Britain’s Got Talent drag history-maker Jasmine Rice: ‘I was shocked I impressed Simon Cowell’
Drag queen and opera singer Jasmine Rice LaBeija has already made history as the first drag act to make it to the Britain’s Got Talent finals. Now, she could just about win the whole thing.
LaBeija, known simply as Jasmine Rice on the ITV show, has just one more performance to go until she could be crowned this year’s BGT winner: Saturday’s grand finale.
Back in April, she bowled over judges Simon Cowell, Alesha Dixon, Amanda Holden and Bruno Tonioli with her powerful rendition of Puccini’s “Nessun dorma”, which she began behind a curtain. When the curtain lifted to reveal the vocalist in a mammoth, baby blue gown – which she’d created herself – the audience erupted.
Just a few weeks later, she appeared at the semi-finals with her rendition of Loren Allred’s The Greatest Showman hit “Never Enough” leading Tonioli to whack the coveted Golden Buzzer – sending Jasmine straight through to the final.
Britain’s Got Talent star Jasmine Rice was ‘rejected’ by opera world
“I definitely do want to win but I have to say that I’m not doing this just to win. I’m doing this because this has been a life goal of mine, to be on the biggest stage of the world and showcase what I have been preparing for my whole life.”
The Korean-American performer started taking music lessons while in fifth grade, and ended up becoming a Juilliard-trained operatic tenor. While in college, she started dabbling in drag.
At first, she kept the two professions separate, initially feeling that opera was more of a “proper” art form. However, after being rejected over and over again by the opera world due to her “femininity” and for the fact that she’s a “friend of Dorothy” – read: queer – she decided to combine the two.
“I have a very outspoken, rambunctious personality and that clashes with the idea of what classical music and opera should be,” she says.
“I was just there because I loved music, I love performing, I love being extravagant, I love being out there, and I thought opera would embrace that, but instead they kind of wanted to put me in a little box and say, ‘No this is the proper way to go about it instead of letting me really flourish.
“The rejection kept on happening in my face. They would literally flat out say, ‘Oh, you’re too feminine to play this role or you’re too delicate to sing this role or be this part or be in this programme.’”
Jasmine instead found solace in New York’s queer venues, including Balcon Salon, Pieces Bar, and Hardware Bar, where she puts on free, spell-binding LGBTQ+ opera and variety shows to this day. In NYC, she’s known as the International Godmother of the legendary drag collective, The House of LaBeija
After her audition, Simon Cowell – who has historically been unimpressed by drag acts on Britain’s Got Talent – told Jasmine she had “found a home” in the contest, and scolded the “idiots” in the opera world who had rejected her. Then, after her semi-final performance when the cameras cut to commercials, he joined her on stage to praise her.
Jasmine Rice was ‘shocked’ to wow Britain’s Got Talent judge Simon Cowell
“It was truly a shock,” Jasmine recalls today. “If I can win over Simon there’s no big hill that I cannot climb. I think it’s proof that if you just enjoy, put in the work and the time and really invest in your craft and do it to your fullest and show people who you really are and share that emotion and have that connection on stage, it could truly move and change anyone’s mind.”
Dodge revealed details for the 2026 Durango lineup, quashing rumors that the current generation would end after 2025.
In addition to carrying over the current generation for at least one more year, Dodge also announced the return of the V-8-powered R/T and SRT Hellcat Durangos.
Pricing for the GT and R/T models is unchanged from 2025, starting at $40,490 and $51,990, respectively, while pricing for the SRT Hellcat won’t be revealed until later this year.
Dodge did it again. When it launched in 2021, the 710-hp Durango SRT Hellcat was only supposed to stick around for one model year. After taking a year off, Dodge’s executives must’ve realized their stack of money bags was quickly dwindling, so they pivoted and brought the Durango Hellcat back for 2023. Then again, for a final year of production in 2024. And, as money is a hell of an enticement, once more with a slew of final editions for 2025. If you haven’t caught on to the theme yet, the Durango is back for a final, final, final, final edition for 2026.
Okay, so Dodge isn’t actually mentioning anything about final editions this go-around of the Durango SRT Hellcat, which could mean they’re planning for more than one year of production. The brand is promising to release more details about the seven-seater Hellcat in the third quarter of this year.
Along with the high-powered model, Dodge released details on the rest of the 2026 Durango lineup, which includes the V-6 GT model and the V-8 R/T trim. The GT carries over to 2026 unchanged, down to the price, which starts at $40,490.
The R/T model adds two new wheel options and brings back the $5990 Tow ‘N Go package as a stand-alone option. There’s also a new $3495 Blacktop Redline package that adds 20-by-8.0-inch Black Noise wheels, blacked-out badging, and special SRT spoilers for the front and rear.
The R/T trim starts at $51,990, the same as last year. Order books for the GT and R/T are scheduled to open in June, with cars arriving in dealerships sometime in the third quarter of this year.
