This unique moment has been seen and felt within Drag as well. I want to take all of you darlings way back to the wild and wonderful days of…2017. Well, the days when we weren’t in a pandemic anyway.
Season 9 of RuPaul’s Drag Race had been going along steadily. There seemed to be one Queen who had pulled ahead of all the rest as we hit the final. Shea Coulee was ready to win the crown. She had the most wins, stunning looks, and a great character.
Then in the Lipsync For Your Life, another queen pulled a stunt (that is what they are called) that changed everything. EVERYTHING! (Please watch the video).
Shea Coulee (in all black leather and a shiny blue wig) is lip-syncing against Sasha Velour (wearing all red). The bridge has just finished on Whitney Houston’s “So Emotional”, the chorus comes back in and Sasha Velour starts lifting and shaking her wig, letting rose petals cascade down over her bald head and beautiful dress.
Some background on this is needed. Sasha Velour is known for primarily having a bald head, she sometimes wears hats or fascinators but mainly it’s a glorious bald head. This is a tribute to her Mother who died of Cancer. So when she turned up in the final wearing a wig, it was a noticeable thing. So for the wig to be part of a spectacular stunt at the right moment in the song just hit home because of all the work done outside of the stage, because we knew the nuances of the character of Sasha Velour.
The moment was magical, it got Velour the crown. Because she knew her character, she knew this moment (as she is a bald queen normally) would hit so hard and push her performance to another level.
IT WAS SO EMOTIONAL, WHITNEY!