SDSU is no stranger to drag shows, and this semester, the Culture, Arts and Film Committee hosted “San Diego Slay” on April 27 from 6-8 p.m. The event had a photo booth, pizza, ice cream and an SDSU Pride Center booth for students to explore before the event began.
A DJ played pop music as students started entering and filling the rows of chairs around the runway stage in anticipation of the event. Many were also excited for the trivia and catwalk competition.
A little after 6:30 p.m., Amber St. James, an SDSU alumna, came out in an extravagant, red and shiny feathery coat. She started her performance by lip-syncing to a remix of “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)” by Sylvester and danced around the stage. Amber St. James engaged the audience and elicited cheers as she took off her coat, revealing another outfit. She pulled out many show-stoppers, such as cartwheels and jump-splits.
Amber St. James was the host for the drag performances and introduced other members of The Haus of St. James, a San Diego drag house and community collective. Luxe the Drag Queen, Amora Envy, Jordan Almond and Lady Blanca performed their sets to various songs, exciting the crowd even more due to the variety of each performance.
Geidenn Gonzales, a third-year student at SDSU, had never attended a drag show before San Diego Slay.
“I was thinking it was going to be a lot more chill, and then I saw everyone and thought, ‘This is amazing and completely out of this world,’” Gonzales said.
Gonzales cheered loudly throughout the show and gave tips to show her support and love for those performing.
After the drag queens were done performing, Amber St. James hosted trivia using Kahoot. After anticipating the game hitting 100 players, Amber St. James screamed and the audience cheered in excitement with her when the number was reached.
“This is why I love drag shows. I scream, you scream, we all have fun!” Amber St. James said.
The trivia included San Diego drag locations, facts about Amber St. James, “RuPaul’s Drag Race” and other LGBTQ+ facts. Len Roberts, a fourth-year student, won the first round.
After the students claimed their prizes for winning trivia, Luxe the Drag Queen came back on stage to perform another number and get the crowd excited again. Amber St. James then announced the start of the catwalk competition and called the 10 contestants who had signed up to the stage.
Starting off strong as the first contestant, Claire Tucci, a second-year student, did her walk to “Do It” by Underscores. Tucci did a front handspring, strutted back and forth and did a jump-split for her performance.
Other contestants did their catwalks to songs such as “360” by Charli xcx, “Tia Tamera” by Doja Cat, “Judas” by Lady Gaga and more.
Roberts, who had won the trivia earlier, also signed up to compete in the catwalk and performed to “Call Me Mother” by RuPaul. They vogued down the runway, death dropped and breakdanced, which made the crowd scream in excitement.
After all the contestants had walked, the audience cheered for their favorites, ending with Tucci and Roberts being chosen as the winners of the competition. Tucci competed in the catwalk at last year’s event and won that time as well, upholding her reputation.
Although nerve-racking, Roberts had been to an SDSU drag show their freshman year and was excited to compete for their senior year with their freshly learned breakdancing moves.
“My favorite part was the catwalk competition because it reinforces that anyone can dance and everyone can serve,” Roberts said.
After the catwalk, the drag queens came back onstage to show everyone how it’s done.
Amore Envy changed into a sparkly, red fringe set and performed “Tell It to My Heart” by Taylor Dayne. Jordan Almond came out in a purple shirt and booty shorts, strutting to “Joyride” by Kesha. The song then turned to a mashup of “Guess” by Charli xcx ft. Billie Eilish and “Call Me Mother” by RuPaul. Lady Blanca came back out in a black wig and new costume, walking to “Supernova” by Kylie Minogue.
To wrap up the night, Jordan Almond reintroduced Amber St. James as she walked out in an orange gown and wig, looking like a queen as she lip-synced to “Masterpiece (Mona Lisa)” by Jazmine Sullivan. After she was done, she thanked the audience and asked for one last “slay,” and the students delivered by shouting the word.
“We hope you go out and slay every day like we did today,” Amber St. James said.
Gonzales said she loved the performance and hopes she can attend another drag show soon.
“I had the absolute best time ever. It was so surreal,” Gonzales said. “SDSU needs to bring them back every year.”
