One of Italy’s most iconic cultural institutions, Venice’s historic La Fenice opera house, has cut ties with its incoming music director Beatrice Venezi just months before she was set to assume the role, capping off months of escalating controversy that pitted the 36-year-old conductor against the theater’s musicians, staff, and even segments of the audience. The final break came after Venezi gave an inflammatory interview to an Argentine newspaper that reignited long-simmering tensions with the La Fenice community. In the conversation, Venezi implied that open positions in the opera’s orchestra were effectively passed down through familial nepotism, arguing that many long-time orchestra members opposed her appointment because they feared disruption to their closed system. “I have no godfathers. That is the difference. I do not come from a family of musicians,” Venezi said in the interview, adding that critics of her selection were “afraid of change, of renewal”. Days after the interview went public, La Fenice’s leadership released an official statement announcing Venezi’s dismissal, citing her “repeated and serious public statements, which were offensive and damaging to the artistic and professional standing” of both the theater and its orchestra. Controversy has dogged Venezi’s appointment ever since it was first announced in September of last year. Critics immediately raised two core objections: first, that Venezi, unusually young for such a prestigious role and with far less professional experience than past holders of the post, lacked the qualifications to lead one of Italy’s most celebrated opera houses. Second, widespread speculation that the appointment stemmed not from Venezi’s artistic resume, but from her close personal ties to Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. Venezi, whose father was a former leader of the far-right neo-fascist party Forza Nuova, has served as a musical consultant for Italy’s Ministry of Culture since 2022. In her recent Argentine interview, Venezi praised Meloni as a “powerful, competent woman” and confirmed the pair have known each other since before Meloni rose to national political leadership. She pushed back against claims of political favoritism, however, insisting she has never been involved in politics and has no desire to enter the field. From the moment the appointment was announced, resistance from within La Fenice was swift and sustained. In October, the theater’s workers’ union held a strike to protest Venezi’s selection. In an open letter to La Fenice General Manager Nicola Colabianchi, staff argued that Venezi’s resume was “not remotely comparable to that of the great conductors who have previously held the post of Music Director of this theatre”. By convention, La Fenice’s general manager holds the formal authority to appoint a music director unilaterally, but long-standing institutional practice requires consultation with the orchestra to ensure collaborative alignment between musicians and leadership. Colabianchi broke with this norm, only notifying the orchestra of Venezi’s appointment after the decision was already finalized. Tensions remained high through the end of last year: during La Fenice’s traditional televised New Year’s Eve concert, orchestra members, choristers, and technicians wore matching golden pins to publicly signal their disapproval of the appointment. Discontent also spilled over to audiences, with multiple spectators dropping flyers reading “Music is art, not entertainment” from the upper stands of the theater following several performances in 2025. Even after Venezi’s dismissal, questions of political involvement remain unresolved. Italy’s leading daily newspaper Corriere della Sera reported this week that Meloni’s office had authorized the termination, responding to the steady accumulation of controversy surrounding the appointment. Meloni’s office quickly issued a public statement denying the report, pushing back against claims that the national government intervened in the institutional decision. Venezi, who began her career as a conductor at age 22, has led performances across Italy and in multiple international venues, including Armenia, Uruguay, and Argentina, though she has never held a top leadership post at a major European opera house.
分类： entertainment
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When Attenborough met the gorillas – the story behind his iconic TV moment
Nearly half a century after one of the most iconic moments in natural history television, Sir David Attenborough is revisiting his life-changing encounter with wild mountain gorillas in Rwanda for two new documentaries, timed to coincide with his upcoming 100th birthday on May 8.
The 1979 landmark series *Life on Earth* made broadcasting history with its raw, intimate footage of Attenborough sharing a forest clearing with a family of mountain gorillas – a moment the legendary broadcaster still calls the most memorable of his decades-long career. In the original footage, a curious female gorilla approaches Attenborough to within a few feet and locks eyes with him, an exchange he says holds deeper meaning and connection than any interaction he has shared with another animal.
What many viewers never saw was the dramatic, high-stakes journey that got that footage onto screen. In January 1978, Attenborough and his small crew climbed 3,000 meters up steep 45-degree slopes in Rwanda’s Virunga Mountains, with one simple goal: to capture close-up footage of a gorilla’s thumb to illustrate how primate anatomy enabled tool grip. At the time, mountain gorillas were on the brink of extinction: poaching for trophies and zoo captures had pushed the Virunga population down to fewer than 285 individuals, and the shy apes were nearly impossible for outside groups to approach.
The crew’s only path to access came through Dian Fossey, the pioneering American primatologist who founded the Karisoke Research Center in Volcanoes National Park to study the gorillas in their natural habitat. Though Fossey was famously protective of her study groups and had previously turned outside film crews away, she responded to Attenborough’s letter with an invitation to visit. Without her, Attenborough says, the encounter never would have happened. Fossey taught the crew critical protocols to avoid agitating the gorillas: avoid direct eye contact, keep heads lowered, and communicate with soft belch vocalizations to signal non-threat. That guidance allowed the team to get far closer than they ever dared expect.
When the crew finally settled in to film Attenborough’s planned segment to camera, the gorillas upended every expectation. A young gorilla named Poppy began trying to pull off Attenborough’s shoes, while three-year-old Pablo, an orphaned infant abandoned by his mother, climbed onto the broadcaster and lay down across his chest. Moments later, an adult female rested a hand on Attenborough’s head, turned his face to meet her gaze, touched a finger to his lips, and belched a greeting. While the camera crew worried about wasting limited film stock on unscripted play, Attenborough stayed in the moment, calling the encounter one of the most privileged, breathtaking experiences of his life. Just one to two minutes of the interaction was captured on film, but that short footage would change public perception of gorillas forever.
The drama did not end when the crew left the mountain. As they drove down from the research site, they heard gunshots, and were stopped at a military roadblock. Rwandan authorities detained the crew overnight, questioned them at police headquarters, and held Attenborough and his cameraman in an army compound in Kigali for hours before releasing them. Miraculously, the footage was not confiscated, and the crew left the country relieved to have preserved the historic sequence.
When *Life on Earth* aired in 1979, it was a global phenomenon, broadcast to an estimated 500 million viewers across nearly every country on Earth, and redefined what natural history television could be. The gorilla encounter also left a lasting conservation legacy: Attenborough worked with the conservation charity Fauna and Flora to launch the Mountain Gorilla Project, bringing global attention and resources to protect the species.
Fossey, who dedicated her life to protecting the apes, was murdered in 1985, seven years after her collaboration with Attenborough. Her death brought even greater international attention to the gorillas’ plight, sparking widespread investment in community education and sustainable eco-tourism. Today, the Virunga mountain gorilla population has grown to roughly 600 individuals, a rare conservation success story that traces its roots back to that 1978 forest encounter.
The two new documentaries revisit both the original filming adventure and the ongoing story of the gorilla family Attenborough met. The BBC’s *Making Life on Earth: Attenborough’s Greatest Adventure*, which premieres May 3 on BBC One and BBC iPlayer, retraces the original 1978 expedition. Netflix’s *A Gorilla Story: Told by David Attenborough* picks up the generational story of Pablo’s family line, tracing how the curious orphan who climbed into Attenborough’s lap grew to become the dominant silverback leader of his group, before dying at 33 while defending his family.
Filming the Netflix documentary over 250 days brought more unscripted drama, just as it did in 1978: the crew captured a complex power struggle between three of Pablo’s descendant males, that included conflict, a killing, and group mourning. For Dr. Tara Stoinski, chief executive of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, the original encounter remains powerful because it broke down the artificial divide between humans and wild apes. Viewers saw that gorillas share familiar, relatable behaviors – a curious toddler will climb onto your lap just like a human child, and their social bonds, emotions, and interactions mirror our own. That short, gentle meeting between genetic cousins erased the myth of gorillas as savage jungle beasts, revealing their rich emotional lives of cooperation, care, conflict, and adaptation. As Attenborough observed in the original footage: “We see the world in the same way as they do.”
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Venice’s La Fenice theater drops incoming music director after months of protests
MILAN — One of Italy’s most iconic cultural institutions, Venice’s historic La Fenice Opera House, has officially severed all planned collaboration with its controversial incoming music director Beatrice Venezi, ending a months-long standoff fueled by widespread public pushback from the theater’s own artistic staff over the conductor’s close political ties to Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government. In a statement released Sunday, the La Fenice Theater Foundation confirmed the decision, with general manager Nicola Colabianchi justifying the split by pointing to what he called Venezi’s “repeated and serious public statements that were offensive and harmful” to the reputation of both the landmark venue and its resident orchestra.
The reversal comes after weeks of escalating protests from La Fenice’s musicians, singers, and backstage crew, who almost uniformly rejected Venezi’s appointment from the moment it was announced last September. Colabianchi, who originally championed Venezi’s selection, had initially argued that the 36-year-old conductor’s youth and energetic approach would help draw younger audiences to the 19th-century opera house, a position that was also backed by Italian Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli. Giuri, however, struck a more conciliatory tone Sunday, noting he hoped the decision would “clear misunderstandings, tensions and manipulations” that have dogged Venezi’s nomination process since it began.
Critics of the appointment centered their opposition on two core grievances: first, that Venezi lacked the depth of senior-level experience required to lead a world-renowned artistic institution like La Fenice, and second, that the hiring process was marked by a troubling lack of transparency. Many in the theater’s artistic community raised broader alarms that the appointment amounted to political interference in autonomous artistic decision-making, given Venezi’s longstanding ties to Meloni’s right-wing administration. She was named a special advisor to Culture Minister Giuli shortly after Meloni’s government took power in 2022.
Venezi’s professional resume includes stints as principal conductor of the Nuova Orchestra Scarlatti Young and guest conductor of the Orchestra della Toscana, and she has led international performances in countries including Armenia, Uruguay, and Argentina. Even so, that experience failed to assuage the concerns of La Fenice’s in-house artistic team, who ramped up their protests in recent months. Demonstrations included a work stoppage that forced the cancellation of a scheduled full performance, as well as a public march through Venice that drew support from cultural workers from other Italian opera houses.
Footage circulated by Italian state and independent media shows that when news of the canceled appointment broke during a public performance at La Fenice Sunday evening, the gathered audience and the theater’s own orchestra broke out in sustained, enthusiastic applause. The high-profile controversy has put a spotlight on long-simmering tensions in Italy between political leadership and independent cultural institutions, as artists and sector workers push back against what they see as growing attempts to exert political control over artistic leadership and programming.
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Michael Jackson biopic smashes box office record
The highly anticipated Michael Jackson biopic *Michael* has roared onto the global box office landscape, securing its place in Hollywood history by posting the highest opening weekend gross ever recorded for any biographical film. Led by Jaafar Jackson, the late King of Pop’s own nephew in his breakout leading role, the musical biopic raked in a staggering $217 million (£160 million) worldwide during its opening five days, which launched globally last Wednesday.
This record-breaking haul topples two long-standing benchmarks. Before *Michael*’s release, the top opening for a musical biopic belonged to 2018’s *Bohemian Rhapsody*, which launched with $124 million (£91 million) and earned star Rami Malek an Academy Award for his portrayal of Freddie Mercury. The new release even outpaced 2024’s *Oppenheimer*, which opened to $180 million (£133 million) to claim the all-biopic opening crown.
Adam Fogelson, chair of *Michael*’s United States distribution partner Lionsgate, attributed the historic opening to broad cross-demographic appeal. “You don’t deliver this figure unless you’re seeing huge numbers across every conceivable demographic,” Fogelson noted. “Audiences are clearly having a blast.”
Despite its massive commercial success, the film has sparked a sharp divide between critics and moviegoers. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, critics have awarded *Michael* a lukewarm 38% average score, with many reviewers criticizing the film for presenting what they call a “sanitized” narrative of Jackson’s decades-long career. In stark contrast, audience ratings sit at an overwhelming 97%, with widespread praise directed at Jaafar Jackson’s uncanny portrayal of the pop icon.
The omission of any reference to child sexual abuse allegations that dogged Jackson’s later career has been the core point of critical contention. Jackson consistently maintained his innocence and was acquitted of all child molestation charges in a 2005 criminal trial. Filmmakers initially planned to include a storyline centered on 1990s allegations made by Jordan Chandler, but the project was forced to undergo major changes after a long-forgotten non-disclosure agreement (NDA) was rediscovered. The confidential settlement Jackson reached with Chandler’s family included a permanent clause banning the singer’s estate from ever mentioning Chandler in any film production.
Director Antoine Fuqua described the last-minute NDA discovery as a uniquely challenging hurdle for the production team. Speaking to *Deadline* over opening weekend, Fuqua explained, “The rediscovery of the NDA led to a tough period because the team had to rethink everything. All movies have different challenges, but this one was unique.” To work around the legal restriction, the team opted to refocus the narrative entirely on Jackson’s rise to legendary status in the music industry, ending the story in 1988 – years before the first public allegations emerged.
The revised narrative centers heavily on meticulously recreated concert performances and explores the famously strained relationship between a young Jackson and his domineering father Joseph, portrayed by Oscar-nominated actor Colman Domingo. The extensive reshoots required to restructure the film pushed its total production budget to an estimated $200 million (£148 million), making *Michael* one of the most expensive biopics ever made. Financed by Jackson’s own estate, the film features the star’s original studio and live vocals for all its iconic musical numbers, from *Billie Jean* to *Beat It* and *Thriller*.
*Michael* is just the latest entry in a decade-long boom of musical biopics in Hollywood, a genre that studios have come to rely on as consistent box office draws. In recent years, the lives of music icons including Queen, Elton John, Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, Elvis Presley, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Marley, Amy Winehouse, N.W.A, Robbie Williams, and Whitney Houston have all been adapted for the big screen.
While *Michael* launched simultaneously across most major global markets last weekend, it has yet to reach Japanese cinemas, with a June release date scheduled by local distributors. The film’s blockbuster opening also adds to a recent positive upswing for the global cinema industry, coming on the heels of other major hits including *The Super Mario Galaxy Movie* and *Project Hail Mary*, with the highly anticipated *The Devil Wears Prada 2* set to premiere this coming weekend. For long-time fans of Jackson, whose 1982 album *Thriller* remains the best-selling album of all time, the film offers a deep dive into the early career of one of pop music’s most influential and recognizable performers.
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Remembering Raghu Rai: The photographer who showed India to itself
The global photography community and audiences across India are continuing to pay heartfelt tribute to Raghu Rai, the nation’s most iconic and influential photojournalist, who passed away at 83. Over a more than 50-year career, Rai built an unmatched body of work that did not merely capture moments in Indian history — it reshaped how the nation understood its own defining events, and cemented his status as the father of modern Indian photojournalism.
Rai launched his professional journey in 1966 at Kolkata-based daily *The Statesman*, before moving on to hold key roles as photo editor at leading Indian publications *India Today* and *Sunday* magazine. A major milestone of his career came in 1977, when he was accepted into the prestigious international photography cooperative Magnum Photos, an achievement widely considered one of the highest honors in the field. His acceptance was supported by legendary French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson, whose candid, human-centered approach to street photography left a permanent mark on Rai’s own artistic philosophy.
Throughout his career, Rai’s lens turned to every corner of Indian public and private life, ranging from corridors of political power to quiet moments of ordinary daily life, always rendered with a striking, intimate clarity. His most enduring works include an extensive catalog of photographs of former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, shot across decades: from raucous, high-stakes election campaigns to confidential closed-door Congress Party meetings, and even her diplomatic visits to meet world leaders like UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. These images remain the definitive visual record of one of modern India’s most consequential political figures.
Beyond politics, Rai created unforgettable portraits of many of India’s most celebrated cultural icons, from legendary filmmaker Satyajit Ray and iconic playback singer Lata Mangeshkar to celebrated painter MF Hussain and global Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan. Each portrait captured the quiet, unspoken connection between creator and their craft, revealing layers of personality rarely visible to the public.
Two of Rai’s most impactful bodies of work documented some of the darkest and most consequential chapters of late 20th century India: the devastating 1984 Bhopal Gas Tragedy, one of the world’s worst industrial disasters, and the violent period of Sikh militancy in Punjab that claimed thousands of lives in the 1980s. His tense, unflinching portrait of Sikh separatist leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale remains one of the most striking visual artifacts of that turbulent era. Rather than distancing himself from the suffering and upheaval he documented, Rai embedded himself in these moments, creating work that forced the nation to confront its own truths.
For Rai, photography was never just a technical craft or a journalistic task — it was a deeply spiritual practice. In one of his final interviews, he framed the art as a form of connection to the divine, explaining, “I meet my god through my camera. Once I pick up my camera, I am driven by the ever-changing energy of life and nature. When you have invested mentally, physically, and spiritually in situations and take pictures constantly, it is like investing in a bank of life in which the returns keep getting bigger and the energy keeps you going.”
He emphasized that powerful photography required consistent, disciplined practice rather than fleeting, trendy experimental techniques. When asked about his favorite portrait subject, he named the Dalai Lama, citing the leader’s unique “intensity and spiritual energy” that translated so powerfully on camera. Even when photographing subjects he admired deeply, Rai argued that a great portrait must prioritize raw authenticity over flattery, capturing “the moment, the experience of the person, the energy of the person” exactly as it existed in front of the lens.
Peers across the industry have long described Rai’s work as a seamless bridge between hard-nosed news reportage and fine art, balancing the urgent immediacy of breaking news with intentional, thoughtful composition that elevates every image. Today, his massive archive stands not just as a collection of photographs, but as a decades-long act of intentional witnessing: a deeply human portrait of a nation, its people, and its many contradictions, that will continue to influence and inspire generations of photographers for decades to come.
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Global voices meet Confucian culture in Nishan
Between April 24 and 26, 2026, Qufu, the ancient birthplace of the renowned Chinese philosopher Confucius located in Jining, Shandong Province, opened its gates to a special cross-cultural gathering. Hosted under the theme “Nishan Sacred Land: A Vision Shared with the World”, the event welcomed 28 digital content creators from more than a dozen nations across the globe, including the United States, France, and Russia, inviting them to dive deep into centuries-old Confucian heritage.
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Chinese costume dramas top Southeast Asian streaming platforms
A viral social media moment this month has underscored just how far Chinese costume dramas have penetrated mainstream popular culture across Southeast Asia: Thailand’s Royal Thai Army turned to a hit new Chinese historical romance to boost military recruitment, leveraging the show’s massive local fanbase to draw new applicants.
The service’s official Facebook page shared recruitment creatives featuring lead characters from *Pursuit of Jade*, a lavishly produced Chinese costume drama that has taken global streaming platforms by storm since its March premiere. One playful poster read: “Do you want a boyfriend with the same heroic spirit as Marquis Wu’an, the male lead of *Pursuit of Jade*? Ask your partner to join the cavalry!” The post racked up nearly 100,000 likes from Thai internet users, who widely praised the military’s clever, trend-savvy approach to outreach.
“This is one of the most creative recruitment posters I’ve seen in years — the army is really keeping up with the times,” commented Thai netizen Ratchaneekorn. Other users joked with the page’s administrator, asking whether the account team itself counted itself among the drama’s legion of local fans. For *Pursuit of Jade*, the viral recruitment moment is just the latest marker of its unexpected global success: the series currently tops Google Trends search rankings for Chinese dramas across 15 international markets, including Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, the United States and Canada. It has broken viewership records on Chinese streaming giant iQIYI’s international platform, and became the first Chinese drama to top Netflix’s trending charts in multiple Asian regions, earning high user ratings on popular global entertainment site MyDramaList.
For many viewers across Southeast Asia, the appeal of Chinese costume dramas extends far beyond catchy plotlines. Amy Chen, a 34-year-old Chinese-Malaysian professional based in Kuala Lumpur who has followed Chinese content for years, counts *Pursuit of Jade* as her current favorite series. She attributes the genre’s growing regional popularity to a combination of cultural proximity and uncompromising production quality: “We get the cultural references naturally, and on top of that, you get opulent set designs, exquisite costumes and makeup, tightly crafted storylines, and seamless streaming access on major platforms — it’s a complete package that’s hard to beat.” *Pursuit of Jade* also weaves traditional Chinese cultural elements like Qin opera and shadow puppetry into its narrative, giving international viewers a window into unique aspects of Chinese heritage while delivering a compelling, modern viewing experience.
The breakout success of *Pursuit of Jade* is no isolated incident; it is the most visible sign of a years-long growth trend in Chinese television exports. Data from the Development and Research Center of China’s National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA) shows that China’s TV series export revenue jumped nearly threefold between 2012 and 2023, rising from $24 million to $70 million. Per NRTA analysis, costume dramas — one of the first Chinese genres to build an international fanbase — remain the most popular category of Chinese content in the global market, with 2023 hits like *Bright Moon Citation*, *The Song Inquisitor*, and *Flourished Peony* all earning top rankings across multiple overseas markets.
Southeast Asia has emerged as the largest and fastest-growing core market for Chinese drama exports, drawing major investment from leading Chinese streaming platforms including iQIYI, WeTV, Youku and Mango TV, all of which have launched localized regional services with Thailand as a key operational hub. Industry leaders note that Chinese content has carved out a large, loyal audience in Thailand following decades of K-drama dominance, with appeal cutting across age groups.
Sirisak Koshpasharin, vice-chairman of Thailand’s National Federation of Motion Pictures and Contents Associations, explained that Chinese content has deep roots in the country: “Older generations of Thais, many of whom have Chinese immigrant heritage, grew up loving classic Chinese dramas like *Justice Pao*. What’s really striking now is that more and more young Thais are also falling in love with modern Chinese series.” He cited overlapping cultural values and lifestyle similarities as a key foundation for the trend, adding that improved production quality and wider distribution have accelerated growth: “Today’s Chinese dramas have compelling stories, high production value, and addictive cliffhangers that keep Thai viewers coming back. Short-video apps and major streaming platforms now prioritize Chinese content, so it’s easier than ever for young people to discover it.”
Beyond full-length costume dramas, the region’s fast-growing base of internet users has also created fertile ground for the expansion of Chinese micro-dramas — bite-sized series that typically run between one and 10 minutes per episode, with hundreds of episodes per series. Data from analytics firm DataEye shows that the number of paying micro-drama users in Southeast Asia grew 28% year-on-year in the latest reporting period, confirming the region as a core market with strong commercial potential and a loyal established audience.
Beyond entertainment value, the rising popularity of Chinese content is also shifting young Southeast Asians’ perceptions of China and sparking deeper curiosity about the country. Chompoo, a 21-year-old Thai university student and lifelong fan of Chinese dramas who grew up watching the classic costume hit *My Fair Princess* and now follows *Pursuit of Jade*, said Chinese content has shaped her desire to visit the country. “I’ve never been to China, but I really want to go. The landscapes, modern trends, and food all sound so attractive, and Chinese technology and innovation are really impressive. I admire how Chinese creators integrate different influences and build on existing ideas to make something new,” she said.
Kampol Piyasirikul, head of the Chinese Studies Program at Bangkok’s Thammasat University, noted that costume dramas are just one part of a broader wave of Chinese cultural content gaining traction among young Thais, from pop idols to fashion collectibles. He emphasized that people-to-people cultural exchange through popular content plays an increasingly critical role in building mutual understanding and trust between Chinese communities and audiences across the globe.
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How the Irish novelty song that ‘toppled’ Céline Dion is making a comeback
Three decades after upsetting global superstars to claim the top spot on Ireland’s music charts, beloved Irish comedic singer-songwriter Richie Kavanagh’s iconic hit *Aon Focal Eile* has captured a whole new generation of fans, going viral across social media platforms. To mark the 30th anniversary of the track’s historic 1996 chart run, Kavanagh has teamed up with his grandson CJ to re-release the cheeky hit, which leans into playful wordplay around a vulgar Irish four-letter term. A collaborative TikTok clip of the pair performing the track side-by-side has already racked up more than 500,000 views, catapulting the 77-year-old entertainer back into the spotlight. “I’m probably more popular now than I was when we had the number one hit,” Kavanagh shared in a recent interview.
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‘We don’t come to play’: Is Gawdland’s RuPaul win Asia’s big drag moment?
In a landmark moment for global drag culture, 24-year-old Thai performer Gawdland — born Tharathep Thaweephon — has etched her name into the history books as the first Southeast Asian to take home the crown in *RuPaul’s Drag Race UK vs the World*, breaking a long-running glass ceiling for regional performers on the world stage.
The victory, which caps off a hard-fought competition against fan-favorite queens from seven different countries including the U.S., UK, Canada, Mexico, Germany, Sweden, and the Philippines, fulfills a lifelong dream the drag artist nurtured growing up in the quiet northern Thai town of Lamphun. Long before her rise to international fame, Gawdland carried her regional identity as a core part of her art, a choice that ultimately became her greatest competitive advantage.
Gawdland, who entered the competition determined to avoid the early elimination fate that felled prominent Southeast Asian predecessors like Thailand’s Pangina Heals in 2022 and the Philippines’ Marina Summers in 2024, leaned fully into distinctly Thai aesthetics for every runway look. Her iconic designs drew inspiration from Lamphun’s ancient temples, and she brought iconic Thai cultural figures to life on stage: she sashayed as a Muay Thai warrior, embodied the vivid energy of a Siamese fighting fish, and reimagined the mythic half-bird, half-woman Kinnaree from Thai folklore. A consistent undercurrent of warrior strength ran through every one of her creations. Initially unsure how much of her Thai identity to center in the global competition, Gawdland credited her stylist and friend Art Arya for pushing her to embrace her roots unapologetically. “She told me that this Thai-ness is exactly what would make me stand out. Our culture, this difference that sets us apart from everyone else,” Gawdland shared. “Once you’re standing on that main stage next to the others, you will be outstanding.”
That unapologetic authenticity culminated in a viral standout performance of her original track *Firecracker*, during which she interacted with flames bursting from a fireworks prop in a bold, memorable routine. The performance resonated so deeply across Southeast Asia that a group of young Filipino jasmine garland sellers in Manila spontaneously broke into a dance to the track after recognizing Gawdland in public. The 24-year-old queen posted a joyful clip of the encounter, cheering the boys on using the Filipino queer slang term “nakshie” (meaning daughter), a moment that captured the outpouring of regional support that followed her historic win.
Speaking to BBC Thai after her victory, Gawdland framed the win as far more than a personal achievement. “For me to win this crown, to have this victory, it means the world. It means representation, it means taking up space. It means that we can dream big. We can dream an impossible dream,” she said. “I am the proof of Asian drag excellence. When we do drag in Asia, in South East Asia, we’re not here to play. We’re here to win.” Her greatest hope, she added, is that her victory will inspire marginalized young queer people across the region — like the three young flower sellers in Manila — to pursue their own dreams, no matter how out of reach they may seem.
While Gawdland’s victory marks a historic milestone for Southeast Asian drag, the community still faces significant structural and social challenges across the region. Home to nearly 700 million people, much of Southeast Asia remains socially conservative, with widespread legal and cultural discrimination against LGBTQ+ communities. Homosexuality is criminalized in Malaysia, and in Indonesia’s Aceh province, same-sex relations are punishable by public caning under Sharia law. Even in the comparatively progressive Philippines, same-sex couples lack formal legal recognition and protections. To date, Thailand is the only nation in the region that recognizes same-sex unions.
Drag performers across the region also face growing scrutiny as their profile rises. Gawdland herself faced online backlash for wearing an outfit featuring the colors of the Thai flag, while two years prior, Filipina drag artist Pura Luka Vega was arrested after a performance in which she wore a costume portraying Jesus Christ. Though charges were ultimately dropped, the incident sparked widespread conservative outrage in the predominantly Catholic nation. For Gawdland, this scrutiny underscores a core truth of the art form: “Drag is political. It has always been. It’s been that way for a long time. The origins of drag are protest, a refusal to submit to tradition. Society wants us to be men, but no, I’ll be a woman,” she said. “That question — ‘What is she doing? Why is she doing this?’ — that is the very core of drag. It leaves behind a conversation, dialogue, debate.”
Beyond social and political barriers, the Southeast Asian drag industry also faces systemic underfunding. Gawdland had to raise 1 million Thai baht (approximately $31,000) to cover the costs of competing on *UK vs the World*, pulling together savings from her own performances, support from producers, and contributions from senior drag queens in Thailand. Sakol Sopitachasak, an assistant professor at Bangkok’s Thammasat University who has published research on Thai drag, explained that while the Thai government supports traditional arts, drag rarely qualifies for public funding. “It’s a profession that requires you to put everything into one person. You have to do your makeup, your costumes, be creative, and you have to be able to act, be a good speaker, be funny, be sarcastic… You need so much,” Sakol noted.
Gawdland’s £50,000 prize for winning the competition, paired with her new title of “Queen of the Mothertucking World,” offers a lifeline not just for her, but for the broader Thai drag ecosystem. She emphasized that booking a single drag queen supports an entire network of behind-the-scenes workers, from costume designers and hair stylists to choreographers and dancers. “Hiring one drag queen goes on and on. Everyone gets paid because we’re essentially a money distributor,” she explained.
In the weeks since her victory, Gawdland has returned to Thailand for a triumphant homecoming, headlining this year’s Songkran (Thai New Year) celebrations in Bangkok — an event that has become a major draw for LGBTQ+ tourists from across the region. Carried on a throne through crowds of revelers under a central Bangkok train station, the newly crowned queen reflected on the journey that brought her from a small northern town to the global drag throne. Just months earlier, waiting for her flight to London at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport, she said she had worried about how domestic audiences would receive her. But the outpouring of support from Thai fans after the show premiered has erased any doubt. “It’s beyond the word worth it. Every exhaustion, every effort, every tear and drop of blood, every pain, every heartbreak — it all vanished instantly. It is so, so worth it for everything I have now,” she said.
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Huangshan’s fish lantern tradition captivates Russian influencer
An 800-year-old traditional Chinese folk art has left a deep and lasting impression on a visiting Russian digital influencer, shining a global spotlight on one of Anhui province’s most cherished intangible cultural treasures. Angelika Romanovskaia, a Russian content creator traveling with a group of international influencers through East China’s Anhui, recently explored Shexian County in Huangshan and encountered the iconic Zhanqi fish lantern tradition that has been passed down through generations of local villagers.
During her visit to Zhanqi Village, Romanovskaia did not just observe the celebrated craft from a distance — she stepped into the workshop to try her hand at the intricate, age-old lantern-making process, learning the techniques that artisans have refined over hundreds of years. She later joined local performers in the traditional fish lantern dance, a core part of the cultural practice that is held during festivals to bring good fortune and prosperity to the community.
What struck the Russian influencer most was the unexpected scale of the full-size ceremonial fish lanterns. She described the handcrafted works as surprisingly sturdy in structure while boasting incredible, intricate beauty that cannot be replicated by mass-produced decorations. Reflecting on her experience, Romanovskaia emphasized the urgent need for greater collective efforts to protect and promote this unique cultural heritage, which has survived for more than eight centuries to remain a vibrant part of local life today.
The visit of international influencers to Anhui’s cultural sites is part of broader efforts to share lesser-known Chinese traditional crafts with global audiences, helping to cross cultural boundaries and build global appreciation for intangible cultural heritage from around the world.