Shane Gilberto Jenek (born February 18, 1982), better known under the stage name Courtney Act, is an Australian drag queen, pop singer, entertainer and reality television personality. Jenek first came to prominence, as Courtney, competing on the first season of Australian Idol in 2003. After the show she released her debut single, "Rub Me Wrong", which peaked at No. 29 on the ARIA Singles Chart. In 2003, while auditioning for Australian Idol, she also became the first queer contestant to openly appear on a reality TV talent show. In 2014, Act was one of the runners-up in season six of RuPaul's Drag Race. In January 2018 Act appeared on season twenty one of Celebrity Big Brother and ultimately won the series with 49.43% of the final public vote.
Video Courtney Act
Early life
Act was born in Brisbane, Australia, and moved to Sydney at age 18. They originally intended to take the name Ginger Le'Bon and be a "redheaded, smoky voiced nightclub singer." Instead, they took the stage name Courtney Act, which is a pun on the phrase caught in the act as pronounced in a non-rhotic accent such as Australian English.
Maps Courtney Act
Career
In December 2013, Logo announced that Courtney Act was among 14 drag queens who would be competing on the sixth season of RuPaul's Drag Race. She later went on to become a finalist in the competition, alongside fellow contestants Adore Delano and Bianca Del Rio, but in the season finale lost the title to Bianca Del Rio.
In July 2014, Courtney Act became the first drag performer in history to sing live with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. Act appeared as a guest performer with Cheyenne Jackson in "Hello, Gorgeous! Cheyenne Jackson Goes to the Movies". The two sang a duet of "Elephant Love Song" from the 2001 Baz Luhrmann film Moulin Rouge.
In September 2014, Courtney Act, along with Willam Belli and Alaska Thunderfuck 5000, were the first drag queens to become ad girls for American Apparel. They worked for the campaign Support Artists, Support Ethical Manufacturing of the fashion brand, featuring three limited exclusive T-shirts that honours each drag queen's talents and allure.
Courtney also has a Wig Company called Wigs By Vanity that she set up in 2003 for drag queens with a business partner and fellow drag queen, Vanity Faire.
In December 2015, Courtney was featured on two singles from the Christmas Queens LP, "From Head to Mistletoe", and "Christmas Sweater" with fellow American Apparel ad girls Willam and Alaska.
As of 2016, Act has been a foreign correspondent for the Australian news website, Junkee. Act covered the Presidential election of 2016 for the site, attending rallies of both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Following Trump's election, Act also participated in and reported on the 2017 Women's March.
In October 2017, Courtney appeared in Single AF, a celebrity dating show on MTV UK.
Courtney/Shane J, who is known as both in this series, competed in season 21 of the UK edition of the Celebrity Big Brother, eventually winning the season.
Personal life
Jenek is a vegan, and identifies as gender fluid, polyamorous and pansexual.
Discography
Extended plays
Singles
As lead artist
As featured artist
Other appearances
Tours
Headlining Tours
- Head To Mistletoe (2015)
- Dashing Through The Divas (2016)
- Girl from Oz (2017)
- Lump Of Coal (2017)
- Under The Covers (2018)
Co-Headlining Tours
- Access All Areas Tour (2017)
Filmography
Film
Television
Web series
Music videos
Music video appearances
References
External links
- Official website
- Shane Jenek on IMDb
- Courtney Act discography at Discogs
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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