It’s been a week since the Drag Race Finals and all that came with it and on Monday the RuPaul show will start.
What happened at the finals and what can we expect from Ru? We’ll talk about all this here.
Well let’s first say: what a fabulous final!! One of the best in a while.
While some finals dragged on as we waited for the crowning, this one was filled to the brim:
Each top four queen had their own moment to talk, do a sketch and share the stage with Ru.
There was music (Christina and the Queens performing “Cover Girl”), Queens from the past, Vanjie!! And Ru seemingly living her best life joking and glowing. A joy.
Another highlight was Michelle Visage who got her deserved moment to talk about Breast Implant Illness Awareness. Michelle is such a big part of this show she should have a section each year. It would be great if she could perform one of the songs she has been doing on the road with the Rugirls one day.
Then on to the lip-syncs: Silky vs Brooke Lynn, Yvie vs A’Keria: the right result in both cases. It was sad to see Silky so scared and seemingly already giving up before it all started. Apparently she had been suffering from a social media hate campaign that tarnished her confidence. Very sad.
The big finale: Yvie vs Brooke Lynn. One of those historic lip-syncs we’ll be talking about in years to come. While Yvie was absolutely shining, and was the deserved winner, Brooke Lynn would have won every other year. Her “Reveal” coat, her dancing: stunning. But Yvie was unbeatable she drew everyone’s attention in her mirrored dress and majestic poses. She seemed already a star and the audience lapped her up.
As the winner Yvie of course quickly released some music and a video that was absolutely on brand Yvie style!!
Now it’s been a whole week without Drag Race but not without RuPaul. Mama Ru has been doing the chat show rounds promoting the Rupaul show. Her new daily live show, that is more than just TV.
Watch one interview here:
We might also see Michelle Visage back soon in the UK as our tiny diva is rumored to be signing on for Strictly!!
But before that don’t forget: Drag Race UK is coming soon!! New Queens, new styles new accents! Are you excited? I am!!
We’ll leave you with Ru talking about LGBT rights and Donald Trump on the View this week, because … Well, because!!
A big two weeks in drag history: the semi-final, Alyssa Edwards launching her make up pallet, the series 11 reunion and the biggest Drag Con ever.
Let’s discuss all this in this order:
We’ve lost Miss Vanjie!! Yes, the unexpected happened on Episode 12: Miss Vanjie sashayed out of the competition.
The episodes saw the Queens become part of Ru’s music: writing and recording either a rap or verse for her new track Queens Everywhere.
The queens were rehearsed and recorded by Todrick Hall and were told they had to perform the track in a one-take performance in front of the judges.
If I’m honest I miss the final performances where Ru performed a scene with the queens during the video. It was great seeing her interact with her final four/three.
It seems recording an episode of “What’s The T” with the girls has replaced this, but then again in the past she did this too with the “lunch” chat – tick tacks included.
What I love is how Michelle Visage does the workroom talk in these episodes, she’s so natural and fun it seems she’s been doing this every week, she and Ru have this wonderful similar energy. It’s no wonder they’ve been friends for so long.
The performance was fun. But for some reason Vanjie seemed to have a blackout during it, messing up a routine she did so well during rehearsal. Brooke Lynn did well but really didn’t fit this kind of dance. Silky amazed literally throwing herself into it, A’Keria was good enough and had learned fast for a non-dancer. Yvie was an absolute stand out.
The runway was sort of the same, though I didn’t get the critique about Vanjie’s dress. It was beautiful!
Then came the shocking moment: Vanjie vs Brooke Lynn. The lovers were put against each other!!
Brooke Lynn wins and Vanjie leaves.
But OMG did she leave!! This was amazing and probably the most iconic moment of this series. Thank you for that Vanjie!!
Then there was the amazing Miss Alyssa Edwards. Last week she exploded all over social media in the most sparkly way. The reason is as fabulous as ever: she has her own makeup pallet out with Anastasia Beverly Hills. The pallet is so wonderfully her: bright colours named after her most famous catchphrases and motivational quotes (beast, backroles, unicorn tribe, don’t dream it be it etc.) She also released a single “The Supreme” to accompany the release.
Last weekend at Drag Con Alyssa proved her star status arriving with her entourage to excited screams. She also proved that she is still the kind, humble soul she has always been, as she stood on stage for endless hours on massive heels, making sure she posed and chatted with every last fan. Giving them a smile and a hug without complaining once, no matter how exhausted she started to look.
This week she was revealed as the face of Fronts Fossil’s Pride Benefit Campaign
The reunion then. While it delivered no real solution to wig gate (but not even the people involved cared much by the end.) It did show us that despite not making the top 4, Vanjie is clearly one of the breakout stars (again) this season.
Contradicting all expectations the reunion wasn’t the explosive bomb it promised to be after all these weeks of online bitching and threats of “wait till the reunion”, it was more a small but enjoyable sparkler.
The main course of the show existed of the queens explaining and apologising for their actions. It was good to see Ra’Jah get the chance to explain herself and the issues she was going through during filming. It was also a treat to see a young queen like Plastique be so gentle and understanding.
Two of the biggest shocks of the episode absolutely were seeing how A’Keria instigated so many problems between queens and … The end of Branjie!!
Yes, while we were all watching romance develop on screen, the golden couple had already broken up in real life. Brooke Lynn not being ready for full commitment is understandable but still, it was sad to see Miss Vanjie so hurt by it all.
RuPaul being RuPaul obviously seemed disappointed by the first Drag Race romance already being over, so she got the couple to hug and try to make up when both admitted they would love to try again.
Rumour has it they were seen hugging at Drag Con this weekend, so who knows!!
Meanwhile, a lot of things we wanted to hear more about Silky and Soju’s fall out, for example, were left up in the air. Poor Honey Davenport’s controversial exit wasn’t even discussed, and it really should have been. In fact, she was barely acknowledged.
Some spark was missing for some reason as if the queens were afraid to really let rip. After the reunion social media queens Plastique, Soju and Ariel released a video about their drag Race experiences being social media queens that was actually more entertaining in a way.
It’s been said that a lot has been edited out of the official reunion, which is a shame as we get so involved with those queens we just want to know if things are resolved in the end!!
All queens (season 11 and otherwise) certainly seemed united last weekend at Drag Con where the greatest, most sparkling edition ever took place.
Anyone following RuPaul on Twitter or Instagram got an absolute treat seeing the Queen of queens beyond happy and excited. It was good to see Ru be so hands-on during the weekend: meeting fans, hosting panels and even giving two DJ sets. During her interviews on location, the joy in creating this event for queens and drag lovers was clear. This event means the world to her and seeing she has created an LGBTQ event parents are taking their children to is so uniquely valuable.
Now, though it’s the finale after weeks of waiting and wondering.
Will it be Yvie, Brooke Lynn, Silky or A’Keria? We can’t wait to find out!!!
Well, it’s been quite the few weeks in the world of Drag Race!! Queen of Queens Rupaul has been the source of many discussions regarding her recent decisions on the show as well as her MET Gala look and recent TV appearances!!
First the last two episodes: Episode 10.
One of the best episodes so far, with a good story-line and a great challenge. Oh, and lots of Pit Crew!! Ah, and an appearance of Delta Work! You know: classic Drag Race!
It was also home of a first: namely Vanjie finally winning a challenge. Okay, a mini challenge, but still.
The win meant she could select her team for this weeks main challenge: a drag magic show!!
Sadly, she didn’t use this position to her advantage, as the team she selected … well, let’s just say, sadly, it didn’t do too well. This is sad, as a team consisting out of the more vocal queens of the show (Vanjie, Silky, A’keria and Yvie) could have worked.
The main reason as to why this happened is soon clear as during creating and rehearsing their show the team doesn’t seem to listen to each other (Silky even falls asleep) and Vanjie is seen trying to please everyone and feeling uncomfortable. Then they have to redo it all again as Team Da Black Magic as they call themselves are told their material is too blue for family VH1 viewing. Despite performing reasonably well, the poor girls didn’t stand a chance.
The other team (The Mighty Tucks) consisting of Nina, Brooke Lynn and Shuga Cain immediately seems prepared and ready: working on a full back story, a naughty but suitable for family script and an almost professional act. The moment they start you feel as if you’re watching a group of queens who’ve been doing this for years. They could basically tour this act!!
It is clear that they are this weeks winners.
After a strong Kaftan based Runway the judges start their critique. It’s easy: They loved The Mighty Tucks and disliked Da Black Magic. Nina rightfully wins this week while Yvie and Silky are especially singled out for respectively their stage presence and their shocking padding, We think we know who will be in the bottom two.
But … there is a twist: the winning team doesn’t win as a team, with Shuga Cain singled out as a week link and put in the sing of. This is very odd as Shuga proved herself a strong and funny team member and should not have been part of the bottom two.
As team leader of Da Black Magic it is Vanjie who ends up as second bottom two member and turns out a very strong lip sync.
It is goodbye to Brooke Lynn.
Soon after Ru appeared at the MET gala and, sadly her outfit wasn’t to everyone’s taste and caused an absolute storm on the internet with some people actually sending death threats. Now I know fashion and glamour is a serious subject to many, but really?!!
Ru later explained her decision not to wear drag to Stephen Colbert: she had been lead to believe there would be hundreds of drag queens and had opted to stand out in a different way. To her this outfit was camp. It is a shame, as this being the year drag queens were finally invited and the theme being camp it could have been the perfect year for Ru to once again make history.
Soon, though, the MET controversy was forgotten as Ru surprised Anne Hathaway live on TV and her response was … interesting to say the least.
Things became even more heated after episode 11. An episode that saw a few of the eliminated queens return.
Before that, though there was a return of the “reading and slapping” challenge, which Ru left entirely in the hands of the girls, after he accidentally hit Asia for real last year.
The girls take full advantage of their chance to hit their colleagues and release some pent up energy.
Brooke Lynn is the best, using her ballet skills to amp up her comedy, and rightfully won.
Then the eliminated queens return for a challenge (and a fight.) They are to be made over by the still standing queens. As usual “family resemblance” is the key. Brooke Lynn gets the honor of pairing up the queen with their future sister and on the whole her pairings could work. The only problem seems to be the pairing of Silky and Soju and this played out rather painfully on screen. Feighning friendlyness during the challenge Silky madfe it rather clear in her backstage chat that she didn’t care for Soju as a partner at all. Seeing Soju working hard to do anything to please and help Silky made you feel for her. Come on, the girl tried to work in heels for you despite it hurting and let you work on her face with a sharpy!!
Meanwhile a few fights about wigs and opinions broke out. But considering all that happened online between the season 11 queens during this seasons broadcast we can expect far worse during the reunion!!
Judging from what we are shown in the episode the people setting themselves up for fail are Silky and Nina. Silky because she and Soju are just not in that “sisterly vibe” zone as all the other and Nina because, even though her her idea is wonderful: The Rainbow Flag and the Transgender Flag embracing each other, the outfits do not look alike. This is sad because Nina’s idea and look would have been a winner in a “Pride” challenge, but for a twin look it is just not working.
This all plays out as expected.
Meanwhile Vanjie is followed throughout the episode and from what we see and hear we’re certain: this will finally be Vanjie’s week. She’s had such a rough time after being brought back from last season. Now, finally her anxiety and hard work will be validated: Vanjie will get her win AT LAST!!
Come decision time, though, things turn confusing. The runway and judges critiques made it clear: clearly this will be a redemption win for Vanjie. She made Ariel into a virtual twin, so much so you can’t even spot the difference between them at times. This is actual family resemblance!! Adding to this: the look was gorgeous.
Not that Brooke Lynn didn’t turn it out, but Vanjie’s work was perfection. Seeing the hopeful expectation on Vanjie’s face turn to heartbreak after being denied a win yet again was sad.
Thankfully Brooke Lynn said she would share her reward (a holiday for two) with her.
Then the lip-sync: Nina vs Silky. A lot of accusations have been thrown towards Rupaul for putting Nina in the bottom two, but it was clear that though her idea was beautiful, the execution just didn’t look right for this challenge. Then the performance itself: seriously? Silky, after ten weeks of bigging herself up turns out with this? Nina clearly was the best one here performance wise, though only by a small margin.
The only reason I can see for keeping Silky might be because, at the time, production thought she would be a fan favorite and the face she had thought up a reveal (a small and confusing one, but still) and attempted to use the entire space and tried a split? Yes, grasping at straws here.
Meh indeed …
So, this week the finale was recorded, taking six hours in total. Queens old and new walked the red carpet and later the runway. You can see what this seasons queens wore on this Drag Race Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/rupaulsdragrace/?hl=en
To keep the mystery two exciting crownings were recorded. Soon we will find out which one will be shown when we the audience help Ru decide the official winner. Shockingly WOW had already leaked the official top four earlier this week in their recording announcements, rest assured if you missed it I will not spoil it for you.
There was some drama with two audience members being evicted for posting live pictures and updates to social media. Having seen some I can reveal one important thing: this time Ru looks absolutely gorgeous!!
This is a two in one review that I hope you will enjoy.
Last week Drag Race presented us with Rupaul teaching the queens all about promotion, using her own book Guru as a tool for a fun mini challenge.
The episode also included a visit from the lovely Jinx Monsoon who coached the girls into the always much anticipated snatch game.
That segment proved a clear problem some queens always have: when told their strengths and weaknesses – or what may or may not work they never listen. Or they only take it on board when it’s too late. If Ru or a seasoned queen makes it clear they think you’d be better suited to do a character they know you excel at: do it!!
So Snatch Game itself was … uneven, the ones that were good were good, the ones that were not absolutely bombed!
Silky won overall. Now her Snatch Game was good but what does Nina West have to do to be noticed? She presented two wonderfully funny characters and completely changed up her look and still she just gets a “well done, byeee!!”
It must be discouraging to be working so hard and never be seen.
The runway was a fabulous sequin spectacle with Brooke Lynn Heights pulling a beautiful mega reveal. Sadly as she failed on Snatch Game it didn’t do her much good.
Then the much talked about lip-sync: Yvie vs Brooke Lynn.
I know a lot of fans say this was the best lip-sync ever but it wasn’t for me. Yes, it was good but I prefer ones that don’t use acrobatics but instead have real dancing or the ones where the queens are so into the song it seems as if they sing it themselves.
Still it was good, so good in fact no-one sashayed away.
This week saw the library open for one of the strangest of Reading challenges. This it seemed as if non of the girls really knew how to really read and were better at clapping back. Silky and her footnote was the strangest one of all. Brooke Lynn was absolutely the best and deserved her win. Future queens better go and watch Paris is Burning to get schooled in reading like a pro!!
One of the rewards of winning her reading challenge was that Brooke Lynn got to select who teamed up with who for this weeks main challenge. An improv police series called: L.A.D.P.: Los Angeles Drag Patrol. There was some shade involved in her choices, but also a little wisdom. Pairing a more subdued queen with a vocal one can work – and it did for most of them.
The challenge itself was fun for the most with Silky and Brooke Lynn shining (it was not surprising Nina felt some kind of way giving Brooke Lynn the part she had wanted to do herself. She ended up being barely featured in the scene at all!!) But the absolute star was A’Keria Davenport who finally felt ready to let go. She was funny and an absolute twerk star!
The real winner, to me, though was RuPaul. The delivery of her connecting secretary scenes were hilarious – especially when she was “speaking cat”.
So, talking about cats: sad to say Plastique Tiara and Miss Vanjie were … not there – they looked great and their thing could have been funny, if they had prepared a little more. Also two cats fighting over milk. Did no-one even think about fighting over Milk? As in the former contestant? It could have made the joke a lot better.
Then the runway, this week category is the Facekini. Though the show says it’s based on Ru’s iconic wearing of the facial garment, the original for this look is course Leigh Bowery, which is mentioned by Nina West who wears an outfit inspired by him. Sadly, though her look is one of the best, she doesn’t get singled out and just ends up “safe”.
Absolute winner is A’Keria who also slays the runway, a well deserved win.
Over to one of the most cozy and cheerful Untuckeds ever. The girls were at their calmest: talking like friends and just being happy an friendly with each other. It’s good to have episodes like this once in a while.
The bottom two was right: both Vanjie and Plastique were just not on point in both the challenge and the runway. Vanjie was clearly ready to slay a lip-sync, having prepared herself every week and easily beat Plastique.
From all kinds of whispers it is clear we do not have to mourn the loss of our Asian Queen for long, her popularity might spur her on to All stars 5. If you can’t wait that long, take a look at what she did next here:
Yes!! There she was at last: the much quoted much mentioned Alyssa Edwards returned to Drag Race this week and breathed some much-needed life in this year’s slightly confusing season.
The episode started with the queens feeling a bit low and irritated with each other. RuPaul seemed intent on changing this rut this week, staging a potato-sack race (with boobs) that put a bit of a smile on the queen’s faces (especially the winners as the best queens got rather a lot of money!!)
The challenge itself, though, brought everyone back to earth: Farm to Runway. The queens got the almost impossible challenge of turning farm food and fabric into actual fashion worthy challenges.
A lot of the queens seem happy with the challenge, ready to show their creative selves.
This week the episode was very much Plastique Tiara’s chance to shine, and she did!! Her emotional talk with RuPaul about her upbringing and sad relationship with her family was heartbreaking, resulting in the first documented workroom hug from Ru. Then we were later introduced to her lighter more carefree side with the arrival of her drag-mother: Alyssa. The change in attitude from Plastique was amazing, and resulted in getting her first big win!! Well done.
It seemed Alyssa had a positive influence on everyone with her catwalk training, fun motivational speeches and choreography. It was the first time all queens seemed at ease and smiling.
The show is stressful and emotional, and having a person step in with a positive attitude who knows what you’ve been through helps a lot. Alyssa is a great teacher and it was clear she cares for her new drag sisters (and daughters) a lot.
Sadly nothing could help poor Ra’Jah. The queen clearly felt undervalued in the show, longing for praise and help, but also pushing away everyone who reached out. Over the weeks it was sad to see a clearly talented artist fall victim to their (in Ru’s words) “Inner saboteur”.
What was also sad was hearing her tell Akeria about knowing she was having a breakdown but no-one was helping her, no one had ever told her she was loved. The jealousy she displayed towards Plastique came from a place of hurt. It was good to see a young queen like Plastique sensing this and comforting the angry Ra’Jah instead of fighting.
Hopefully Ra’Jah will find her inner peace so her true talent can shine one day. A lot of queens got the chance to redeem themselves during an All Star season, I hope she can have that too.
Judging from her after show interviews she has already started working on her problems.
But we’ll see at the reunion.
With Ra’Jah gone focus is now shifting to the differences between Yvie Oddly, Silky and Miss Vanjie. This could be getting interesting!! Stay tuned!!
This week the theme was “sport” and the Olympics. Not words you expect to hear in Drag Race, but the Sport was Jane Fonda based and the Olympics turned out to be in fact “The Olympics of Drag”, so any worry soon disappeared.
For the mini-challenge, we were introduced to a drag friend of Ru’s: Love Connie, who led the queens through a vigorous and funny retro aerobics challenge. For those of you who don’t know: Connie is a rather famous queen, having starred in movies like Legally Blonde. She was also hilarious.
Winners of the challenge were Plastique Tiara and A’Keria C. Davenport who were told to select teams for the Drag Olympics. At the end of the selections, the queens were split evenly into two teams: those who could move and those who … couldn’t …
Over to rehearsals of an intricate choreography based on the history of ballroom culture. This is where storylines came into play.
Yvie Oddly who pushes through the pain because her time is limited: her illness will progress over the years and she knows she may very well end up in a wheelchair (though she knows that still won’t stop her performing.)
There was also the Scarlet Envy story: most of the queens are looking down on her and seemed gleeful about her struggling with dancing.
Vanjie is starting to feel depressed and is a lot more subdued. Fighting through tears she explains she feels she isn’t presenting her best self and letting Rupaul down.
We also saw Plastique Tiara a bit more involved in it all, in Untucked she was actually part of a fight.
Silky accused her of looking down on her and other queens. This because Ariel Versace left some wigs and hair at her (Plastique’s) station which Silky and others took. Plastique knew it was meant for her but said it didn’t matter as the other queens needed it more. Silky saw that as an insult and claimed Plastique couldn’t know the hair was for her. Ariel confirmed on Twitter that yes is was for Plastique.
Okay, the Olympics themselves were fabulous with the teams dancing to remixes of Drag Race quotes past. The only cloud over this was poor Yvie’s ankle rolling, still, it was a joy to see Brook Lynn swoop in to carry her so she could take part in the finale.
The Runway this week was all about gold. Most memorable being Yvie, who used her injury to her advantage.
The team featuring the best dancers naturally won, with team leader A’keria winning overall.
Then a sad moment where the losing team all deciding to throw Scarlet under the bus, which saw her end up in the bottom two at a disadvantage.
Second-bottom two entree was once again Ra’Jah, who miraculously survived again despite Scarlet’s lip-sync being more original and entertaining. This result caused quite the stir on the internet.
So that’s it for this belated review, hopefully back to normal next week!!
Yes, there was a ball – a Monsterball even. But something felt off.
Much as I love Drag Race, this year it seems hard to connect to the show. It isn’t Ru’s fault: he is doing wonderful. He really seems to have found his groove back, harking back to his excited self from earlier series. More involved and actually part of the judging team.
No, the error seems to lay in the editing which seems intend on focusing on things that don’t matter much and contestants who seem to care more about making good TV and talking heads instead of actually BEING ON DRAG RACE!!
This time last year I knew the contestants and felt part of it all. This year it seems we are only allowed to know a select few. A few weeks ago I was rooting for A’keria Davenport but she’s so rarely featured I had completely forgotten about her until she was included in a talking head this week. Same for Plastique Tiara and some others.
It’s really distracting having to go “who’s that? Oh yes …” even five weeks in. Despite it working with fourteen last year, maybe having fifteen queens is just too many, as it’s harder to connect with all of them. Having the narrative revolve around only a few of them doesn’t help either.
So what happened this week? Well, mainly a surprising amount of Alyssa Edwards references which made many people (including me) expect she would appear in this episode. She didn’t, though Trixie Mattel did. The All Stars winner led the contestants through a mini challenge. The challenge was turning yourself into a doll that could befriend Ru’s new Rupaul doll. Meaning that for once it truly was Rupaul’s best friend race. Ra’Ja won.
Then the Maxi Challenge: the Monsters Ball. Now I’m always a fan of the ball episodes, but I prefer them later in the series when we can really focus on the final 5/6 queens getting ready for their big moment. When the one queen that can’t sew has a wobbly bur regains themselves. And then Rupaul returns reminding them: ya … erm … you also have to do a song …
This week there was no song and because we had to feature 33 looks in one episode we hardly saw any workroom activity. Though we did get a huge amount of Silky chanting something about a runway and some more insight into the “Branjie” (Vanjie and Brook Lynn) relationship.
It’s a shame as the queens conversations often make the show even more than the challenges and fashion.
In Untucked Nina West once more showed why she is this years Latrice or Chad when talking about LGBT rights history and why we need to learn from the past. I would have loved to see this conversation in the main show.
Then over to the runway. So 33 looks … a bit much and after a while it’s hard to remember all of it, making guessing who will be in the bottom difficult. In the end the Brook Lynn won while Shuga Cain and Ariel Versace ended up in the bottom two. Poor Ariel lost as she fell halfway through.
A bit of a lesser episode compared to the earlier ones, hopefully next week will be better. Maybe Alyssa Edwards will turn up!!
Drag Race stars used for wildly different purposes in Poland and the UK as Rupaul arrives for British Drag Race
Yes girl!! It’s starting!! This week Rupaul and Michelle Visage arrived in the UK to start preparing for Drag Race UK. The two also caused a stir attending Waitress the musical and surprising the cast backstage.
Rumour has it the recordings will start this Monday!!
Arriving in the UK right in time for the anti Brexit march, Rupaul might have been pleasantly surprised that so many signs carried her image or variations on famous Drag Race quotes.
Yes, Drag Race fans made a point in turning out with some amazing banners to tell Brexit to sashay away!
Here are some of the best.
Poland are also using Ru Queens for a campaign. Sadly this one is not good.
The images of Alyssa Edwards and Trixie Mattel are being used in a far right campaign against homosexuality. We hope this usage will soon be stopped!
@AlyssaEdwards_1 I noticed, that in one polish newspaper (@GPtygodnik) there's a picture of you used in a quite unfavorable context. Here's the picture along with a translation of the headline and the preface pic.twitter.com/tn0Nh4LQbJ
This week saw a very different Drag Race, as the show got political.
Drag has always been political in a way: as it is a mirror towards society and it’s expectations. It is a political act just to exist as a drag queen and many a queen has fought back against those in power in her shows. Ru herself has often used Drag Race and her own position to urge people to vote, be involved and make change happen.
But Trump the Rusical marks the first time the politics were addressed heads on. This shows how problematic society has become. Knowing hate crimes against the LGBTQ+ have risen 226% in areas where Trump held rallies you just can’t remain silent anymore.
Most of the episode spoke about living in a world where you can be attacked for being who you are. Nina West described her life on a campus where she was abused and threatened. She grew up in a deeply conservative and political environment and was terrorized in college when she ran for student government, once people knew she was gay. She also linked her story to the tragic case of Matthew Shepard which happened at the same time. It was a time when LGBTQ+ tolerance was at a low, where it sadly seems to be heading again now.
A timely as well as a cautionary tale.
Then Mercedes Iman spoke out, regretting not doing so last week. She talked about having to fight hate and stereotypes from many sides (being a gay drag queen as well as a black immigrant and Muslim). She wants to show the world that Muslims are not terrorists, despite living in fear on a daily basis. It is good to see her finding herself.
It would have been great to hear the voice of Plastique Tiara as well in this, as growing up gay in a conservative Vietnamese household raised by her grandmother would give her a unique perspective as well. Sadly she never featured in the episode at all.
Of course Silky had another surprise up her sleeve: she is a registered republican. Not because she is republican but to fight the power from the inside!! “Re-movement of the districts… Get smarter than them, register as a Republican.” In Untucked Silky also showed a different side of herself when she comforted Vanjie who had a semi panic attack thinking she’d be in the Lip sync.
Meanwhile Yvie Oddly revealed she suffers from a connective tissue disorder that causes all of her joints to be hyper-flexible and therefore prone to dislocation in physically demanding situations.
“I have a disease called Ehlers–Danlos syndrome type 3. I don’t produce a whole lot of collagen, so I have extra skin everywhere…. but it’s not going to hold me back in this competition!” She added.
So after a new kind of mini challenge (newsreading in the style of Rachel Maddow) and a brutal choreography training with Deadpool ballet dancer Yanis Marshall (where Ra’ja found out boosting about dance training isn’t very wise when it was decades ago) it was over to the musical itself.
Based on Grease it told the tale of the women of Trump who, with a little help from Oprah, find out that being your own person is better than being a dictators possession. It ended with an ode to womanhood and a call for more women to run for office.
All the queens did very well with a few standouts including Yvie and Nina but in the end Silky’s Oprah was singled out as a winner.
Talking points were Michelle Visage’s clear dislike of guest judge Joel McHale and the growing relationship between Vanjie and Brookelyn. Vanjie still seems to want to play it down, though.
It was sad seeing Mercedes leave the show just as she found her voice, it would have been great to see her stay just a little longer as she has already proved herself to be iconic.
Hope to see you back one day Opulence Queen!!
RuPaul’s Drag Race is available to stream on Netflix
A week of heights and lows for this week as the girl’s praise and worship.
After a bit of a confusing mini-challenge (where non of the girls really gave a convincing enough argument for being let in backstage,) we quickly started at the big challenge of the week: Diva Worship.
Two teams (led by Nina West and Ra’Jah O’Hara) had to create their own religion based on a Diva and host a show based on this. So basically the idea is to do a parody of one of these religious TV shows even we in Europe can see if you own a working satellite.
Nina West’s team pretty much settle on Britney within minutes. It’s obvious why: her story and drama are fresh in everyone’s mind, but not so fresh it seems mean. Also, she has turned it around and survived so yes, a great target. Only Silky turns Sulky: she wanted to do Whitney. But her teammates all agree: doing her is not funny, as we all know how her story ended.
Still, the team seems solid and quite aware of all the Britney-isms out there. When Ru talks to them it’s clear she feels confident they will do well.
Okay, then team Ra’Jah O’Hara … Yeah … okay … After a lot of good suggestions, they settle on Mariah Carey claiming they know the most about her. Well, they don’t seem to know she isn’t Whitney Houston, as most of the songs and movies they mention during their challenge are hers.
Their talk to Ru should have made them aware they were on the wrong track. Not even realising the diva they could have used was Ru herself was even worse.
They were lucky someone had the sense to shoot down Diana Ross as the icon worshipped, they might all have been eliminated on the spot.
Team Nina West are absolutely flawless – with Nina herself and Miss Vanjie as the absolute standouts.
The only disappointment seems Silky as her energy seems rather low (for the second time in an acting challenge.)
Poor team O’Hara. The only knowledge they have of Mariah seems to be two titles and the things Ru told them five minutes ago. It’s.just.a.mess. It might be the worst acting challenge in herstory. Poor Ross Mathews looked beyond relieved when it was over and advised the girls to do well on the catwalk.
Next thing we know we’re presented with one of the oddest of dressing room sections where Vanjie and Brooke Lynn cuddle up and kiss each other on the mouth (could this be the first Drag Race romance?!!) Yvie paints every bit of her body pink – yes EVERY bit!!
And … non of the girl’s bar Silky seem aware of what being Muslim is? That is really odd. Poor Mercedes (the first Muslim contestant on the show) seemed to not want to discuss it anyway, so maybe it’s best just left alone.
Que the Runway. Both Ru and Michelle Visage look amazing this week!!
Then the catwalk walk begins!
Category is: Fringe!!
Several stand out looks and overall high quality (though still Yvie, you really didn’t have to paint all of that, we never saw it!!)
Within seconds team Nina West Team has won, with Nina the leader who ruled with conviction crowned this weeks winner.
(Que Untucked where Silky threw a tantrum because her team had … won? She then claimed the only reason she hadn’t won this challenge herself was she held back because of her religion. The rest of them soon called her out saying she was only sulking because it hadn’t been about Whitney. They were right.
Then, after some fighting Silky bizarrely decided to tear off most of her clothes saying she’d been ready to lipsync for her life: Erm, Silky, your team WON!! The unflinching stoic response of the rest of the girls – especially Yvie was absolute art.)
Meanwhile, onstage all girls are judged and all blame their entire group. No-one is thrown under the bus.
This is good.
But …
You can see how the surprisingly low energy responses and lack of knowledge of the group as a whole frustrate Ru. You cannot be a Queen without a drive and at least some knowledge of LGBTQ+ icons and history.
Even when she listed a list of people they could have done there was never an “aha” moment.
This is odd.
There was only one person who had an excuse for not being completely informed about Pop-culture.
My heart went out to Plastique Tiara during this entire episode and Untucked, she seemed so lost and quiet. No-one seemed to believe her when she talked about not being aware of pop culture. But yes, it can happen in the environment she grew up in.
But she was the only one and as Ru said: the others should have helped her. But they clearly couldn’t even help themselves.
Back onstage: Ru is done and all the team is up for eviction. Which … O.M.G.
For a second it looked like Ru’s House for Drag Toddles with the bizarre antics that went on on the stage. The look on Ru’s face watching it all should be gif-ed to eternity.
Thankfully it’s over soon.
Poor Honey Davenport, you see how much it means to her and you feel her pain when her death-drop from stage turns … well, out wrong. Still, she is sent away and the scene in her Untucked leaving video is beyond heartbreaking.
So we’ve landed in week two of RuPaul’s Drag Race season 11 and what a week it was.
Starting off with only the second, but already much loved, photo-bomb. Sadly in this incarnation, Silky was one of the first to go in and as her picture was such a blinder, most of the Queens after her tried to hard at copying her. Sadly this made the game a bit messy and tacky instead of funny.
The next round was the acting challenge and thankfully everything picked up (a lot!) from there … including, unfortunately, fights!!
Of course, there were the usual squabbles about who was picked last. (Girls: in the end, there will always be a the last one for everything!!)
But something bigger went down as well.
Am I right in thinking this is the first time in herstory where RuPaul her damn self was the one starting the shenanigans? During her team talks, she decided to tell one team what the others had told her about them. And she was clearly enjoying it too.
So thanks to Ru’s gossiping what started out as an off the cuff remark from Brooke Lynn’s team about Silky’s larger than life personality ended up in a fight that overtook half the episode and most of Untucked later on.
It’s safe to say Silky couldn’t have been completely surprised people complained about being annoyed with her as most of the Queens said they’d kill her during an “innocent” round of Mary, Fuck, Kill earlier in the episode.
Oddly on elimination day the fight kind of turned away from Silky to become a bitching fest between Yvie and Ra’Jah for some reason.
In the end, it took Plastique Tiara’s pleading “hug it out” during Untucked to put a stop to it all (for now.)
There was also a sad moment where we learned more about Mercedes, the first Muslim contestant. It turned out that this Kenyan born Queen suffered because of her immigration background, which brought a lot of stress in her life. Things got worse when her name ended up on the “No Flight” list, making it hard for her to get to pageants. In the end, she tried driving everywhere. All this caused her so much stress and exhaustion she suffered a stroke one day, mid-pageant, in her late 20s. She ended up in a wheelchair for a while.
This left her with very low confidence and insecurity about her looks. Hearing this story the Queens, as always, leave behind their fights and arguments to make her feel loved and secure. This is the beauty of Drag Race: no matter the fights or petty remarks, when one of their own is suffering the drag family is there for her.
The acting challenge as well as a deeper meaning this time around. Both teams star in stories that Celebrating black cinema: remakes of Black Panther and Get Out. Both story-lines deal with identity, appropriation (from both black and drag culture,) and violence.
Directed by Michelle Visage (the strictest but also best acting coach of the team) and Ross Matthews (who is also growing in this role) both sketches turn out to be among the best of Drag Race acting herstory. This season turns out to be packed with acting and comedy talent, and it is clear from Michelle and Ross’ responses that they were pleasantly surprised. Seeing their joy in how well the Queens take direction or how funny they are is almost better than watching the scenes themselves. It is clear how much they love their drag children doing well.
There are things that could have gone wrong with the Black Panther pastiche: the cast being mostly white and Plastique Tiara being asked to go stereotypical Vietnamese. Thankfully thanks to some quick thinking (the whitest black panther) and Plastique being the one getting her nails DONE instead of doing them it kind of worked.
Then on to the catwalk, this week with an Astrology theme. The Queens had to stride the stage dressed as their own star sign and some wonderful looks were created.
My only gripe with this one: a lot of Queens were born with the same sign. Wouldn’t it have been better to allocate them with a sign once the show reached 12 girls meaning each girl could show a unique look? Oh well, just a minor squabble with so much fabulousness onstage, including Ru herself in full Wakanda realness!
So onto the winners (yes Ru can’t seem to stop splitting top spots this year) Scarlett and Yvie. Well, it’s only fair, their parts were basically a two-hander and they shared great chemistry during their scenes.
Sadly in the bottom Mercedes and Kahanna. Sharing her story with the girls and the judges seems to have lifted a weight of Mercedes and sees the queen who was once in a wheelchair lipsync, dance and do splits in a fierce performance that even outshines Kahanna who at once stage backflips and does a perfect landing IN HEELS!!
