Uneven spotlight: Art Simone vs Etcetera Etcetera

You are now entering the court of Judge Gina Leano.

We all have grievances and disagreements with the people in our lives, some big, some small, and some unresolvable. When you need an argument settled once and for all, you come to my courtroom. I am Judge Gina, and what I say goes. You better be ready to hear my ruling.

Today, two queens, one song and an uneven spotlight Art Simone has brought etcetera, etcetera to the Court of Judge Gina to settle a dispute over their song. None of this will matter. Art Simone is seeking one thousand dollars in compensation for lost royalties and emotional damage.

Hello, my name is Art Simone. You know me from being an ultra famous drag queen from Australia. I've come to Judge Gina to settle an issue I have with my lightest single that's out with etcetera, etcetera.

My name is etcetera, etcetera. I am on Season one of RuPaul's Drag Race down Under. I've come to Judge Gina today. This settles and beef with my sister Art Simone. We're on television together. We have toured together and we're basically besties. She's claiming that I cut her out of our new song when I didn't do anything of the sort.

I'm going to win. I don't lose things except for drag race, but I'm going to win this. This for you. Mums.

Court is now in session. Please rise the judge Gina.

Art Simone, Why are you in my courtroom today.

I've got a new single that's out at the moment called none of This Will Matter with my good drag friend, et cetera, et cetera. The songs come out and she has got more lyrics in the song than I do, and that doesn't make me feel very good. First of all. Second of all, when we're performing the song live, I look like an idiot because she's singing the whole bridge and I just sidesap like this, which is really embarrassing in front of all my amazing fans. And thirdly, it's just not fair.

You were both together when you recorded.

Yeah, we were both together when we wrote the song and recorded it. We're in the same room, we're saying the same amount of lyrics, and then comes out I'm not in there as much.

Right, and who made that decision.

Well, that's the thing I don't know, because you know, we recorded it in Sydney and et cetera is from Sydney. So I don't know if she's gone behind my back and messaged the producer and said, by the way she sounds a bit shit, cut her out, or whether you know she just wanted to be the biggest star you know.

So have you made any inquiries?

Yeah? Well I asked her and she just said I don't know, which I think is a lie.

Okay, Why do you think that's a lie.

Because she's a drag queen and they lie. Okay, have you met her? Look at her face?

No, haven't matter her. I will meet her shortly. Okay. So you've recorded this song together, Yes, you've written it together equal amount of lyrics. However, when it's published, you're appearing in it less or your voice is less lyrics. You then go on tour and you notice how you don't have the opportunity to contribute to this song quite as much when you're on stage. Has that the problem?

How can you call it a duo when it's more of a you know, seventy five percent one hundred and twenty five percent. On the other side, that's two hundred percent.

Okay, well, let's work on one hundred percent.

What is it?

What's the braak?

You know, I'm not really good at mass, but I reckon I've probably.

Got like, well, you sang half and half, so we'll.

Go forty sixty Okay, yeah.

All right? So etcetera is singing sixty percent, you're singing forty percent.

I can like a loser.

I'm sure you're not.

I don't know, I'm sure it happened. Just sing it, babe.

I want to hear from et cetera, et cetera to see what her version is. What is your response to Art's allegation.

I was worried I was going to hurt Art's feelings if I told her the truth, which is the fact that she is on the song just as much as me. Her voice is just of a lower, more masculine frequency, so it blends in with the drums and guitar, and my beautiful angelic chorus rises above the instrumentation.

Do you mean shrill?

Excuse me? Are you being spoken to? I'm just saying that my voice cuts through like a hot knife through butter.

So you think that there's equal distribution of your voices, just that it's coming across differently because of the tone.

I'm no scientist, but I think it has something to do with the audio frequency that is recorded on the track.

Okay, so let me ask you this, Yes, how does that work when you are performing the track live and we have got Art telling us that she is standing there side tapping? Who sings that part of the song where she's side tapping?

This is the other problem than my beef that I wanted to bring up. Art likes to claim she doesn't have as many words because she can't remember them. She doesn't have the memory to remember the words. So to conceal the fact she doesn't know her own lyrics, she just doesn't sing them.

She just side taps and who sings? Is there just a pause in the song?

I have to sing it because she can't remember the words, and if no one's saying it would just go silent, then we'd both be side tapping.

Okay, so let's go back to the recording. Yeah, there's no side tapping in the recording. It's your voice, it is my voice, that's true. So did you record that together? And was this side tapping while you were recording. Is that why there's a difference in there.

It was a bit of side tapping. Actually, it was a bit of space in the recording studio and we, you know, as a kids, like say, we bust it down a little bit, We shook it round. We had a good time.

I'd say that I wasn't recording the same amount of lyrics as you. We recorded every single line together. We're not together, but we both all did every single line.

Yeah, and they're in the song, they're in the recording, but when we sing it live, you just don't know the words.

I think she's jumping around first, she's too shrill to be in this song. You know, she just cuts through like a hot knife through butter. And now apparently.

Okay, I'm going to stop you there. So I think I need to hear this song.

And the grass is always green side.

Well, that's all sounded like you.

That was actually etcetera. I was in that. That was et cetera. And I I just had the thing where it goes pushing daisies, that's all I said.

That's all you said, Why do you recall when you recorded it? Saying more than that?

I recorded all the lines.

What, so what lines are missing?

You meant to be singing together? Okay, singing the words all of it, Yeah.

The whole thing. Yeah, and so et cetera, saying that you did. But because your voice is what is it monotone?

I would say, a flat monotone colorless.

H Well, okay, that's probably enough if you want to stay friends today. And so so you think that the voice is there, but no one can hear it.

So what you're saying, Yeah, like whales communicate over long stretches of ocean subsonically, they go to go oh, and they can hear each other. Fine, maybe art just needs to find people in the same range of sound as her.

So Art, can you sing that for me? What you're meant to be singing?

Things are never but the same when you six feet and they say the grass is always greener on the other side.

Okay, et cetera. Can you sing your version please?

Things are never the same when you're six feet and they say the grass is oh, where's green on the other side?

Okay. So what I've just listened to is that actually the recording that's been published.

Yeah, that is the recording that is the bridge from the song.

And you think you can't hear yourself in that.

No, I wasn't in that. I had two words pushing daisy something.

But it's not all the song. And I actually I have an audio recording from the song, and I have the chorus where you have quite a large amount of not only creative control, but vocal presence. If you would like to call it that. If we can roll that up, I'd love jenety hear it, and maybe we can be a bit more honest. I'll hear that about what's going on?

Thank you? So who's saying when the music stops?

Oh, that is me? But I just want to say, that's not singing. That was speaking.

Okay. So is that the equivalent of you speaking in that track or are you missing parts?

No?

I was speaking that yeah, okay, So that might explain why etcetera. Saying that that you're actually singing in the other parts of the track but we can't hear you, but we can actually hear you when you talk.

Yeah, but I'm singing in the other bits too, okay. Yeah, so I speak then sing them speak.

Okay. So what do you want from me? What do you want me to do about?

Well?

You know, we can't re record the song. It's already out there, unfortunately. So I'm thinking I need like a thousand bucks.

Okay, I would be very curious to know how you've come up with this amount of one thousand dollars.

Well, one thousand dollars is just looks nice as a number. But also, you know, if I'm talking about actual breakdowns, because I am really good at maths.

I reckon you are good at maths or you're not.

Well, I've decided I am.

Now you are. Okay, when there's a dollar sign.

There's a dollar sign, business brain hits in, you know, self employed drag queen here. You just got to do what you've got to do, okay, So a thousand bucks all right? So I'm thinking two hundred and fifty bucks is for you know, emotional trauma and embarrassment, right because you know that's just oh well, it's.

A cheap deal.

It's pretty good.

Yeah.

Yeah, I've been embarrassed over a lot more.

I reckon I could afford to embarrass you a few times today. Then it's two hundred and fifty dollars a hitch.

The other seven hundred and fifty dollars is my payment back for not being in the song fifty to fifty?

Are you trying to get me to apportion your royalties differently? Is that what you're asking for?

Yeah? So I wanted the royalties to be different, but I don't want to take more than seven hundred and fifty dollars because I think that's fine.

Okay, So break that down for me.

Okay, So singles are a dollar twenty nine, yes, okay, So I want to have sixty percent of that dollar twenty nine.

Sixty percent, okay, And you think how many albums will sell?

I reckon seven to fifty, seven hundred and fifty albums. Yeah, I think it's going to be really good.

One right, seven really good? That's really good?

Is it like twenty? So I think they're really.

Seven hundred and fifty times one dollar twenty nine, and so that's eight hundred and thirty dollars fifty.

Which is close to one thousand. That's why I came up with it.

Yeah, it's nonsense.

It's close to one thousand. You know, you round up, you know when you get to like five.

But why should you be paid more for doing less? That's what I want to know. Why would you I do want you to tell me what?

Because I did the work in studio. I did the work in studio, I did the recording, and.

You've divided it fifty to fifty. But now you're saying you do less and you side shuffle paid.

More because she gets to have more of the limelight.

No, I don't agree. How does that happen? You're still up on stage?

Oh excuse me.

And et cetera. What do you say? What solution do you see is fair?

I want some compensation?

Oh do you want compensation as well?

It does.

I'm telling you what, Art, I've got another beef as well.

Are you? Are you opening a butcher? What's going on? Beef? Beef? Beef beef?

Okay? What's your compensation for? Well?

When we recorded the music video, I wore a pair of fishnet tights onto the set, and Art deliberately took the horns on her wig and she ripped my fish net tights and they cost seven dollars and ninety nine cents. Okay, So I want that seven dollars and ninety nine cents reimbursed, and then an additional one thousand, nine hundred and ninety three dollars for the embarrassment of having to wear ripped

Yeah, but can I say, can we roll back the music video and see that you are not wearing any rip fish nets in the music Now I.

Just ask you, how do you quantify one nine hundred and ninety three dollars?

Because my embarrassment's worth a little bit more than arts, because I'm not embarrassed as often.

So saying her embarrassment's worth two hundred and fifty dollars, you're saying your embarrassment's worth one nine hundred and ninety three dollars. Well, you can say a million dollars if you like. You have to persuade me. Why would I say? Yes? Of course, you have to quantify it with loss, monetary loss or compensation for trauma or injuries. So you've you've quantified seven dollars ninety nine for your hosary.

Yeah, Oh yeah it is and is hosary. I actually wore the stockings today just so you can see.

Ah, how long ago was the recording November last Yeah, okay.

And have you worn those Hosary sins?

Well? No, I just keep them in a drawer and I bring them out for special occasions when I'm around it and make it feel bad.

And have you had an argument like this in the past.

No, it's quite upsetting to me.

I would say, Yeah, it's absolutely taken a toll on my mental, physical, spiritual health. I would say that I'm much further away from God than I'd like to be.

What has taken a toll on your mental, physical, and spiritual health? What has well?

The fact that my good duty here isn't as close to me is i'd like her to be. And the fact that she's claiming that I didn't include her in a project that meant a lot to us. She's never brought this up to me. If she said, hey, I'd love to sing some of your lines, then I would have said, yeah, sure, we can share them around. I'm not precious.

Yeah, but we can't record the single. It's already out there and being distributed across selling almost seven hundred and fifty copies.

Yeah, but you never brought it up when you heard the song the first time. You only brought up when we started performing it live.

Because you're really hard to talk to you, and that's why I had to bring it to Judge Gina.

Well that you're really hard to talk to as well.

Okay, I'm going to stop you both there. I've heard enough. I'm going to deliberate now, I just need a moment.

Judge Gina it is deliberating and will soon hand down her verdict. Please do not leave the courtroom.

Art Simone, and etcetera, etcetera. I've heard your evidence and made my decision, et cetera, et cetera. Your counterclaim of seven dollars ninety nine for ripped tights has been dismissed. Art Simone. Your claim for eight hundred and thirty dollars and fifty cents compensation has also been denied. Nothing further. Thank you.

You know, I was hoping to get my seven dollars and ninety nine cents for my ripped tights, but that's okay. What I'm going to do is just maybe steal a pair of arts unripped tights and replace my with hers, and then put my ripped tights in her suitcase, but not tell her about it, and then I hope she doesn't take me to judge Gina over that next time.

I am feeling absolutely devastated about today's outcome. It is just horrendous news to hear from my idol, Gina.

I feel like my disagreement with Art Simone has been settled once and for all, but I think that she'll invent new ways to try to rise above me and step on my creativity and my hope and happiness as a human being.

I do not feel like I've got a fair trial at all. Gina was just so stuck up on all of the little details. It was all about numbers, but it was meant to be about me.

I think my relationship with Art Simone are we fine? I see tomorrow we are good.

I think this has affected my relationship with et cetera. But I'm a true professional and I'm used to working with dogs, so I'm gonna keep working with her whether I like it or not. But I'd never want to see those shame stockings ever again. I do not feel like our disagreement has been settled once and for all at all. I'm still devastated, and I'm going to be reminded of it every time I hear that song.

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