Question: Condragulations on making the top five of So You Think You Can Drag! For my money, its the premiere drag competition in the city. Have you had a moment to reflect on what you have accomplished already yet?
Juicy Liu: Thank you, Chiffon! It’s been one wild ride these last few weeks and it has gone by so fast too. I’ve gone back and watched our videos and it’s amazing to see how much we’ve produced in such a short amount of time. This has been such a great opportunity to take risks and just try things out. I never knew if anything was going to land or not until I got it front of an audience each Thursday night. And the crowds and judges have been so supportive.
Question: What do you think was your personal highlight and lowlight of the season so far?
JL: I think my personal highlight was just getting on that stage that first night! I’ve done drag for Halloween for a few years now, but never performed live in drag, so this was a big first for me. I was so nervous backstage and I kept thinking I was going suck, but I had to remind myself, you are doing a CELINE DION song… Celine is a force of nature and so confident, you have to go out there a just friggin’ do it. And it ended up being so much fun. One lowlight is all the junk food I ate during the competition! I haven’t had time to cook, so that meant many pizza dinners and trips to McDonalds and Chipotle! Whoops!
Question: How would you describe your experience on SYTYCD? What was it like to work with Paige, Chelsea and all other guests that have come through?
JL: It was definitely an adventure. There were a lot of late nights trying to figure out what to do each week, but funny enough songs ideas would just pop into my head at the most random times. I was in a meeting with my boss at my boy job and randomly “I’m So Excited” was in my head, and I was like…. ‘Yes, that’s going into a number!”. I’ve also been so fortunate to have a great group my friends helping me along the way – to bounce ideas off of or just be my dancers. Additionally, I have loved getting to know these girls. Everyone has been so encouraging, and I’ve really learned a lot from watching them do their thing!
Paige and Chelsea have been soooo supportive! I messaged Paige a lot during the competition with song ideas and she always had great feedback. And Chelsea has been the best cheerleader for us backstage. Though this is a competition, they have really made this an environment to grow and develop your drag craft.
Question: So without spoiling anything, what can we expect from you in the finale?
JL: I think you’re definitely going get something very ‘Juicy’ – very campy and ridiculous – and also something else that you might not expect from me.
Question: Best of luck on the 12th! Any you want to plug before we wrap up?
JL: Thank you! It think the 12th is going to be an amazing night for us all. I do! I’m going to be guesting with Brita Filter and Tammy Spénks on November 19th at Boots and Saddles and with Marti Gould Cummings on the November 22nd at the Ritz!
