Time to vote

It’s like a rollercoaster ride you have lined up for at the Easter Show. The excitement wells up inside you as you inch along the queue, still deciding whether or not to ride.
Once you get to the front it is now or never as you are secured into your tight light carriage. Within moments you have started the ascent to the top, then WHOOSH, it is all go. Up, down, around and around until you are plonked out on the other side. It seems so quick and it takes a moment for you to decide whether or not you enjoyed it, but deep down you know that you will ride it again next year.
That’s how I feel about the DIVA Awards which have rolled around once again -” the escalating excitement as you create a showstopping outfit, as you rush around for a month leading up to the awards, searching for that single button that your outfit will be a flop without. Or the walk of shame as you head home after, once again feeling you have missed out.
You can’t deny the Awards are a hoot to attend -” just the concentration of glamour all in one room has showgirls from around Australia fighting for an elusive ticket.
Throughout the supposed bitchness in the drag scene, there is also a sisterhood that seems to rear its head every now and again. Like magnets, showgirls are drawn to each other. Like bowerbirds, we follow the sparkle and make our way together. (Collective term for a group of drag queens could be a handbag) and the DIVA Awards are no exception.

So what are we likely to see in the lead-up to this year’s DIVA Awards?

We have seen Facebook come alive already, with claims that some showgirls have missed out on tickets, not jumping on line at 4am to reserve them. They’re asking Should there be tickets held for working showgirls each year?, given that the word industry is actually in the events title. If you have missed out, do you send your mate to claim your award, or do you send a videotaped thank you speech?
Unlike last year the campaigning hasn’t started in full force, although we are seeing a trickle through the internet. Last year some showgirls spent thousands of dollars on campaigns the size of Hillary’s and Obama’s. For all those who aren’t interested in the drag scene I warn you, watch out, you will receive how to vote suggestions from here on in.

So we are in for a very intense couple of weeks, with campaigns and maybe the odd retirement or two (these are drag retirements which means you usually work more than ever the next year). Then there’s the performers’ constant search for the DIVA judges, Is that one??

However you look at it, I hope it’s a bit of fun, and we all look $35 on 18 August.

Voting is at the Colombian on the 16 August, so if you like someone, or you’re just reacting to a Facebook message Beyonce has sent you, I’ll see you there.