Review: Werq the World Live Stream

On Saturday 6th April, Voss Events teamed up with Werq the World to give us “biggest drag show on the planet for the largest audience in drag history!”. Hosted by drag legends Bianca Del Rio and Lady Bunny, the line-up of the event consisted of Gigi Goode, Aquaria, Plastique Tiara, Kim Chi, Kameron Michaels, Vanessa Vanjie, Violet Chachki, Asia Ohara, and Yvie Oddly. The event was held in order to fundraise for drag queens who have had their shows, and therefore their income, impacted by COVID-19. They raised an impressive £3,000 in tips (excluding donations sent in after the livestream ended). So, move over miss corona, because these sickening performers served us life!

Up first was Gigi Goode (aka soon to be winner of Rupaul’s Drag Race S12), and its safe to say they certainly set the bar high for the evening! Performing to Dua Lipa’s ‘Levitating’, Gigi took us on a disco inferno, full of groovy moves, funky outfits, and a whole load of 80s nostalgia. Speaking pre-performance, Gigi told viewers they wanted to give us a “fun” performance that warmed our hearts, which was definitely delivered. Gigi was quite possibly the best performer of the night. But the best part of Gigi’s performance? Hands-down getting to dance alongside one of my favourite drag queens, to one of my favourite singers.

Next up was Asia Ohara, lip-syncing to Chaka Khan’s ‘I’m Every Woman’. Considering the iconic song choice, it’s actually a talent that Asia made me want to doze off. It was a slow build up, into an average middle-section, which ended in Asia getting into a car then driving off into the distance for the final 30 seconds. As Bianca perfectly summed up, “god, you don’t realise how long that song is until she does it!”. All I can say is, at least no butterflies were harmed in the making of this lip-sync!

Following on we had Plastique Tiara, performing an immersive lip-sync of The Pussycat Dolls’ new hit ‘React’. It should first be noted that Plastique’s make up was flawless, leaving me to believe in certain moments that I was actually watching Nicole Scherzinger perform. Plastique’s performance consisted of strobe lights, chair dancing, and a lot of hair flicks! Though it was very visual, without the fancy lighting and editing it would’ve been pretty dull. This performance was very convincing as a girl group dance number, but didn’t live up to the expectations of a drag routine.

Kameron Michaels then swiftly followed with another Pussycat Dolls number, ‘Buttons’. This was an interesting one, in which editing allowed Kameron to have three-versions of herself dancing as a group. The performance was like an enhanced version of Plastique’s, if you replaced Plastique for 3 milfs. Though Bianca described the performance as “just like season 10, wouldn’t watch it”, moments such as when Kameron jumped into splits and then crawled forward were certainly gag-worthy.

Aquaria then took on another of Dua Lipa’s recent hits, ‘Physical’. It should be noted that Aquaria, who lives in NYC, performed, filmed and edited the routine single-handedly due to the strict lockdown currently placed on her state. However this didn’t stop her slaying the live stream, as she hilariously imitated Dua Lipa’s ‘Physical’ workout video. A highlight of Aquaria’s performance has to be the projections of various colours, lighting and even some anime onto herself as she danced away with very high energy. Also, she flexed her S10 winners sceptre, which was just a down right bad bitch move that I respect. To end, Aquaria left us with a quick-quip that we should all take on board – “be safe, be smart, stay home”.

There really isn’t much to say about the next performer, Kim Chi, as her performance of Jessie Ware’s ‘Say You Love Me’ was completely lacklustre. With a few seen-it-before quips, such as Detox’s infamous lip-wobble, the 4 minute 23 second song felt like it lasted an eternity. Kim Chi, I think it’s best you stick to being an insta queen for now. The best bit to come out of this performance was Kim Chi’s quote, “luckily Animal Crossing came out just in time for this quarantine” – something I’m sure most of us can relate to.

Yvie Oddly… Where do I start? The S11 winner really served nothing but a snooze-fest, combined with poor make-up and tragic lip-syncing. Performing to ‘Look But Don’t Touch’ by the Empire Cast, Yvie gave us the worst performance of the night. The video was oddly reminiscent of the poor-quality 2011 YouTube parody music videos, and the only notable moment being when Yvie paused for 30 seconds to wash her hands (to the tune of ‘Happy Birthday to You’).

Vanessa Vanjie then came to give us some bangers, as she danced to Britney Spears (didn’t catch the song) and the remix of Cardi B’s coronavirus rant. For meme points, Vanjie definitely scores a 10/10. Her performance wasn’t necessarily a highlight of the night, but it was quite fun to watch, and she gave a lot of high energy.

To finish the night, Violet Chachki ended with something that wasn’t a lip-sync performance – finally some variety! Instead, Violet decided to put together a part aerial hoop part burlesque performance, and thankfully there were no Farrah Moan slips – “ohhhh!”. This performance was genuinely mesmerising, but also terrifying in the ways she’d somehow sensually, effortlessly, and elegantly fly on the aerial hoop hanging from just her legs/armpits/in the splits. Violet definitely showed us that she is not just a beauty queen, but a performer hunty. She also left us with some very wise words pre-performance – “millions of people’s jobs have been lost, thousands of people have died, so I don’t really see what’s not to be taken seriously… I think people will start taking it seriously when their friends start to die”.

If you’re wanting to catch parts of this livestream, you may be lucky enough to find some on YouTube. However, this worldwide event is now no longer available to watch in full. Werq the World and all the participating queens put on a spectacular event, and proved that drag performers talents have no bounds.