Amanduh with Miss Ivy and Lady Semitone
While most of New Zealand were glued to the final of the Rugby World Cup, the Capital crowned Miss Drag Wellington 2012!
It was a crazy evening. I walked through Wellington on my way to Wellington’s Next Top Drag Queen amidst thousands and thousands of rugby fans lining up to watch the final of the Rugby World Cup between the All Blacks and France. Little did they know tonight would also be a competition between two hopeful drag queens.
I was expecting an exciting night. After producing the competition for the past few years I was looking forward to enjoying from the audience for the first time — and boy would it be a nail-biter!
My stereotypical sense was absolutely turned upside down when I got to Garden Club to see only about 20-30 people had come to watch the competition — definitely the lowest turnout ever since I’ve been around. Maybe gays really do like rugby?
Not only had the audience numbers suffered, so too had the entrant numbers. Previous years had seen around 8-10 entrants per year; tonight there were only two.
I was also shocked to find out that Felicity Frockaccino, who had earlier threatened to boycott the event until she was offered a paid gig, cancelled half an hour before the show was to begin. Such a professional girl she is.
Lady Semitone and Greig Wilson
But the show must go on. Ex-Good Morning presenter Steve Gray took to the stage with his usual brand of disgusting humour (we love it!) to introduce the judges (Miss Drag Wellington 2004 Amanduh LaWhore, drag sensation and respected musician Gareth Farr, and NZAF’s community socialite Carl Greenwood). Then we met the girls: Miss Ivy and Lady Semitone.
It was all seeming pretty mediocre until we were told that both girls were going against the norm — instead of lip-synching we’d be treated to live singing. ‘I’ll believe it when I hear it’, I thought. I was actually quite surprised by Miss Ivy’s rendition of some camp song, but I was blown away by Lady Semitone’s rendition of Adele’s Someone Like You (below), complete with two — yes two! — outfit changes on stage. Amazing.
The next two segments featured question-and-answer which, to be honest, was actually quite hilarious. Lady Semitone came across as a friendly and relaxed person who was just having a good night. And then Miss Ivy, who was up next, dropped the bomb.
When asked what she’d do for the community if she won, the 19-year-old suggested that drag queens who charge for their time are rude, and that she’d do free drag shows and continue volunteering at the New Zealand AIDS Foundation (world peace, anyone?). Then the ex-Hamiltonian went on to insist that Wellington doesn’t have much of a queer community (?!?!?!), which pissed off numerous audience members who shouted out at that she obviously hadn’t met many people in Wellington. Her drag comments surely also annoyed judge Amanduh LaWhore, who takes part in numerous corporate engagements on a regular basis, and Gareth Farr, whose show Drum Drag is highly acclaimed.
And so the writing was on the wall (in case it wasn’t already). Lady Semitone, in drag for only her second time, took away the title of Miss Drag Wellington 2012. The audience demanded she perform her song again after taking the crown, which she did with extra energy and excitement, all the while Miss Ivy stood just off-stage looking like, well, a French rugby player. Go figure.
Overall it was actually a pretty fun night, despite the low audience turnout and low entrant numbers. The show was designed and executed well and if it weren’t for that rugby thing that was on, I’m sure many more people would have had an awesome night.
Below is a short clip of Lady Semitone’s performance, which definitely blew us away. We’ll have an interview with her shortly. Congratulations, girl!
By ANDY BOREHAM
And Miss Ivy’s lucky I didn’t enter, I would’ve torn her head off after that comment.
I was pleasantly surprised at how I enjoyed the competition. Well done to both girls and CONGRATULATIONS Lady Semitone.
Look forward to seeing/hearing more of you.
That’s interesting….. Wish i could of seen it! Sounds like it was a fun intimate night out!!!!!
BIG FAIL!
How dumb can Craig be to put this the same night as the finals of the world cup!? The Whole nation will watching the game! I mean seriously !?
You need to promote Drag better – S&m’s is doing a way better job!
Well done to the winner though – great voice!
Felicity though – wow talk about professionalism …first the big fuss and after she got a gig she cancels!?!?
She told everyone so much about we were all there looking forward to the performance….big shame
The rugby drew just under 2 million viewers in New Zealand – huge numbers, but nowhere NEAR the whole country.
That’s just TV viewers, it doesn’t take into account the fan zones, bars etc.
And there were 2 million people in bars weren’t there? The fan zones had about 150,000 tops.
Flat out.
High Glamour – When did I say ANYTHING about the performance?? Interesting.
Even if the Rugby world Cup finals hadn’t been on, I don’t think Wellington audiences are keen on paying for amateur drag. If Lilith La Croix had performed I’d have definitely been there.
Drag competitions are good chances for amateurs to have a go, but not entertaining enough in themselves. Maybe next time – if there is a next time – have drag kings and drag queens and alternative entertainment. I heard that the Zomburlesque show went down well with the audience.
So either free show or more entertainment, or both
Oh I forgot to mention, there were drag king performances before and during the event.
Well instead of slagging me off, you could have written something linguistically inventive praising the fabulous work of the drag kings, but no, yet again, negativity ensues.
You weren’t slagged off, girl. Unless you think it’s professional to cancel a gig half an hour before it was set to begin.
Oh no she didn’t!!!!
highly unprofessional.
Thanks Larry aka Lady Semitone!
shay, AKA felicity… or anonymous as you have called youself above, Yes i am a new queen so not professional there, BUT i am a professional singer. i dont think my comment was out of line at all. sorry it offended you.
Thanks Larry. Glad you owned up to it.
Semitone, or was that semi-flat, nothing professional there.
Then why years before that was always a success and a sell out!?
I hear there was an entry fee of $20 bucks.
Ivy was closed when i arrived about 12. down stairs was busy and about 2am it was totally packed. People dont tend to go to things before 11pm. I suppose what would have worked was playing the rugga on the big screen and 20 minutes after it finished started Ms Drag.
But i had a blast
WOW what a great singer!
i dont get it, is the bar called Ivy as well as a competitors drag name?
yup they are both IVY.
Yeah she called herself Miss Ivy. Not to be confused with her winning some sort of competition there, which will never happen. haha
Anonymous- poor comment.
Miss Ivy is very talented and couldve definately won the competition. did they mention she sung Live aswell?
She did a fabulous job on the night and also she looked absolutely stunning!
Ignore this comment Ivy as i believe that you can go far!
Keep it up girl.
was she like ummm what shall i call myself i know the name of the bar?
another thing i dont understand why did they have this event on the same night as the rwc final?
Well actually I was called Miss Ivy well before Club Ivy opened. And clearly you didn’t fully understand my answer. Of course drag queens should charge for their talent but not when it comes to community and charity events.
ALSO this is exactly what I mean about no community!!! Instead of writing a supportive and interesting article you take the opportunity to make it a drama fest and slag off as many people as you can in the process.
You’re actually going to sit there and insult me for doing work for the AIDS foundation?!?!
I happened to have a really fun night and am proud of Lady Semitone.
no one insulted u for working at the aids foundation!
show me where on this page that someone explicitly insulted you for working at the aids foundation.
”world peace anyone”
it’s blatantly obvious that he’s taking the piss out of me.
It was a review of the show with very little slagging off. Nowhere is it mentioned in this review that you volunteer for the NZAF, which I commend you for.
I boo’d you for your comment on the Queer community because it was insulting to me and all the people I am involved with IN the Wellington Queer Community. And I imagine it was insulting to the three judges, all prominent people in the Wellington Queer community.
I yelled out “Where have you been?” because you didn’t seem aware of all that goes on in Wellington or you wouldn’t have made that comment.
There hasn’t been that much slagging you off, Andy was pointing out a faux pas/insulting comment you made that possibly cost you the competition.
”and continue volunteering at the NZAF” i believe that says it…
Ahhh yes, missed that part.
But they didn’t put too much focus on your lack of knowledge on the Wellington Queer community
I think Miss Ivy may have worded what she meant wrong. But I kinda get where she was coming from. The community in Wellington has been deteriating for some time now, Some of us older fags have been on the scene alot longer than you and remember what Wellington’s gay community was like prior to Club Ivy or Immerst.
Maybe she could of worded it a bit better, however I think there is a little more truth to what she was saying than people here care to admit, Maybe that’s why your all offended and shit.
Oh, and World Peace Stan <3
@ Ivy – You are HARDLY out, so the question stands – WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?
Heya Ivy,
I’m definitely not taking the piss out of you. I think you did an amazing job and the competition could so easily have gone either way — kapai!
In regards to your comments on the Wellington queer community, the reason that is emphasised here is because, up until that point, the title could have gone to either of you. I know that your comments affected the judges considerably and that it could have cost you the competition.
My mention of ‘world peace, anyone’ was definitely in regards to your NZAF answer. While it is no doubt a valuable organisation — and anyone volunteering there is commendable — entrants in queer competitions all across New Zealand have used the NZAF as an answer to the question ‘What will you do for the community if you win?’ for years and years, so much so that it has become as funny as a beauty contestant answering ‘world peace’. HIV/AIDS volunteering is definitely not the be all and end all for community support and, at least to me, when someone uses that as an answer it shows lack of planning and lack of originality.
In regards to writing a ‘drama fest’ and slagging people off, it’s unfortunate you take my review as such. I suspect you are referring to my comment about Felicity cancelling her show thirty minutes prior to opening? For me that was a huge aspect of the night and not something that I wanted to overlook in my review. You do know that reviews are rarely all positive, eh? I find that if I leave aspects out that might upset someone then I’ve lost my integrity. Also, our site has the following it does because people know they’re getting the truth here, and not a sugar coated, ass-licking, peace-at-all-costs version of it. That’s important to me.
Again, well done for Sunday night — it was a tough competition and a definite nail-biter!
Andy.
tl; dr
Good on you Semi – mean! We didnt go this year cause it was too fucken dear man?! What the fuck was up with $30 tickets?! Every year we’ve had a party round home and then all of us jump in cabs and come and watch but this year cost too much. Yeah, you could get tickets in advance but we never know how many people will turn up at ours. Instead, we had a bbq then went down to the fanzone.
With all the comments above, I am quiet surprised of the amount of people that turned up…. up to 30 people max.. and 2 drag queens? what a joke!!!!!!!!!! Not disrespecting Semi and Ivy, But girls come on, when are u girls gonna wake up that The owner of Ivy does not give a shit about Drag Queens… He does not care less about you and the only thing that he cares is the money that he could have made IF there were more queens competing and more people in
Have said that, how can gay clubs in Wellington trust on Drag Queens? look what happened at the night, what has Felicity done? Maybe the Drag Queens needs to realise that its not easy to dress up and call themselves as such. Its not easy and not for everyone that thinks they can be or become a Drag Queen.
Anyway, What Wellington really needs is a fucking good GAY CLUB.
Good Luck Semi,
oh lets not forget, WORLD PEACE!!!!
You obviously haven’t seen both sides of the story, Anonymous. Gosh we have lots of people called Anonymous, maybe you should learn to trust yourself and put a name with the comment. Thanks
We decided to take a break and go to Palmy on Sat and stay overnight – only cause its there. We went out on Saturday to their ClubQ and had an awesome time. $2 cover charge, cheap as drinks, the crowd were really friendly buying us drinks and there were 3 drag queens on stage all night?! It was that old-school vibe that we’re losing real fast…
I love Club Q!
hello everyone!
I would just like to say, Miss Ivy was a winner in my eyes, yes the question answer thing may have cost her but i hope she is enjoying spending her half of the prize money. I felt it shouldve been split considering there was just the two of us in the first place.
you were amazing Ivy!
love lots,
Lady Semitone
xox
lol….. why Didn’t u share the title with Miss Ivy then?
you cant half a title. “oh hello this is half of miss drag wlg?”
Exactly! What a stupid question to ask.
I agree with the person saying that Greg does not like Drag Queens on his club,,, I also remenber that he always wanted the drag queens to do show for free for the club ” I mean the drags used to do the shows but he hasn’t paid for some” ….. even his bar stuff, they had to pay themselves taking mney from the till because Greg does not like to pay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
When are they closing down?
I’d say i would probably be Club Ivy’s most controversial employee and I can say that I never had a problem with being paid, and the only time the staff weren’t paid was when they smashed up glassware or ran a high bar tab and it needed to be deducted from wages!
Wherever you heard that can’t be a reliable source!
I just wish a torch was lit and burned the place down. What an embarrasing eye sore for Wellington to look at!
Felicity, if your gonna write things on here like that, you might not wanna use the exact same words you used on the phone to me on Sunday night!
Just sayin’
Um that wasn’t me, my dear. Although gaymen to that!
I agree with you,
IVY is a dump….. what about those old mirrors on the wall?? Did he buy them from the Rubbish company or got them from free??
hahahaha things are getting spyce here….
….. well said,
For a good owner and promoter seeing only 2 contests on the competition does not look good at all for the club.
Seems that they failed AGAIN big time.
Would be much nicer if they had it postponed instead going ahead with it, I think the community would well support it instead make a night of embarrassment for the girls.
I happy for Miss Semi, and I wish all the best… But to be fair there are no way to compare who would be the best one out of 2 drags queens only
WOW Just hear that the IVY Queen ig going back to live on the farm where she belongs Hamilton!!!!!!
She just cant accept that she/hi is hopeless!
LOL she is gonna start milking the cows now?
ok here is the thing yes i do agree with the fact that the drag shows are not well organised and for the money you would expect a few performances and f****n good ones at that i have seen many here in wellington and from online videos and what not there is nothing great about some queens here in welllys felicity will know who this is im no dummie ppl think i dont know about drag but i do there is need to up the stakes in the drag scene and set a level that is elegant classy well coreographed and not trashy like many i have seen here before on many occasions that is what i have to say about that as for the miss 2012 that was a crock of s**t as there were only two queens there one of which i know should have been there and most probably have outdone lady semitone no offence to her but there are more than two queens in wellington and the surrounding areas complete setup i think but hey whoever organised mrs drag was s**t anyway. who is with me on this and well the drag kings are a whold diff kettle of fish………..
ok here is the thing yes i do agree with the fact that the drag shows are not well organised and for the money you would expect a few performances and f****n good ones at that i have seen many here in wellington and from online videos and what not there is nothing great about some queens here in welllys felicity will know who this is im no dummie ppl think i dont know about drag but i do there is need to up the stakes in the drag scene and set a level that is elegant classy well coreographed and not trashy like many i have seen here before on many occasions that is what i have to say about that as for the miss 2012 that was a crock of s**t as there were only two queens there one of which i know should have been there and most probably have outdone lady semitone no offence to her but there are more than two queens in wellington and the surrounding areas complete setup i think but hey whoever organised mrs drag was s**t anyway. who is with me on this?