Lille, on Thursday night in July. The world is in the garage, a joint work area that extends more than 3,500 m². Around long tables, young and older young people are sometimes found, an ecological in hand. Some have changed the umbrellas, it rains strings despite the summer, for fans. Others use their most beautiful brightness. All and all came to attend the visualization party – Collective visualization – Drag Race France, Drag Queens Competition Transmitted in France 2 and France TV Slash.
This is the case of Romain and his group of friends. 32 years -old is a regular in the event. “I do not say that I do not like to see the program at home, but it is always interesting to do it with friends and other people, it smiles. It is important to have a safe and weird place to share this moment.” He confesses: tonight, he came especially for Drag Queens invited, Rose and Punani, the iconic Parisian duo of the show.
“It’s a bit like our World Cup for us, Rosy Joke, Parisian Drag who had contributed during season 2 … It is extraordinary to have such an eclectic audience: the biggest people must be seen by as many people as possible!”
400 people came for the night organized by Drag Queen Local, Stargirl. In the program: Know and greet (Meeting in a small committee with the invited Drag Queens), commented the transmission of the episode, questions and answers with the public, drag actions and the opening of the dance floor.
The formula works: every week, the Lille visualization party is full. “We had the opportunity to receive candidates from the season, so, necessarily, people come to know them,” explains Stargirl. This year awakens a very particular madness, because the publication All stars Gather the best drag queens of the previous three seasons. Therefore, Punani, candidate of season 2, also contributes to the crown of the All-Stars edition.
About fifty views of visualization in France
A phenomenon from the other side of the Atlantic, the parties of opinions led by Drag Queens were democratized in the United States with the Rupaul Drag career in 2009, and initially addressed the queer community. This was the case in France when collective views were organized to see the American version of the competition.
But, the advent of Drag’s career in France Télévisions and their popular success have changed the situation. These visualization parties, open to broader audiences, have multiplied in the territory. The magazine Stubborn Tell about fifty events throughout France, not to mention those more confidentially organized in small bars or rooms.
That night, Pauline, 38, came with the family. “My brother -in -law contaminated me to the drag race and I contaminated my daughter … He loves the show!” For her “first visualization party,” the mother decided to interpret her sober, dressed in a green flower dress, while her daughter decorated her face with shine: “At home, she is the one who makes the show!”, He admits, laughing.
Beyond entertainment, the mother appreciates the career of French drag by her educational side. “It’s great and beautiful,” he says. “The program allows the little to flourish in open mentality and tolerance, grow with these values, and I am very happy to be able to transmit this frame to it.”
The French version is not limited to a simple competition of parades, performance or even Lipsync. Each episode is also an opportunity for candidates to discuss their trajectory as queer, homophobia and transphobia, but also acceptance and education.
“Drag Race France put a focus on drag, and showed that it was not only makeup and dresses. The program could also illustrate certain courses on television, to say who we were. And I think our stories could interest the public,” says Punani.
This is the importance of the views of the parties played here for the Lille Drag Queen Stargirl. “In this spirit of incorporation of the drag, it seems great to me that all ages are represented and that there is this acceptance climate.
The visualization parties are organized throughout the Drag Race season until August 28. The drag queens of the All Stars edition will participate in a great tour of the Zeniths of France and the Arena Accor.
Source: BFM TV
