The lashes have so many layers that you can barely see the pupils, framed by a bright eyeshadow and lots and lots of glitter. Diamond just found out she won Drag Race Italy 2 (the finale aired on Discovery+ on Dec. 8) and has yet to bring the story into focus. A few minutes passed, during which she – hopping on dizzying stiletto heels and wrapped in pink feathers – she received the embrace of the queen sisters, the other three finalists (Nehellenia, who won the title of Miss Simpatia, La Petite Noire and her drag daughter, Aura Eternal). They hold her so tightly that she almost disappears, were it not for the giant crown sprouting from her head.
When he recorded the episode in the summer to avoid spoilers – as well as for the first edition – the production led by Dimitri Cocciuti decided to shoot alternative endings in which all the competitors take turns receiving the scepter and crown from the reigning winner, Elecktra Bionic. That’s why this 35-year-old Sicilian (born Enrico La Rocca di Riesi, a town of about ten thousand inhabitants in the province of Caltanissetta) knew the outcome of the vote judges (Priscilla, Chiara Francini and Tommaso Zorzi) practically live, at the same instant in which the public learned the news.
In spite of the cheerful and outgoing character, he began to move his knee frantically, to tighten his lips and stop commenting on the episode almost halfway through. Too much anxiety, too much pressure, too much fear of disappointing, as he explained soon after in this preview and exclusive interview to Vanity Fairthe only magazine present in the backstage to live this long-awaited moment together with the queens.
Not just for the coronation but because the dance single was released at the same time Miraclewhich marks the debut of the first Italian drag band, 4Tune, made up of the four finalists of the program. The group already has a busy agenda of appointments, which began on the evening of the coronation at the Monk with the other queens of the season, almost all of whom arrived in the capital for the party.
The next stage will take place on Monday 12 December on the occasion of the first edition of Magnifica Awards Rome like Hollywood – Gran Galà del Cinema Awardat the St. Regis in Rome (twinned event with Marateale Award in Winter). It continues on the 13th in Milan, where the drag queens will be guests of Bijou Brigitte. And who knows if this won’t lead them to the next stage San Remo Festival.
Would you like to debut as a guest at the Ariston?
«Here! As a child I recreated the San Remo Festival in the staircase of the house, I used scotch tape to hold the broom shaft and glue it to the floor as if it were a microphone. I recruited my sister and my cousin as models of the clothes I made with kitchen towels in the beach house and I had them exhibit in front of parents and uncles ».
And now he’s in a drag band. Would she have said that when she started imitating Madonna?
«Becoming one of his impersonators was a coincidence: I had to perform in a show that had his songs as their theme, I took a photo and tried to copy his look. I never thought that Frida Giannini, creative director of Gucci at the time, would show her the video of my performance on her birthday. Here, if I could dream big I would see myself at her MET Gala as her stylist ».
His costumes are also finished in House of Gucci.
«I shot various scenes with Lady Gaga at Studio 54 and with Al Pacino, but they were cut in the editing phase. However, they can be seen in the trailer of the film ».
Another dream related to fashion?
«I would like to model for Dolce & Gabbana, whose looks have often inspired me and which have received compliments from Stefano Dolce».
They are not the only ones.
«Mina’s photographer played her a performance of mine and complimented it. I performed for many exponents of the world of entertainment and sport, such as at the party for Francesco Totti’s 40th birthday. And Nicky Doll, host of Drag Race France, wore my creations in collaboration with Rochart. All this and much more is thanks to RuPaul.
Have you ever met her?
“Never. If that happened, I would bow down and you would say thank you for having given dignity to this art of ours».
And to think that she was not taken in the auditions for the first season of the show, yet in the second she was the absolute queen, right from the debut episode. How much did you suffer for that first no?
“Somehow I was there, supported my drag sister, Farida Kant.”
That is the super favorite, before the victory went – surprisingly – to Elecktra Bionic. Did he have any doubts that it happened to her too?
«This victory is the redemption of Farida Kant, who has just video-called me crying with joy. And I was really afraid that her story would repeat itself with me especially because the judges kept repeating “You are too perfect”. I didn’t receive so many certainties and I was squeezed to the last».
Who is Farida Kant for you?
«When we met she and Le Riche (to whom I also gave the stage name) worked as dancers during my drag shows: they are my drag daughters and seeing them both as competitors of Drag Race Italia during the first season made me very happy. We are all a family, which also includes Nehellenia and now also Aura: I would have liked us to call ourselves “House of Diamond”, but perhaps it would have been too much, so I preferred “The sisterhood”».
Is it true that there is a fierce rivalry between drag queens?
«The “shade” is only a comedic façade, my second personality which I have renamed “Umildad”. The truth is that we are very united and when one wins then we all win. This is the only thing I thought about when I realized that I had really been crowned”.
No delusions of omnipotence?
«Not at all: I hate disappointing my people and this has remained a constant thought throughout the program because until now the work done over the years had never been recognized to me. I entered major competitions and spent months preparing that show and then came home empty handed. I was traumatized that it could happen.”
In the broadcast he received a video message from his best friend Filippo, but not from his family. Do they support you in this career?
«Before the show they didn’t even know I was a drag queen, I confessed it to them before joining a Drag Race and have amazed me with unconditional support. Dad was the first to call me to congratulate me after the proclamation. And I hope they come to my performance soon.’
What else has he learned from the competition?
«Until now, for me, La Diamond was a mythological figure, divine, perfect, statuesque. Nothing to do with Enrico, a funny and whimsical boy who never used his voice to give personality to the character. It finally happened and the two worlds met».
He has not only won the scepter and crown: as MAC Cosmetics ambassador for a year, he will sign a limited edition capsule collection. What touch can’t be missing?
«If it shines it is Diamond, so glitter can never be missing: each of us must be able to feel luminous, fabulous and shining therefore in my palette there will be a lot of sparkle in addition to the nuances that reflect me, in the various shades that go from pink to burgundy» .
Elecktra Bionic was invited to participate in Canada vs the world but he also refused due to the difficulty of the language. Would you participate?
«Participate in a global competition? I still can’t think so big, but if there is to bring Italian drag to the top then yes, I would learn English even in a month, but it would be interesting to imagine a Sicilian lady like La Diamond on that stage, so folk, tied to tradition, who mainly listens to the female singers of her land».
How much have the women in your family inspired you?
«Totally: my mother and grandmother are stylists in a family atelier and I have always played with sequins and pieces of fabric by tracing the models. At 14 I made and then sold my first wedding dress. They taught me everything from floral arrangements to making wedding favors, and they supported me when I moved to Rome to attend the fashion academy».
How did she go from stylist to drag queen?
«I worked as a designer for Valentino but I felt that the world of high fashion was limiting me. It’s only drag that has allowed me to fully unleash my true creativity.”
Which foreign colleagues do you admire the most today?
«Valentina and Carmen Farala: I have a soft spot for Latin aesthetics».
La Petite Noire said that even in the LGBT+ community there are prejudices against romantically dating a drag queen. Has this ever happened to you?
«I protect myself from disappointments and I never put myself in a situation that could make me uncomfortable so I test the terrain first. I seek empathy and I’m good at reading others so I wouldn’t date a man who doesn’t feel comfortable dating a drag queen.”
Haters?
“As Barbara D’Urso always says: never read what they write.”
Drag Race Italia 2: Interviews with Priscilla, Chiara Francini and Tommaso Zorzi (with the presentation of the ten queens)
Drag Race Italia 2: What happened in the first episode
Drag Race Italia 2, what happened in the second episode
Drag Race Italia 2, what happened in the third episode
Drag Race Italia 2, what happened in the fourth episode
Drag Race Italia 2, what happened in the fifth episode
Drag Race Italia 2, what happened in the sixth episode
Drag Race Italia 2, what happened in the episode week (the semifinal)
Source: Vanity Fair
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