A second French-language version is added to the “Drag Race” franchise. After the success of Drag Race France last summer – a new season has just been filmed – it was our neighbors’ turn to launch their adaptation of the drag-queens competition. The first episode of Drag Race Belgium will be posted Thursday, at 8 p.m., on the platform WOW Presents More. At the presentation: Rita Baga, a queen… from Quebec. Interview with the 35-year-old artist who was a finalist in the first season of Canada’s Drag Race and All Star Edition Canada vs. The World…
A Quebecer to present Drag Race Belgiumit is surprising…
When I was told that the production of Drag Race Belgium tried to contact me to audition, I thought it was to be a member of the jury. I understood after that it was for the presentation (laughs). I did two auditions online. Three weeks later, I was told I had the job. I was surprised but also very excited to take part in this adventure. I said to myself that it could be badly perceived that I was taken since I am not Belgian, but the RTBF [la télévision publique wallonne, qui produit et diffuse l’émission] emphasizes that the drag pool is not the largest in Belgium. And then, as I come from outside, I have no bias, favorable or not, towards the participants since I don’t know them personally.
Did you know Belgium before filming?
I did my practical internship at the end of the baccalaureate [l’équivalent de la licence en France] in Brussels, in a community body. I was familiar with the sexual and gender diversity network. I also frequented several establishments where there were drag shows. I’m still very good friends with LaDiva Live, an icon of Brussels and Belgium.
You asked advice from Nicky Doll who presents Drag Race France ?
We knew each other a little. We wrote to each other shortly before starting but I only saw her physically once the shooting was over. It was more like an exchange of accounts of our experiences. I didn’t want to copy what Nicky was doing. We shot quite close to the broadcast of the first season of Drag Race France, so we could see and compare what we were doing. Our two approaches are completely different.
How would you describe the Belgian drag scene?
I find it very authentic, very pure and very raw. It is less modeled on an American model. We see it in the promo, there are candidates who proudly display themselves with hair on their legs, in their armpits. This is not something we have seen often in Canada. What we see in the first looks with the trailer is very representative of the show. The participants did not completely change their styles to fit into the frame drag race. They are aware that they have been chosen for their own aesthetics.
Did the production ask you to tone down your Quebec accent?
There was no direct request but I naturally went towards a more normative French. When I host in Quebec, I have a more pronounced accent and I speak more quickly. There, I believe that with the sort of authority figure that I embody, the tone was essential to pronounce all the words well to ensure that everything that is said is understood by the participants. The language is more supported but not exaggerated. A person who has never heard accents will be served in Drag Race Belgium. Some participants have a parent from Flanders, we heard at times a Dutch-speaking background, for example. I find it beautiful, representative of the world in which we evolve.
Is the Francophonie something important to you?
Yes, I made it my hobbyhorse during my two participations in drag race. In the universe of this franchise, we lose a lot of our French-speaking essence through the use of an almost exclusively English-speaking vocabulary with terms like “queen” (“queen”), “slay” (“you get high”) or ” runway” (“parade”). That’s why I like the idea of there being a second franchise in French.
In Canada’s Drag Race, aren’t the queens of the French-speaking part disadvantaged, in the sense that they face a jury from the English-speaking part which does not necessarily have the same references? I’m thinking in particular of your look evoking Celine Dion at Eurovision that the jurors obviously didn’t understand…
Effectively. Moreover, concerning the example that you take, I felt a lot of support from the Francophonie, which did not understand the reaction of the jury. By participating in the show, we know that the jury is English-speaking and that the show will be shot in English, but that only brings one point of view, one angle. This was the case throughout the first season. Subsequently, I believe that there were two guests from the Canadian Francophonie, which is a major shortcoming. In the production, there were people who spoke French, sometimes you could feel a little help in the headset indicating the reference. To come back to your example, no one saw the reference in the jury when Céline had won Eurovision with this awful set (laughs). In Quebec, people remember it very well, I do this number in every show on my tour. I go on stage and people laugh immediately, they understand immediately. On the set of Canada’s Drag Race, I arrived and no one reacted. Sometimes there is a divide, that’s for sure.
You have already taken part as a contestant in two seasons of the “Drag Race” franchise. Are you leaving the door open for a third participation?
The door is closed, barred, padlocked. I have a lot more fun hosting than participating in contests in general. In Quebec, I do a lot of TV, I present programs, I am a guest panelist and that’s what I like the most. I don’t want to inflict the stress of competition on myself again. I know what it’s like to be awake in bed late at night worrying that the next day you won’t be ready for the challenge of the week. That’s why I saw my role in Drag Race Belgium like that of a mother figure, reassuring with the participants.
In recent weeks, in the United States, as in France, far-right activists have attacked drag queens who animate readings for children in media libraries. What does that remind you of?
It’s terribly ridiculous. Especially when you think of the models we had during our childhood. I have a very specific memory of having learned important notions of life from the mouth of a talking purple dinosaur and it was completely normal, it was part of the imagination. In Quebec, we had a program called Robin and Stella. They were two young people, the person who played Robin was a girl and it was completely normal. Now, when we deal with identity and sexual orientation, it affects everything that is fragile in the identity of heterosexual people who think that we intend to “recruit” young people . As if we could impose on someone to be in sexual and gender diversity, as if it were a choice. It’s ridiculous. It is also to fall back into ideologies that are completely outdated and false. The reality is that we exist and we are legitimate. The coming generation is very alert and on the lookout for the realities of “different” people than the generation of their parents. I find that fantastic.
When will the public be able to applaud you in France?
Soon ! I will end my Canadian tour in December. Then, the idea is to make the transfer to the Francophonie and other countries. It is also possible that there will be appearances in the next few months while waiting for something longer.