Nina Flowers

Nina Flowers
Born Jorge Luis Flores Sánchez[1]
(1974-02-22) February 22, 1974[2]
Bayamón, Puerto Rico
Residence Denver, Colorado U.S.
Occupation drag queen, DJ, make-up artist
Years active 1993 – present
Partner(s) Antonio Purcell de Ogenio

Jorge Luis Flores Sánchez (born February 22, 1974), better known as Nina Flowers, is a Puerto Rican drag queen, DJ, activist, professional make-up artist, and reality television personality who has been performing since 1993.[3][4]

Biography

Flowers was born in 1974 in Bayamón, Puerto Rico. He started his drag career in March 1993, where he performed at local San Juan gay venues such as Krash (also known as Eros) and Club Lazer. His surrogate drag mother/sister was Puerto Rican performer Alex Soto.[5] In 1999, he participated in and won both the Miss Puerto Rico Continental and Miss City Lights Continental pageants.[6] His drag name is a tribute to both one of his musical idols, Nina Hagen, and his last name (from Spanish, his last name - Flores - translates to "Flowers" in English).[7]

Television

Flowers became a cast member on Logo's popular reality series, RuPaul's Drag Race, which premiered on the network in February 2009. Flowers finished in second place and won the Miss Congeniality award during the first season's reunion special. The publicity generated by his participation on the show brought many new opportunities to perform at various national and international LGBT events including Denver Pride, San Juan Pride, Chicago Pride and Vancouver Pride. Besides his participation on RuPaul's Drag Race, Flowers (along with season two contestant Jessica Wild) has performed on the popular Puerto Rican television program Objetivo Fama, which airs throughout the United States and Latin America.

In early 2010, Flowers joined the cast of Logo's new reality series, RuPaul's Drag U. This summer replacement series premiered on July 19, 2010.[8] On 6 August 2012, it was announced that Flowers was one of twelve past Drag Race contestants selected to join the cast of RuPaul's All Stars Drag Race which premiered on the Logo network on 22 October 2012.[9] Forming Team Brown Flowers along with contestant Tammie Brown, both contestants were eliminated in the second episode of the series which aired on 28 October 2012.

Music

In December 2009, Flowers (in collaboration with DJ Ranny) released his first dance single "Loca", which is available for purchase via iTunes and other commercial music sites. The single has been remixed by such notable remixers as William Umana, Joe Gauthreaux, and Manny Lehman. The single reached its highest spot (#15) on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play the week of 30 January 2010.[6] Continuing his first successful venture in the dance music industry, Flowers released his first EP of original songs on July 15, 2010. Titled Start Your Engines, the album is a compilation of six tracks that he and producer/remixer William Umana produced. The first single, "Locas in da House," utilizes Flowers's trademark catchphrase in a tribal house anthem.[1] In January 2011, Flowers released his new dance single "I'm Feelin Flowers", which he produced in collaboration with Miami-based deejay/producer DJ MDW.[5] His new single, "Rock the Beat," was released on July 31, 2012.

Nina Flowers Drag Queen
Nina Flowers

Personal life

Flowers and his partner, Antonio Purcell de Ogenio, presently reside in Denver, Colorado.[10] In addition to his careers in drag and make-up, Flowers is one of the resident deejays at Track's, Denver's largest gay nightclub.

On May 29, 2009, Denver's mayor, John Hickenlooper, issued a proclamation declaring May 29 as "Nina Flowers Day" in recognition of Flowers's contributions to the city's LGBT community.[11]

Discography

EP

Singles

References

  1. 1 2 Getting to know Denver's hottest drag queens from denver.metromix.com June 2010
  2. ↑ Nina Flowers on Facebook
  3. ↑ Patricia. "Nina Flowers: RuPaul Drag Race Finalist" Right Celebrity March 24th, 2009, accessed January 13, 2010.
  4. ↑ "Interview with Nina Flowers" ChicagoPride.com December 2, 2009, accessed January 13, 2010.
  5. 1 2 Flower Power from www.hotspotsmagazine.com January 2011
  6. 1 2 Nina Flowers from www.chicagostagereview.com 10 December 2009
  7. ↑ Nina Flowers is a Star from Yahoo! Voices 11 April 2012
  8. ↑ RUPAUL’S DRAG UNIVERSITY: Sneak-Peek! from hollywoodjunket.com 14 April 2010
  9. ↑ RuPaul's All Stars Drag Race cast includes Jujubee, Latrice Royale, Manila Luzon from chicago.gopride.com; 06 August 2012
  10. ↑ Kennedy, Lisa. "Nina Flowers is hot!" Denver Post May 31, 2009, accessed January 13, 2010.
  11. ↑ Nina Flowers: Queen for a "Day" from www.outfrontcolorado.com 1 June 2009
First RuPaul's Drag Race runner-up
Season 1 (2009) 		Succeeded by
Raven
First RuPaul's Drag Race miss congeniality
Season 1 (2009) 		Succeeded by
Pandora Boxx
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