MANILA, Philippines — Filipino drag queen Eva Le Queen gave a strong performance during the premiere of the first-ever edition of “RuPaul’s Drag Race Global All Stars.”
Drag queens from 12 different countries were tapped for the reality competition series, with Eva as the sole Asian contestant and the smallest in stature.
“I came here for global domination,” Eva said during her introduction, recounting she entered the “Drag Race Philippines” Season 1 finale without winning a single badge.
She finished joint-third back then, beaten in a penultimate Lip Sync Battle to eventual winner Precious Paula Nicole.
Eva entered the “RuPaul’s Drag Race Global All Stars” stage wearing a dress made of white and golden pearls.
Asked by resident judge Michelle Visage what essential item she would bring to a deserted island, Eva reached down in front of her to reveal her lip gloss.
“I want my friends and family to know that I will not be found dead with chappy lips,” Eva joked, a reply that was praised by main judge and host RuPaul Charles.
The winner will receive $200,000 (P11.4 million), a one-year supply of cosmetics from Anastasia Beverly Hills, a bejewelled crown and scepter, and be inducted in the international pavilion of the Drag Race Hall of Fame.
Eva quipped that with that life-changing amount of money, she could buy a house for herself, her parents and her boy toy.
For the first maxi challenge, the queens were divided into two groups to perform a talent show. Eva was placed in the second group with Gala Varo (Mexico), Nehellenia (Italy), Pythia (Canada), Tessa Testicle (Switzerland), and Vanity Vain (Sweden).
However the second group queens still participated in the first runway where the category was “Garden of Eden,” so Eva wore an outfit made out of coconut husks inspired by the Tree of Life.
Kween Kong (Australia) and Alyssa Edwards (United States) were the joint winners of the first group after an entertaining lip sync battle to Rihanna’s “Only Girl (In The World),” sharing the $10,000 (P572,000) cash tip.
The second episode saw Nehellenia win the mini challenge of posing for a magazine in a quick-drag outfit, where the queens only had 20 minutes to prepare, plus a cash tip worth $2,500 (P143,000).
“What makes Filipino drag unique is that we always do things with the heart,” said Eva in a confessional, quoting the closing line of “Drag Race Philippines” that goes “Puso, puso, at puso pa rin” or “Heart always and in all ways.”
She recounted being known for her eloquent and opulent drag, quipping her mouth’s talents for lip syncing and words of wisdom, among others.
Eva’s talent portion was an entertaining rice cooking tutorial with sword fighting in between, literally fighting a dragon onstage, but cursing in Filipino at the end because the rice cooker wasn’t plugged in.
The second runway category was “Money Makes The World Go Round: Local Currency Eleganza,” and Eva’s outfit was a bamboo piggy bank that breaks into a white dress with colorful dangling coins.
“Money makes our world go round, but it’s also a currency of love,” Eva said. “I’m sharing you Asian beauty every way possible.”
Michelle praised Eva’s talent performance particularly for her “sword fighting” line and fashion sense while RuPaul and another resident judge Jamal Sims called the performance funny, epic and fantastic.
Eva was named in the Top 2 queens of the week with Vanity, and it was the latter who won the lip sync of Danna’s, who was the week’s special guest judge, “Paranoia” for the $10,000 cash tip.
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