Tuesday, October 22, 2019

New York City Entertainer Pattaya Hart Wins Nations Top Drag Queen Pageant


Miss Gay America 2020 Pattaya Hart by Tios Photography.

On the night of Saturday October 5 in St. Louis, New York City female impersonator entertainer Pattaya Hart was crowned Miss Gay America, considered the most coveted national title in drag pageantry.

Established in Nashville in 1972, The Miss Gay America Pageant is the world’s first, longest running and most prestigious nationwide female impersonator (aka drag) competition.

Known as the “Symbol of Excellence,” Miss Gay America winners represent the utmost in professionalism and entertainment in the art of female impersonation. Each October, dozens of contestants from over one hundred city, state and regional preliminaries across the country compete over four nights for the Miss Gay America crown.

Winning on her first attempt, Pattaya Hart is the second consecutive winner to be from New York City, following in the footsteps of Manhattan entertainer, Miss Gay America 2019, Andora Te’tee of Hell’s Kitchen. Also from New York City is the Miss Gay America 2020 Fourth Alternate, Fifi DuBois.

This is not Pattaya Hart’s first drag title. In 2017, she won Miss’D America, the campy but classy fundraising drag show that has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for LGBTQ causes. Fifi DuBois was Miss’D America 2015.


Above: Miss Gay America 2020 Pattaya Hart on Thailand TV!

Pattaya Hart is Methawee “Plu” Sayampol, a native of Thailand who moved from Bangkok to New York City in January 2009 to study dance at Steps on Broadway, where he is now a faculty member, teaching jazz dance classes. Plu lives in Washington Heights and can be seen performing as Pattaya Hart at Lucky Cheng’s at Stage 48, Voss Events Drag Brunch at The Iridium, QUEEN at Industry bar, BlackOut Friday’s at Suite bar, and various events around town.

Plu’s mother, sister and aunt flew all the way from Bangkok to St. Louis to cheer him on and watch him compete for the very first time. “Having family in the audience, supporting you, is such a wonderful feeling, he says. “I was so happy and grateful I got to share this incredible moment in my life with them and show them my hard work that I take so much pride in.”

Finally, when asked where she got her drag name, Pattaya says, “‘Pattaya’ came from a famous city in Thailand known as the land of the world’s most beautiful ladyboys.”

Below (7 photos): New Yorker Pattaya Hart wins Miss Gay America female impersonation pageant. Tap any image to view as a slideshow with captions, credits. Follow Pattaya Hart on Instagram.

At Miss Gay America 2020 moments before the winners were announced. Photo by BjKj Illusions.
The crowning of Miss Gay America 2020 Pattaya Hart. Photo by BjKj Illusions.
Miss Gay America 2020 Pattaya Hart. Photo by BjKj Illusions.

Miss Gay America 2020 Photos Featured on Advocate.com


The nation's top LGBT news magazine, The Advocate, recently posted 46 photos from Miss Gay America 2020, which happened between October 2 and 5 in St. Louis. Check them out in all their glory here.

BACK TO THE MISS GAY AMERICA WEBSITE
MGA ON FACEBOOK 
MGA ON INSTAGRAM

Wednesday, October 9, 2019

Miss Gay America 2020 Pattaya Hart on Thailand TV!


Above: Miss Gay America 2020 Pattaya Hart on Thailand TV!

When asked how this came about, she explained, "I have a bunch of fans and followers from Thailand, especially Drag Race Thailand fans. So they were all following the pageant through social media and went on and covered the whole story to the press themselves. The footage they used are probably from social media and some were from other events on my instagram.I believe it's from News18 (I don't live in Thailand anymore so i have no idea what channel that is lol). The information they were saying on the news aren't 100% accurate, especially on the awards that I won."

Drag fans do amazing things!

BACK TO THE MISS GAY AMERICA WEBSITE
MGA ON FACEBOOK 
MGA ON INSTAGRAM

Tuesday, October 8, 2019

Miss Gay America 2020 featured on the St. Louis Post-Dispatch Website


Great feature by Gabe Hartwig in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Miss Gay America 2020. Go to stltoday.com and tap on Entertainment, then Theater to see the story and slideshow. Thanks, Gabe! You did us proud for a second year in a row!!! 

Regarding the photo caption above, we're pretty sure Pattaya was gesturing to her mother, who flew all the way in from Bangkok (with her aunt and sister) to come on stage. 

BACK TO THE MISS GAY AMERICA WEBSITE
MGA ON FACEBOOK 
MGA ON INSTAGRAM

Here are the Miss Gay America 2020 Winners!


We present The Miss Gay America 2020 court! L-R: Fourth Alternate Fifi DuBois (Miss Gay Midwest America 2019), First Alternate Dextaci (Miss Gay Mid-Atlantic America 2019), Miss Gay America 2020 Pattaya Hart, Miss Gay America 2019 Andora Te'tee, Second Alternate Ivy Dripp (Miss Gay Louisiana America 2019), and Third Alternate Truly Fabu (Miss Gay New York America 2019).

For photos of Miss Gay America 2020, check the photo albums on the Facebook page for BjKj Illusions, who we previously featured in this blog, as well as those from Boom Magazine in St. Louis on their Facebook page.

We'll be posting a curated collection of MGA2020 photos soon.

BACK TO THE MISS GAY AMERICA WEBSITE
MGA ON FACEBOOK 
MGA ON INSTAGRAM

Tuesday, October 1, 2019

Meet Your New Miss Gay Oklahoma America 2019: Erikka Shaye

Just in the nick of time, a final interview for the 2019 Miss Gay America year. This time with Miss Gay Oklahoma America 2019, Erikka Shaye.

As always, before we start, we want to know how she chose her drag name. "I have always been a fan of Rachael Erikks (the first queen I saw). Then my drag mother (Amber Shaye) got a hold of me and she actually gave me the idea of pay homage to Rachael by taking her last name as my first, and I would take Ambers last name, hence Erikka Shaye. :) "

Miss Gay America 2020 begins tomorrow in St. Louis.  We wish Miss Erikka Shaye the best of luck!

Above: Miss Gay Oklahoma America 2019 Erikka Shaye with the famous Miss Gay Oklahoma scepter. Photo by Carrie Strong.

1 How did you get started, when did you first do in female impersonation? 

I was 17 the first time I "attempted" female impersonation.  My mother encouraged me to do it once she had been to a show at Angles in OKC.

Above: Miss Gay Oklahoma America 2019 Erikka Shaye. Photo by Carrie Strong.

2 What has being in the Miss Gay America system mean to you personally? 

Miss Gay America 2020 October 4 Revue Show Stars