MANILA, Philippines — Filipino drag queen Eva Le Queen has been eliminated from the inaugural season of “RuPaul’s Drag Race Global All Stars.”
The sole contestant from Asia lost to Mexico’s Gala Varo in a tight Lip Sync Battle to A-ha’s “Take On Me.”
Eva changed from her Brown Town runway look to a different outfit with several Ruveals, but Gala managed to earn host and main judge RuPaul’s favor with expert dancing.
The Filipino drag queen landed in the bottom two following an acting challenge performance that resident judge Jamals Sims and guest judge Carson Daly found inconsistent.
Another resident judge, Michelle Visage, praised Eva’s makeup and hairstyling for the runway but found the attire “too simple.”
“I didn’t come 30 hours away from the Philippines to be here [and] not give my all,” Eva said after the judges’ critiques, acknowledging she carried the hopes of an entire country — and by extension continent — on her shoulders.
With Eva’s elimination, Gala is joined by the United States’ Alyssa Edwards, the United Kingdom’s Kitty Scott-Claus, Australia’s Kween Kong, Italy’s Nehellenia, Canada’s Pythia, France’s Soa de Muse, Germany’s Tessa Testicle, and Sweden’s Vanity Vain as the remaining queens in contention.
Eva had a strong start in the competition with her first runway look — an outfit made out of coconut husks inspired by the Tree of Life and a talent portion, which included a rice cooking tutorial and sword fighting.
She was named in the Top 2 queens with Vanity. It was the latter who won the lip sync of guest judge Danna’s “Paranoia” for the $10,000 cash tip before landing back-to-back safe positions.
The Filipino drag queen competed in the first season of “Drag Race Philippines.” Eva did not win a badge the entire competition but still finished a joint-third, beaten in a penultimate Lip Sync Battle to eventual winner Precious Paula Nicole.
Her drag sister, Marina Summers, was that season’s runner-up. Summers later became the first Philippine drag queen to compete in an international edition of “Drag Race.”
Summers took the second season of “RuPaul’s Drag Race: UK vs. the World” by storm by finishing in the joint-third place with La Grande Dame from France.