Sasha Velour makes room for silliness
Sasha Velour has Whitney Houston to thank for her “RuPaul’s Drag Race” win.
The Brooklyn-based performer, known for her intellectual approach to drag, let loose on a pair of classics from the legendary diva — “So Emotional” and “It’s Not Right, But It’s OK” — during fierce finale lip syncs.
Velour’s rose petal reveals, from inside her gloves and under her wig, bested bestie Shea Couleé on “So Emotional.” And Velour’s clever use of a mask gave her the edge over Peppermint during “It’s Not Right, But It’s OK.”
She takes the crown having never landed in the show’s bottom two. And the newly reigning queen performs Saturday at South Beach nigthtclub in Montrose.
Velour talked to the Chronicle about how her approach to drag changed on the show, how she wants to change the world and how she’s amping up a pair of projects close to her heart.
Q:
Have you had a quiet moment to yourself to process everything?
A:
I took a bath. I actually stole some flowers from the crowning ceremony and scattered the rose petals, in now Velourian fashion, all over the bathtub. I sat and just thought, “Oh, my gosh, I can’t believe the journey that my life has taken over the past year” — from someone struggling to make a career as a drag performer and struggling to get people to come and turn out for the shows that I was giving to now having this platform and all these opportunities. It’s a huge privilege.
Q:
The lip sync finale twist seemed to throw everyone, from viewers to competitors, for a loop.
A:
I think it helps to contextualize some of my personality out of drag. I love being kind of reserved and serious and then having these explosions of passion when it comes time to perform. I think that push and pull is the essence of my drag, and I got to finally show the whole thing. At the same time, it was incredibly stressful because we thought the competitive aspect of the show was over and we could kind of relax and rest on a job well done and just show up with fabulous costumes. But it indicated that we were — in the judges’ eyes, at least — kind of on equal footing and that they needed more information to determine who was gonna rise to the top.
Q:
Was there added pressure going up against Peppermint in the final matchup, who was known as the “lip sync assassin” for much of the season?
A:
It was really tough. And Peppermint is someone who has inspired me as a performer. She set a standard for amazing lip sync performances. Of course, I had no idea what she was doing when we were performing next to each other. I just was determined to give my all, to really give my heart. It was funny when I was watching the footage back, I was being distracted by what a great lip sync battle it was. I feel like it was maybe one of the best of the entire season. That’s why drag has to be about performance, because those epic lip syncs, where all the passion, all the power of being in drag gets to come out, that’s I think what’s most inspiring and uplifting for people watching.
Q:
You mentioned a “completely different reveal” planned if you had to lip sync to the Britney Spears song “Stronger.” What was it?
A:
I stepped out onto the stage with everything rigged under my dress because I didn’t know if I was gonna have to go first or if I was gonna get to go second. If I had gone second with the Britney Spears song, I actually would have emptied the rose petals out of my costume to prepare for this other reveal. I had scissors strapped to my thigh, and I was going to chop my hair until I was bald as a kind of statement that the transformation into a bald queen is the source of my strength. Either way, I warned them that there was gonna be clean up.
Q:
In your wildest dreams, when you started performing, what was the ultimate goal?
A:
I’ve loved the RuPaul model of drag, where you’re a an amazing drag queen, you’re a smart and savvy business person and you use those together to keep drag at the forefront of what people are talking about.
I’ve always wanted to play a role as a producer and a curator and to help make drag really have an epic scale and a large audience and a lot of interest. I started doing that long before “Drag Race” with my little shows in Brooklyn, trying to attract lots of audiences and really set the tone for what drag is all about and show how important drag is personally and psychologically, as well as politically and historically, for the queer community.
Q:
How different is the Sasha Velour who entered the “Drag Race” workroom from the Sasha Velour who earned the Season 9 crown?
A:
So much has changed and also nothing has changed. I’ve always been committed to tuning out the trends of drag and doing styles and fashions and performances that are really true to what I love, to the movie references I’ve always loved, fashion that speaks to me for whatever reason — no matter what people say. Even ways of being different that maybe aren’t exactly what people expect when they hear the word “different” or “weird” or “artsy.” I’m not afraid to not be understood in that way. But at the same time, I learned from the judges, but especially from RuPaul, a way of selling myself. Part of success — and something that’s really important for queer people, I think — is to know how to bring success to yourself and how to bring success to your community. I’ve become a lot savvier as a marketer and a business person. And although that sounds maybe a little superficial, I think it actually is incredibly political, because we have to know how to present ourselves and how to enact change and how to make things happen for us. So I’ve learned how to sell myself better, how to present myself queerly, how to make myself
funny and light when I need to be funny and light.
Q:
It was clear you let loose as the season progressed.
A:
I’ll never forget in the judging for the (comedy) roast, RuPaul said, “Sometimes, maybe if people are a little bit confused or put off by something that I’m saying being too intellectual, I’ll just make a farting noise.” That’s the right spirit. We are all deep thinkers, and we all take drag seriously, but sometimes that’s not the best way to present it, that’s not the best way to communicate it. And there’s always room for a bit of silliness. I’ve taken that lesson to heart for sure.
Q:
What’s most important for you, now that you have this platform, to put out into the world?
A:
I think that a real superstar doesn’t just use the crown and the spotlight for herself but actually brings lots of other people into it together and inspires people. I think what is needed now more than ever is for queer community leaders to inspire people to do good in the world. I’m gonna invest the prize into the projects that I’ve been doing that basically put drag performers to work and in collaboration. I have a magazine called Velour: The Drag Magazine, which is an art magazine about drag; and a monthly show called “Nightgowns” that celebrates diversity across drag in a theatrical setting. I’m planning on taking the show on the road so I can connect the Brooklyn drag scene with the amazing world of drag that I’m getting to learn as I tour the country. And I’m transforming that show into a nonprofit organization so that, in addition to giving great drag shows, we can also raise money for queer people, for trans people in need, which I think politically and practically is needed now more than ever.