Bring back our girls — globally!
One of the most exciting things about Global All Stars is that it not only gives fans the opportunity to see some of our favorite international queens return to the main stage, but it gives them the chance to show off what they’re werking with to an audience that may not have delved deep into the many, many international Drag Race spinoffs.
For Pythia, Gala Varo, and Soa De Muse, all finalists on their seasons (Canada’s Drag Race, Drag Race Mexico, and Drag Race France, respectively), the opportunity to show off their charisma, uniqueness, nerve, talent, and growth, was just too tempting to deny.
“For the last two years, since my season, I got to travel the world. I got to do gigs all over. I got to enrich myself in queer history from everywhere, and just inspire myself. And I think I really applied that to my drag and my artistry. And I think that’s the keyword: inspiration,” Pythia tells PRIDE. “I really wanted to showcase to the world a whole new version of Pythia and all these ideas that I have in my head, all this knowledge of queer history and artistry and just amplify different voices from around the world, my country, in Greece, everywhere.”
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For Soa, returning to Drag Race offered her the chance to truly represent her community on a global stage. “For me, it was an opportunity to show more of my knowledge about the Black queer community,” they tell PRIDE. “And to show to the Black community we have history. And I want to be in history. All of these girls need to be in history. I imagine, like, in 10 years some people [doing] research they’re gonna see us. So it was [an opportunity] to come back with more references, more knowledge, stay political,” she says, adding that her patented sass isn’t going anywhere. “I’m gonna have the same mouth you saw in Drag Race France, of course.”
Gala’s reasons for returning were more personal. “This time I want to show a different version of me,” she tells PRIDE. “I want to show that I’m not [as] mean that I used to be,” she says, and begins laughing at her sisters’ incredulous looks before admitting, “OK, at least I try!” But in all seriousness, Gala is grateful for the time away from the camera that allowed her to evolve internally as well as in her drag. “I want to share how much I’ve grown up, not just in an artistic way, in a personal way. I feel more confident. I love myself even more. I admire myself. So I want to share this new perspective of how I am now and how my art has changed.”
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It also helps to be among queens you admire — and there was plenty of admiring going on in the Werk Room. “I was impressed by everyone, of course,” says Soa. “I see Pythia and I was like, ‘Oh, that bitch is on this shit too?’ And I saw her with the costume and I was like, ‘I hate you!’ Of course, I was really impressed by Kween Kong, because I said, ‘Oh, a Black sister is here! Yep, we are here, honey.’ But I was, I was really impressed about all of these drag queens because it’s impressive to see them in real [life]. I was like a child in Disneyland.”
While Pythia was excited to meet some of the queens like Alyssa Edwards and Kween Kong for the first time, she was most thrilled to be reunited with queens she had recently formed bonds with outside of the show. “Actually, a few months before the show, Soa and I had a gig together in Quebec City, and we really got to become close. And seeing her there, I was very, very excited. Same with my sister Athena Likis. She’s half Greek and we spent a summer in Greece right before we went to film. So I was really, really excited to see both of them there. It gave me a bit of encouragement because I was very, very nervous and intimidated,” she admits.
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Speaking of admissions, Gala had the girlies gagged when she admitted she wasn’t really that shaken by meeting anyone. “OK, I’m gonna be honest. No shade, but I didn’t know anyone,” she confesses with a laugh. “Just Alyssa. I haven’t seen the other franchises, because there are so many franchises I don’t have time to watch them. But weeks before [we] go to record the show, I heard some rumors about the cast, so I tried to investigate about every queen, but I don’t know anybody, so it was such an experience to discover them along the [way during] the season.”
All tea, that does sound a little shady, but her experience mirrors that of many in the audience who are just meeting these queens for the first time. To them we say: Buckle up, it’s about to get iconic, because these international girlies have come to slay!
