Best in Drag Show
The recent lead-tainted lipstick scandal and the bad publicity from the Oscar De La Hoya "fishnet stocking" photo fiasco couldn't stop LA's premiere celebrity-studded charity drag event, the fifth annual Best in Drag Show. Held on Sunday October 14 at The Orpheum Theatre, the Aid For Aids sponsored event drew a sold-out crowd who cheered on as Bindi Dundat was crowned winner. The hilarious beauty pagent parody which has grown steadily since its inception has been one of the hottest tickets in town and this year's event provided a truckload of memorably newsworthy (and gossipy) moments.
We were unable to attend this year's event but we'll be posting the official list of contestants , the details of the ceremonies and of course the results (as they become available) Naturally, we'd love to hear from any of you who attended the festvities and get an insider's view of what transpired.
For those not in the know, Best in Drag (once known as the Battle for the Tiara) is just what we described. Imagine the final stages of a beauty pageant where the contestants (representing various US states) are narrowed down to the finalists--all men in the most outrageous drag this side of "Priscilla Queen of the Desert:. Yes, there is a Q & A, evening gown & swimsuit competition, and a talent competition (in some years gone by, contestants have used real animals including camels & circus elephants for their performances--when the show spent years at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre this presented some logistical problems). Aside from the talent competitions and the side-splitting antics of the announcer and "color commentators", there's also the genius of the costumes and the inventive drag names. For example, Miss California one year was Karen Carpenteria.
Then there's Miss Nevada, one time winner Lotta Slots who has been a fixture at the event for years.
According to the AFA site, this was probably one of the biggest list of celebrity judges we've seen.
Kathy Griffin opened the show and she was joined by Jennifer Coolidge, John C Reilly, Eric Dane and wife Rebecca Gayheart, Carline Rhea, Chris Kattan, Jane Lynch, Katey Sagal, Dita Von Teese, James Van Der Beeke, Perez Hilton and cast members from "Two and a Half Men"--Jon Cryer, Holland Taylor and Charlie Sheen (who was joined by dad Martin Sheen). It's been reported that the Sheens were roundly cheered at the event while the controversial Perez Hilton was booed. In addition the Sheens were big donors for the event.
Again, we'll have more on this on future blogs (or when we hear from you!)
We were unable to attend this year's event but we'll be posting the official list of contestants , the details of the ceremonies and of course the results (as they become available) Naturally, we'd love to hear from any of you who attended the festvities and get an insider's view of what transpired.
For those not in the know, Best in Drag (once known as the Battle for the Tiara) is just what we described. Imagine the final stages of a beauty pageant where the contestants (representing various US states) are narrowed down to the finalists--all men in the most outrageous drag this side of "Priscilla Queen of the Desert:. Yes, there is a Q & A, evening gown & swimsuit competition, and a talent competition (in some years gone by, contestants have used real animals including camels & circus elephants for their performances--when the show spent years at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre this presented some logistical problems). Aside from the talent competitions and the side-splitting antics of the announcer and "color commentators", there's also the genius of the costumes and the inventive drag names. For example, Miss California one year was Karen Carpenteria.
Then there's Miss Nevada, one time winner Lotta Slots who has been a fixture at the event for years.
According to the AFA site, this was probably one of the biggest list of celebrity judges we've seen.
Kathy Griffin opened the show and she was joined by Jennifer Coolidge, John C Reilly, Eric Dane and wife Rebecca Gayheart, Carline Rhea, Chris Kattan, Jane Lynch, Katey Sagal, Dita Von Teese, James Van Der Beeke, Perez Hilton and cast members from "Two and a Half Men"--Jon Cryer, Holland Taylor and Charlie Sheen (who was joined by dad Martin Sheen). It's been reported that the Sheens were roundly cheered at the event while the controversial Perez Hilton was booed. In addition the Sheens were big donors for the event.
Again, we'll have more on this on future blogs (or when we hear from you!)
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