Lady Tatiana wins Drag War

Lady Tatiana was crowned the Queen of queens in Bermuda’s first drag competition in 20 years, held at Docksiders Pub.

Five queens took part in the Drag War, stunning the crowd with their fantastic costumes, female theatrics and dance moves.

Queen of Bermuda Sybil Barrington (Mark Anderson) opened the show in a captivating gold lame dress and blonde wig to perform Shirley Bassey’s James Bond classic, Goldfinger.

From then on, the crowd was entranced by performances from the island’s most fabulous female impersonators.

There was pole dancing, gymnastics, booty shaking and wining as the queens took us from pop to reggae to hip-hop to RnB.

As one of the four judges, choosing a winner was a Herculean task, with each performer bringing something different to the stage.

The eight judging criteria were: Realness; face; outfit; entertainment; stage presence; lip syncing; demeanour; and crowd applause.

Overall, Lady Tatiana scooped the winning $500 cash prize, followed by Chrissy Dior as Beyonce in second place and Rouge Couture in third.

The other contestants were Lady Allure, who showed us what ‘attitude’ was really about as a hip-hop queen, and Sheila Showers, who performed Madonna’s Vogue dressed in a red trouser suit and fabulous feathered headdress.

There was also due to be a sixth contestant, but organizer Sybil (Mark Anderson) said he was forced to pull out after his parents warned him “that under no circumstances he was to do the show”.

Sybil told the audience that the lack of gay rights in Bermuda meant that times had little changed since he was growing up as “a little drag queen running around Somerset”.

But Sybil revealed that the Drag War will now become an annual event.

“Every year it’s going to get bigger and better,” he said.

Also on the bill last night was Rickalicious, the Queen of Front Street (Rick Olson, owner of The Bermuda Bistro at The Beach).

Cavorting to Shania Twain’s Man! I Feel Like A Woman, he delighted the audience by flashing his boxer shorts underneath his animal print dress and feather boa headdress.

Rickalicious also told the audience to speak up for human rights. He urged: “No discrimination in Bermuda.”