♪
- Hi, I'm Sileecka.
- And I'm Josh.
- And we're team 27...
- ...point 7!
That's their team name?
7-7-6.
- I mean, that's already not number one, so.
♪
- Hi guys, I'm James.
- Hello, I'm Keisha.
- And we're team...
Both: Gagnon!
- It means winner en francais.
(ding ding ding)
(buzzer)
We got a little creative with the spelling.
My French immersion teacher would gag.
- No.
(laughter) ♪
Both: Chop!
- Welcome to the CBX! ♪ (rapping) ♪
- Welcome to the CBX!
♪
- My name is Sileecka.
I'm from Jamaica.
When I was in my teens,
I came here for like, for a better life.
I'm the original runway diva.
I've been in the ballroom scene
from the beginning.
I've won one of the very first ball in Canada, ever.
I've won face, I've won body
and still win in runway.
♪
I would love to win this competition
to showcase Canada Ballroom.
Like we, we've been doing this for years,
I feel like it's our time.
♪
- My name is Joshua.
I'm originally from a small town
called Wetaskiwin in Alberta.
Not a cute place, so I moved out here
to live my authentic truth.
♪
I put my absolute everything into my art,
my whole heart in this.
In ballroom, I walk all-American runway.
I'm working on the other categories too.
♪
I feel like our team in particular
has one of the biggest advantages because
we are both in the scene and like this piece
is about honoring ballroom and showcasing ballroom,
so having that insight, is something that
none of the other filmmakers actually have so...
(beep) Breaking news! Breaking news! Sorry!
Apparently there is other filmmakers in the scene,
but, allegedly... - We've never heard of them.
We don't know who. - Where? Who is she?
♪♪
- Hi, my name is Kyisha Williams.
I hail from Toronto, I am a filmmaker
an actor, and I'm just generally full of magic.
♪
- I'm James Bailey, also known as Songbird,
in the ballroom scene.
I am a singer, songwriter and performer in my life,
but I'm also a excellent
runway walker
in the ballroom scene.
Ga, ga, ga! That's right.
♪♪
- I would love to win this competition with James
because I feel like we just deserve to win.
We deserve all the wins!
- And we made a really really amazing video, so.
That other teams are gonna gag. They're gonna gag.
- No? (laughter) - Period.
♪
So, we are competing against
Joshua Riley and Sileecka,
and um, (record scratch!)
Joshua is my partner...
in love and life.
♪
- My, um, my fiance.
- Hi baby, I love you!
- James, I love you.
You're going down. Sorry about it.
- We are going to annihilate...
--your team!
- I mean, hopefully I still get invited to family dinner.
(laughter)
♪♪
- The category is...
Runway.
The runway category comes from the fashion world.
Performers are required to walk like a supermodel
and strike fierce poses.
- It's all about the energy,
sass, attitude, shade
that you have in your runway walk.
- There are two main styles of runway in ballroom:
all American and European.
In all American, the walk is stoic and composed.
It is associated with a traditionally
male runway model walk.
Then there's European runway.
This is way more expressive
and contains more flamboyant movements.
This channels a traditionally female runway model walk.
- Your effect has to be over!
And you have to have the confidence.
- My first word was walk.
I was born walking, so I'm here to walk,
and I'm gonna walk all the way to my funeral,
when the time has come, honey.
- Runway is one of those things
that people in ballroom always want to see
and always want to, like, walk.
Everybody wants to be that bitch!
- But not everyone can.
- And there's that.
♪
- For our project, we were inspired by
James essentially
and what we wanted to do
was essentially showcase James
in our real world, our city,
and have our sidewalks be our runway.
♪
- We used a cocoon in the beginning of our video.
- Basically that was to symbolize
that moment where you're isolated
and you're maybe struggling, going through turmoil.
And once you're out of that moment,
you can really reclaim and be a winner.
- It's like finding the winner within! Own it!
♪♪
- For this piece, we really wanted to highlight
the Red Era.
(ding)
You know, vintage aesthetic, Paris is burning,
and then really, just pay homage to Sileecka
as a black trans woman coming from Jamaica to Canada
and being part of the ballroom scene and just thriving.
- When people watch this film, I want them to feel
um, excitement,
I want them to feel compassion,
because ballroom is not only like meeting up
and kiki'ing or having a whale of a time.
It's also focused on family
and bond and being one
and support, support.
♪ Which one of them? Which one of them? ♪
♪ Pick one of them! Pick one of them! ♪
♪ Fans, fans, fans, ♪
♪ Let me see your big fans. ♪
- You deserve to see us win.
- Which girl came to slay?