“The people in charge of the casting asked me if I knew how to play an instrument. I said not really, but if I had to I could learn. »A YouTube tutorial and two weeks later, Icee Drag On found herself on the stage of France has an unbelievable talent, mastering a few piano notes enough to create a little effect with his interpretation of Born This Way by Lady Gaga.
Express learning paid off: as the show’s faithful saw Wednesday night on M6, the drag queen was showered with praise by the jury, to such an extent that Marianne James pressed the “golden buzzer ”to automatically qualify for the final.
“It was so improbable for me”
“Everything stopped at that moment, I no longer knew who I was, where I was, or why I was there. It was so unlikely for me, I didn’t expect it at all. I just wanted not to be eliminated in the first round and to avoid the red crosses ”, remembers the artist today to 20 minutes.
In the city, Icee Drag On is called Sébastien. This 34-year-old Parisian by adoption created his alter ego drag three and a half years ago. At the time, he just played “a transvestite of the twenties” in the show. The Red Ball. He also discovered the now cult TV show RuPaul’s Drag Race. He then decides to launch out in turn by giving birth to his “artistic character”.
It remained to find a name. His choice fell on “Icee for water, ice and because it is an American brand of granite. And Drag On to evoke the movement of drag and make a play on words with dragon. I wanted to be a bit in the Daenerys universe of Game Of Thrones. “
“You are a stage beast” 🔥
The jury has a real crush on the vocal performance of Icee Drag On. #LFAULT, Wednesday at 21.05. pic.twitter.com/rCru0YCu4q– M6 (@ M6) November 5, 2021
His immersion in the bustling Parisian drag scene “has not always been obvious”. And to explain: “There is a lot of competition, jealousy, but fortunately also a lot of beautiful, benevolent people. When I arrived, I didn’t know anyone, I was trusted. I did the Patouchka Banana open scene, then I thought I was going to create my own scenes. “
Director of Paradis Latin
Icee then throws the Drag On, an evening that still exists today and is held regularly on Wednesdays at La Foisonnante (Paris 19th) or Aqua e Farina (Paris 10th). This space allows beginner drag queens to perform in front of an audience. “I leave the possibility to everyone to make the scene. Of course I look a little on Instagram what this gives in terms of aesthetics. It must be a minimum worked, it is my only requirement, affirms the artist. There are a lot of drags that have made the Drag On these last years and which today are doing well and stand out in the landscape. “
If the faithful of the Drag On are predominantly young and queer, Icee Drag On is aimed at a wider audience at Paradis Latin. She has just started her second season in the famous cabaret in the capital: “I do two to three dates a week, alternating with another drag queen, Venus FK, in the role of the director. We welcome people, we go to see them, we discuss, we are there to have a good time with them. Then the show begins and we then make the link between the numbers, like mistresses of ceremonies. “
Eric Antoine told him: France lacks a drag queen star. Could Icee be that one? “For the star side, I don’t think it could work like in the United States,” she replies. I don’t know if we’re ready to welcome drag in a way casual. In the Paradis Latin, sometimes, some people look at us strangely or think about it. For example, people said to my colleague, looking at her from top to bottom: “Oh no, that is not possible”. It’s hard to hear that stuff. “Sometimes homophobia takes the form of a physical assault:” One day, I was with a drag friend, we parked next to where we were supposed to go and, barely got out of the car, a man on a bicycle assaulted us with a chain. He wanted to hit us, we didn’t let it go. “
“I prefer to be silent and learn from what I see”
Sébastien says that at the start, he did not get into drag “to do activism” but “learned as and when dragging is very political”. Icee Drag On goes to the Pride March, participates in the
Sidragtion, a fundraising for Sidaction organized by Minima Gesté and Enza Fragola, well-known figures of the French drag scene. And to add: “I try not to get too involved politically because I do not know myself enough, I do not want to talk nonsense, I prefer to keep quiet and learn from what I see . “
To educate and celebrate “the world of drag”, the artist is working with a friend to create a drag magazine, which will also speak of “aesthetics, history, specific vocabulary” . The publication, which is intended to be sold on newsstands, will be aimed at both experts and the general public. An incredible editing talent?