The new awards

The new awards

It felt like I was trying to move a mountain this morning, The best I could do was ‘snooze it’ one more time. I soon clocked up 40 minutes of snooze. Under the doona for the whole day felt like the only option for me.

The scene has been set for this years DIVA Awards. Due to deadline restrictions you will be reading this from the other end. By the time the paper has been printed and on your coffee table, the awards will have been handed out, hangovers will have just started to settle and homes will still be covered in whatever the showgirl wore on Monday night.

I dragged my carcass out of bed and started to prepare for the big night ahead. It’s hard to say what I really think of the new awards. The new company has gone out of the way to make sure no showgirl is doing anything during the evening, bringing in a host, having all the acts brought in, there aren’t even any drag presenters this year.

I’m starting to wonder if it’s actually a drag awards night at all. Their line of thinking is that it’s a night off for the showgirls and gives showgirls a chance to let their hair down. But isn’t that what the after-party is for?

With no services required of the showgirls, we will see many turning up as fellas, which is understandable — if it’s their night off, why slap it all back on.

Have they lost the glamour of the event? Does the new board actually understand what it’s like to be a working showgirl?

I have always said that whether DIVAs are held at Town Hall, Star City, a back garden shed or even the Bourbon, it’s the fact you’re with your mates that makes the night. Looking a million dollars (some $30), you swish from awards to the after-party.

With four hours of free booze (and probably two barmen) most of the night may end up being spent in the line at the bar.
So will the awards be a success? Will there be another after this year’s effort? Who knows? I will be looking forward to hanging for a while with my mates. It won’t be a long night for me, as I have a photo shoot early the next day.
Oh, if I win something, I would like to thank everyone. I hope I haven’t forgotten someone.

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5 responses to “The new awards”

  1. To Adam and Jase, if you actually read and understood my article this week, you would see that I was not painting the new DIVA in a negative light or being bitter at all. My deadline is on a Monday morning, so I was just posing questions on an event, comparing to Diva’s gone by, these questions have been asked by many, not just me. As someone that has worked full time in the Drag Industry for over 10 years, I feel I am more than qualified to comment. When it comes down to it, I bought a ticket, which I do every year, which makes me a consumer, and I have a right to comment on the product that I recieve. Granted the board members are volunteers but they are also selling a product, lets not forget that.
    As for Rose, Drag will have its supporters and those that just dont like it, the crazy thing is, that we are not just in the LGBTIQ community any more, we are everywhere.
    I hope that clears a few things up.
    Maxi xx

  2. Maxi, I think you need to realise that Sydney drag queens are the luckiest in the world for actually having an awards night such as the DIVAs. Best you stop being bitter and support those that are doing their best (ie the DIVA Board who are volunteers might I remind you) to glorify and celebrate our unique and talented drag community.

    Rose, your comments are just awful.

  3. Adam, I didn’t take Maxi’s article as being unnecessarily critical. I think she was posing a series of questions about whether the event would work or not in current format. I think you should take it as constructive questioning. And hey, you never know, you might be able to improve next year’s event!

  4. It’s this kind of attitude that makes me sick. At the showgirl meetings, the girls almost unanimously decided that Divas was meant to be FOR the showgirls, not BY the showgirls. To let the girls sit back and enjoy the night is what was requested.

    I see the new board doing everything they can to take the ideas of the showgirls and work with them, and then all they get at the end of the day is a slap in the face. For doing what the girls asked for!

    No wonder drag queens have the reputation they do, some of them like Maxi are never satisfied. Perhaps she should have put her hand up to be on the board, so then someone would understand what it’s like to be on the board. But no. Much easier to bitch about it in the media instead.