Viñas DeLuxe, drag comedy queen, self-styled pambansang bungaga (national blabbermouth) and one-third of drag supergroup the Divine Divas, is serving Filipino drag excellence—a total of nine fabulous “lewks” within five minutes—in her music video, ”I’m Feeling Sexy Tonight!”
Category is: Drag Pop! Or, if you ask Viñas’s mother: zumba zest.
“Masaya raw itong pang-zumba sa umaga (It’s a happy tune for a morning Zumba workout),” crowed Viñas, with her trademark irreverence punctuated by boisterous laughter, during the music video launch at Empty Stomach Café and Lounge Bar on Feb. 17.
The place is popping, filled with a mix of young fans (ferocious “divotos” of the Divine Divas and Viñas in particular) sporting merch shirts and lit-up blue crowns; drag queens out of drag, among them Viñas’s drag sister Brigiding of the Divine Divas, and Aries Night of Drag Den Philippines fame; and baby drag queens in full regalia, including Viñas’s drag daughters from the House of DeLuxe, who all showed up to support their drag pop misis.
Making a drag pop hit
Published under Tarsier Records, “I’m Feeling Sexy Tonight” is a high-energy cover of the 1983 dance pop hit by Chona Cruz. It gets the Viñas DeLuxe treatment, showcasing her singing prowess, and featuring a sassy new intro that befits a feel-good anthem: "You know, sexy is not about the look, it’s how you feel…Are you ready to get sexy with me?”
Viñas says her song is open to interpretation. Personally, it’s meant to uplift her own spirit, so that no matter what anyone says to the contrary, she will still feel sexy. “Kukunin ko yung attention ng buong room, na ako yung pinaka-sexy dito—kahit hindi! Pero kung yun ang nasa isip ko, yun ang maipapakita ko. (I’m going to draw the attention of the entire room as the sexiest person there—even if I’m not! But with that in mind, that’s what I’ll manifest).”
“I’m Feeling Sexy Tonight” has enjoyed steady play since Viñas debuted the song during the Divine Divas: The Ultimate Drag Experience concert at New Frontier Theater on Feb. 10. As of this publication, the DeLuxe cover had more than 19,000 streams on Spotify and its official lyric video more than 21,000 views on YouTube. Uploaded on the ABS-CBN Star Music YouTube channel almost immediately after the launch party, the live-action music video marked more than 15,000 views in a single day.
Funny first, landi later
Viñas, as a performance artist, leads with spicy humor. “Hindi ko pinipilit magpaka-sexy; pinipilit ko na lang magpatawa. Parang yun ang escape ko din minsan; kasi kapag napapasaya ko naman yung mga tao, o siguro napapasaya ko din yung sarili ko, parang hindi ko na kailangan maging sexy pa. (I don’t push the sexiness, I pull for the laughs. It’s like my escape; because if I’m able to make people happy, and perhaps make myself happy as well, then I don’t need to be sexy.)”
Like any comedy queen, she deflects intrusive questions with clapbacks, and fields too-serious queries with sly witticisms, making the jokes land even while alluding to controversial topics. But Viñas is sincere in thanking supportive friends behind and in front of the camera who helped produce the video in a single day. Director Ejay Dimayacyac is someone she knows from her college theater days, her drag daughter Tiny DeLuxe led her glam squad, and drag sister Turing Quinto designed the choreography (harking to Turing’s own performance of the song during her Drag Race PH lip sync battle). Several drag queens (Lady Morgana pays tribute to Viñas’s twalya couture right before Viñas is swallowed by the ground, another nod to the show) and influencers featured in the video did it “for love,” sans talent fee (TF). At least 19 Viñas divotos also came to film the mosh pit scene but stayed to help as production grips.
Nonetheless, Viñas is credited as both creative director and music video producer, as her creative personality is very much in play. She subverts the notion of sexiness by equating it with confidence—regardless of whether you’re in mukbang (binge-eating) or diwata (goddess) mode—and that’s imparted in the video. “Makikita niyo na yung mga ipinakita ko dito ay yung mga hindi usual na ginagawa ng mga sinasabi ng community na ‘sexy.’ Pero, still, I feel sexy kasi I’m confident… Ito yung na-imagine ko talaga na magiging kalalabasan. Kasi gusto kong ipakita dito sa music video na ito yung personality ko (You’ll see that what I’m portraying are not usually regarded by the community as being sexy but still, I feel sexy because I’m confident….This is what I really imagined would be the end product. Because I wanted to show my personality in this video),” she says.
Living a childhood fantasy
Becoming a recording artist is a childhood dream come true for Viñas, who says she learned how to sing before she even learned how to apply makeup or wear a wig. “Nung bata ako wala masyadong venues to sing. Hindi siya available sa akin, especially [dahil] gusto kong kantahin mga pambabae…hindi puwede, kailangang panlalaki. At least ngayon, kahit matanda na ako, na-li-live ko yung fantasy ko nung bata [pa] ako—at nakakapag-babae pa ako. (When I was younger, there were very few venues to sing. These venues were not available to me especially because I wanted to sing feminine songs…this was taboo, it had to be manly songs. Although I’m no longer as young, at least now I’m able to live out my childhood fantasy—and I sing as a woman).”
Viñas, at 26 years old, has come a long way from her first drag performance in a comedy bar in Cubao, Quezon City, where she got paid a talent fee of Php150 to cover the bus fare to her hometown of San Jose del Monte, Bulacan. The drag scene changed for the better, she says, following the highly popular Drag Race Philippines (Drag Race PH), the local franchise of RuPaul’s Drag Race, which catapulted its racers into national fame in 2022. All three of the Divine Divas participated in the franchise, with Viñas and Brigiding strong contenders, and Precious Paula Nicole being crowned the first Filipino Drag Race Superstar. The trio can now draw a crowd of thousands as headliners at a Grade-A concert venue, have already released their first original single, and will soon star in “Drag You & Me” a new television show by ABS-CBN Entertainment, Dreamscape Entertainment, and iWantTFC.
Transforming drag culture
These days, the art of drag commands a higher value, and not just for those queens given high visibility due to high-quality, widely streamed drag shows. Venues have expanded from drag bars to mainstream venues, from night shows to drag brunches and meriendrags. Drag performers are asked to promote major brands (Viñas had a promo ad with Swedish furnituremaker IKEA). It’s possible for baby queens to earn a much higher TF than the veterans, she vows, whereas in the old days, drag queens were lucky if they got paid and not asked to work gratis “for exposure.”
“Nag-iba talaga yung landscape nung drag scene sa Philippines…karamihan ng drag bars nag-iba yung sistema. Maraming doors na-open dahil sa Drag Race…na-i-invite kami kung saan-saan: sa kasal, ribbon-cutting, sa binyag, kulang na lang pati sa burol, di ba, mag-show kami dun. Papa-lit namin yun, teh! (The landscape of the Philippine drag scene has changed…many drag bars have switched up their systems. Many doors have opened because of Drag Race…we’re invited to wherever: to weddings, ribbon-cutting ceremonies, baptisms, all that’s left is for us to have a show at a wake. We’ll get that lit, sis!),” says Viñas.
Fewsha DeLuxe, Viper, Zymba Ding, among others, perform in support of their drag pop misis. [Slide right!]
Singing an original tune, or two
Given the newfound openness to drag culture, Viñas is more than ready for what opportunities may come her way. “I wanna try everything. Talaga. (Really.) Kaya parang kung ano yung i-offer sa akin, subok lang nang subok, until makita ko kung ano talaga yung pinaka-bagay sa akin. (Whatever I’m offered, I’ll dare to try it, until I find what really suits me),” she says.
On top of her many projects, she’s currently focusing on singing lessons with vocal coach Sweet Tiongson, and will be busy recording a slew of original songs. Her spiced-up cover of “I’m Feeling Sexy Tonight,” which is somewhat familiar to the ears of the listening audience, is just a taste of what’s to come. “Makaka-expect po kayo ng marami pang songs…Soon, makikita niyo na rin po yung nanggaling mismo sa utak ko, so excited for that. (Expect more songs…Soon, you’ll see what came direct from my brain, so I’m excited for that),” says Viñas.
“Ako kasi hindi masyadong advocate ng romantic love. Mas advocate ako ng self-love. So mostly itong mga songs na ito uplifting, self-help, mga ganon-ganon siya. Abangan iyan! (I’m not really an advocate for romantic love, I’m an advocate of self-love. So these songs will be uplifting, self-help, things like that. Watch out for it!)”
This article was originally published in February 2023 on One Music PH.