Gisèle Lullaby is Quebec's newest superstar
Montreal drag queen crowned in Canada's Drag Race Season 3
Before Canada's Drag Race host Brooke Lynn Hytes could finish pronouncing Gisèle Lullaby as the winner of Season 3, the crowd gathered at Montreal's Cabaret Mado for the viewing party erupted in cheers.
"I had a speech but I think I left it at home," Lullaby told the crowd while friends and fans hugged her as she laughed and cried before strutting in her crown.
Like the crowd, Lullaby had been in suspense until the finale aired. The show had filmed two possible endings to keep the intrigue – and to prevent leaks.
"I knew I was in the top two, but it was amazing. Oh my God, can you believe it? The first French Canadian, yay!" Lullaby told CBC.
Drag queen Miss Dupré Latour participated in the Mado competition Drag Moi where she met Lullaby.
"She is the sweetest person, I'm so proud," she said.
"She deserves the crown because she's so humble, she's so accessible. Today she's the queen of all queens, I'm speechless."
A win for Quebec
Fans all over Quebec who identified with Lullaby shared her pride and joy. Québécois queens Rita Baga and Pythia had been runner-ups in previous seasons, leaving some feeling slighted.
"I'm super excited we finally have the crown here in Montreal and we've been deserving since Season 1, so you go Gisèle!" said Canada's Drag Race fan Alex-Nicolas Beltran.
"We need all the visibility we can."
Lullaby said her time on the show made her understand how little visibility Quebec gets in Canadian media.
"I know — and I felt it — how much people don't know anything about Quebec culture, don't know anything about us," she said. "But just give me a representation of who I am in Canada."
Lullaby said she hopes her reign as "Queen of Canada" will help bridge that gap.
Fellow Quebec contestant Lady Boom Boom, who hosted the watch party in Quebec City, said she has known Lullaby for many years but hadn't had the chance to collaborate with her until the show.
"She was like my big sister in the competition and I couldn't imagine competing without her," she said. "I'm very proud of her. I'm very happy she made it all the way to the top."
Quebec's unique cabaret-style drag
The competition also highlighted drag styles vary from province to province.
Lady Boom Boom noted that Quebec is known for its cabaret-style of drag and performers are used to building full numbers with outfits to match the songs.
Lullaby is no stranger to acting and comedy, either.
"We don't take ourselves seriously and we take our drag seriously," said Lullaby.
Before Ru Paul's Drag Race brought the art of drag to mainstream culture, it was hard for people to understand what it was all about.
"Explain that to your parents, that you want to be a drag queen. All they imagine is Mado getting drunk all night and playing bingo and being so funny and so trashy," she said.
Lullaby is thankful to people who support LGBTQ+ media and see it as amazing in itself, and "not just queer content."
"We are not only amazing artists, but we are amazing comedians and performers, we are not just for the underground," she said.
"I want people to understand we can do anything."
What's next for this queen? Lullaby said she wants to go on a world tour, but most importantly eat seafood in Vancouver.
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