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!!!
