UC Santa Barbara’s Southeast Asian Union hosted a look-alike competition of musician Beabadoobee on Jan. 25 at the Lagoon Lawn. Fifteen Beabadoobee look-alikes competed for flowers and the latest Beabadoobee CD as part of a nationwide trend of celebrity look-alike contests. 

From left to right, third place Andrea Tran, first place Desiree Vu de Leon and second place Jasmine Lopez. Jack Dindia / Daily Nexus

Beabadoobee, or Beatrice Kristi Ilejay Laus, is a Filipino-British singer-songwriter with indie hit songs like “Real Man” or “The Perfect Pair” and over 25 million monthly listeners on Spotify. The Southeast Asian Union (SEA-U) aimed to host an event that could increase the visibility of Southeast Asian students, according to SEA-U public relations officer and second-year Chinese and linguistics double major Austin Im. Due to Beebadoobee’s Filipino descent and popularity, SEA-U decided to center her in a look-alike competition. 

Roughly 50 people attended the event and voted on the top three contestants whom they felt looked closest to Beabadoobee through a Google Form. Inspired by the Timothée Chalamet look-alike contest in New York Oct. 27, 2024, SEA-U’s public relations team posted nearly 75 flyers promoting the event around campus and in Isla Vista a week before the event.

“I think that when we were doing this event, we really wanted to use a Southeast Asian artist, because the trend did start with Timothée Chalamet, and then a lot of the more popular [contests] are white male artists,” Im said. “I think it’s very fun to have these different people that are Southeast Asian, and especially women, participate in this contest since it’s been so predominantly male before.”

Each look-alike had give a speech and perform a song for the audience to make their case. There were a variety of performances, including singing and instrumental renditions of iconic Beabadoobee songs such as “Glue Song.”

“I am the best Beabadoobee because I practiced this makeup three times this week to get it right, and I used to be in marching band so I have some musical talent,” first-year electrical engineering major Andrea Tran said while making her case for the best Beabadoobee.

However, many performers didn’t sing songs from Beabadoobee’s discography — one performer opted for a performance of “Defying Gravity” from the musical “Wicked.” Another contestant performed “Cologne.”.

Second-year environmental studies and psychological & brain sciences double major Desiree Vu de Leon won the contest, claiming she deserved to win since she “looked like her.” First-year psychological & brain sciences major Jasmine Lopez took second, followed by Tran in third.

Vu de Leon, who won with a total of 30 votes, said she was “honored” to be the winner, but that “mostly the makeup” earned her the victory.

Vu de Leon’s favorite part of the event was watching all her fellow look-alikes sing and seeing more people come to a SEA-U event. 

“I really like listening to everyone sing. I’m actually part of SEA-U as a club. So seeing so many people come out, and additionally, so many other people who haven’t been here before, it’s a lot bigger than what the club meetings usually are. So it was really cool to see both new and people who have been here before,” Vu de Leon said.

Tran discussed how the lighthearted environment made the event particularly enjoyable. 

“My favorite part was meeting new people and seeing all the contestants and just having the most relaxed and unserious time of the day today. I thought that was very bonding,” Tran said.

First-year global studies major and event attendee Katharine Hoang felt that the results were “deserved” and that the winners “definitely looked” like Beabadoobee. 

Second-year geography major Alejandro Echeverria said the event was “a lot of fun.”

All fifteen Beabadoobee look-alikes. Jack Dindia / Daily Nexus

“All throughout, smiling, laughing, supporting. We were all cheering for them, which I really liked. Everybody was supportive, regardless of if they felt like they screwed up [their performances],” Echeverria said.

Im said his ultimate goal was to create a memorable event for those who attended.

“One of my goals, other than increasing the [Southeast Asian] visibility and representation, was also just being able to create something memorable for the people that attended. And I just hope that even just seeing the posters and stuff, I hope that people were enjoying just like seeing it and were like, ‘Oh, that’s so funny or silly,’ you know,” Im said.  

A version of this article appeared on p.5 of the Jan. 30, 2025 edition of the Daily Nexus.

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