So you wanna be entitled? I mean, win a title?

sometimes, you have to be the bad guy. I am going to take the blame for this one and I hope that you all will understand exactly why I am about to say the things I am going to say.

I am not excited about pageants anymore. I cannot seem to get invested. I see people doing the least amount of work, not challenging themselves or the art form. I see recycled costumes, the same wigs, no improvement in make up skills, bored looks on their faces, ungrateful attitudes and a people willing to lower the bar instead of raising it.

How can I get excited? You aren't.

Whose agenda are you furthering? Yours or the system? I mean seriously, if you want a title that has NO responsibility, there are systems and contests popping up all the time. Go do that one. But if you do that has a sisterhood before you and you want to be a part of one after your time is up,  STEP UP TO THE PLATE.

I am DISGUSTED and saddened by the amount of entitlement  that seems to be infecting the Oklahoma systems. You are not OWED a title, you earn one. You are not OWED a booking, you earn one. If you want money, titles and respect, start putting money, back into your drag, treat your titles as a job that you were hired to do.YOU WERE HIRED. That means to get the money and respect that comes with it, you still have to do the job.

• you have to look like royalty
• you must entertain
• you must understand your system

This is a business. Your character, is a small business. When you try to peddle  a Catch as a Coach, we all know the difference. So why are you trying to sell me a knock off? If you are not investing in quality for your small business, you will get exactly what you have invested in the way of support.

Pageants used to crown the best of the best. And now they crown the best of the mess.

We used to be able to judge who was going to do the best for the system and now we have to judge who will do the least harm.

Thank You, Theresa LaJoe!

I hope that this one goes down in history.

Maybe it was the spirit of the season.

Maybe the planets aligned.

Maybe it was just time.

Theresa LaJoe has been entering pageants as long as I have been around and she has always seemed so joyful and sincere but the title has never gone to her until last night.

I was not at the pageant but as I watched it unfold on facebook and saw the videos and saw that she won, I wish that I had the vocabulary to write the emotions that I felt to watch someone old enough to be their grandmother, live out her dream and WIN.

I will never have a crown, so thank you, Theresa LaJoe.

Thank you for not giving up on you dream.

Thank you for winning one for those of us that can't.

Welcome to your sisterhood.

Prepping for the State Pageant (USofA)

Now that all of the prelims for Oklahoma USofA are done, it is time to get ready for the state pageant. This is where the social media begins to catch fire and people start to scrutinize all of the qualified contestants. They start trying to handicap who has the best chances and I will be honest I am guilty of this, like any good strategist, I look and try to gauge the odds and let me tell you, I am better at calling the national pageants. Maybe the problem is that usually, the contestants are my friends at the state pageant and maybe I feel badly about trying to pick a winner.

So I decided to level the playing field.

This is USofA and ONE point often decides pageants (especially at the state level where the talent pool is smaller) so how do you come out on top?


MYTH- "You must do a HUGE production number with 12 dancers to win"

FACT: You do NOT need to do that. You do however have to entertain. You have to be realistic about your own drag and the kind of drag you like to watch. The worst thing in the world is watching someone get to state and do drag that is NOT them. The number one mistake that happens at pageants is to look like you are NOT having fun. If you look bored,angry, annoyed or scared, that is easily one point.

MYTH- "Her interview doesn't matter,she looks amazing in gown and her talent will be on point"

FACT- Interview does matter. It ALL matters. YOU HAVE TO SELL YOURSELF IN EVERY CATEGORY and let's face it, if I am not buying you in interview, and you cannot articulate yourself, I am going to be terrified to send you to prelims.


MYTH- "She is not fishy enough for USofA"

FACT: Every system has a certain aesthetic that they go for, but come on people, the highest standard you set for yourself is your look? Your illusion IS important but that is not all there is, and if that is all you are counting on, there are bigger problems


Get ready. People are going to eviscerate you. They are going to tell you to your face  that you are a shoo in and then to anyone else that will listen, they will talk about your makeup, your drag family, your body odor, your sex life and they will remember every single thing you did ('She never paid me back for gas money I lent her in 2009'; 'I heard she had 3 ads on Craigslist'; 'She was talking shit about her promoter').

They are going to hate you until you win and then they will love you in that moment. Then you spend a year proving that you won and every year you come back as a former, you have to remind them why you won.

They will talk about every outfit you wore, every number you did, every cocktail you had.

The issue is that we rest our hopes on the drag community on our title holders. We want you to accomplish everything so that we can make sure that this long, rich tradition continues. Those of us that love it and want to preserve it, WE ARE ROOTING FOR YOU. We want you to succeed and if you do, we are your biggest fans. And if you don't, we will never let you forget. Not because we hate you but because we love this art form THAT MUCH.

I recognize that the fans are the problem. We think you OWE us, promoters think they OWN you and you are just trying to figure out who your character is and how to afford what all of this means to you.


So if you want to win, here is the best advice:

DO NOT LET IT CHANGE YOU.

Know yourself SO well, that it doesn't change you. That the fans, skeptics and promoters DO NOT CHANGE YOU. Don't let competition make you bitter, jaded or indifferent.

Always care.

Always smile

Always, DO YOU.