Social Secretary Ella Kipling interviews La Voix in advance of her new show The Eighth Wonder of The World, discussing shows in Vegas and her inspirations

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After rising to fame in 2014 following a stint on Britain’s Got Talent, La Voix has appeared in Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie, performed at the London Palladium, and starred in Queen of the Universe, Paramount Plus’ new international drag-singing competition.

Could you tell us a bit about what fans can expect to see on this tour? 

It’s an experience you’ll never forget, I’ll tell you that. In my show, I travel all around the UK with my live band, and it’s stand-up comedy, live music, live singing, and the most fabulous costumes you’ve ever seen. This year is very very special because the tour is The Eighth Wonder of the World, because I have just been on a fabulous TV show Queen of the Universe in America and because of that I’ve been crowned the eighth wonder of the world and I’m looking in every single town for the ninth wonder of the world — someone in the audience will be picked out and crowned as the ninth wonder of the world.

What was your experience on Queen of the Universe like? 

It was amazing, I did Britain’s Got Talent in 2014 so I’m not a stranger to a singing competition as it were, but the whole experience of Queen of the Universe was so different. It was international so there was somebody representing every country in the world from India to China to all the countries of Europe, America, and I was the only one representing the UK, so the pressure was on; it was like the Eurovision, quite frankly! It was hosted by Graham Norton, the judges were Vanessa Williams, Michelle Visage, Leona Lewis, Trixie Mattel, so it was a real high calibre diva-pop panel, so it suddenly felt very real when you walked out to sing those songs. It was an amazing experience — the show was so lavish, and the budget, the dancers, and the production value was just incredible.

What are you most looking forward to with your tour? 

I love going round to all the different towns regionally, because every single town and every different audience is so different. I know that the UK is very small and people think if you go to do a theatre show it’s all very similar but the difference of the North, South, East, West, from a Welsh crowd to an English crowd, to a Brighton crowd, to a York crowd, it’s just so different and I love learning about all the different towns, learning what’s going on, meeting all the different personalities. It’s all about the people and the audience, and really with the people that have come to see my show year on year on, it becomes like a family. 

Who are you inspired by?

My inspirations are always the ladies of their time really, the Liza Minelli’s, the Tina Turner’s, the Cher’s, the big diva icons because they’re still doing it in their seventies and I think that’s phenomenal, and those women know how to put on a show and they know how to entertain. It’s not just about social media and TikTok, they didn’t even have that in their time, they had to really put on a show to sell the records and gain respect. I always think it’s phenomenal that someone like Cher is internationally massive and she did most of that before she even had a profile on social media which I think is such a skill, I don’t think any of us would know how to do that now without social media!

Speaking about social media, how do you think that the entire performing industry has changed since you’ve been involved in it? 

Well, I think that the pandemic definitely threw the entire performing world onto Zoom shows and social media videos and things like TikTok and we certainly had to find a creative avenue in a completely different way. To actually do a performance on social media, that was really new territory because you suddenly don’t have laughter, you don’t have applause, you don’t have any sort of interaction, you don’t really know if anyone’s watching. So that was really strange, but I think for the entire arts world that’s helped in a way because I think it really made us be a lot more creative, it pushed our boundaries, we had to think outside the box, and I think that we’re starting to see that in new television, in new films, in new things that are starting to come out because everyone that was creative had to really think differently. Hopefully the arts will come back with a vengeance with some amazing new stuff because people have finally had time to write those books and write those films and write those plays. 

Sir Ian McKellan has called you a ‘genuine one-off,’ how does that make you feel?  

Oh, I mean to get that level of validation is just ridiculous, it keeps you going for more and more, years and years. I was lucky enough to perform for his 80th birthday party and I walked out on stage and in the audience was Dame Judi Dench, Luke Evans, there was Derek Jacobi, you’re there thinking ‘oh my god, how can you perform a show for these people who have got Olivier awards and Oscars!’ It was just the most surreal experience.

Where do you want La Voix to go in the future?

Oh, well the dream has always been Vegas for me, I would love to have a run in Vegas. Not too long that I have a gambling addiction, but long enough to feel like I’ve really played Vegas, a good six months or a year, a brilliant residency somewhere would be the dream for me. I love doing TV work, I would never want to turn those opportunities down but for me the live performing, the glitz and the glamour of real life theatre with an audience right in front of me, is just my absolute heaven.

Ticket’s to La Voix’s show on February 5th at The Old Rep Theatre are now on sale here.


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