What Eva Le Queen realized from short 'Drag Race: Global All Stars' run | ABS-CBN

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What Eva Le Queen realized from short 'Drag Race: Global All Stars' run

What Eva Le Queen realized from short 'Drag Race: Global All Stars' run

Josiah Eleazar Antonio,

ABS-CBN News

 | 

Updated Sep 12, 2024 09:57 PM PHT

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Photo from Eva Le Queen's Instagram account.Photo from Eva Le Queen's Instagram account.

MANILA — Filipina drag queen Eva Le Queen's "RuPaul's Drag Race: Global All Stars" may be short 'n sweet but the artist was still full of wisdom from her stint on the show.

In the fifth episode of the show, Eva got the chop in an acting challenge, ending her journey in 10th place overall.

This shocked fans but still filled her with love for showing Asian drag excellence as the only contestant from the continent.

After seeing her run, Eva realized how her run on the show was still strong and that her low placement will not define her worth as an artist.

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"People wouldn't really talk about how it makes you very vulnerable. When you don't go far in a competition, or you didn't win, or it's below your expectations when, you know, you put everything, everything that you have to give, you put it in a package, and then it turns out to be less than expected," Eva told ABS-CBN News in an interview.

"I am slowly working towards like, yeah, I think I'm handling it better than I expected it to be but yes, I'm in a good headspace right now," she added.

REWIND

Coming from the top after the talent show, Eva showed consistency in the challenges as she was safe prior to her elimination.

However, the drag queen felt like the judges came to a point of splitting hairs with their comments during the acting challenge.

In the judges' critiques, Carson Kressley and Jamal Sims noted that Eva's character as Pitchfork Boobie was not consistent.

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"I'm trying to understand where they're coming from... I think the critiques could have worked that if I fall out of character, you've seen it, you could've coached it but then again, this is a competition," the drag queen said.

"They really have to find something to talk about. They would have something to critique about. And maybe that's it. Honestly, it's not even that bad," she added.

She also reacted on Michelle's Visage's comment on her look: "I'll take that like a queen. Like yes, that's what you think. Pero I'm just really gutted lang na parang sayang hindi n'yo nakita 'yung iba parang naku! ... Actually even that one was not the look that I originally planned."

While it was not shown in the episode, Eva admitted that she was really emotional during "Untucked," thinking about her efforts to be on the show.

"Buti nga hindi na nila pinakita eh. That was a full-on meltdown on 'Untucked' because I was like really, I was really like shocked. I'm at the crossroads of my life when, you know, I came into the competition with 120 percent of everything that I have to give as an artist, as a human being, as a person, as a queen, as a celebrity, as a Filipino, as an Asian representation," the Filipina representative said.

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"Ang hirap i-reconcile at that point na parang s**t, does my journey end here? Na parang is this it? The editors gotta do what they gotta do. But of course, making it 40 minutes was also a choice. What do I know? I'm not the production. That was an immense, immense pressure," she added.

Amid her meltdown, Eva was glad to get the support from her "Global" sisters with queens like Kween Kong from the "Down Under" franchise and Germany's Tessa Testicle helping her out to prepare for the lipsync.

"But you know, the beautiful thing that they didn't show there is that after when I stood up, all the queens came up to me. Si Kween Kong started putting on my accessories. The wig I was wearing was Tessa Testicles'. And I was like, parang ... 'Oh, wear this. Are you ready? Do you know your words?' So I felt the support talaga ng mga sisters na parang kaya mo to. You're Eva Le Queen. You are fantastic. You're amazing," Eva recalled.

"So even at that time, when I was feeling my lowest, my sisters gave me my flowers and gave me all the support I needed. And I knew that one way or another, I have gained the respect of my 'Global' sisters, which for me matters the most. Kasi itong mga taong to does the same job that I do. So what they say is valid. What they say matters," she added.

Eva ended her journey after the battle with Mexico's Gala Varo fighting the good fight with the best queens in the world.

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"I lost to Gala Varo, a queen with so much talent, beauty, and so much to offer, a queen that I adore so, so much. Hindi naman ako basta natalo lang eh, ng kung sino. I was sent home by one of the best queens in the world, I would say that," she said.

"The pride of Mexico. So parang, it was still, you know, it was a good fight. I put up a good fight."

FIREWORK

Before ending her 'Global All Stars' journey, Eva was able to tell RuPaul the impact of the show in the Philippines.

"That's one of the most important thing, if not the most important thing that I came there for, is for RuPaul Charles to know that she has touched lives and changed everyone's lives very far away from where she is," the drag queen said.

"Because I don't know if she even knows it, na parang, alam mo tumaas 'yung TF ng mga queens dahil sa 'Drag Race Philippines' doon sa atin. Not even 'Drag Race,' even 'Drag Den' girls, even local bar queens, na 'yung lahat umangat," she added.

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Contented with her run, Eva felt that her message to RuPaul helped close that chapter of her life.

"So I wanted her to know that. And at least I was able to let her know, look at her in the eye and tell her that. Even at that moment, I was able to find some strength on how I can start closing this book," she said.

Eva said that her run on the show felt like a firework: "It was ascending, all the preparations that I had to do. It peaked, it exploded, and it was gone as quickly as it came, but it left a beautiful image.

"With the things that mattered to me, my preparation, what I have shown in that short span of time, I know I've made the most of what I have to give. For me, it was like a firework, talaga, that run," she added.

With the recent eliminations, "Global All Stars" has been receiving criticisms from the viewers with various narratives and speculations roaming around social media.

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Eva said she's currently at the point where she wanted to take care of herself while holding to the truth that happened in the competition as a contestant.

"By the end of the day, for me, personally, what matters to me are the truths that I hold true for myself, my experience, the good things that I choose to bring along with me, and 'Global All Stars,' the dignity and self-respect that I maintain and retain moving forward from this experience, and rising above the negativity and the whatever untoward things that are happening right now," she said.

"So, nandu'n ako sa moment na 'yun eh because I have given so much of myself for the show. Currently, I'm on self-care, self-preservation mode. And all I can say is that, marami ring nangyaring maganda sa buhay ko because of 'Global All Stars.' There's so many things that opened up and have otherwise never happened kung hindi rin naman dahil sa experience na 'to."

The drag queen credited the fans for their support which helped rally to have a representative from the Philippines compete on the show.

"Not all countries had delegates to the 'Global All Stars' but we did and I was chosen because of you. You guys are doing a tremendous effort and work in elevating all of us. You guys are the key why we are where we are right now. You guys have already been doing an amazing job," Eva said.

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"I hope they don't feel that they're not doing enough because they've done so much for us. So keep showing your love on the ground and on social media. If no one has told you that, I, your Global Glamazon, am very thankful for all the work that you've done for us. So keep supporting us and keep showing us your love."

MAGNIFICENT

With all the messages online and on-ground, Eva is happy to be filled with love from the Filipinos and her loved ones.

"Sobrang overwhelming siya, there's no even words to describe how I feel about it. It saved me from a lot of negativity," she said.

From being opulent, Eva revealed how she has discovered a new term to her drag: magnificent.

"Like I've said, I've been beating myself up for it since I already knew that. I've always had that fear that I might never live up to the expectation. I'm not even close to what Marina (Summers) has achieved, or Pangina (Heals) has achieved, or Plastique (Tiara), or other Asian excellence. Am I even Asian excellence?" the drag queen said.

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"Maraming ganoong thoughts but when there are people who would be there for you and will really go out of their way to let you know that, Eva, you did so good. May bago na ngang word to describe Eva eh, magnificent," she added.

These new realizations helped her process her run on the show and be firm that her work as Eva is still her best as an artist.

"I was magnificent? It's very majestic. So yes, it just validated what I have been doubting all this time. What it did to me is that it allowed me to bring myself outside of Eva, and try to look at Eva from the lens of the one who created her and nakikita ko tama 'yung sinasabi nila," Eva said.  

"Eva was singly the most amazing offering and thing that I have created in this lifetime and she did it with so much beauty, exuding with dignity, beauty, substance, something that's very uniquely Eva," she added.

"Because of the support of the people, I was able to be convinced and really firmly believe that she did so, so, so well. And I can look at myself in the mirror now and say that I'm proud of what you've shown to the world."

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Right now, Eva is also in the process of rediscovering the art of drag and hopes to do so by traveling to different parts of the world

"I have given so much of my life and my soul to the art form and to elevating it to a global level. For artists and creatives, sometimes we hit this block wherein parang naibigay mo na kasi lahat eh. So parang how can you top that? But maybe the answer is not about topping it," Eva said.

"It's about rediscovering how you would want to do it in a more fulfilled, more honest, more authentic part of doing the art form. So I am in the process of rediscovering right now a new era of transformation. How do I fall in love with my drag in ways that I've never done before? And I am in a period of discovery," she added.

She also plans to document her new venture.

"What makes drag beautiful is because it's art. It's an expression. It's an outward manifestation of a creative, a part of someone's imagination brought to life, performing right in front of you," Eva said.

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"Drag is so many things. So parang that's what I wanted to discover. That's why I wanted to travel around the world, write about it in a magazine or a coffee(table) book, encapsulate my understanding and my drag ... put it into words because I know that's what I'm good at and put it in a material," she added.

For Eva, there are untapped waters in the art form that she needs to discover in order to fall in love with drag in ways she has yet to know.

"You know, I've reached the peak. By the end of the day kahit early out pa ako or pang ilang beses pa ako, I'm still at the apex of drag. I'm still a Global Glamazon," she said.

"So maybe I can, you know, let that hat off and start pursuing another means to, you know, enjoy and fall in love with drag."

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