The top four finalists on Season 4 of Canada’s Drag Race were some of the most dynamically eclectic and stunningly talented performers in recent memory. Aurora Matrix, Nearah Nuff, Venus & Denim all have displayed their own patented brand of charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent to rise to the top of Canada’s Drag Race Season 4. While only one went on to win the crown, the final four sat down with me to reflect on their Canada’s Drag Race experience, and we got to dish on everything from that iconic Lip Sync Slay Off episode to what representing their country-and themselves-truly meant to them.
Michael Cook: Condragulations on a truly spectacular season of Canada’s Drag Race! At this moment, how you do you feel?
Venus: I feel absolutely bonkers in the best possible way. This is the ultimate dream to make it this far and to see all of our hard work pay off. Getting to share it with people that I love, I just couldn’t be happier. I am very joyous, very peaceful.
Nearah Nuff: It is so surreal. Looking back on being a baby queen in 2020, this is everything that I wanted to work for and achieve. It’s so surreal being in the finale, especially with my love bugs.
Aurora Matrix: First and foremost, I am just so proud of myself. This has always been the dream and to be doing top four press right now is like “Whoa-we are doing it”! To echo what my sister said, it’s so cool to be able to share it with such close friends of mine from the show and I am so beyond proud of all of us for what we were able to do.
Denim: I have been working towards this for years. Watching Drag Race for years and actually being in this position right now is really crazy, I am so grateful. It’s just such an amazing opportunity. Literally the best possible opportunity that you could have with you drag and we made it to the top four. And it’s iconic.
MC: Denim, it must also be said, your voice has been a point of contention online, but I find it absolutely charming.
D: Thank you! It’s a controversial opinion (laughs)!
MC: What do you each think your rose and thorn are of your Canada’s Drag Race experience?
D: My rose is definitely the makeover moment and my win. I think that episode was really special. My thorn has gotta be QV-She!
AM: I am going to start with my thorn, my thorn would have to be Emperor Zhao Bing in the Snatch Game. He really tried his best but in the end…My rose, any time that I got to dance on stage, whether it be the in the girl groups or the Lip Sync Slay Offs, especially against Nearah or the Rusical-that is just where I come alive. I am so happy that I got multiple chances to dance around on stage.
NN: I think that my thorn is any design challenge, I am not a seamstress, My rose leads me to being a performer. My win was really special and I knew that me and Aurora were going to put on a really special show. It’s really great to see my self performing like that with everyone on stage.
V; I’m not very thorny…(laughs). I guess my thorn would be that I wish I went a little bit bigger in Snatch Game, that is definitely a challenge that I wanted us to win. My rose would be showing off my big personality, like I said that I would.
MC: What was the reaction and how excited or apprehensive were each of you when you found out that there was going to be a Lip Sync Slay Off and you would be able to truly display your talents on the main stage?
V: I’m pretty sure that everyone from the cast were performers. Getting to do what we do on a weekly basis at home, this is who we are, there is so much more than everything else in the competiotn. The meat and bread of a lot of drag performers is performing. You can see that genuine reaction when we find out that we are doing that, that we finally get to show the world what we are made of.
NN: I was very, very excited. I feel that at that point in the competition, people didn’t really know who I was as an artist. My runways had been a bit all over the place and I hadn’t don’t anything like “trademark”. That was the moment that people were like “Oh this is who Nearah is, she is that performing girl”. And like you said, the performances that came out of that were incredible. I also love making herstory winning the only Lip Sync Slay Off Extravaganza in Canada’s Drag Race history!
D: I think that we are all performers in our own way and maybe that style of performing isn’t necessarily my go-to, I am typically a more conceptual and campy performer. It was fun to get to do something different! I wish that was not against one of the best lip syncers in the competition though (laughs)!
AM: I absolutely was over the moon when it was announced, it was one of those challenges when I confidently walked into that knowing that I was going to do well. With all of the other challenges, I feel like there was still a doubt that “What if I slip up here or there”? I knew confidently that lip syncing is what I do, it is what I am known for in Toronto and this is my chance to show off what I can do. And I feel like I was able to do that!
MC: What would it mean to be crowned as Canada’s Next Drag Superstar?
AM: for me, it is a lot about representing queer Asian youth who didn’t have people to look up to who feel alone and isolated due to a generational issue with parents, that is stuff that I have gone through. It does get better. I want to show that it gets better and if you work towards your goal, people will come around and learn from the mistakes in the past. I want to be that role model for those Asian gaybies out there and show them that you can do it, you are not limited to what your parents want you to do.
V: It’s the ultimate dream to be able to represent our respective communities. As an indigenous person, making it this far into the competition is such feat within itself and not something that I take lightly; it is long overdue. Being able to carry this moment with so much pride and having my whole community back me up, I don’t even know if it feels real yet. It is overwhelming and there is that hope that it all comes true, but regardless, ive done my community and family so proud. That is something that money can’t buy. To have that crown, I know that would go to Venus and back and take you everywhere that you wanted to go.
D: I think that with my drag, I really want to push the boundaries and limits of what drag is and really set that example for people. I am really representing a lot of under represented communities on this season and I think that is important to see. Showing that an autistic person with all of the stereotypes and stigma that goes with that can achieve their dream and make it all the way and be successful is super important an impactful message to be sending. And I think I’ve shown some of the most iconic looks in Canada’s Drag Race herstory!
NN: I do this for representing those small town kids who think that they are lost or stuck and don’t think that they can achieve their dreams. I want to be that living example that you can go from a really small town that is very conservative and chase your dreams and take your happiness into your own hands and become a superstar. That is exactly what I want to do. And $100,000 dollars is a lot of Botox, filler, and maybe a BBL!
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