New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
Ansonia native premieres on ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’
ANSONIA — If Ansonia native Loosey LaDuca felt nervous walking the runway on the season premiere of “Rupaul’s
Drag Race,” she didn’t show it.
“Loosey, you’ve got some slaying to do,” LaDuca said in a nod to her performing idol and namesake, Lucille Ball.
LaDuca, 32, volunteered to sing live on the Season 15 opener to differentiate herself from the other competitors.
“I’m singing live and I think the judges are going to be really impressed with the fact that I’m willing to take such a risk,” she said.
The episode ended with LaDuca still alive in the competition, but in tears following a lackluster singing performance. Still, the judges, including Ariana Grande, said LaDuca showed promise and kept her on, deciding instead to eliminate one of her competitors.
The episode saw the contestants participating in a photo shoot challenge, where the drag queens needed to look glamorous on a motorcycle with a model behind them. Adding to the challenge, a fan continually blew feathers
into their faces.
LaDuca, though, wasn’t ruffled by the challenge, and won that portion of the competition.
But while the other drag queens opted to lipsync their live performances, LaDuca said she sings live at 95 percent of her shows, and believed her
singing is a draw.
Her voice and movement, though, left the judges and other contestants unimpressed.
“So Loosey sings live, and it’s definitely a choice,” fellow contestant Anetra said.
Another contestant, Irene Dubois, criticized
LaDuca’s movement as “rigid as a dead fish.”
The judges, including RuPaul, said much the same thing. Michelle Visage criticized LaDuca’s voice, calling it pitchy. Grande, though, softened the criticism, calling LaDuca an extraordinary talent.
But according to RuPaul, LaDuca failed to achieve her own objective, which was standing out from the pack.
“She is a fantastic queen. The problem is she just wasn’t memorable enough,” RuPaul said.
Speaking to Visage, LaDuca defended her decision to sing live, but soon broke down in tears. She managed to joke about her situation, though, and survived the subsequent elimination.
She vowed to do better in future performances.
“Thank you so much, I’m not going to let you down again and I promise not to hold myself back,” LaDuca said.
LaDuca and fellow Connecticut-based drag queens Amethyst and Robin
Fierce remain in the competition. New episodes air Fridays at 8 p.m. on MTV.