RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under: G'Day, Mate!

[hatchetgirl]

On 6/21/2021 at 6:58 PM, Rai said:

I was going to say I assumed Ru went to countries where they spoke English, but that doesn't explain Canada, it's true. That might have just been a scheduling thing?

But she didn't even show up on video for Canada, did she?  I think she did appear on video for Thailand once.

 

I've said it before and I'm saying it again - hands down - Thailand drag blows all the others out of the water!

[Silly Angel]

On 6/23/2021 at 4:04 PM, hatchetgirl said:

I've said it before and I'm saying it again - hands down - Thailand drag blows all the others out of the water!

100%! I'd rather have another season of DR Thailand than that overstuffed 36-look, two-episode whateveritis kicking off the new All-Stars. Hell, I'd rather watch Drag Race Thailand reruns. I think that on balance, any new away games could benefit from more non-European, Western inclusion. I know there is a lot to take into consideration when proposing a new country or territory for this sort of show, but I do hope RuPaul's production company thinks about it before casting RuPaul's Drag Race Belgium, Germany, France, Austria, and the Benelux Countries. No shade to their queens.

[Ms.Lulu]

I will say I loved UK with Lawrence Chaney, Bimini Bon-Boulash, Ellie Diamond and Tayce. And Canada was fun!  Drag Race Espana has been fun too.  Holland, Down Under and Season 13 have all mostly disappointed.

[violet and green]

DR Down Under season 2, ep 1 - I loved it! Some great personalities which made up for some less than stellar looks. So many black grannie pants! It's a good cast, and a lot funnier than last season of DU.

[Ms.Lulu]

Even though they were in the bottom three, I love Kween Kong and Spankie.  

Not loving Hanna Conda, and they are being set up as season narrator.

[davidcalgary29]

I thought it was a fun episode, although my epxectations were at rock-bottom after S1's shit show. I have to say, though, that the bottom three looks clearly belonged to Spankie, Minnie, and Kween Kong; Faux Fur didn't deserve to be anywhere near the bottom for that look, and black panties my ass. This was a construction challenge; if they could overlook Raja's white pantie fashion faux pas because her constructed garment was so great, they should have extended the favour to faux fur.

I wasn't impressed by any of the garments made by the screamy, entitled twentysomethings, either. I don't like any of them, so I'm not going to bother to learn their names until the next episode.

I'm still confused why RuPaul and Michelle are hosting the show. Isn't there any local talent? Then again, the panel members on Canada's Drag Race are either deeply boring or stiff and robotic, so perhaps it made sense to have hosts who actually seem to have a pulse.

Next year: expand eligibility to include everyone from the southern hemisphere! That would be fun.

Edited July 30, 2022 by davidcalgary29

[Ms.Lulu]

My understanding is that RuPaul's husband Georges is from Australia and this gives them a chance to spend a month or two down under with his family.

Or at least that's what I heard during season 1.

Edited July 30, 2022 by Ms.Lulu

[Taeolas]

Watching it now, but one thing I noticed as they were coming in for the introduction, they went to the left. Most of the shows seem to go to the right. I can't remember if they did that in Season 1 but it's an interesting little distinction.

*Edit* I also noticed that when leaving the runway they go to the right not the left (as the queen actually went to the left and said "Wrong way and went right). 

I'm sure it's a subtle nod to the "Down Underness" and maybe (as noted below) a Simpsons Reference. 

Edited July 30, 2022 by Taeolas

[davidcalgary29]

2 hours ago, Taeolas said:

Watching it now, but one thing I noticed as they were coming in for the introduction, they went to the left. Most of the shows seem to go to the right. I can't remember if they did that in Season 1 but it's an interesting little distinction.

Maybe it's an inside joke, a nod to the Simpsons episode where Bart tries to prove the coriolis force by asking some random kid in the Outback to flush his toilet.

[violet and green]

4 hours ago, Taeolas said:

Watching it now, but one thing I noticed as they were coming in for the introduction, they went to the left. Most of the shows seem to go to the right. I can't remember if they did that in Season 1 but it's an interesting little distinction.

Yeah, they did. Odd!

It's already so much better than season one, production-wise, so it is great that they sorted out some of the teething problems.

[Stardancer Supreme]

Man, I would have kept Faux Fur; on the other hand, the other queens are probably glad that loud bitch went home. Heh.

Spankie didn't even bother to tuck, did she?  

Now queens. This show has been on for decades. Why are we still showing up without any sewing or design skills?  You KNOW that you have to make a garment yourself out of bullshyt materials the very minute you walk into the Werkroom.  I can't understand why you didn't immediately sign up for sewing classes the second you knew you were selected to compete.

Kween Kong... I'm glad you were safe. You is foine!

Hopefully Minnie Cooper can teach those young whippersnappers about how Drag is done! 

[davidcalgary29]

2 hours ago, Stardancer Supreme said:

Now queens. This show has been on for decades. Why are we still showing up without any sewing or design skills?  You KNOW that you have to make a garment yourself out of bullshyt materials the very minute you walk into the Werkroom.  I can't understand why you didn't immediately sign up for sewing classes the second you knew you were selected to compete.

The problem, though, is that the show itself keeps showing its audience that you don't need to be a seamstress at all in order to win these challenges: an eye for design can't really be taught; unconvential materials can't easily be sewn; even skilled seamstresses can produce crap; RuPaul loves showing up the technicians with underdog edits. Molly Poppinz and DeLa gently weep hot glue over all of us from their hallowed places in the Drag Pantheon, and LeShawn Beyond and Lineysha Sparx sagely nod from Purgatory and remind us the rules of this show are bullshit anyway.

[aussieinsydney]

I enjoyed the first ep. I'm liking Minnie, Spankie and Beverly. It'll be interesting to see how far they go.

[stormy weather]

I think the wrong two queens were in the bottom. I would've gladly kept both! Spankie is hilarious and Faux Fur's outfit wasn't bad at all compared to some others. 

[Rai]

I mean, it's one thing to assume you don't need to know how to sew in order to ace/squeak by in these challenges, but I'm always surprised by the queens who act shocked -- SHOCKED! -- that this challenge is happening to THEM. Watch the show before you apply, queens. It really isn't news at this point.

Don't love Spankie's drag, but I love her interviews so I'm glad she stayed. I thought Kween's concept was so rock solid that she wouldn't be in the bottom (especially given her hair and makeup, which were impeccable), but maybe they're trying to rock her a little to see what this apparent legend is made of. Minnie is great, two of the queens seem interchangeable out of drag, and the super cute one I can't remember who she is IN drag (possibly the scary queen?). Nonetheless, the DU queens are always pretty hilarious and charming to me, so I'm down to give this season its due for now.

[Electricwireles]

Is it just me, or is this a remarkably unlikeable bunch of people? I’m not liking the condescending vibes from the older Queens. Oh and the less said about Caged Queens the better!

[Ms.Lulu]

On 8/6/2022 at 2:34 AM, Electricwireles said:

Is it just me, or is this a remarkably unlikeable bunch of people? I’m not liking the condescending vibes from the older Queens. Oh and the less said about Caged Queens the better!

I'm still liking Kween Kong, but you are right.  It is hard to find anyone to cheer for in this bunch.

Edited August 7, 2022 by Ms.Lulu

[stormy weather]

Minnie really needs to take a chill pill. Pomara wasn't laughing at her disability, she only remarked (after Minnie made a bigger deal of her dyslexia than Yvie Oddly of her Ehlers-Danlos or Willow Pill of her genetic disorder) how often they had already had to hear the story. I don't want to offend anyone, but Minnie could've gone about it a different way instead of yelling "someone read out loud to me! I am dyslexic!" and announcing it every chance she got. And the way she lashed at Pomara afterwards, demanding a totally unnecessary apology! Wow. 

Well, I agree this is not a very likeable group, but so far Spankie seems to be the most fun and drama-free, so she's my favorite. 

[violet and green]

22 hours ago, stormy weather said:

Minnie really needs to take a chill pill. Pomara wasn't laughing at her disability, she only remarked (after Minnie made a bigger deal of her dyslexia than Yvie Oddly of her Ehlers-Danlos or Willow Pill of her genetic disorder) how often they had already had to hear the story.

Pomara interrupted Minnie as she was trying to tell the other team of queens how great and supportive her team were, reading it all out for her, because she has dyslyexia. Pomara turned a moment of appreciation into a joke, before Minnie's point could even be made.

Minnie is clearly a little on edge, having already been mocked for her age by the younger queens in a group. And now she's been, from her perspective, mocked in a group setting again. It may have "just" been an ill-timed joke, but again she is the joke. And in a group of much younger queens who seem to think they are terribly special purely because of the year of their birth, which nobody can actually choose.

[Mahfouz]

Can somebody explain the name Pomara Fifth? Is that an Australian pun I'm unfamiliar with? 

[violet and green]

On 8/9/2022 at 12:04 AM, Mahfouz said:

Can somebody explain the name Pomara Fifth? Is that an Australian pun I'm unfamiliar with? 

I was wondering that also. Turns out:

"The name Pomara Fifth was born from her childhood home address, no. 5 Pomara Close, a place she always felt comfortable to be her true self."

(from RuPaul's Drag Race Wiki)

[davidcalgary29]

"Bottomless Brunch" was probably the most successful episode of the season so far -- or at least was the best-edited episode of the season so far-- as all of the sets were fairly entertaining. Then again, they were also extremely short, which is suspicious given the fact that the queens had a five-minute limit, and I don't think we got more than a minute of each team on the main stage.

That being said, there were still lots of weird editing choices that invite many questions, including the Werkroom discussion about racism in Australian drag. That should have been insightful and organic, given Kween Kong's experiences, but it instead felt like a carefully crafted Ruhabilitation for Hannah Conda mounted by Production to get ahead of some new and tragic scandal for the franchise. I was going to google the situation to find out exactly what Hannah did to justify the moment, but I'm not, as I'll just be disappointed (again) by the show's inadequate response to very problematic behaviour.

The choice to put all the non-winners up for elimination was baffling given the edit. I'll assume that Minnie was save from the B2 for her "sacrifice" of letting Kween have a one-woman show.

[davidcalgary29]

Just now, davidcalgary29 said:

"Bottomless Brunch" was probably the most successful episode of the season so far -- or at least was the best-edited episode of the season so far-- as all of the sets were fairly entertaining. Then again, they were also extremely short, which is suspicious given the fact that the queens had a five-minute limit, and I don't think we got more than a minute of each team on the main stage.

That being said, there were still lots of weird editing choices that invite many questions, including the Werkroom discussion about racism in Australian drag. That should have been insightful and organic, given Kween Kong's experiences, but it instead felt like a carefully crafted Ruhabilitation for Hannah Conda mounted by Production to get ahead of some new and tragic scandal for the franchise. I was going to google the situation to find out exactly what Hannah did to justify the moment, but I'm not, as I'll just be disappointed (again) by the show's inadequate response to very problematic behaviour. It's simply unacceptable to have the queens of colour have to address unacceptable behaviour because the show won't do it itself.

The choice to put all the non-winners up for elimination was baffling given the edit. I'll assume that Minnie was save from the B2 for her "sacrifice" of letting Kween have a one-woman show.

[davidcalgary29]

The condescending panel comment "welcoming" Kween Kong "back into the competition" triggered me into very unwelcome Jimbo flashbacks from Canada S1. They've really got to stop with that bullshit.

[Mahfouz]

The degree to which it seems everybody is fawning all over Queen Kong is super weird. Even ignoring the fact that this is a competition it feels a little heavy-handed. Speaking of...

The "white privilege" conversation was just vague enough to make me believe that Hannah Conda did something REALLY turdy. 

Found it a bit interesting the talk of appropriation by a bunch of men freely appropriating female-ness. 

Ru made the correct choice for winners. They were the only duo who seemed as if they were having a good time up there. And cum! The everybody-else-on-the-bottom was strange given the critiques. There was a clear bottom team. 

[davidcalgary29]

On 8/15/2022 at 7:09 AM, Mahfouz said:

The degree to which it seems everybody is fawning all over Queen Kong is super weird.

I agree, but I'm going to blame it (largely) on the edit. She's getting a very favourable "Inner Saboteur" storyline, and is being shown to bring up salient points about racism and ethnicity, adversity and strength, and hasn't been shown to engage in any of the distracting petty bitchery that's consumed the other castmembers. I'm guessing that Production wants her in the finale.

I have no idea what Production is going to do with Hannah Conda at this point, aside from giving her a Very Special Moment in an upcoming episode where she'll be given a platform to explain her past behaviour. And I thought her Liza was fine -- it was the funniest performance on the panel -- but it didn't feel very fresh or new. I actually thought that Yuri Guaii gave the most interesting performance: it was very Adore Delano, and in an equally fun way. I also thought Kween did a pretty good job with an overexposed Z-list celebrity.

I like Minnie, but yeesh, that LIPSYNCH. That being said, Bev's performance was manic, desperate, and weird. I would've cut them both.

I've come after this show in the past for its ageism (a correct critique), but I've come to think that it's almost impossible for an older, established queen to do well on this show. After a certain point -- let's say thirty-five -- you're just not going to be receptive to critiques and change up your drag to do well on a reality show when you've worked hard to built up a brand and become a success. I think that's where Minnie's headspace was, and that's why we got that lipsynch shitshow from her. I respect her integrity, but it was not entertaining. Also see: Ginny Lemon, although her exit was legendary.

I don't know where that leaves the season. Molly's not consistent; Spankie's too "old"; Bev is too sour; Hannah's too...let's just call it problematic, pending further clarification. I can see Kween winning it if she gets a few more challenge wins, as there's no way they're giving it to Yuri.

Edited August 20, 2022 by davidcalgary29

[Ms.Lulu]

I was happy to see Mini Cooper go home, she was such an energy vampire.  Hannah was the best this week in a mediocre Snatch Game (head and shoulder above their Canadian sisters).  Spankie, Yuri and Kween were all okay.

Beverly is past her expiration date. Molly is uninspiring.  

If they are basing it on personality, Hannah, Spanky and Molly will be there at the end.

If they are basing it as a  build up to a story about racism, Hannah, Kween and maybe Spanky will be the final three.

I guess I expect Hannah and Spanky in the final and the third spot is up for grabs with Beverly and Yuri not in contention.  Molly? Kween?  I just dunno.

[davidcalgary29]

15 minutes ago, Ms.Lulu said:

Beverly is past her expiration date.

I did enjoy the editing choice showing her effusive praise for Minnie at her elimination -- notwithstanding their earlier fight and continuing bad blood -- thereby proving Minnie's point about Bev's two-faced attitude with the judges. Athough I'm sure Bev was actually trying to be nice at that point. Hee!

Let's be fair, though: all of the recent non-AS Snatch Games have been pretty bad. France and S14 were nothing to shout about, either.

Edited August 20, 2022 by davidcalgary29

[heckkitty]

Half the cast of drag race season 8 would like a word with Minnie about being “the first queen to roll down the runway”

lol at that face Rhys was making at that … whatever it was …. Lipsych. Also whichever queen saying “this lipsych makes me feel like I’m on drugs”

Edited August 20, 2022 by heckkitty

[davidcalgary29]

3 minutes ago, heckkitty said:

Half the cast of drag race season 8 would like a word with Minnie about being “the first queen to roll down the runway”

I was just thinking about Robbie Turner...but given her subsequent behaviour and disappearance from the drag scene, maybe we're supposed to believe that she's been retconned out of "Herstory" by WoW. Shhh!

[violet and green]

Well! That happened. Minnie is clearly very highly strung, but I found her entertaining and wish she'd not been placed in the bottom two. I thought Molly was far more lacklustre in the Snatch Game, even though Minnie's Ellen misfired.

I think she didn't know the words to the lipsync, so thought she could razzle-dazzle them.

The show itself is ageist, Ru herself is oddly ageist, and yet I thought there was some choreographed blowback here to the early scene of the group of younger queens sneering at Millie for her "advanced age" of 50 - as one by one they were being eliminated. By rights, being one of that group, Beverley should have gone next. It's so odd for younger queens to be mocking an older queen for her age, while trying desperately to impress Ru, who is even older than that at 61.

I am left oddly deflated by that episode, and that edit, and that exit. Thank god for Spankie, and Yuri, who I thought should have rightly won with her Courtney Love. And Kong, who is a decent human being.

[Electricwireles]

Well I think we can add to Snatch Games rules: social media make up artist impersonations are never entertaining 

[Mahfouz]

I was disappointed with the Snatch Game. The only even-close-to-being-redeemable performance was Hannah's Liza. Orville Peck was boring and it could have been anything. Beverly's Val was boring and it missed all of Val's quirkiness. The game show contestants did the queens NO favors though. Some of their answers were AWFUL. 

Should have sent both Minnie and Beverly Kills home. Neither of them are winning.

[davidcalgary29]

16 minutes ago, Mahfouz said:

I was disappointed with the Snatch Game. The only even-close-to-being-redeemable performance was Hannah's Liza. Orville Peck was boring and it could have been anything. Beverly's Val was boring and it missed all of Val's quirkiness. The game show contestants did the queens NO favors though. Some of their answers were AWFUL. 

Should have sent both Minnie and Beverly Kills home. Neither of them are winning.

I completely agree, but a lot of bonhomie that can come out of a good Snatch Game really is created with the edit. Yvie's AS7 Snatch Game was kind of  cringey and really no better than what a lot of the queens gave on this panel, and yet the contestants' (and Ru's) generous responses to even her weakest reactions made it seem fun and likeable and a lot better than it actually was. You can say the same thing for Jaida, Monet, Trinity's "Luci" (although her Leslie Jordan was great), Shea, and The Viv -- which leaves only Jinkx and Raja as the standouts. And yet everyone's recollection now is that AS7 was "the best Snatch Game in Herstory!!!". Well, it is up there...but only because of Jinkx and Raja.

Production really needs to cut out the stink-eye reaction shots from Ru & Co. during the event, as it forces the audience's experiences in a certain direction  without backing that up with actual evidence. Minnie actually did give several funny responses, and really did no worse than half the panel, but we were edited into believing that she gave a total stinker of a performance. I'm still not terribly sad at her ouster, but Production's blatant machinations are vexing.

Edited August 22, 2022 by davidcalgary29

[TVbitch]

I saw Dame Edna in concert twice and those were the funniest performances by any comedian I've ever seen in my life. I've waited forever for someone to be her on Snatch Game, and while the facial expressions were okay, it should have been so much better. Where were the brilliant backhanded insults! The gladiola tossing? The "possums"!  

Why on earth would anyone choose Val as someone it would be funny to impersonate? BK didn't even put the right emphasis on the "ding dong!" She and Minnie both botched Snatch Game, but both gave good runway. I guess Ru thought BK "finding herself" would make the better story. 

[Taeolas]

I just watched the new season of GlowUp (since it hit Netflix this week), so I was a bit excited to see someone take a stab at Val. But she really botched the Snatch-Val. Waiting for the end to get the Ding DONG! was probably a mistake; it should have been in the second question period, and then repeated in the final question round. And she should've been more proactive, criticizing the makeup of the other Snatch Queens, Ru and the contestants.  

[davidcalgary29]

1 hour ago, Taeolas said:

I just watched the new season of GlowUp (since it hit Netflix this week), so I was a bit excited to see someone take a stab at Val. But she really botched the Snatch-Val. Waiting for the end to get the Ding DONG! was probably a mistake; it should have been in the second question period, and then repeated in the final question round. And she should've been more proactive, criticizing the makeup of the other Snatch Queens, Ru and the contestants.  

The problem with Val Garland-- like a lot of other quirky television personalities -- is that her eccentric charm extends well beyond a widely-known wacky catchphrase. But that charm in itself is much more complex and hard to characterize, and so everyone turns to the wacky catchprase to convey the character, leaving it flat and boring. It's the same type of performance that made Trixie's attack on RuPaul so hard to watch.

Giving Val a glamour look (with the wrong choice of hair colour) was probably not the right choice, either. Perhaps Val did look like that at one point in 1980, but she could have done so much more with her visual representation of the character. Giant sunglasses? Massive lips? Dominic's 1890's handlebar moustache? Anything was possible!

[Taeolas]

True, but as far as Snatch Game goes, it's as much creating the Snatch-Celebrity Character as it is matching an existing Celebrity. A good Snatch-Queen should have the look planned out and down long before the show comes on. And they should have the quirks for the celebrity planned as well, and be comfortable improvising with those quirks. The real Celebrity is much more than they're going to present, but a Snatch-Queen only has 4-5 question rounds to make an impression and to bounce off of the other Queens, Ru and the contestants. So you don't need a deep character impersonation; you need some quirks to hook off of and run with. 

So the real Val has a lot of depth and characterization; but Beverly should have focused on "GlowUp Val Garland" and made sure she had the look down as you pointed out; and been Ding Dong!ing almost every round, and been critical of the other queen's makeups and so forth. Go all in on that aspect of their celebrity. 

In any case, we're well in agreement that this Val Snatch wasn't all that good. :)

Someone else (I think) suggested this was better than this Season's Canadian Drag Race Snatch, and I'm not sure. I'd probably say they were a bit better. I think the Aussie queens were on average a bit better, but CDR's Marie Curie was the most memorable of both sets (IMO). Granted Marie Curie didn't have anyone else to play off of so she carried her act solo. 

[davidcalgary29]

2 hours ago, Taeolas said:

Someone else (I think) suggested this was better than this Season's Canadian Drag Race Snatch, and I'm not sure. I'd probably say they were a bit better. I think the Aussie queens were on average a bit better, but CDR's Marie Curie was the most memorable of both sets (IMO). Granted Marie Curie didn't have anyone else to play off of so she carried her act solo. 

Canada, Down Under, and France have all shown different tones of the same shade of "meh" for their Snatch Games.  None of the performances were really great, and the best of them (Gisele) relied too heavily on visual gags for the laughs. AS7's best (widely regarded as the best of all time, but only because of Jinkx and Raja and because a lot of people have terrible short-term memories) gave transcendent performances. Raja's Diana Vreeland wasn't that funny, but my god, the artistry: that was unmatched. So I'd have to say that AS7 has produced the best Snatch Game of the past year. Canada hasn't hit it out of the park since S1, and Down Under never has, but at least this was better than last year's shitshow.

[Wonderlad71]

Yes Minnie's Snatch Game was so obviously edited to seem crap. Her Ellen impersonation was fine and between that and her runway she would have been safe on any other season.

It was definitely more memorable than some of the others. 

That said, she was not winning this season (Kween will or I will eat my hat) so to a certain extent I'm fine with her leaving with a Ginny Lemon+Joe Black edit. At least she got a better deal than Charlie Hides (or at least she gave herself one by manufacturing storylines).

[davidcalgary29]

It was a strange and welcome experience watching a modern-day episode of this show where Production riggery -- Bev's delusional edit aside -- took a back seat to the talent. The challenge outcome was both straightforwardly predictable and agreeable, as was the lipsynch, although the winner of that was debatable. 

Kween's direct rejection of Bev's microaggressions was fantastic: she directly pointed out the problematic behaviour and explained her position clearly and concisely, and without yelling. Still, however, a little yelling probably was in order and would have been welcome. 

This must be the first time that the actual winner of the reading challenge was last episode's mirror message. Ha! I will say that I'll miss Minnie's sass.

Edited August 28, 2022 by davidcalgary29

[Electricwireles]

Ru sure likes his emotionally fragile queens. I worry for Kween’s mental health. Also Spankie’s drag is seriously ratchet. Her girl group look looked like one of the losing contestants of a makeover challenge. And I don’t think she gives a flying fig.

[davidcalgary29]

51 minutes ago, Electricwireles said:

 Spankie’s drag is seriously ratchet. Her girl group look looked like one of the losing contestants of a makeover challenge. And I don’t think she gives a flying fig.

The category is: busted. Spankie's drag is so far below ratchet -- seriously, how could you go out looking like that on national television?? -- that it's an entirely new category, which I will call Dad Drag. Notably, Maddy Morphosis first explored the nether depths of this wonderland on S14, but Spankie has conquered it. Brava!

[Mahfouz]

I think Qween Kong is the most overrated queen to appear on any of the DR iterations. I really don't understand the overwhelming need for pretty much everybody to deify her. I mean, the clever, most-exalted queen ever used the same joke (NOT killing the competition) about Beverly Kills twice, Once in the chat before g'day g'day g'day and once during the reading challenge! She really doesn't say much. She was upset about BK saying she wasn't as maternal as BK came to expect and Qween Kong's response was to say something akin to: "Those words are very dangerous to me". WTF. She has absolutely nothing substantive to say save the buzzwords that are constantly falling out of her mouth. 

[davidcalgary29]

Well, the edit's not leaving us much else these days. Kween is...fine. You would've thought that the show would have been interested in presenting some evidence which justified their decision to push Kween as the season's frontrunner, but they haven't -- and that's fine -- but there's little actual tension at this point and I have only a mild interest at the outcome of the season. And Production hasn't left with any real alternates for the title.

Edited August 29, 2022 by davidcalgary29

[Wonderlad71]

Probably unpopular opinion - Team B was probably more cohesive and on the whole better in the Girl Group challenge. They also gelled better with the song vocals. Team A though have bigger and better personalities/brands. 

Sad to see Yuri go as she was rather good this week both in the challenge and on the runway. But really she had no chance of winning the whole thing. 

[davidcalgary29]

Plot twist: Minnie Cooper is the ghost who butt****ed Jada Shada Hudson while she was sleeping!

I was bored by all of the commercials, except Spankie's. 

[violet and green]

Nice juxtaposition of Spankie working away on the corset and dress to fit her partner, and Molly not bothering with attending to her partner's outfit to the point she didn't notice the socks...

Even though Uncle Paul looked a bit rough, their energy together was so infectious, and Spankie Jackson's makeup was beautiful on that runway.

Spankie for the win!

[davidcalgary29]

My god -- if you took Kween out of the equation, and threw in Coco's makeover from S5 instead, Horchata would have won. I expected Spankie to trot out her daughter dressed as an aged whorehouse Madam; the shocker is that both Hannah and Molly's makeovers were worse. What the hell was that??

Paul seems lovely. I keep enjoying the way that Drag Race undermines expectations (and holds up a mirror to its younger viewers) by offering up young, atractive queens only to have them reveal  surprisingly shrill and demanding personalities to the queens to thought -- in the words of A'keria -- that they'd be getting an "easy canvas".  I'd say that the exception was Sharon's obnoxious "daughter" in S4, but that was probably a perfect fit in retrospect.

Edited September 11, 2022 by davidcalgary29

[Mahfouz]

Another Drag Race from a satellite campus and another finale of mediocre queens. Who's it going to be this season?

Queen Kong, the most overrated drag queen since Bebe Zaharia Benet. Has not an ounce of charisma in her body and seems, and this is really weird to say about a drag queen, really fucking boring.

or

Tom Sizemore, errrr, I mean Spankie Jackson. The queen with the worst makeup skills this side of Jada Shada Hudson.

or

Hannah Conda, the queen with the sinister anti-woke past? And the voice and laugh of Wallace Shawn. 

I'm starting to think that until the worldwide queens can get their shit together and present a whole season of decent queens then they should combine all of the non-U.S. competition into one global season. Stop saturating the market with not-up-to-snuff queens. 

Edited September 12, 2022 by Mahfouz