The excitement and glamour of this year's search for the Central Coast Empress, Gran Diva '96, captivated hundreds of people with its talented and beautiful performers. This year's winner became the second Gran Diva crowned by outPRIDE.
Founded last year in Santa Maria, Calif., outPRIDE has provided exceptional entertainment for the Central Coast through large scale dances and Hollywood style drag shows. Most of the credit for outPRIDE's success goes to the local community who participated in record numbers and have made significant contributions to the group's endeavors. Guests traveled from as far as San Francisco and Los Angeles to attend Gran Diva '96 making it quite the place to be. Gran Diva '96 was also proudly supported by many local gay owned and gay friendly businesses such as The Shell Beach Motel, Ray's Hair for Men and Women, You've Been Framed, New Waves, and many more.
Wandering about back stage and seeing the elaborate head pieces, wigs, and dresses was reminiscent of a Broadway show. This year's Gran Diva event certainly grew from last year considering the number of contestants tripled, the size of the hall doubled, and the number of guests doubled as well. What an extravaganza!
The events was very honored to have an out of town guest, Ms. Monterey 1995, participate this year as the evening's 50/50 girl. Local entertainer, Ms. Pauline Tricks, emceed the show in what many considered the best performance they had ever seen. The talent and style which graced the stage was amazing. The performers ranged from years of experience to virtually first time on a stage. Everyone was fantastic and the new Gran Diva, Ms. Amy, from Santa Maria and the first runner up, Ms. Understood, from New Waves in Pismo Beach, were shimmering stars. They will be working with outPRIDE for the next year and will make appearances throughout the Central Coast.
Special thanks to Carl Hopkins, Rick Knutson, Randal Sumabat, and the many other members and volunteers of outPRIDE for working so hard to organize this event. A portion of the evening's proceeds benefited the AIDS Support Network of San Luis Obispo County.
How did Gran Diva get its start? Our first Gran Diva event was held last year in August of 1995. After organizing outPRIDE and having our first gay and lesbian dance party, I thought it would be nice to introduce formal drag to the Central Coast. Also, there was no royal court around here so having Gran Diva was a big step forward. It was very well received. We had close to 200 people at the show and it was covered by a couple of local papers which made the front page. I came up with the name "Gran Diva" because it was the nickname I gave my good friend Leonard Canales who isn't a drag queen, but a wonderful guy with a beautiful spirit and great sense of humor.
Where was Gran Diva held? Our first Gran Diva was held at the Veteran's of Foreign War Hall in Santa Maria. The members of the facility were surprisingly comfortable and supportive of the event. As a matter of fact they were honored to have been a part of Santa Maria history by hosting the city's first drag show competition. This year we had the event in a much larger center because our forcasted attendance and number of competitors doubled. Gran Diva '96 was held at the South County Regional Center in neighboring Arroyo Grande. Everything went fabulous and the crowd really got crazy! People are still talking about it! Last year we had about 180. This year we attracted 300.
How did this second one differ from last year? In comparison, we spent $1,000 more this year to accomodate the larger attendance. We also provided a full complimentary buffet, which was organized by one of our newer members, Carl Hopkins. Our lighting and sound equipment was more sophisticated and our DJ, Slick Rick, kept the dance floor pumping. This year we had a beautiful stage complete with a dressing area and private restrooms. Last year, I had to ask the competitors to dress in the kitchen and perform on a 10' x 10' stage. We were also honored to have Ms. Monterey 1995 make a guest appearance this year.
What was the program like? We began the evening at 7:30pm. The buffet was open all night and the show ran from 9 pm - 11 pm. We started off with the evening gown competition and followed with the talent portion where the competitors lip synched and danced. There were four judges each representing a different gay and lesbian organization in the community. We had dancing throughout the night and gave away about 12 door prizes. Ms. Monterey volunteered to be our 50/50 girl and sold tickets for a raffle we awarded later that night. The coronation was held at about midnight and it was quite an emotional event. The winner, Ms. Amy, teared up and waved to the audience, as would any true diva, by cuping her hand upward and twisting her wrist gently back and forth. The entire night was over by 1am.
What did Pauline Tricks do in her capacity as MC? Ms. Pauline Tricks is the 8th Wonder of the World! She changed a total of 16 times that evening, never wearing the same thing twice when introducing each competitor. She began the show with a compilation of powerful music which included 3 wardrobe changes. For the last portion of her opening number she had her father make a 10 foot frame which stood behind her on the stage. To everyone's surprise the frame was rigged to pull up a 10 foot rainbow/pride flag which was launched by a slight, unnoticeable kick of Pauline's heel. She synchronized this to happen during an explosive part of her music which sung, "Believe in freedom...we all need love." I still get goose bumps thinking about it. Pauline is also well known in the community and everyone just loves her. She told jokes and really worked the audience.
© 1996 by outPRIDE & 3-D Communications, Inc.