The Syracuse University Pride Union held the 11th annual Totally Fabulous Drag Show Finals on Friday in Goldstein Auditorium, which allowed students to dress in drag and celebrate drag culture.
The show started off with a bang as former contestant of RuPaul’s Drag Race and host Drag Queen Shangela performed an rousing rendition of Beyoncé’s 2013 Super Bowl Halftime show.
“It was fierce,” said sophomore Dijja Tamen. “The beginning was the closest I’ll ever get to a Beyoncé concert”.
The competition consisted of three student finalists vying for the title of “Drag Performer of the Hill.” Contestants were judged on charisma, coordination and lip synching abilities.
The first contestant up was Drag Queen Tanya Tatone who performed to a mix of Rihanna’s best songs including like “Diamonds," "Birthday Cake" and "Raining Men.” Tatone's most popular move of the night was multiple splits. The crowd went nuts.
Drag King Owen Orgasm was next in the competition, and lip-synced his way through a mix of popular pop songs. He shocked the audience after transforming in the middle of his performance and dancing to Christina Aguilera's “Express (Burlesque)."
The final performers of the night, Drag Queen Troupe XQuenna & Umani, received a standing ovation from both the audience members and the judges, after their well-coordinated number.
It was no surprise that they won the competition.
“I thought they were the best choice”, said magazine journalism junior Ibet Inyang. “They were the most organized and they were the fiercest.”
Proceeds from the the 11th Annual Totally Fabulous Drag Show Finals are going to AIDS Community Resources [9], SAGE Upstate [10], The Q Center [11] and other local nonprofit organizations within the Syracuse Area.
