular her crowd work was. They did suggest she up the dramatic on her lip sync, and that they wanted to see a few more layers in her performance, but otherwise found her to be high energy and exquisite. 

 
        Performance: Clem

Clem was certainly a performance, one that caught many off guard. Coming out wearing a black bikini and a denim top and chaps, and with a remix of "Joyride", switching to "C'mon" partway through, Clem wove an entertaining story of an arrest and subsequent escape from their cuffs, followed by a chase scene with "the police". With a couple steps off stage to swap props, and the help of a fantastic backup performer, Clem wowed the audience, and earned a great reaction from the crowd. The judges were equally impressed, and Tommy dropped the line, "I should have hated it..." with the biggest grin on his face. They commented on the commitment to the character, how they appreciated how they leaned into the campy aspects, and they considered one of the most entertaining performances they had seen yet.

 

        Performance: Ra

Ra came to the stage in a gold bodysuit with yellow feather accents, and a long white feathered and frilly dress-styled tail behind them. A set of feathers on either side of their head and white rhinestone heels brought their look together. They changed up the pace of the night by slowing things down with a lip sync of "It's All Coming Back to Me Now". There was an incident of them slipping on their dress, however they recovered well and slid it right into their routine. They then upped the pace by transitioning into  "Throat Goat", and removed the skirt and bodysuit to remove a black rhinestone string bikini, and after a few more articles of clothing being removed, they ended their performance in a C string, and nothing more. The judges were pleased, and commented on their lip sync and hair, but did criticize the lack of a story between the two sides of the performance. They felt they were two opposites with little tie in. They also suggested slowing down movements some, but were delighted by the "bedazzled cooch". 

        Performance: Malandro

Entering in a full length cotton robe styled dress, and a red cape draped off each shoulder, Malandro was slow and sensual in their removal of the excess clothing. Lip syncing to "Precious", they slowly exposed a torn up fishnet style top with a red layered flowing skirt. They removed article by article until all that remained was the fishnet style top. They worked in a wolf skull style mask, which was well received by the crowd. The crowd responded spectacularly to Malandro's performance, and the judges were just as impressed. They complimented the story and how well thought out it was. The burlesque background was obvious in their performance, and their reveals were commented on as "the cleanest in the city". They commented how it was easy to see the sparks and feel the fire from their performance, and that they could see they came to win.

    

        Performance: Michelangela

Coming out with a Cello and settling onto stage, nobody knew exactly what to anticipate with this performance. Wearing a black silk Japanese style robe, she started to play on stage. After a few seconds of her playing, the music started to overlap her playing, and she played along to it, until it turned into a remix of "Roxanne" crossed with classical string instruments. A partner joined her on stage, removed her cello, and proceeded to dance together in a remixed style of ballroom. The song transitioned into some classic J. Lo, and the robe was lost to reveal a cute red sparkly bodysuit. After tempting her bull assistant with a red velvet cape, she closed out her performance to tremendous applause. The judges were thrilled with the performance, commenting that it would take very little to take that show to the stage. They were stunned by the performance, and ecstatic about what they saw, commenting that it was "un-apologetically you". The only suggestion they provided was to practice the reveal, but were otherwise delighted with the musicality and culture of the performance. 

        Performance: Nara. 

Coming out on stage with a Marilyn inspired look, her blonde hair was up and she was slow and sensual as she started out with "Guy What Takes His Time". She followed along with the beat beautifully and eventually lost the silk robe, revealing a gold tasseled bodysuit underneath. It was cute and sparkly and fit the vibe well, especially as she really leaned into the burlesque and classic 50's style dance movies. She even dropped into an impressive shoulder balance, that was received well by the crowd. The judges were pleased, commenting on how damn good she was at what she did, and how on point her reveals and overall number was. They did comment that she needed to look a little less serious, and have a a little more fun in her face, but that performances like this makes week 1 a tough call. They also commented on her shoe choice, wishing for something that matched better than the black velvet she had selected, but were otherwise delighted, commenting "you're a star".

        Performance: Janet Jacksoff

With a change of outfit style, Janet came out in a blue pantsuit, black heels and a pink pleasure trench coat. She was quick to lose the coat, and started a cute power point presentation as she started her lip sync. At one point she stepped off stage to grab a sequin bag filled with fake cash, and tossed it to the crowd. Initially, the room was relatively quiet, but people found a charm in the campy side of this corporate aspect. The crowd was somewhat receptive, but really enjoyed the comments of the judges afterwards. Tommy described it as a mess, but that he was enjoying how much fun she had with it. The judges recommended leaning into the corporate concept more, but that it was overall enjoyable, but messy. They were entertained, but it felt "weird". 

 

        Performance: Mikki Wikki

 Coming out in a gold, gladiator-esque outfit, Mikki Wikki charmed the room fairly well in a little gold skirt and red and gold embroidered crop top. Initially they started with a toy soldier type dance, and transitioned into something with a much higher beat. Lip syncing to a remix of "Slow Motion", she danced well to the beat of the songs, and transitioned well between music styles. The crowd and judges received her well, with little to no negative feedback aside from suggestions to use double sided tape to avoid adjustments during future performances. 

 

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 After a spectacular set of performances, the audience was given 5 minutes to vote on their favorite performance of the evening. Once the results were tallied, there would be a lip sync battle at the end. Once voting closed and the tally was counted, first place in this weeks performance was handed to Michelangela, which resulted in the crowd going haywire for several long seconds. Afterwards, Clem, Mikki Wikki, Malandro, and Nara were announced as safe. Unfortunately Janet Jacksoff was eliminated, leaving Ra and Queen Kong to have a lip sync battle that we were lucky enough to catch a recording of. Check it out below!

  

 

The winner of the lip sync battle was the incredible Queen Kong, with Ra being eliminated from this weeks competition.

 

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Stay tuned for next weeks performance at Celebrities Nightclub on Thursday,  Feb. 6th!