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S13.E02: Condragulations


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Okay, I'm digging the Winner's Circle plus Elliott.  It's nice to get to know the girls before anyone goes home for real.

Ru could have just broke the queens up into 2 groups. It's not necessary to inflict this much emotional abuse on them during the competition.

I'm loving Olivia, Lala Ri, and Symone.

I guess the producers are annoyed that these queens get along with each other; I was able to watch Untucked without cringing from excess drama.

I don't like the song "Congragulations".  Ru didn't have any bangers on his latest album?

Edited by Stardancer Supreme
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Oh, man. That was so stressful! Just follow the format, for god's sake. But I am very pleased Elliott got to stay. I am liking that Martha Plimpton-y thing she's got going on. Seeing the poor thing get the chop, then come back in, and try and find a place of acceptance in that group of six and then achieving that by the end of Untucked was really sweet.

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The minute Symone started skipping and those beautiful braids started swaying to the beat, I knew she'd clinched the win. I love her and hope she goes far in the competition.

That entire routine was a hot mess. The choreo was trash, the lyrics were forgettable, and they didn't even have the decency to be in sync. Everyone looked SO STIFF, especially Tina Burner. Gottmik doing the drunk white girl sway in the back made me LOL, but does not bode well for her future performances. Kandy running her mouth about how badass she is and then flailing around after missing a step was just too funny.

Speaking of which, all I could think of was "hit dogs will holler" as she ran back and forth dragging Elliott with 2Ts after she threw a little shade Kandy's way. The only insult they could come up with was "we won" over and over again, but unlike Bianca they're not funny. Elliott actually stuck it to them a few different ways and seemed much quicker on her feet than most of them.

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Sooo...there's going to be two parallel shows?

Kandy can get off my TV any time now. What is she blathering on about Elliott being a spy? For who? For what? That doesn't even make sense in the context of this competition. Her drag is poor, she's not funny, and I'm really surprised none of the judges got on her about her choreo being just, flopping around with flipper hands. Also there should have been at least one criticism that Tina Burner's makeup was only silver face paint in the final look.

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The stupid thing about forcing the Pork Chop girls to vote someone off was that they had nothing to base it on. The only thing that has happened so far is that they each lip synced, but they didn't see the others LSFYL. There was absolutely no criteria upon which to base their votes because they've done no challenges together and the only interaction they had was five minutes of them all saying, "WTF just happened?" All they had to go on was what the other girls were wearing and since there was no assignment for what they were supposed to wear, there was just "I liked her outfit" vs "I didn't like her outfit" which is a pretty dumb way to eliminate someone in the first episode.

I was not at all surprised that one of the girls said that Kandy is known for being a shit stirrer in New York. I already got that vibe from her last week. I was rolling my eyes at how testy she got about Elliott having THE GALL to join in the conversation instead of just crawling under a table and trying to shrink herself out of existence. JFC.

I don't know why the other girls were so suspicious about Elliott. Did they really believe that the season was going to start with only six girls? The season would be over after a week of shooting. That paranoid mindset from everyone was ridiculous. Who do they think Elliott is spying FOR? Do they think she's reporting back to Ru? Have they forgotten that Ru could just, you know, WATCH THE FOOTAGE since you're being taped the entire time you're in the workroom?

I couldn't believe the others waited so long to ask Elliott what happened and how he'd ended up back in the competition.

I liked Gottmik's latex rainbow dress with the big pointy shoulders. Very cute and it definitely showed her personality. Her black night time look was a big contrast - the hair, the makeup, the dress, the whole vibe. Although it was a little too goth for my taste, I liked that she showed very contrasting looks. I loved her bronze look in the final runway.

Kandy's red dress was a bit too shapeless for my taste which made it look sloppy. Her red latex devil look was not my favorite. The shiny red stripes looked like they were painted on with a tube of glittery puffy paint which I thought cheapened her overall look. I'm guessing my season long complaint with her looks is going to be that they look cheap/too simple. I mean, let's be honest - it was a latex catsuit which is a step away from a leotard. Her Austin Powers look was so boring. It was basically a leotard with a cape.

LaLa's floral dress was a little casual for the runway. I know it was supposed to be a daytime look, but it looked like a sundress you'd find at the mall. I liked the gold mesh of her night look. It added some shimmer and contrast to the black. Her gold look wasn't my favorite but it was definitely lamé!

Olivia's feather trimmed dress had a cute mod look. The tiny bag cracked me up. Her night look was great too. I loved the burgundy dress and the dark hair together. I didn't like her water lily dress but her hair and makeup were gorgeous.

Symone's striped 90s look was awesome. Loved it! Her night look, on the other hand, looked like a bed sheet wrapped around her. It gave me a very late 90s feel. Her boxing look was very different from everyone else's interpretation of lamé which is why I liked it.

I was getting Tina's SATC vibe with her orange dress. I thought it was a bit too busy for a daytime look with all the bows and glitter, but it's drag so I was okay with it. I liked her orange night look better. Her Tin Man look looked like a Party City costume. My favorite thing was the heart reveal. And thank goodness she finally wore something that wasn't orange.

Elliott's red dress was very elegant and chic. I know it was simple but I really liked it. Her night look was dramatic steam punk. I liked her red hair in the final runway but I didn't like her 80s prom dress (although I did like the green and blue colors).

One thing that made me like Elliott in this episode was that she knew she was an outsider in this group so she just hung back and let them work on the choreography. She and I both knew that if she told them she had dance experience, they would have accused her of trying to take over and being too big for her britches. I totally cracked up when LaLa described Tina's lame choreography as what you could find in a parking lot. I couldn't blame Elliott for finally speaking up after seeing how much time the group was wasting on absolutely NOTHING.

Olivia did the best in the performance overall. She has a very natural performance quality. Symone also had a great solo. LaLa had great confidence in her solo. Elliott's dancing stood out throughout because she was so precise and strong.

I had to laugh when Kandy missed one step and then completely lost it. What made it even funnier was that she was the one with the superior attitude in the workroom beforehand telling people to just keep going if they messed up.

I loved the looks on Kandy's and Tina's faces when Olivia and Symone were announced the winners. HA!

5 hours ago, CraftyHazel said:

I actually liked all of this group except Kandy.  I cannot understand half of what she says, she’s so mush-mouthed.  She’s also awfully proud of herself for as mediocre as she appeared to be.

Ha, you managed to succinctly state why I don't like her. My runway criticism is that of the three looks we've seen so far, her makeup always looks so muddy. I'm not saying every queen needs to be contoured and highlighted within an inch of their face's life, but her face just looks really muddy.

Edited by ElectricBoogaloo
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I actually liked all of this group except Kandy.  I cannot understand half of what she says, she’s so mush-mouthed.  She’s also awfully proud of herself for as mediocre as she appeared to be.

She's a mess, in more ways than one. I cant understand her, her makeup isn't good, her clothes are messy and she's a bit too full of herself.

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4 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I couldn't believe the others waited so long to ask Elliott what happened and how he'd ended up back in the competition.

 

That felt like such an influence from production because it goes against human nature completely. It felt like they did that to force tension for no reason.

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I'm not sure I like this format with the two separate groups. But now I get why some of the choices Ru made in the first episode's endless (read: ultra boring) battle of the lip-syncs didn't make any sense at the time, and it's because she wanted to form two groups that were sort of balanced talent and personality-wise. 

I was ready to call it quits when Ru announced over a loudspeaker that Elliott had to go home, and not because I particularly like Elliott but because it would've been completely unfair. In general I didn't and I still don't understand this whole shenanigan of the alternate episodes and this separation into groups. What is the ultimate goal here if it looks like they're gonna do the same exact challenges but 6 at the time instead of 13? And how long will they remain 13 since no one was eliminated this episode which leads me to think no one will be sent packing in the next episode either? Aaaagh, why!

Kandy is so mean. And I didn't like that other queens sided with her against Elliott on the basis of what exactly, they had literally just met her. Olivia is such a sweetheart but Simone deserved to win. I think she's gonna go pretty far in the competition. 

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So, all that Pork Chop Loading Dock fuckery made no difference in the end? Those poor queens - I hope production took them aside after and explained what was happening, otherwise when they are finally allowed to meet the first group and they see Elliott, it's really going to hurt. I hope they put the groups together after next week - Big Brother made it with that many people stuck together, as long as they quarantined ahead, protocols are followed and testing is frequent, they will be fine. I don't want to see the shows focused on alternate groups until they are down to 8 or whatever and then there's a merge like Survivor. 

I take back what I said last week - Elliott can stay, Kandy need to go. I didn't like Aja her season, came around to her on All Stars, and wasn't impressed with Dahlia Sin, except for being gorgeous. I would be interested in hearing why the Haus of Aja disbanded, but not enough to scrounge the internet for it. It was certainly not a house that produced superior queens.

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I'm not sure how I feel about this new format.  It's sort of like Season 6 and 12... and may have been part of COVID filming precautions (number of people on set, contestants, producers, camera crews, running all around... adds up to a crowded workspace the first few episodes.)  I wonder if the queens meet up again after next week.  It would be interesting  if Ru had the two teams against each other for 3 weeks each with no eliminations... then cut them both in half, with the top 3 performing queens from each group progressing into a new top 6.

Has drag fully moved from female illusion into cosplay?  So many of these queens would benefit with some more shape in the chest.  I'm looking at you Kandy.  I find something so interesting about Gottmik having chest reduction surgery, only to try to present female with a boy chest and a pasty.  Whereas Symone puts on a padded bra, and I buy it.

Although, I think I'm team Symone, so I might be biased.

 

 

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1 hour ago, Ananayel said:

So, all that Pork Chop Loading Dock fuckery made no difference in the end? Those poor queens - I hope production took them aside after and explained what was happening, otherwise when they are finally allowed to meet the first group and they see Elliott, it's really going to hurt. 

It was awful to make them go through that. To make matters worse we don’t even get an appearance from the real Pork Chop (because a paycheck is a paycheck in these hard times, so it would’ve been a lovely cameo for her).

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I don’t understand why the Pork Chop girls didn’t “circle vote” — get in a circle; vote for the girl on your right  — so it’s a 6-way tie and a way to protest this f*ckwittery. 

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1 hour ago, Pj3422 said:

I don’t understand why the Pork Chop girls didn’t “circle vote” — get in a circle; vote for the girl on your right  — so it’s a 6-way tie and a way to protest this f*ckwittery. 

I suggested that in the other thread, but upon further thought they were likely either told they couldn't do that, or they did it, then were told they had to do it over, so TPTB could get the desired result. Of course we wouldn't be shown the first bit. Perhaps when they are able to start giving interviews we will find out more. 

Never do this again Ru!

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12 hours ago, rozen said:

The minute Symone started skipping and those beautiful braids started swaying to the beat, I knew she'd clinched the win. I love her and hope she goes far in the competition.

Agreed, she definitely had the upper hand. I think both she and Olivia Lux gave an enjoyable lip sync without the need for death drops, backflips or any other gymnastic moves. They both had enough stage presence and charisma that made a simple routine fun to watch.

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I know I'm being shallow, but Gottmik's out of drag hair bugs me; the dye is so bad.

Likewise, Tina Burner's out of drag hair is SO BAD. The dye looks like kool-aid, the cut was clearly self-done during shelter-in-place, but I mean, I cut my own hair with clippers are it's nowhere near as uneven and clunky as that. Also for reasons I can't pinpoint, Tina Burner gives me Sherry Pie vibes. Not accusing of anything (I would have no way of knowing) but performancewise, something reminds me of SP, which is bad because that's a terrible association. So for irrational reasons I don't like TB.

Elliott's snort laugh bugs me but otherwise I feel like I don't have an opinion yet.

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15 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

The stupid thing about forcing the Pork Chop girls to vote someone off was that they had nothing to base it on. The only thing that has happened so far is that they each lip synced, but they didn't see the others LSFYL. There was absolutely no criteria upon which to base their votes because they've done no challenges together and the only interaction they had was five minutes of them all saying, "WTF just happened?" All they had to go on was what the other girls were wearing and since there was no assignment for what they were supposed to wear, there was just "I liked her outfit" vs "I didn't like her outfit" which is a pretty dumb way to eliminate someone in the first episode.

 

I don't know why the other girls were so suspicious about Elliott. Did they really believe that the season was going to start with only six girls? The season would be over after a week of shooting. That paranoid mindset from everyone was ridiculous. Who do they think Elliott is spying FOR? Do they think she's reporting back to Ru? Have they forgotten that Ru could just, you know, WATCH THE FOOTAGE since you're being taped the entire time you're in the workroom?

Eliott [and Kahmora] were the last to arrive in the Pork Chop Dock so they had the least time to bond with the others [plus Kahmora had the advantage of already knowing Denali]. The telling vote was the tie with Utica, who had been there for some time and probably suffered from the usual anti-clown bias amongst the queens. Long story short: I agree, it was a dumb thing to do for the sake of pointless drama.

My guess is they know the other group exists [like you said, six is a tiny number] so they thought Elliott was spying for them. Maybe they thought the other group would get a vote to eliminate one of the winners or something equally stupid in this season of TWISTS!

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Symone's lipsync was one of my favorites in many a season. Just connect to the song and sell it. Olivia seems a beautiful soul but her performance felt like an act.

Much respect for Elliott proving herself where it mattered -- and overcoming that shady start in the workroom. Um-hm, she's got moves alright. I love that she describes her persona as Housewife with a Secret, and I see it every time.

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12 hours ago, Ananayel said:

So, all that Pork Chop Loading Dock fuckery made no difference in the end? Those poor queens - I hope production took them aside after and explained what was happening, otherwise when they are finally allowed to meet the first group and they see Elliott, it's really going to hurt. I hope they put the groups together after next week - Big Brother made it with that many people stuck together, as long as they quarantined ahead, protocols are followed and testing is frequent, they will be fine. I don't want to see the shows focused on alternate groups until they are down to 8 or whatever and then there's a merge like Survivor. 

I take back what I said last week - Elliott can stay, Kandy need to go. I didn't like Aja her season, came around to her on All Stars, and wasn't impressed with Dahlia Sin, except for being gorgeous. I would be interested in hearing why the Haus of Aja disbanded, but not enough to scrounge the internet for it. It was certainly not a house that produced superior queens.

On Season 9 and All Stars 3, Aja was up for elimination on episode 3. ... Their drag family "The Haus of Aja" actually dissolved because Aja wanted to focus on their career as a rapper, so their drag children (Dahlia Sin, Kandy Muse and Janelle No. 5) created a new drag house called "DOLLHAUS".Nov 8, 2018 (from RuPaul's fandom...)

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Liked this second episode better than the first.  But I miss seeing allllllll the girls together in the Top 13-14 pile-up.  I just do.

Actually liking most of them, so far. 

Kandy is definitely at the bottom for me, but I don't even mind her that much ... yet.  Her personality is too big, she certainly isn't a fishy queen, and she thinks a bit much of herself.  But she provided glimpses of someone with a heart and mind, at times.  And I have loathed many, MANY more so in the past.  Let's see where she goes from here.  

My faves are Symone, Olivia Lux and LaLa Ri.  They just haven't put a foot wrong yet, for me.  Elliott surprised me (in a good way).  Gottmik (the name bugs) is cool.  And Tina Burner looks/talks/acts like such a pro.  I hope she keeps any ego in check.

Love that this show is back.  But I'm concerned that there aren't any gorgeous queens or that this new model (only seeing 7 competitors for a few weeks) won't gnaw at me.  Show them all!  :)

  

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Ru must have been bothered by all of the (totally earned) criticism she got for her constant overpraise of Silky in season 11. So now she's making Ross play that role with Kandy (so they can justify keeping the drama queen around as long as possible).

"Okay, so her makeup is bad, her clothes are weak compared to everyone else's, she screwed up the choreography badly, and we can't understand what she says, but her obnoxiousness makes her a star!"

Edited by Blakeston
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Note to Kandy and all other performers: if you fuck up when you're performing, what separates the amateurs from the pros is that a professional performer makes it look like it was intentional. A real performer doesn't let the panic and confusion show on their face. They will be able to convince everyone that it was a solo.

I finally watched Untucked and Kandy is such a drama queen who sucks the energy out of the room. LOOK AT ME! LOOK AT ME! On top of that, she is so negative. Even when she was feeling confident throughout the episode, her attitude was negative. It just happened to be focused on Elliott. But once she got any feedback from the judges that wasn't 100% glowing (and let's be real, what the judges said wasn't even a critique - all they did was state a FACT which was that she screwed up the choreography and she let it show in her face), the negative attitude was POOR ME! LOOK AT ME! TELL ME HOW AWESOME I DID! NO? OKAY LET ME TELL YOU HOW AWESOME I DID! I couldn't believe how delusional she was when she was talking about how aside from her obvious mistake, her performance was so great. Even if you took out her screw up and the ensuing section where she was like a deer in headlights, her performance was still not what I would call great.

It was so heartwarming to hear all the queens be supportive when Gottmik told them all that she is a trans man. I can't imagine how nervous she must have been about revealing this to them. There's no way to know how people will react and to reveal that to a group of people who you just met and knowing that this is going to be on tv - it must have been really nerve wracking. I was so glad that she got nothing but love from the other queens afterward.

Although I don't like having the queens separated into two groups because it's creating a clear divide, it has been kind of nice to have only seven queens in an episode so I have time to figure out who is who. I'm always like that at the beginning of any reality show but it's doubly hard on RPDR because I have to remember who is who in drag AND out of drag. Having a smaller group of girls in this episode made it so much easier. I'm hoping next week we get the Pork Chop group alone and then we get everyone together in episode 4.

My favorite thing about the LSFYL was that both Olivia and Symone were trying to win and they didn't have to resort to a million death drops or other tricks. They were relying on their personalities. It feels like it's so rare to see a LSFYL with two queens who both do that.

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9 hours ago, MsJamieDornan said:

Every season the show seems more scripted. There's no way they waited that long to ask Elliott why he was back.

Right.  Like, do the producers step-in to say: "Hey, we're gonna film this particular segment in 8 hours from now where you can finally ask or talk about what was brought up earlier in the day.  Just please don't say anything to anyone until we get you all corralled in the same room and then bring up the topic.  Ok?  Thanks."

For example, everyone hears Gottmik's lyrics on stage.  And then not a single person asks Gottmik about the context of those lyrics either ON or OFF camera til much later or the next day.  Sure.

Edited by filmfan2480
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3 hours ago, filmfan2480 said:

Right.  Like, do the producers step-in to say: "Hey, we're gonna film this particular segment in 8 hours from now where you can finally ask or talk about what was brought up earlier in the day.  Just please don't say anything to anyone until we get you all corralled in the same room and then bring up the topic.  Ok?  Thanks."

For example, everyone hears Gottmik's lyrics on stage.  And then not a single person asks Gottmik about the context of those lyrics either ON or OFF camera til much later or the next day.  Sure.

Agreed. Knowing that events on reality shows are often recreated, my guess is that there was some prior conversation, but the producers decided not to use it. Maybe it was too whispered, maybe the lighting was off, who knows. Or maybe (again, I’m guessing) they just thought it would be more dramatic for the conversation to happen in the makeup room, so they asked the queens to recreate their conversation there as if it were happening for the first time.

Because there’s no way this many outspoken, gossipy queens would keep their thoughts and observations to themselves for that many hours. Ut-uh. Not buying it.

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Personal, I realize, but has Gotmik had bottom surgery?  Doe she have a penis and testicles that need to be "tucked?"

one of the key features (imo) of drag is female impersonation.  Now, that might currently have declining importance, but I still think it is important.  Fishy queens might always have a bit of an advantage here.  Anyway, trans rights and all.

Kandy is a mess and her garments all look craft store. 

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Olivia’s resemblance to Anna Nicole Smith is uncanny.   Not just her facial features, but also her expressions.  She’s got that mischievous giant smile like she has a secret.  After her lip synch, her hair was so disheveled, and I was waiting for her to slur, “Do you like my body?”  

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9 hours ago, Just Carol said:

I did not expect to get an answer, because, as I noted, it is personal.   Just wondering about what we expect from drag performers.

 

I expect drag performers to be entertaining. If they're funny, interesting, political, and have a great look--then that's even better.

As a queer person who has never had any interest in doing drag, I have even less interest in defining what is or is not drag and who should or should not be classified as a drag performer. I think it's extremely reductive to define drag as "female impersonation" when there are drag kings, trans kings and queens, nonbinary kings and queens (and whatever other royalty), etc.

What I love about drag is how it denies boundaries and challenges assumptions. In many ways, I think RPDR has had a problematically limiting effect on what types of drag are considered more or less acceptable. 

Anyway, I find Gottmik likable but the lack of performance experience is glaring. I suspect that won't be a major hurdle just like it wasn't for Kim Chi.

Symone would be my pick to win, but there's a while to go.

Count me in the group of people who think Tina is reminiscent of Sherry Pie.

Finally, did anyone else notice that Elliott (with two Ls) confused Tonya Harding and Tara Lipinski? I could just imagine Denali, as well as the thousands of Drag Race fans who also follow figure skating, screaming in horror.

Now can someone be eliminated before January 22? Can I get an amen? (No.)

At least the UK premiere is in two days.

 

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On 1/12/2021 at 1:12 AM, Aerobicidal said:

I expect drag performers to be entertaining. If they're funny, interesting, political, and have a great look--then that's even better.

As a queer person who has never had any interest in doing drag, I have even less interest in defining what is or is not drag and who should or should not be classified as a drag performer. I think it's extremely reductive to define drag as "female impersonation" when there are drag kings, trans kings and queens, nonbinary kings and queens (and whatever other royalty), etc.

What I love about drag is how it denies boundaries and challenges assumptions. In many ways, I think RPDR has had a problematically limiting effect on what types of drag are considered more or less acceptable. 

Anyway, I find Gottmik likable but the lack of performance experience is glaring. I suspect that won't be a major hurdle just like it wasn't for Kim Chi.

Symone would be my pick to win, but there's a while to go.

Count me in the group of people who think Tina is reminiscent of Sherry Pie.

Finally, did anyone else notice that Elliott (with two Ls) confused Tonya Harding and Tara Lipinski? I could just imagine Denali, as well as the thousands of Drag Race fans who also follow figure skating, screaming in horror.

Now can someone be eliminated before January 22? Can I get an amen? (No.)

At least the UK premiere is in two days.

 

I am curious as to how the changing face of drag is being received though. It's not my world and anything I know about drag I've learned from tv shows and online reading, but I haven't delved too deeply into this particular subject. I can only imagine that there is controversy and prejudice and some resentment, as there usually is when conventions are challenged.

As for the Queens, Symone is divine, and count me among those who gets Nina West vibes from Tina, without the charm. I'm liking Gottmik and Rose. For some reason Rose reminds me of Shuga Cain.

Kandy can go any time, the sooner the better. 

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Throughout the episode, I just kept thinking about how charming I've been finding Olivia -- even before Michelle used the word.  I love her whole spirit and how happy she always seems in her THs.  

Also loved Elliott with Two T's bopping excitedly in the background during the lip sync.  Super cute.  

But why not eliminate someone this week?  Ugh, what a slow couple of episodes.  It's like they're specifically taking the elements of All Stars that people hate and throwing them into the regular show.  

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