Wednesday, June 8, 2022

"Your Face Sounds Familiar" Observations

By Yamini Argo

Follow are my notes regarding some of the quirky things that happened on the Your Face Sounds Familiar television franchise.

The show has produced so many wonderful femulations over the last decade. The number of challenges the femulators have overcome is something all of us would have gone through. But the support they receive for the transformations is phenomenal. I like to look at the backstage makeup process and their physical and psychological aspects during the week of preparation.

Apart from bending the gender, many participants crossed racial boundaries. Few even successfully twerked and danced around muscular men. Not that everyone enjoys such performances; Romanian actor stated he felt violated when the male dancers touched him all over.

Carlos Marco
Carlos Marco femulating on Spain's version of Your Face Sounds Familiar.

Almost all the contestants had to walk in high heels and almost none fell on their rears, thanks to the practice they have at the studio and also at home. A few girlfriends and wives have supported this endeavor by lending them shoes or simply encouraging them. One Spanish contestant was given the original dress worn by the singer to lend authenticity for the performance. 

Makeup artists give them flawless appearance, which combined with their fine features can have unintentional outcomes. One such transformation found the Brazilian actor Victor Kley being mistaken for actress Meghan Fox. In the same show, another actor had to be censored by Instagram when he showed off his new assets. 

The actors need not always wear the panties that go with their bras, but they don’t seem to mind. Few have flashed inadvertently, few intentionally. And they had to tuck their bits for the duration of the show. Some have showcased their bodies in revealing attires including bikinis.

Things get interesting when these men have personal relationships with the singers. These instances include when the son became his mother, brother became his sister and the times when boyfriends became their own ex-girlfriends. Fiancés have swapped roles and weirdly, brothers have danced as couples on two different shows.

Quite a few amusing things happened in the Bulgarian version this season. One contestant went on to kiss the judge deeply in the mode of the character he was in. Another actor had a mishap of his lifetime when the tube top slipped and revealed his fake breasts. He was described as a pornstar on national television. 

The psychological aspect of this observation also questions how do they feel when they had become a sex symbol that they had wet dreams about in their teenage years. They learn dance moves to seduce the male dancers during the song and they also get voice training, which leaves them with sultry voices. These are potential tools they can use at any point in time with anyone. I'm not sure how many did venture outside the studio in full glam; at least once it was noted that Romanian singer Florin Ristei went home in between takes. 

Overall, I'm glad this show exists and continues to provide some crossdressing entertainment for all of us.

P.S: I'd like to give a shout out to Vlad Nicola who has been amazing as a cosplayer and hostess. He’s got an appreciative girlfriend just like Zach Scuderi.


Source: Ann Taylor
Wearing Ann Taylor

Joel Grey
Joel Grey femulating in the 1972 film Cabaret.

13 comments:

  1. AnonymousJune 08, 2022

    I would love to know what it is like to go as deeply into character as they do
    They are not pretending to be some one, they are her
    Lucy

    ReplyDelete
  2. Stana, this is one of your best commentaries yet. "Your Face Sounds Familiar" is such a good franchise in Europe. I think it's successful to a large degree because, unlike here in the USA, Europeans don't seem to have any problems with Femulation in their performances. And they take on their performances seriously. They don't turn it into some clownish activity. The Spanish program "Switch" is very much the same in a way, but it's about and features professional female impersonators and you expect a higher level of performance. So, lets conclude that Europeans have what it takes to get out there and pull off a drag performance, giving it their all and not succumbing to self-consciousness. And that's why the shows are so good. And it doesn't hurt they they have such appreciative audiences. With audiences like those it's no wonder they give such great performances!

    I really appreciate the time and focus Stana has taken to provide us with such first-class examples of Femulatiors. How many of us would even know about "Your Face Sounds Familiar" if not for Stana's efforts? I spend lots of time (too much??) rooting around the internet finding photos and videos of CD/TG/drag artists, models and just "regular" femulators like us girls, but I lack the eloquence and focus of Stana, who presents this material to us so well. That's why she has this very well subscribed BLOG -- and I'm a commenter. Thanks, Stana, for all you do for us. Love ya, Hon'!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yamini Argo wrote the article. I just edited it and formatted it for the blog, so Yamini deserves some of the blame (LOL).

      Delete
  3. Great Article and thought provoking, I wonder how many of the contestants were not civilians to start with? I also wonder how many decided to enlist once the got a taste of the honey??

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There have been many repeat femulators.

      Delete
    2. I wouldn't be surprised if 100% of the Femulators on the Spanish version were professionals. I'm a regular watcher of "The Switch" and those Spanish femulators are sensational female impersonators! Check "The Switch" out sometime, lately the peerless female impersonator, Pavel Arambula, has been featured.

      Delete
    3. AnonymousJune 09, 2022

      Is there a link for "The Switch"?

      Delete
    4. https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=the+switch

      Delete
  4. AnonymousJune 08, 2022

    Thanks for the post Stana. Very informative and entertaining.
    Gendre Amore

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousJune 09, 2022

    Yamini, thank you for such a wonderful and informative post! I will happily explore your generous collection of links!

    ReplyDelete
  6. It's a shame that show didn't catch on here. And Kley.... I mean, wow...

    ReplyDelete
  7. AnonymousJune 18, 2022

    Great article, with a lot of links and video, great work!
    Kazik Mazur's femulation of Marylin Monroe (hyperlink on "sex symbol") is absolutely flawless, from the wig to the heels!! Can't believe he made such a perfect copy of the star, either in feminine presentation and in how he dance and interact with other people!

    ReplyDelete
  8. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete