The competition was bananas. B-A-N-A-N-A-S.
Hey there Race Fans, your pit crew signing in to give you the turn by turn of what happened at Esta’s Drag Race in Week 3…
This week turned out to be a crowd favorite with the ladies given the challenge of:
1.) An Elvis cover number.
2.) Suicide Cher performance.
3.) Impersonating any singer.
With those three options… how could anyone go wrong?
The four remaining ladies started the show by performing covers of Elvis songs, and we had everything from Celine Dion to Elvis hair. I apologize now for the cheesy pun, but the ladies left the audience “all shook up.”
Millenium C. Snow of course made her appearance pulling out her “Single Ladies” performance, which some may remember saved her from elimination in Season 1. What can I say, if you’ve got a good thing… milk it for all it’s worth. Even though I’ve seen that performance before, she made me a fan of it all over again.
Race Fans got a special treat this week with Angelica Spaulding gracing the runway with her fierce self. The big finale moment… a jump that appeared ten feet off of the ground and down into a full on split. Okay Miss Spaulding… don’t let me catch you doing a floor routine in the next Olympics.
Now. Let’s chat about this suicide Cher performance, cause suicide for some of the ladies is exactly what it was. Of course it’s Cher, and yes we all know she is a staple of the gay community… But even I will admit, I don’t know every word she ever sang. While there were great costumes, high energy performances and the crowd waiting for someone to not know any of the words… let’s just say there were parts where mouthing the word “watermelon” probably could have saved someone.
So while the Cher performance, for some, may not have blown over too well, the singer impersonating segment of the show certainly made up for it.
Let’s bring Monica Duvall on deck. Duvall stepped completely out of her norm and graced us with the presence of Liza Minnelli. She even tempted the Laws of Newton climbing on top of a chair that was on top of the runway, but she held her footing and made her statement. Now, spotlight on Michelle D. Livinge. She came out dressed as a nun, and ripped it off to reveal Miss Gwen Stefani. Livinge even brought her very own banana to dance with, the scene was “B-A-N-A-N-A-S”. Flash to Zakia Jemaceye. Jemaceye gave us a little Whitney Houston. Many were left in withdrawal when Duvall did not pull out a mashup but thankfully Jemaceye saved the day and not only gave us a a mashup, but a Whitney through the years mashup. Finally, Porsche Ferrari brings it on into the garage. Ferrari winded the evening down bring Barbara Streisand to the stage and performing her powerful ballads.
So now that all of the performances in the first heat of Esta’s Drag Race was completed, it was time to send two girls home and two into the semi-finals. The girls took a seat on the couch, while Miss Esta got the crowd’s input on who should continue. The first elimination was Miss Porsche Ferrari. Yes, the rookie drag queen was asked to sachey away but was given a lot of respect for lasting this long.
The final three girls sat, wondering who was going to win the night and who would be joining Ferrari on the crash site. Would it be Duvall’s defying gravity number in her cabaret, Livinge and her banana or Jemaceye time warping us through Whitney?
Esta announced the winner of the night was…. Michelle D. Livinge.
After the bottom two tore out that runway battling for their lives. After three weeks of solid performances from both ladies. After both ladies put out their very best. After a long anticipating silence from Esta. After I finish this whole build up I’m attempting here. Zakia Jemaceye was declared safe and Monica Duvall sadly had to sachey away.
The first heat is done, and the first two into the semi-finals are Michelle D. Livinge and Zakia Jemaceye. Ladies in the next heat… better bring you’re A-Game. Cause you have seen the crash victims of heat one, and no one will be spared in your heat either. We’ll see you ladies this Thursday on the Nations runway.
For now, your engines seem good to go… this is your pit crew signing off.
Esta’s Drag Race is an 8-week competition each Thursday at Nations on 2729 W. Broad St. Photo by Eric Russell.
