All glammed up, Sasha Velour made her first ever headlining performance in Singapore on 25th July together with the runner up of Drag Race Thailand, Dearis Doll. The night started out on a high note, with local star Noristar taking the stage. The crowd was all hyped up watching her amazing lip-sync routine — a classic for all drag stars — and dancing with her as she brought her sassy moves down to the crowd.
Everyone truly got in the mood, cheering and clapping as Noristar, who was also the host for the night, prepared the stage for Dearis Doll with her Kumar-inspired stand-up bits in between transitions.
Stunning the crowd with an impressive medley of Beyonce hits, intense choreography and multiple costume changes, Dearis Doll stole the limelight after Noristar’s introduction. She even interacted with the crowd, cracking jokes yet remaining authentic and not too over-the-top — Dearis Doll was truly a one woman show. To top it all of, she put on a skit that poked fun at the fact that she was only a runner up, all the while strutting about like a diva who had clinched first place.
Noristar came back out to host a little “Best Dress” competition, and of the contestants who stepped forward was local dancer and drag queen Vanda Miss Joaquim (@yourstrulyvandamissjoaquim). Together with Gestation (a pregnant drag queen), a drag lady, a half man-half woman drag queen and a short, super fit guy, the contestants took the stage, each bringing a different flair to the mini contest. But truly no one could match Vanda Miss Joaquim and her close to professional performance. Unsurprisingly, she was awarded the crown and free tickets to the next LA Comedy show for her spectacular show, all while helping a fellow contestant who seemed to be new to heels.
Dearis Doll then sashayed back on stage, bringing the audience a rendition of J-Lo’s top hits, once again hyping the crowd up for the star of the show: Sasha Velour. Of course, the crowd went wild when Sasha made her appearance but she surprised everyone with a soulful performance which, honestly speaking, couldn’t gel well with the hilarious and wild performances that Noristar and Dearis Doll had put up.
Though her artistic intent was clear in her choice of songs, there were many awkward gaps and it was altogether underwhelming. The set of four songs were short and felt way too lacklustre, especially since these slow songs did not warrant her an opportunity to engage the crowd like the other two drags before her did.
The audience, who paid $150 each to see her, was left dissatisfied. One fan, Denise, said that the show “felt like it was Noristar and Deadris Doll show featuring Sasha Velour show instead of a Sasha Velour show with special guests”.
However, when speaking to Vanda Miss Joaquim after the show, she did point a huge silver lining to this show: “finally a Singaporean Queen is up there to represent us as a community.”
And she was right. Although the show seemed pretty badly organised, it truly put a spotlight on local and regional drag queens, proving they can hold their own – and we can’t wait to see more from them.
(Note: Sasha has since addressed the issue in a Facebook post, stating that the organiser has made an error with the promotion of the event)
by Eshwaran
