QX Magazine

14/06/12: It was obvious that the latter stages of this year’s Drag Idol were going to be more akin to showcase nights rather than your bog standard talent search.

The second of the weekend’s semis took place at Halfway to Heaven and it was sardines-in-a-tin like capacity all night. Titti La Camp opened with her pastiche of that other great talent show winner SuBo, before introducing all five acts.

As a host Titti has an individualistic way of putting the acts and judges at ease, without pretense, which makes for a very relaxed feel both backstage and onstage, whilst keeping everyone focused.

I was joined on the judging panel (the poor table was straining under the weight of vodka filled glasses) by Bette Rinse, Rose Garden and Joe Elull from Boyz Magazine The Semi finalists consisted of Asifa Lahore: CXR’s Bhangra queen, La Voix: the voice from the Black Cap, Dolly Donutt: Cardiff’s camp cross between Su Pollard and Shirley Bassey, Divina De Campo: the diva with lightning quick costume changes from West 5 and Tranny Sore Arse Wreck (yeah, that really was her name) from Leeds.

All five delivered very different but most importantly crowd-pleasing sets. It was Asifa Lahore and La Voix who were triumphant, impressing the judges enough to claim their place in the grand final on the 29th June. A big date for your drag diaries!

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Halfway II Heaven,
7 Duncannon Street, Charing Cross, WC2N 4JF
Words by Jason Reid
Photos by www.joel-ryder.com