10 Across the Board

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Theatre Royal, Brighton, Monday, August 6

AFTER travelling for 30+ hours following their flights being cancelled from Singapore and a slight performance delay, the show closing Brighton Pride could finally begin.

Victoria Secret and Danny Beard worked the stage as the show’s hosts, making sure the audience was kept on its toes, gagging for more show-stopping performances from our favourite RuPaul’s Drag Race season 10 queens. But before the show could really start, we were blessed with the presence of local queens who really set the tone for the rest of the night.

Crystal Lubrikunt is a true lip-sync assassin, performing a remix of Taylor Swift’s “… Ready for it” blended with a Kill Bill speech. Cute and awkward, dropping the moves quicker than Swift dropping boyfriends.

Next up was Lydia L’Scabies, performing her Britney Spears parody of Lucky at the height of Pride weekend. A performance filled with humour dealing with the friendship with Paris Hilton and mental breakdown causing Britney to shave her head.

The queen to close the opening part of the show: Rococo Chanel. One for the fans of classic film, she performed a cinematographic story-telling act with puppets referencing The Shining. A unique performance once again showcasing her love for horror films.

Lights are being dimmed, the stage is now set for the main event. Staged as a boxing tournament, the lip-sync battle between the Season 10’s final 3 queens (Aquaria, Kameron Michaels, Asia O’Hara) opened the show with a bang!

Following the impressive opening act, we got to see more of a queen who we all wanted to see more of in Season 10. Yuhua Hamasaki, also called the Asian version of Bianca Del Rio (winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 6), brought her “hot and flexible body” to the stage with high energy choreography. Her second performance of the night was a Miley Cyrus medley. It was during this performance that a lady in the first row got invited up on stage – to then unknowingly become a human wrecking ball. Overall, Yuhua delivered and surprised us all with her performance, but some stand-up comedy sketches would have completed it.

Our second queen was a clear audience favourite: Miz Cracker. This New York queen entered our lives in a cute pink, shiny outfit from the 1950’s, with big hair getting her as close to God as possible. She declared her love for bread, sharing the loaf she’s been keeping in her bag with the first rows of the audience. For her second act she came out with slaying choreography, high energy kicks and moves which earned her a second standing ovation from the audience. Her performances were everything and she was giving the audience what they wanted – including early ticket access to her UK tour next year!

After Asia O’Hara’s performance fail in the season finale (google it, it’s shocking!) fans were shook and wondering what would be next for this all-rounded queen? Well, she has officially redeemed herself! Her first solo act is a 100 per cent parody of herself, very cleverly to Gloria Gaynor’s I Will Survive. She’s backed up by two oiled up men dressed as butterflies, the rest is now history. Perfect choreography and outfits to die for, she delivered more than anyone expected. The dress for her second performance looked as if it had been tailored for Mama Ru herself – GORGEOUS!

The bodybuilder Barbie Kameron Michaels got to show her lip-syncing skills which saved her several times from elimination at the show, earning her a place in the final 3. She’s the lip-sync slayer of Season 10, opening her act with a high energy version of “Sweet Dreams” with a darker aesthetic, but still drop-dead gorgeous. Her second performance didn’t disappoint either, and she was the only queen to do a lap around the audience before finishing off with a back-flip and some true floor work. She also threw some shade at queens from her season by greeting everyone in the first row and therefore crushing any doubts of being a boring, cold queen. She definitely warmed all of our hearts!

Our reigning queen from NYC, Aquaria, showed us exactly why she won the crown with two incredible performances. Starting off with a homage to the city that never sleeps, she wowed us with her drag queen athleticism – giving us splits and death drops left, right and centre. Her second performance was gob-smacking, doing lifts and stunts with the help of the two backup dancers, earning her a standing ovation and a never-ending applause. She put her money where her mouth is, and we can’t wait to see what this new age queen brings to the table next.

The final song American featuring the final three queens had us all on our feet. Once again the choreography was so cleverly put together and Aquaria, Kameron and Asia really know how to put on a show.

Overall the show was everything any fan of RuPaul’s Drag Race could ever ask for. True Charisma, Uniqueness, Nerve and Talent was showcased and we can’t wait to see the queens return for more gag-worthy, death-dropping performances.

Evelina Borjesson