For the past six weeks, we at Rhys Reviews have been getting more and more involved with the Kings royal variety show. From being a guest judge in week two to beginning a backing dancing for Aqueena in week three to taking in a more review/development role (which you can read our review of Rock week at https://rhysreviews.com/2024/03/10/kings-royal-variety-show-week-5-production-review/) and we have finally reached the final week of the competition. Every single week of the Kings Royal Variety Show has been hosted by the amazing Jolene Dover (who going forward will be hosting the Jolene show on Wednesday) who week by week has been demonstrating why she is one of the best queens to come from Cardiff. Not only has seen been introducing the theme every week, explaining the competition to new watchers, introducing each performer and ensuring the audience stays excited throughout! On top of this, Jolene has also been treating the audience to a plethora of fabulous musical performances and this week was no exception. Building it up as THAT song from Saltburn, she opened the show with a rendition of Murder on the Dance Floor by Sophie Elis Bexter which was absolutely amazing! The song not only had everyone singing along but Jolene also sprinkled in the perfect amount of sexual gestures which made sense due to the adult maturity of the movie. It was not only Jolene who filled the guest performer slot but reigning queen Nell also came back. In my opinion, it made total sense that the reigning champion of the king’s royal variety Nell returned to the panel this week as it provided an opportunity for her to literally pass the torch to the next winner of the show. As well as passing over the sash to the winner of the competition, Nell also treated the audience to two fabulous performances towards the end of the show. Fans of the Kings Royal Variety Show know that Nell is a vocal powerhouse however, these performances were next level. She seemed to really excel during the insanely difficult riffs during her rendition of “You and I” by the iconic Lady Gaga which is an extremely complex song but Nell did not seem fazed in the slightest! The second performance was a rendition of Flashlight by Jessie J which I have to admit is a song that I only knew about due to the Pitch Perfect franchise. Nell’s rendition really stripped back on all the theatrics allowing the audience to really focus on her incredible vocals leading to an incredibly powerful and emotionally driven rendition of this song. Coming at a point where we had seen four extravagant performances this stripped-back performance was situated perfectly in the line-up!
For the final of the king’s royal variety show, the queens were tasked with showcasing a fifteen-minute set that lets the audience get a greater insight into who they actually are. Now if I, by some miracle found myself in the top four of this competition then I would pay homage to some of the most iconic drag characters throughout cinema history. Starting as the flamboyant Edna Turnblad complete with that iconic wobble walk through the audience I would showcase a rendition of “Big Blonde and Beautiful” from the musical (as this is the last musical production I took part in) as a sort of homage to body positivity. I would then have a costume reveal to show Ursula (most recently played by Melisa McCarthy in the live-action adaption which we reviewed at https://rhysreviews.com/2023/05/29/the-little-mermaid-2023-movie-review/) inspired outfit which would lead to a performance of the iconic “poor unfortunate souls” as this is one of my favourite Disney characters to ever exist! The closing sequence would see yet another reveal into an eccentric fishnets/corset and an organza boa if I could keep that hidden to pay homage to my favourite musical ever “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” (the most recent time I saw it was https://rhysreviews.com/2022/02/13/rocky-horror-production-review/) while going for a much more sensual performance style.
Scarlet Fever was the first of the top four queens to grace the stage and looked absolutely stunning in a beautiful pink dress and massive ginger hair! In musical week Scarlet let the audience know that she has a masters in musical theatre and so we were very excited when the iconic motif of “I dreamed a dream” from Les Mis started to blast through the Kings. Scarlet had decided to rewrite the lyrics of this immense song to portray the queer experience starting with coming out as bi and the first hook-up experiences. This then transitioned into a lip-sync performance of the parody track “the loopholes” by Garfunkel and Oates which talks about how Christians find loopholes to pre-marital sex but use alternative entrance points. Despite being a lesser-known song, Scarlet really learned about the comedic undertones of the song which the audience really enjoyed! The final song in this sequence was the incredible “Alive” by Sia. I do have to say that having this song at the end of the set is a very bold choice as it is a extremely challenging vocally and this would usually be the point when the performer is running out of breath but Scarlet seemed totally unfazed! The riffs in this section of the routine were absolutely amazing (and I still don’t know how they were able to do this after almost 10 minutes of high-energy singing/lip-syncing) but it just goes to show how talented Scarlet truly is!
Talking about interesting song sequencing I have to say that this week’s performance by Chloe Von Schuss was by far my favourite performance I have seen from her this entire competition. Using a fictitious character called Mr Hughes (which is coincidentally also the name of the of the Simon Cowell of the king’s royal variety Show Kingsley Hughes), Chloe told the story of being cut from a show line-up and going above and beyond to win their position back again. The performance started with a wonderfully camp dance sequence which again is a bold way to continue the routine after using all your energy in the opening moments but Chloe managed this perfectly! This then transitioned into a perfectly timed sequence where Chloe discusses how she feels like she is not like the other girls but this sequence moved into a rendition of “I’m the Greatest Star” by the musical icon Barbra Streisand. This empowering message contrasted with the previous message perfectly but also allowed Chloe to showcase her incredible vocal abilities. Chloe’s set also contained an incredible costume reveal into a gorgeous sparkly gold outfit that transitioned wonderfully into their rendition of Fame from the musical of the same name! My favourite part of the routine however saw Chloe bust out a rendition of the camp classic, disco-centric “I Will Survive” by Gloria Gaynor which was an absolute crowd pleasure as every single person roared the lyrics back at the performer.
After a short intermission, Carrie Sauce graced the stage and throughout the routine allowed the audience to see a more vulnerable side to her drag persona. It is clear that Carrie had not only thought about which sign would showcase their vocal talents but had arranged the tracks in such a way as to have a cohesive storyline running throughout. The set started with the classic untouchable confidence we have come to expect from Carrie as she had carefully crafted a routine that when from the Ru Paul’s Drag Race Live song “Losing is the New Winning” into the song “All I Do is Win” by Dj Khalid. The latter of which is a very apt song as she has ended up at the top for the majority of this completion. This then turned into a sequence similar to a Drag Race winner announcement where Carrie was not declared the winner but instead, it was Chloe which led to a spoken word lipsync of that Iconic scene from Come Dine with Me where a contestant was accused of fixing the votes and having all the decorum of reversing reversing dump truck which was not only an iconic moment the audience loved but also made perfect sense within the over narrative. Those who have been following Carrie’s progress in the completion will know that vocal performances are where she seems to really excel so I thought it was a very bold choice to include her first ever lip-sync performance in this competition during her finale performance. The closing moments saw Carrie bust out a rendition of “Edge of Glory” by Lady Gaga which really showcased her vocal ability and was a fantastic way to end the entire routine!
Closing the show this week was the brilliant Aqueena who has quickly made a name for herself as not only the lip-sync assassin of the king’s royal variety show but also the queen of Choas. Aqueena also decided to include a more fantastical storyline to her performance as a doll who has come to life and showcasing the four modes the Aqueena Six Thousand comes with. The first performance of this sequence was of “Young and Beautiful” by Lana Del Ray which was much more emotional and stripped back than we have come to expect from the Maltese doll. Not only did Aqueena nail every single word during her lip-sync performance but it was also very moving due to the message behind the track. This then transitioned into a rendition of the highly sexual track “Super Freaky Girl” by Nicki Minaj which was the polar opposite to the previous emotional song. As the routine progresses Aqueena proceeds to strip off layers of clothes to represent the layers of her personality she is allowing the audience to see which captures the theme of the week perfectly. Throughout the performance, she used every inch of the stage including one moment when they jumped up onto the judges table only to leap off into an incredible split. We also saw this queen bust out an insane death drop and the iconic Aqueena roll which all made for an absolute spectacle to watch for the audience!
Before the overall winner of the king’s royal variety show was announced, the audience was informed that a Mrs congeniality would also be crowd. Giving out the award were myself and the brilliant Nicki Knockers (who we recently interviewed on our YouTube channel and you can watch the video at https://youtu.be/RUVe76BgBwA?si=ydOOk-lI0zwMUkEJ) and the award was given to the eccentric My Liege who has been the Kings every single week support every act and so totally deserves this award! It then came down to announce who the overall winner of the competition was and I have to say that the standard this week has been extremely high. I have been petitioning every week to get back on the judges panel but I have to admit that this is the only week I am glad I do not get a say! After an extremely dramatic sequence, it was announced that the winner of the 2024 Kings Royal Variety Show was none other than ….. CARRIE SAUCE who walks away with two hundred and fifty pounds and a guaranteed paid gig at the Kings. As previously mentioned Carrie has been at the top for the majority of this competition and her performance this week was spectacular so it makes total sense they walked away with the overall win!
Overall, the final of the king’s royal variety show saw the remaining queens bust out full-fledged, fifteen-minute spectacles with the standard being at an all-time high! Every single competitor pulled out all the stops to ensure that their final performances were extra special but Carrie totally deserved her win and I cannot wait to see where we see all the performers end up! I would rate this event 5 out of 5 stars!
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