Eagles got talent: Production Review

Those who have been following our blog will not that recently we have become quiet involved with the Kings royal variety show. In week two we were invited as a guest judge , week three we were actually on stage as apart of Aqueena’s act as well as our regular gig of reviewing (the most recent of which you can read at https://rhysreviews.com/2024/03/10/kings-royal-variety-show-week-5-production-review/) It was at this event that we discovered that the queer inclusive venue Eagles is hosting their own weekly talent show with their own unique twist. At Rhys reviews we think it is fantastic that there are so many opportunities for new performers to showcase their talents in Cardiff right now and while some performers are in both shows (more on that later) the different venue and format allow fans to see not only different acts but also different versions of the performers they have seen before! In Eagles got talent , the performers have to perform two routines each week that both fit into a specific theme. This weeks themes were the concept of camp and Ru Paul (which are actually two of my specialisms) and if I was , by some miracle, injected into the competition for this week I think I would have opted for Low by Todrick Hall featuring Ru Paul and it’s raining fellas also by Todrick Hall. I think these two songs would fit the category but also would give a nice storyline as they are both by one of my favourites artists. Another twist in Eagles got talent is the fact that there is no pre-determined order each week and the programme is decided on the night via a spin of a random name selector. Now I do have to say that having a fifteen minute break after each performer did become somewhat tiresome by the latter part of the evening. Hosting the entire evening was the fabulous josefeela ma hunt who looked absolutely incredible in a sparkly dress! Throughout the evening they helped to introduce every act , get the audience excited for every performer , helped to shhh the audience during judges comments and introduced the shocking twist (more on that later). Due to the sheer amount of breaks throughout the show it was up to josphenia to get the audience back into the venue and re-build the excitement every time which they did flawlessly! They clearly also had a fabulous relationship with each and every performer which made the acts more comfortable and relaxed as it can be extremely nerve wrecking performing on the stage especially for new performers!

The first performer selected by the wheel was none other than the amazing Chae with a C (who we actually interviewed at https://youtu.be/84KfWuZ8YMU?si=OkUs4W8vSBHLobsq)Going first can be an extremely stressful position and I know if it was me I would be quaking in my boots but Chae did not seem fazed in the slightest. Despite opening the show , Chae showcased her unique brand of energetic confidence which the judges seemed to really enjoy. They opted to perform the iconic song Anus by Ru Paul’s drag race all stars season two winner Alaska (who has recently produced a musical which we have reviewed at https://rhysreviews.com/2022/10/18/drag-the-musical-recording-review/) which captured Chae’s comedic and energetic performance style perfectly. The highlight of this performance was when Chae revealed two white balls that she twirled throughout the routine. Her second performance of the evening was a rendition of “you spin me right round” by Dead or Alove which is a song we have seen her perform before (which you can read about at https://rhysreviews.com/2024/02/01/cabaret-of-queerosities-2-production-review/) and every-time it is an absolute crowd pleaser!

Mikey Porter followed after this performance and delivered an incredible vocal showcase. He graced the stage dressed in a bright pink , Ru Paul entrance room inspired look which really tied into his first performance. Not only was the first track his Ru Paul number but was also a song by the winner of Ru Paul’s drag race season three Trixie Mattel who is known for her love of the colour pink! I thought it was really clever that Mikey had choose an outfit that fitted the theme and his song choice. The track itself was “hello hello” (again paying homage to entrance room Ru quote on the show) which was absolutely amazing! The next song saw Mikey climb up onto the bar for his camp rendition of its a song by Elton John and Olly Alexander. While every single note in this song was wonderfully performed the closing sequence was a particular highlight with mikey showcasing a plethora of incredible riffs to bring the number to a close! I thought that the track itself was a wonderful choice as the first half allowed Mikey to showcase his vocals while the second half of the song was much more energetic which the audience really enjoyed.

The random name selector wheel decided that the next performer would be Aura light titties who is not a queen I am particularly familiar with. They opened their set with a high energy rendition of the iconic Cover girl by Ru Paul which is a song that the majority of the audience at Eagles know and loves. Those who know me in real life will be aware that I am somewhat of a Rocky Horror aficionado having seen the show over twenty times (the most recent of which being the live production at New theatre which you can read about at https://rhysreviews.com/2022/02/13/rocky-horror-production-review/) and so when it was announced that Aura would be taking on the iconic time warp I was very excited! This is one of the songs that people don’t realise come from the cult-classic musical but they still get up to sing and dance along. Aura’s frenzied energy matched the song perfectly with the audience joining in the dance. I do have to say that having seen a plethora of people taking on the role of Riff Raff, I think some of the vocal opportunities were missed with Aura leaning more into the camp theme and entertainment value.

The fourth performer of the evening was the fabulous AliBama (who we have also been lucky enough to interview at https://youtu.be/CYGayeblVJk?si=y06y-MnJqFsRP1I8) Having first seen AliBama perform at the transition events that are organised by the brilliant Justin Drag (which you can read about the event at https://rhysreviews.com/2023/02/19/transition-2-event-review/) I know that Alejandro by Lady Gaga has become somewhat of a then tune for AliBama and now she has added a new track to her branded wheelhouse. Adapting the lyrics to the classic “everybody” by the backstreet boys to “Ali’s back on yeah” was not only highly entertaining and incredible clever but also played into her underdog storyline that has being building so far on this competition. A few months ago Ali blew everyone away at Furl with her unique rendition of “there’s something in your eyes” by Steps with the icon Anniben playing a kidnapped Santa (which you can read about at https://rhysreviews.com/2023/12/26/cabaret-of-queerosities/) However , I have to say that her performance of ASMR lover by Ru Paul was the greatest performance we have ever seen from Ali and actually was our favourite performance of the night. Similar to a drag race challenge , AliBama decided to write two original verses to the song which captured her personality perfectly and the crowd loved seeing her nail every single verse of her new lyrics. This was by far the loudest crowd reaction of the night and helped to re-establish this performer as a threat after being in the bottom last week.

Despite having known Rosie Bush for a quiet a long time now , I have never actually seen them perform before until now! There first performance of their set saw them take on videogames by Lana Del Ray which was a very emotionally driven ballad. I do have to saw that they did fumble a few of the words but Rosie did not seem too fazed by this which shows an immense amount of talent and professionalism. Their second performance of the evening (and our favourite performance of theirs) saw Rosie take on the eccentric …. from the Eurovision Song Contest. After teaching their newly selected backing dancing Chae with a C and AliBama a series of dance moves , Rosie launched into a high energy performance which saw them running up and down the audience area. The audience loved this energetic and frenzied performance as it really helped to build the excitement and energy back up which was particularly important as the audience had just come back from yet another fifteen minute (ish) break so they needed something to get back into the groove.

The next performer was Carrie Sauce who has been absolutely dominating the Kings royal variety show (which you can read about one of their many winning performance at https://rhysreviews.com/2024/02/24/kings-variety-show-2-event-review/)who decided to opt for the Tik Tok viral track Let Loose by Ru Paul’s drag race season fifteen Loosey LaDuca. As expected from Carrie the vocals were absolutely amazing, but it was when she flawlessly transitioned into the incredible rap from Ru Paul’s Drag race Canada season one lemon’s version of the song that she really showcased the breadth of the talents. The audience went absolutely wild for this rap with key members roaring the lyrics at the performer. Their second performance of the evening was the iconic track by Shania Twain “Man , I feel like a woman.” This song will always have a very special place in my heart as it was the first ever drag performance I saw at pride and so instantly Carrie had the emotional side of me invested! This is not a song that I would expect the vocal powerhouse Carrie to take on due to how much of a talented singer I know them to be but the audience really enjoyed hearing one of the campiest songs to every exist as they screamed the lyrics at not only the performer but also each other!

The final performer of the evening was another queen that I have known for a long time but have never been lucky enough to see perform. Sue da Crème started their performance with a Ru Paul inspired voice over instructing her that it was time to sing for your life (which spookily ended up being a precursor for the final moments of the show.) They decided to perform the iconic Sissy that walk which is probably one of Ru Paul’s most well known songs and she decided to use the audience area as a runway which made perfect sense! On her catwalk moments she made sure to interact with members of the crowd while dancing with them which made the audience feel like they are included and part of the act which was brilliant. Her second performance of the evening was to the incredible Saturday night by Wigfield and if you have ever been at a party/on a night out with me when this song starts playing you will know that I will drop whatever I am doing to showcase the family party classic choreography. Clearly , I am not the only person at Eagle who loved this song as the entire audience (including the wonderful backing dancing Aqueena and AliBama) jumped up to do the dance. The audience absolutely loved every moment that Sue da Crème was on stage in fact the judges had a small grumble about how vocal the audience was with there love!

Now on paper the idea of the top two queens selecting who should go home is a gag-worthy twist but I think the way it was carried out in Eagles was very messy. So what started as the top two conferring to selecting someone to go home , quickly turned into the top two lip syncing with the winner of the performing getting sole authority to select someone to eliminate then turned into a live vocal performance due to musical issues. I do have to say that it was incredible to see how quickly Chae with a C and Mikey Porter were able to adapt to the technical issues flawlessly grabbing the mics to actually sing instead of lip syncing! On top of all this what was particularly brilliant was the fact that the top two had polar opposite performance styles when tackling the iconic camp classic “It’s raining men” with Mikey going for incredible vocals with Chae going for more entertainment value (complete with splits at the end of the track) and after voting by the judges it was announced that Mikey would be the winning performer of the week. From general discussions the competition had not been announcing a top queen so far in this talent show so this was yet another twist. Mikey revealed that the incredible Carrie Sauce would be going home this week when Chae was invited to also reveal who they had voted for. Luckily they had also selected the same performer so I am not sure what would have happened if they selected different performers. While we were told at the beginning of the night that there would be a shocking twist at the end I think the way it was structure did become somewhat messy with the parameters changing literally minute by minute which did made it somewhat hard to follow as an audience member!

Overall , Eagles got talent provided an opportunity for a plethora of performers to showcase their talents with two themes the audience could easily access. There was a heavy reliance on live vocals and so maybe a bit more variety on performance styles could help to further up the excitement for the talent show. I do think that the shocking twist was extremely gag-worthy but the way in which it was delivered was somewhat hard to follow and become a bit messy. I would rate this event 4 out of 5 stars and if Eagles are looking for an experience talent show judge then please do not hesitate to drop me a message!