Wigs, glitter, fake eyelashes (and a few real ones) were put on and pulled off as the brightest and best—or rather fiercest and bustiest—drag queens of Ottawa prepared to hit the stage at Capital Pride’s Drag Revue on Aug. 25.
Amidst the backstage flurry, men applied makeup to transform into royalty. Among them were Ottawa’s Jade London and Markida Brown. Miss Capital Pride herself, Coco Dominique Chanel, was alsopreparing to grace the outdoor stage at City Hall.
As host of the event for the second year in a row, Sapphire Champagne is no newcomer to Capital Pride. Beyond the Revue, she’s been involved in various roles since 2003. She’s been at drag even longer though, after stumbling into it as a University of Ottawa political science student.
After getting her start at a local weekly drag show, Hump Night, Champagne said she was hooked thanks to the show’s then-head queen, Ginette Bobo.
“Ginette saw this straggly, broken down attempt at drag and made it something beautiful,” Champagne said, adding that she’s passed down what she knows to her own drag daughter, Vaselina Champagne.
Drag mothers are like mentors for younger drag queens, she said, who teach them everything from how to pad their hips and breasts, to how to apply makeup that can be seen from 100 metres away. Champagne, however, insisted she just lays out her makeup and slams her face into it to achieve her glamorous look.
“That’s it honey, that’s drag,” she said with a laugh.
Other queens took a bit more effort to achieve the polished look. Chanel, who was named this year’s Miss Capital Pride, said it took closer to four hours to complete her parade look, which included a white gown and beehive black wig.
Growing up on St. Vincent, an island in the Caribbean, Chanel came to Canada at the age of 17. After getting her start in a Toronto club which catered to Caribbean gays, she received her drag name and began performing regularly, moving to Ottawa in 2011.
While the drag scene is not as vibrant in the capital, Chanel said she plans to change that as her year-long reign begins.
“The clubs, the bars, they need to give queens a platform to perform and be able to show the community what we have to offer as drag queens,” she said.
Local queen Jade London, who has previously won both Miss Capital Pride and the national competition for Canada’s next drag superstar, said she agrees that Ottawa’s drag scene can be a bit of a drag, but that she does see the community growing and becoming more diverse.
London’s knock-out performance of Beyoncé’s “End of Time” with accompanying backup dancers impressed the crowd gathered in front of City Hall as she strutted around the stage in leather boots, a skimpy scarlet dress, and a matching crimson wig.
“Once I hear that crowd, that music, I have to shut who I am as a real person inside and bring out that Sasha Fierce,” she said.
“I like to think I’m more than just a pretty face, and that I bring my passion, my love, and my energy into my performance.”
As Ottawa’s drag community grows, London, Chanel, and Champagne each say they see more and more students trying drag for the first time.
“Give it your all and be yourself,” Chanel said as words of advice. “Go out there and experiment, but most of all, be loud, be proud, and have fun.”
