The first crowned queen of Drag Race Philippines showed Sydney why she’s a winner (baby) with two electrifying numbers that revealed the breadth of her talent.
Every couple of years, WorldPride (a global event licensed by InterPride) awards a city to host its festivities. Sydney won the bid to host this year’s celebrations against Houston and Montreal. We are more familiar with Pride events in June, but the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras takes place in the Australian summer. WorldPride recognized this and staged its 200+ events from February 17 to March 5, 2023, and was attended by over 500,000 people.
Precious Paula Nicole, the first Drag Race Philippines winner, was part of the stellar lineup of drag artists at Drag Haus World Pride by In The Dark Events. The roster of performers included Jasmine Masters, Kita Mean, Sminty Drop, Anita Wig’lit, Maxi Shield, Kween Kong, Art Simone, and many more.
Precious Paula Nicole brought the delectable Filipino flavor to DragCon UK at the start of the year: she turned her booth into a sari-sari store; wore lakambini, Darna, and Zsazsa Zaturnnah costumes; performed the Pinoy queer anthem Tala, and her winning lip-sync song Sirena.
This time, Precious shifted gears at The RoundHouse in Sydney and gave the audience a familiar song with a comedy twist: a raunchy version of Whitney Houston’s I Will Always Love You. In a beautiful red gown with flowing fins resembling a Siamese fighting fish, she commanded the stage with elegance peppered with vulgarity. The song she used bleeped the word love, and she would gesture suggestively.
“Pangarap ko talagang mag-comedy sa ibang lugar,” the multitalented queen said in her Instagram Live just moments after her performance. While she was changing her look for the following number, the meme queen who competed on RuPaul’s Drag Race season seven and RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars season four, Jasmine Masters, had something to say (see what I did there?): “It was so good and beautiful. I’m rooting for you! You got a long career, baby! Just keep going!” Visibly overly flattered, Precious’ face was all kilig.
Precious Paula Nicole’s performance power put her last for the second and final set. It was the organizers ensuring the event was going to end with a bang. How do you close a drag concert with high-energy spectacle, fierceness, and could take the crowd to fabulous bliss? Beyonce. Period. A sequin period, that is. Many of us who were fans of Precious pre-Drag Race know how she can capture our gaze and keep us entranced throughout her act. The Sydney crowd didn’t know what was coming. She started strong with the signature hit Crazy In Love from the Superbowl Halftime Show. Precious Paula Nicole added different eras of Beyonce’s career as she progressed: Love On Top and Single Ladies. She kept the audience engaged and exhilarated from start to finish, even going off stage to work the crowd, encouraging them to sing and dance along.
After the successful event in Sydney, she performed with Jasmine Masters and RuPaul’s Drag Race UK’s sad twerker Sminty Drop at a pride party in Adelaide. The next international stop for Precious Paula Nicole will be the gigantic DragCon LA. Keep repping, Precious! And like what Jasmine Masters said, keep going! We’re rooting for you!