I have to say that Queen of the Palace Wales is one of the most intense drag competitions I have ever heard of. Prior to the event the queens were invited to a personal training session to get them in fighting shape (which you can watch at https://vm.tiktok.com/ZGexjLvUR/), they were also invited to an afternoon tea at the Samaritans HQ before the event as these were one of the main sponsors of the competition. On the actual night of the competition the queens had showcase a performance that showed the audience what type of performer they are , they also had to showcase a look that paid homage to a fashion icon , perform another performance that was inspired by the aforementioned icon and also answer a series of questions from the judges in pairs to let the audience learn more about them/show how good they are on the mic. I do have to saw that the modelling section of the evening was extremely chaotic and even the queens were unsure about what they had to do. The performers were asked to showcase an outfit that pays homage to an icon and during the section section of the evening were asked to model their outfits for the audience on a catwalk. The “catwalk” however was a short section in front of the stage and it took the performers a while to realise they could simply walk in a single file line and use the photographers as each end of the catwalk.
The Cardiff heat of queen of the palace was hosted by the fabulous Gigi Spot (who we recently saw host a bottomless brunch at Coyote Ugly) who made sure the night ran smoothly. As there was a massive nine performers on the lineup each doing technically three performance throughout the evening Gigi had to make sure that each act was introduced , performed and were off the stage as quickly as possible otherwise the night could have quickly spiralled into the early hours of the morning. This ushering of the acts could have quiet easily seemed out of place or as if Gigi was literally pushing the acts off stage but the host was able to make this look relaxed , respectful and effortless so the audience forgot about the very right time frame. It was also Gigi’s responsibility to ensure the audience know what was happening at each point of the show as the night was split into three distinct sections each of which had the queens showcasing a different set of skills. This was a brand new competition to me (and a brand new structure I had not experienced before) but Gigi was able to explain each section in an easy to understand way so that everybody knew what to expect throughout the evening. On top of all this admin Gigi was also able to squeeze in a selection of brilliant jokes which had the audience laughing throughout.
The first performer of the night was a queen I was not particularly familiar with but is absolutely someone to keep an eye on! Swansea’s Anita Fag graced the stage wearing a gorgeous red outfit complete with a match red wig but the highlight of this first look for us was the cigarette ears that were clearly a homage to her namesake which we thought was very clever. They delivered one of the best performances of “Don’t stop believing” by Journey that we have heard in a very long time while showcasing her incredible vocal abilities. This song is known for its crazy vocal slides and Anita sounded absolutely incredible at every point in the number and managed to perform these slides beautifully and effortlessly! Their second performance of the evening paid homage to the iconic Pete Burns by performing “you spin my head right round” by Dead or Alive which is a unusually difficult song to perform vocally but Anita did not seem fazed in the slightest! At an almost total contrast to her earlier vivid red look , Anita donned a black and white ensemble that was easily recognisable as a Pete Burns inspiration as she yet again showcased her vocal talents which the audience went absolutely wild for!
Next up was a queen I have been following on Instagram for a while but have never been lucky enough to see them perform live. Bitchelle flowers is another Swansea queen who took the journey to MainStage but instead of showcasing vocals (like her sister Anita) she decided to showcase her incredible dance skills. Their first performance of the evening was the the iconic and eccentric “ toy” by Netta with the performer giving a high energy dance sequence that looked absolutely incredible! They also decided to mix this song with excerpts from the Toy Story franchise (which if you have been following the blog for a while will know that this was my favourite movie growing up) which inject a wonderful amount of comedy into the routine. The end of the routine saw the iconic phrase “Andy’s coming” blast through the speakers as Bitchelle suddenly dropped to the floor as the characters do in the movie. This inclusion helped to bring a concise end to the routine while still making sense within the narrative of her performance which I thought was incredibly clever but also highly entertaining. The second act saw Bitchelle take to the stage wearing a amazing bodysuit covered in arms which not only paid homage to her icon Beyonce but also to an iconic outfit Beyonce wore. In terms of re-creations of outfits Bitchelle was the most clear recreation! The Beyoncé track she decided to perform was the iconic Heated And Bitchelle decided to demonstrate an immense amount of fanogrpahy which again fitted with the lyrics of the song. At one point she even grabbed the mic to sing the rap section of the song live where she nailed every single word which the audience went wild for!
The next performer to grace the stage was the amazingly talented Carrie Sauce who most recently won the Kings Royal variety talent show (which you can read about their winning performance at https://rhysreviews.com/2024/03/25/kings-final-production-review/) who decided to showcase their operatic talents to everyone at this event. Initiated by a real-life story of auditioning to be apart of a go compare advert but not getting the role , Carrie delivered what can only be described as one of the greatest vocal performances from a drag performer I have ever seen! The entire venue was stunned into silence as the performer showcased their rendition of Nessun Dorma with many people being very close to tears. If Queen of the Palace Wales was based on a single performance then Carrie would have on the competition there and then! For their second performance of the evening Carrie decided to pay homage to the incredible Audrey Hepburn with a very classically glamorous outfit which instantly made the connection to the Hollywood icon. For the performance elements of this tribute Carrie decided to sing “Moon River” which was absolutely beautiful to listen to. At one point she hilariously pulled out a Galaxy chocolate bar which is a reference to the fact that this track is frequently used in Galaxy adverts. After yet again showcase their insane vocal talents , this track transitioned into a high energy lip-sync performance of “Tik Tok” by Kesha. This section of the performance was crammed full with a series of reveals that ended with Carrie being totally bald which usually is a drag no-no but seemed to go over extremely well with the crowd at MainStage! I don’t think Carrie gets another credit for being a very smart and strategic person as during our interview (which you can watch at https://youtu.be/Fc83Ti_ifmY?si=29rUVf-iKcmKeOQe) they talked about how lip syncing is not one of their talents and they only do it when they physically cannot be sent home from a competition and Queen of the Palace is exactly that hence the two different performance mediums.
Next up was the fabulous Catrin Feelings (who we also interviewed our YouTube channel and you can watch to at https://youtu.be/kNcQ0CmlvgE?si=aWKuqcGOfGgyvBSD) who clearly made a conscious effort to celebrate their Welsh-ness. I personally think that this obvious patriotism was a fantastic inclusion as the prize for this heat of Queen of the palace wales was a trip to Benidorm where they will be representing wales in the final. Anyone who has seen Catrin perform before (mostly recently we saw her at Cabaret of queerosities which you can read about at https://rhysreviews.com/2024/04/02/cabaret-of-queerosities-4-production-review/) will know that she is the unofficial queen of camp and this is exactly what she brought to this competition. Catrin decided to start her act with a fabulous rendition of the Bonnie Tyler classic “I need a hero” which had everyone singing along as it is such an iconic song. She also decided to inject the perfect amount of Welsh infusions to the number again celebrating her heritage. The second act saw Catrin grace the stage in a gorgeous abba inspired jumpsuit complete with the classic bell bottoms which , despite being a different colour than the original , was instantly recognisable as a tribute to the Swedish group! She opted for the energetic “Mamma Mia” which again had the audience singing along as Catrin led an extremely camp and entertaining performance.
In my most recent review of Del-lightful debuts (which you can read about at https://rhysreviews.com/2024/04/27/del-lightful-debuts-3-production-review/) I talked about how it has become somewhat of a running joke that every single one of my post has to mention Chae with a C at least once. This is due to the fact that Chae seems to be taking over the Cardiff scene in fact she also made an appearance at Queen of the Palace Wales. Her first song was the iconic total eclipse of the heart (which we saw her perform at Frock n Roll which you can read about at https://rhysreviews.com/2024/04/23/frock-n-roll-production-review/) but this time she decided to get two volunteers on stage with her. One person was given the responsibility of helping tear off her jacket at the perfect point in the music and the other was told to launch a envelope full of confetti into the air when they were given the cue. Those who read our reviews will remember that at one of the Hell Haus shows (which you can read about at https://rhysreviews.com/2024/02/07/hell-haus-2-production-review/), Chae handed us a confetti cannon that did not go off as expected which led to a very uncomfortable few moments for myself and the performer. This method of gathering confetti was much more effective as it eliminated the chance of technical issue occurring therefore making the act seem a lot more smooth and cohesive. In classic Chae with a C style they decided to end their act with their unique rendition of “don’t you want me baby” by the Human League which as always had everyone singing along to the new lyrics!
The next performer to grace the stage was the amazing Ivory Glam (who we have also interviewed on our YouTube channel at https://youtu.be/DkydmBZr3J8?si=pWFAID6P6LkieMfh) who decided to showcase both their lip-sync and live singing abilities. Their first performance of the night saw Ivory bust out her rendition of “Creep” by Radio head which as always is absolutely stunning to listen to as she nails every single note of the song. The creative decision to strip back the theatrics , tricks , dancing etc meant that the audience could focus on Ivory’s vocal talents. Regardless of how many times I seen Ivory perform this song , I am always in awe of how effortless and easy she makes the insanely high-pitched sections of this song sound. Their second performance of the evening paid homage to the queen of the whistle tone Ariana Grande with a medley of the singers greatest hits as Ivory took to the stage in a wonderful red outfit complete with a crystallised black pony tail. Ivory made sure to use every inch of the stage and audience area to create an immersive and interactive performance and even selecting a key audience member and forcibly putting of lipstick on them.
We have not seen My Liege since their eccentric performance at the musical week of The Kings royal variety show (which you can read about at https://rhysreviews.com/2024/02/24/kings-variety-show-2-event-review/) but we are happy that they have not lost their outlandish performance style. They started their set with a performance of “why why why Delighlia” by Tom Jones (again celebrating their Welsh heritage which again is great considering the structure of the competition) while focussing on the storytelling narrative of the song. There has been a lot of discussion around this song due to its problematic lyrics and My Liege made sure to understand what the song is about to exaggerate it to an immense degree. Flipping between an extremely aggressive and in your face style character for the verse and a very emotional persona for the verses really showed the journey of an unhinged person which this story is really about if you listen closely. They graced the stage in the second act wearing a wonderful red dungarees style outfit as they they paid homage to the iconic David Bowie. This was yet another entertaining and unique performance that was heavily inspired by the eccentric David Bowie which was the fundamental point of this challenge theme.
For the last couple of months we have been attending the series of Cabaret of queerosities shows (which you can read about at https://rhysreviews.com/2023/12/26/cabaret-of-queerosities/) which are organised and hosted by the next performer at Queen of the Palace Wales Ice Amour. In an unusual twist for Ice , they decided that not only would they be live singing but they would be covering the amazing “Memory” from cats the musical. I have come to expect stunts and theatrical performances from Ice but for this performance they decided to strip it all back and force the audiences attention solely on their vocal talents. One of the highlights of at Queen of the Palace Wales routine was the gorgeous hair sculpture they had created with a wonderful heart made from hair at the forefront and the trans colours spread throughout. This costume choice was particularly poignant during their second performance as they paid homage to Sam Smith and Kim Petra’s through their iconic song Unholy. Ice was channel pure sex appeal as they sensual danced around the stage and even showcasing a mesmerising splits to get the audience really voicing with excitement. This performance was much more of what we usually expect from Ice but we thought it was fantastic that they were able to showcase to totally difference performance styles showing how truly talented they are!
If you have ever been to event with us then you will know that we never turn down an opportunity to get up on the stage but after Venus’ performance we may have to change that (probably won’t but still.) Venus (who we actually interviewed on our YouTube channel at https://youtu.be/0FTZ-HlEdcQ?si=_IyIqikXjvf5PMMS) invited us onto the stage and instructed to drop dead when the sound of a gunshot was echoed throughout MainStage Cardiff which seemed really simple but that was just the start. This turned into a hilarious first aid routine as the iconic “Staying alive” by the Bee Gees was blasted throughout the venue and Venus tried her best to revive me. This started with simple chest compressions but very quickly turned into her sitting on my stomach and then lifting my legs into the air to see if she could bring me back to life through a series of sexual acts. While we were obviously not in the audience to see how this was received , we could hear the howls of laughter throughout. Their second performance of the evening saw them pay homage to Barbra Streisand which a much more classically theatrical and camp live singing performance. Similar to the act they performed at Festive Frolics (which you can read about at https://rhysreviews.com/2023/12/10/festive-frolics-production-review/) she selected another person from the audience to be her human mic stand which led to a sequence of hilarious interactions between her and her “mic stand.” Before they could actually begin singing No More Tears (Enough Is Enough) However they decided they wanted to make the performance more accurate by pulling out a massive fake noise which the audience throughly laughed at!
The final section of the evening saw the performers pair up to answer a series of getting to know you questions from the judges. Now while I think this was a fabulous opportunity to get to know the people behind the queens , I do think that the emphasis on banter and the inclusion of pairs meant that there were multiple awkward moments when one person was waiting to who would fill the silence. One of my favourite moments in this sections saw My liege and Bitchelle take to the stage and were asked “if there was a show about your life , what would the theme tune be?” Bitchelle then literally jumped into a hilarious rant about how the tv shameless is literally a documentary about her life so she would have the theme tune. The final trio of Ive amour , Catrin feelings and Chae with a C clearly have a fantastic relationship on and off stage as they appeared the most natural stood alongside each other. One of our favourite moments during this group was when they were asked “if you a waitress at a cocktail bar , what cocktail would you be?” which clearly was a homage to Chae’s performance earlier in the night.
Overall , Queen of the Palace Wales is one of the most intense drag competitions we have ever seen but each and every performer rose to the challenge delivering some fantastic and entertaining sets. Every single act did amazing with a series of prizes being given out for the aforementioned events prior to the event , a joint third award and second place but it was announced that the winning of this heat was the fantastic Venus Flytrap who now gets a plethora of opportunities and a trip to Benidorm to compete on an international competition. We obviously wish Venus the best of luck but every single performer on this event should be proud of what they accomplished during this competition as it was a highly entertaining night celebrating Welsh drag! I would rate this event 4 out of 5 stars!
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