Pride Union hosts 18th annual Drag Show Finals

UPDATED: Feb. 23, 2020 at 12:26 p.m.

Four final contestants competed in Syracuse University’s Pride Union’s 18th annual Drag Show Finals on Thursday, Feb. 20. The show, held in Goldstein Auditorium at 8 p.m., followed the preliminary competition on Feb. 6. 

The night started off strong with a performance by Minnie Figure, portrayed by Pride Union president Hunter Gorick. 

Gorick was then joined on stage by Pride Union’s vice president, Alyssa Cregan, to welcome the audience to the show. Both took a moment to discuss Pride Union’s support and how they stand in solidarity with #NotAgainSU’s fight to make SU a campus that makes everyone feel included and safe.  

Then, guest judges Jasmine Kennedie, Daphne York and Paris LuRux came on stage to introduce themselves. All three judges are upstate New Yorkers.  

Kennedie hails from Binghamton and has performed in New York City for the past three years. York comes from Buffalo and has been doing drag for more than two years. LuRux was even featured on season 2 of the YouTube drag contest “Camp Wannakiki” in 2019 and is from Vestal. 

Next, guest hosts Manila Luzon and Landon Cider came out to really kick off the show. Luzon was runner-up on the third season of the popular VH1 program “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” Cider was a contestant on season 3 of “The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula,” competition show where he received the title of “America’s Next Drag Supermonster.” Cider was also the first drag king and cisgender woman to have competed on the show. 

Sangria Salsipuedes was the winner of the Drag Show Finals with her “Legally Blonde” – inspired performance. Hannah Ly | Staff Photographer

“This is a place of learning, so if you don’t know how to use these words, we’re gonna teach you,” host Cider said while getting the crowd ready for the night.

 The first contestant of the night, Velveeta, started the show off strong by throwing condoms out into the crowd. She then stripped off her long pink tutu to reveal a black corset that she finished her routine in.  

The next contestant of the night was Javier el Jugador. She walked out in pajamas but immediately got the audience excited with a bit of a striptease routine and some lap dances.  

In between contestant performances, the guest judges and hosts gave passionate performances of their own.  

When intermission came around, Pride Union secretary Justine Hastings came out on stage to talk about her candidacy for Student Association president. Alongside her was her running mate Ryan Golden. In keeping with the night’s inclusive message, Hastings and Golden’s mission statement read: “We will listen and address the concerns of other marginalized communities on this campus, instead of waiting for some hate crime to occur to address their needs.” 

Following the intermission, the next contestant, Sangria Salsipuedes, took the stage and gave a “Legally Blonde”-inspired performance. Daniel Preciado, who portrays Salsipuedes, said the process of preparing for the contest was a good mix of both stress and fun. 

“Sangria Sisepuedes” receives feedback from guest judge Daphne York, aside special guests and cohosts “Landon Cider,” winner of the Boulet Brothers’ Dragula series, and Manila Luzon, from RuPaul’s Drag Race. Rey Villegas | Contributing Photographer

Preciado said he was “definitely stressed about just the idea of having to perform” but also “enjoyed the preparation process and performance.” 

“But at the same time, I’ve had such a blast both performing and preparing — picking my track, my outfit and just creating my whole persona,” Preciado said. 

Preciado added that it took some time to really find the essence of Sangria Salsipuedes. 

“I have been having many, many makeup tests, trying out different clothes, just going a little crazy in general,” Preciado said. “I think the main thing about preparing for me has been really pinning down who Sangria is. After I really understood what makes Sangria Sangria, I just had to kinda go with it and play.” 

The final contestant of the night, Vita Vanitea, took the stage wearing a sparkling dress with red flowers in her hand. Vanitea then performed a series of ballads. One of the ballads included “I’ll Never Love Again” by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper from the film “A Star is Born.” 

Before the night ended, the audience was treated to a surprise performance from drag king Daddy C-Zor.  

Finally, the judges took the stage to announce the results and crowned Salsipuedes as the winner.  

CORRECTION: In a previous version of this post, several names were misspelled. The Daily Orange regrets these errors.