Sex Week’s annual Drag Show, sponsored by Sexual Empowerment and Awareness at Tennessee and volOUT, packed the University Center Auditorium once again as students and drag professionals alike took the stage to perform everything from Lady Gaga to Switchfoot.

The rules of the show are simple. Performers lip sync and dance while wearing costumes that play with and exaggerate gender norms, mostly representative of a gender besides their own. Audience members could tip dollar bills to their favorites during each queen or king’s performance — some especially confident attendees chose to do so Friday night by tucking the bill in between their teeth or out of their pockets, and the queens and kings happily obliged.

Twelve students braved the stage with extensive costumes and props, and punny stage names, like “Raggedy Max” who stepped out of a Raggedy Ann-style doll box and “VaCeline Dion,” who baptized an attendee under a flowing blue cloth while dressed as Jesus.

In addition to the student performers, the show featured two local professional queens: Diana Hart and Anastasia Alexander, who each did several numbers, such as Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space” and Keri Hilson’s “Pretty Girl Rock.”

The event raised $228, and all proceeds went to volOUT and S.E.A.T.

Below, The Daily Beacon has highlighted several performers and their most memorable moments of being in the drag show.

Kaedee White

Drag name: Bendydick Cuttlefish performing “Wonderwall”

Sophomore in Architecture

First time in Sex Week Drag Show

“For me, I’m agender. So it’s really a way for me to express my gender through performance. It’s different from how I do it every day … The best part is feeding off the crowd and knowing that they love you and loving them back, that feeling that everyone is there to support you.”

Jacob Clark (Second Jesus)

Drag name: VaCeline Dion performing “Down to the River to Pray”

First year graduate student, masters in business analytics

Third time in Sex Week Drag Show

“A lot of my friends were hanging out and they started playing ‘Down to the River to Pray,’ which people I know have a tendency to want to harmonize to. I thought, this would be really fun to do in drag. And I knew I could pass collection plates which would raise more money from all the people who don’t stand up (during the show).”

Summer Awad

Drag name: Akondom performing “Smack That” (partner with Nickie Hackenbrack)

Sex Week co-founder and Junior in College Scholars

First time in Sex Week Drag show

“The best part is I used to be a dancer, but I don’t really dance much anymore. So it’s an opportunity to dance and perform, and the crowd cheering is really fun … Trying to put together Sex Week and prepare for the drag show was kind of a chore, but we pulled it together at the last minute.”

Brandon Darr

Performance: “I’ve Had the Time of My Life” and “You’re the One that I Want” with Merry Reid Sheffer

Junior in College Scholars

First time in Sex Week Drag Show

“The scariest part is whether or not you’re going to mess up or fall in heels. I mean I’ve walked around in heels before, don’t get me wrong, but on stage in front of hundreds of people — I was just thinking, do not fall, do not fall. And if you do just kind of roll around and play in it.”

Nickie Hackenbrack

Drag name: Feminem performing “Smack That” (partner with Summer Awad)

Sex Week co-founder and senior in BCMB

Second time in Sex Week Drag Show

“The Sex Week crowd is particularly loving, they’re a lot of fun. I really do love going to drag shows in my free time. But there’s nothing like going to the Sex Week drag show. It’s a totally different feel.”

Nikita Rose (Drag name)

Performance: Pink’s “Slut Like You”

Freshman in engineering

First time in Sex Week Drag Show

“I’ve always watched shows like Rupaul’s Drag Race, and I just love them. And I’ve always loved performing in general, so this is like my first chance.”

Merry-Reid Sheffer

Performance: “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life” and “You’re the One that I Want” (partner with Brandon Darr)

Senior in English

Second time in Sex Week Drag Show

“That’s the most fun, even if you forget a move or fall down because you’re wearing heels and you’ve never worn heels before, they clap for you anyway. There’s an adrenaline rush for sure, but it’s not that bad.”