Pollo Del Mar

Pollo Del Mar

Pollo Del Mar at a march against Proposition 8 in 2008
Born Paul E. Pratt
United States

Pollo Del Mar or Pollo DelMar born as Paul E. Pratt, and alternately known as The Notorious P.D.M. or The Glamazon[1] is a San Francisco-based American drag queen performer, personality, emcee, magazine cover girl, journalist and recording artist. As columnist, blogger and celebrity interviewer, Del Mar contributes to a wide-array of print and online media outlets, both gay and straight. He was the final Miss Trannyshack and is now considered "The Queen of San Francisco Media."[2] To date, Del Mar has released three dance music singles "How Embarrassing" (2012), "Made You Look" (2013) with Billboard charting artist Kwanza Jones and "#WhiteLadyProblems" (2014). He is heavily featured in the music video "WannaBe," a cover of The Spice Girls by Billboard Dance chart-topping artist Neon Hitch.

Del Mar established himself as a credible journalist via celebrity interviews on the cover of Northern California’s preeminent LGBT entertainment and lifestyles publication GLOSS Magazine (for which he is a three-time covergirl), a long-running weekly column “The Glamazon Diaries” in The San Francisco Bay Times newspaper and “Promosexual” blog for the alternative weekly San Francisco Bay Guardian website, becoming arguably the Bay Area’s most widely read drag personality. His work also appeared consistently on Gay.com and, less frequently, in California-based publications such as JustUsBoys and the Spanish-language Adelante. He presently contributes celebrity-related content and interviews to The Huffington Post.[3]

More recently, Del Mar has parlayed celebrity interviews into performances with several top acts. He has appeared onstage with Katy Perry, Iggy Azalea, Lady Gaga, talk-show hosts Wendy Williams and Ross Mathews and opened for Britney Spears during the singer's appearance on Good Morning America. He made an uncredited cameo on a 2008 episode of Vh1 celebreality series The Cho Show, dancing onstage with comedian Margaret Cho at Trannyshack. On Nov. 22, 2008, Del Mar and five others opened the inaugural YouTube Live Concert event with Katy Perry, who performed her chart-topping single "Hot n Cold" for a global audience of millions. On Dec. 6, 2008, he performed with Grammy-winning singer Cyndi Lauper at the Energy 92.7 Anniversary Party. Del Mar appears in two independent feature films, The Rise and Fall of Jeremy Starr and Devious, Inc.

Del Mar made his first drag appearance April 27, 2006 at a fundraiser in San Francisco’s Castro District. That same night he received his first paid booking at The Monster Show with Cookie Dough. In August of that year, he placed first runner-up to winner Mercedez Munro in the 2006 Miss Gay San Francisco Pageant and gained further attention as “Miss October” in the award-winning 2007 Desperate Divas calendar and a subsequent series of post cards. Featuring pictures by acclaimed San Francisco photographer Kingmond Young, the projects helped raise more than $25,000 for AIDS Housing Alliance/San Francisco.[4]

Del Mar gained attention for her political efforts in the wake of California passing Prop.8, which would effectively ban gay marriage.[5]

Miss Trannyshack 2007

On November 17, 2007, at the San Francisco Gift Center, Del Mar was crowned “Miss Trannyshack 2007” in front of the largest audience in the pageant’s 12-year history. Del Mar is in fact the only Miss Trannyshack to ever simultaneously hold the Miss Trannyshack and Miss Trannyshack Star Search titles.[6] Selecting him from the eight contestants was a panel of celebrity judges including comedian Sandra Bernhard, New York City club kid-turned-author James St. James, drag personality and Midnight Mass producer Peaches Christ, KNRG “Energy 92.7 FM” morning show hosts Fernando and Greg in the Morning, the men of Hothouse Videos and “Miss Trannyshack 2004” Anna Conda.[7]

Entering the pageant as the reigning “Miss Trannyshack Star Search 2007,” determined annually since 1998 in contests between Trannyshack newcomers, Del Mar became the only performer to ever hold both of the legendary nightclub’s drag titles. He became the longest-reigning Miss Trannyshack in the title's 12-year history.

GLOSS Magazine, for which he has worked as a celebrity columnist since November 2006, honored his victory by placing Del Mar on the cover of the March 7, 2008 issue. New York City celebrity photographer Bradford Noble and San Francisco-based photojournalist Steven Underhill provided images for the feature.

References

  1. ↑ Juul, Justin (2008-02-13). "Pollo Del Mar explains it all for you". San Francisco Bay Guardian. Archived from the original on 2008-04-04. Retrieved 2008-07-12.
  2. ↑ San Francisco Bay Guardian. 2009-02-18 Print Issue. Check date values in: |date= (help); Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. ↑ HuffingtonPostSF.com. 2014-09-21 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/pollo-del-mar/. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  4. ↑ Van Iquity, Sister Dana (2006-10-05). "AIDS Housing Alliance Raises $$ with Desperate Divas Calendar". San Francisco Bay Times. Retrieved 2008-07-12.
  5. ↑ Blue, Violet (2008-11-13). "Fear of a Gay Planet". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2008-11-23.
  6. ↑ Van Iquity, Sister Dana (2007-11-22). "Pollo Del Mar Grabs the Trannyshack Crown". San Francisco Bay Times. Retrieved 2008-07-12.
  7. ↑ Marrs, Scott (2007-12-16). "PIX: A Patchwork of Bay Area Parties & Personalities". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2008-11-22.
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