"Life is too short to spoil it with toxic people. Drag has a place in public broadcasting," says Petr Vostárek, aka Chi Chi Tornado, in response to criticism of his talk show
Chi Chi Tornado, the alter ego of performer Petr Vostárek, sat down on the "couch" of Czech Television for the first time this year and opened up topics that have long been missing from the mainstream - from coming out to discrimination to the humor and hyperbole that belong to drag. After the first episodes aired, there was an avalanche of reactions, ranging from enthusiastic to downright hateful. In this interview, Petr reflects back on the joy of a childhood dream come true, the shock of personal attacks, and why he thinks it's important for drag to have a place in public broadcasting.
There's been a lot of talk around your person and show in recent weeks. Now that emotions have calmed down, I wonder how you actually feel looking back on the period when Chi Chi on the Couch first entered the airwaves.
I'll admit to being very mentally drained, but happy. My childhood dream has come true, so should I be happy? Sadly, no, because I have found that the louder part of society is heading somewhere where tolerance, humanity, humor and positive thinking have no place, which is bad news for civilization. The good news is that there are still plenty of people with their minds in the right place and their hearts in the right place, but they are not being heard as much. It's time for that to change.
Chi Chi Tornado has been with you for decades. What does this character mean to you at the moment - is it still primarily an artistic expression, or has it also become a kind of filter through which you think about the world around you?
I have always said that Chi Chi Tornado is Petr Vostárek and vice versa. The only difference is that Chi Chi is stronger and more open, while Petr is very hypersensitive to the point of being hysterically empathetic. I know that once Chi Chi goes off the air, he will live on in Peter's heart. The sad thing is that a lot of people have a certain pigeonhole for drag queens and don't care that drag queens have the heart of a living person and are not just an empty alter ego.
If you think back to the beginning of drag in our country in the 90s and compare it to the situation today, how would you describe the transformation of the scene and your own place in it?
In the 90s everything was more cheerful, more open, people liked to have fun and no one was offended by the recession. We didn't have to deal with correctness, black face, consensuality. Today's performers have a very hard time with that, so today's drag has moved into the perzonification of the performer, and that's taken away the original idea of the travesty, which was a parody of the performer for the amusement of the audience. Travesty is a challenging and difficult art when done well, but drag is also challenging when the performer wants to express something and send a message. My role is now just an observer of the upcoming generation to pass on experience and make room for them.
Chi Chi on the Couch was presented as a talk show with guests, but in reality it was also a space to discuss topics that had long been absent from mainstream media. What was your main motivation to launch the show in this form?
This talk show was primarily meant to be an entertaining show with educational elements about the drag/travesti scene, performers opening the door to a space most people don't have access to. The intent was not to create an educational show, which some have missed, but I think the way it was created it served its purpose.
You and your guests bring up very personal and sometimes painful topics, from coming out to discrimination. Can you recall a moment when a guest really surprised or affected you with their sharing?
The episode with Ondřej Brzobohatý hit me the hardest, of course, but La Cuntessa was the one that moved me the most emotionally. I think this episode had the deepest "message".
In public debates it was often discussed why the show was broadcast on Czech TV. What do you wish people understood about drag and the queer experience when they sat down in front of the screen?
Who else but public television should air this show. I think that the production team around Petra Chaloupková did an honest job. I don't want to denigrate the commercial media in any way, but I think they are paid for by advertisers and the demands of ad payers, so I'm not sure this show would have a chance in a commercial space. I wish people would understand that drag is just great entertainment, it's not creepy. Drag has been around since the beginning of time and will continue to be around.
After the first episode aired, there was an avalanche of reactions, from enthusiastic support to strongly negative comments. How did you follow these waves and what was going on inside of you when the criticism turned into personal attacks?
I admit I was very shocked by what was happening around the show. We have been in show business for 33 years, but what has happened in the past month has exceeded all my expectations, both in a positive and especially in a negative sense.
You've mentioned in several interviews that you accept criticism, but not hate. Where is the line for you that you consider to have been crossed?
Criticism is the spice of life. Without criticism, we cannot improve. That's why I don't mind criticism, on the contrary I accept it, but it must be constructive, accurate and true. However, some people confuse criticism with attacking, humiliating, threatening and dehumanizing a person. I think that the messages wishing me death in the worst sense of the word, shooting me, humiliating my family, that my parents must have been brother and sister or they could not have produced such a deviant monster, that my parents should have put me to death immediately after I was born, and even that one "anthropologist" sent me a picture of Adolf Hitler with a message to rise up and solve this issue. I think this is not criticism, and this has no place in communication between people.
There were also voices on social media calling the programme "unnecessary" or "provocative". What would you say to these people if you could have a calm debate with them face to face?
It's the opinion of people who don't care about drag and don't understand it. I take their opinion, but I also have my own opinion that I find unnecessary transfers in football where people just argue and fight, or transfers from the Great Pardubice where it's about horse abuse, etc. I don't care for those shows either, but I know other people watch them and they are important to them, so why should I take that away from them. I would explain to my opponents face to face that public media is about tolerance and broadcasting for all. It's about solidarity.
Were there times when you felt like ending the project or withdrawing from the public space? If so, what finally convinced you to continue?
I'm still not convinced that I won't quit my alter ego Chi Chi Tornado. I'm still on the fence because even after a month, the attacks and insults from haters haven't stopped. It's a fact that I have received a huge, and I mean really huge, amount of support from people who are fans of drag, but also a lot from people who don't like drag, don't get it, but didn't like the way some of the haters treated us. Even 2 haters who wrote to me on X and caused such a storm of disgusting insults to Ondrej Brzobohatý and me that they were ashamed and wrote to me to apologize and delete their post. I really appreciate that and I applaud people who can admit their own mistake, apologize, bear the consequences, but also reflect on the fact that they may have been wrong.
The show was often described as a "safe space" not only for the LGBTQ+ community, but also for viewers who wanted to look beyond their own experiences. How did you perceive this role and did it succeed in fulfilling it as you imagined?
I believe that we succeeded and that all the performers felt comfortable, safe and at ease throughout the talk show. I know what I'm talking about as I've been on several talk shows, podcasts and reality shows where you never know how people will react to you. It's a fact that editing everything into 15-20 minutes is very hard, and if I could, the episodes would be much longer and maybe more open, but then it probably wouldn't fulfill the basic function of an entertaining show.
Czech Television supported you even when there was a wave of criticism about the show. What did this support mean to you and how do you evaluate it from today's perspective?
I was very happy for it, because CT is my mother. Not many people know that Chi Chi Tornado was created because of CT. In 1992, as a Lesbian, I was hired for the first live TV broadcast from the gay establishment Valdek as part of the show "Meet at Chmelnice". That's where Chi Chi Tornado was founded. So it's good that a mother stood up for her child.
Some of the guests on the show talked about trauma, rejection or coming out. How challenging was it for you to lead these stories while dealing with public pressure yourself?
From my point of view, it wasn't difficult for me, quite the opposite. I think that's why CT chose me for this project, because I have enough life experience to be worthy of a novel or a feature film, so I have quite a lot of insight and understanding of other people's pain, having been through it all.
When you look back on the whole experience, has it strengthened you as a person, or has it instead opened up new doubts?
I can't say if it has strengthened me, but it has shed light on a lot of things and I have found answers to a lot of questions, and for that I am very grateful and happy.
Drag is often associated with hyperbole and humour, but in your case it's also a space to share serious things. Where do you see the main strength of this artistic expression?
That's the difference between drag and travesti. Travesti is about parodying female artists, especially female singers, but also male singers, where they imitate a given icon as closely as possible. Drag new school is about the personification of a given performer, so it's not just a parody, an artistic rendition, but a message, a political statement and a life stance.
In the 90s you opened doors with your performance that nobody had opened in the Czech Republic before. Do you feel that the younger generation of drag queens is on firmer ground today, or are they still facing similar obstacles?
Five years ago I would have said that today's drag queens have it easier and more comfortable, because the path to fame and recognition was paved by female drag artists performing in the 90s. But the world has changed and the hatred towards the LGBTQ+ community and drag queens in particular has been so loud lately that I don't envy today's performers.
What does drag bring you personally after all these years of being active in it - is it joy, a release valve, a way of self-expression, or something else?
It's all what you say. First of all, I'm happy to be who I want to be. I'm not ashamed of myself, and someday, when Chi Chi Tornado is just shining in the sky, I'm going to miss it a lot and maybe something in me will die.
You talk a lot about freedom and authenticity. What specific message would you like audiences to take away from your work?
I've always wanted people to leave my shows happy, relaxed, in a good mood, and with the idea that the world can be beautiful if they open their hearts and don't close them to everything they don't know or understand.
After the whole experience - with the show, the reactions and your own journey - what gives you the most energy and desire to continue today?
The thing that gives me the most energy is when people write to tell me that I've made them feel better, that I've warmed their hearts in their difficult lives. At least for a moment, I changed their thoughts and mood. That's what makes me the strongest. I don't need flatterers telling me how beautiful, amazing, sexy... I know I'm not. I can see it in the mirror and the messages from some haters and even fellow female industry members who didn't see the show as entertainment for the people, but a showcase of travesti and drag, but Chi Chi on the couch was about entertainment and not a fashion show.
Now, if you had to send one message to the people who watched you - whether with enthusiasm or disgust - what would you want to say to them?
I would tell all people not to take themselves too seriously, to be above it all and to take everything with humour. Life is too short to make it harder on ourselves with jerks and toxic people. My grandmother always told me that hell is on earth and devils are people, but you do everything you can to make the world a paradise. So I'm trying to get people to understand that we are all actually the same, but we only perceive the differences with our organs and senses. With what? It's up to you which ones you use.
