S07.E12: Queen Of All Queens

[davidcalgary29]

1 hour ago, CraftyHazel said:

This, though, is some serious BS.  I don’t even care for Monet, but for her to come in second and have made less money than Viv, Shea, or Raja is crazy.  And poor Yvie, not a nickel, and then the emotional toll it took on her, too.  I hope Yvie knows that for many…if not most…of us, she’s not just some happy, big dicked buffoon.  She frequently seemed to me to be using that laughter to cover her real feelings, and I feel for her.  I hope she’s okay.

Unrelated to any of that, but am I sincerely the only one who doesn’t care for Trinity’s lip syncs?  Everyone is always saying she mopped the floor with her competition, but for me, she is always the same…a couple of silly faces and a whole lot of sex.  I love Trinity, but her lip syncs don’t interest me.  I also didn’t feel like Monet clearly won the lip sync over Jinkx.  I didn’t think either of them did that great, for such a huge prize…and I say that as a Jinkx fan from “You know, I can hear the cackling from down the street.”

They could easily correct this by awarding prize money for each star earned: 100K for the Crown, and 10K for each star, plus another 10k for each lipsync win, would just about do it. It would also an extra spicy dimension to deliberations when stars are awarded (or taken away) by other contestants.

I think Trinity's an amazing dancer. That being said, I think she envisions all of her numbers as some type of Pussycat Dolls routine, as they reek of hard, cheap, cocaine-fueled orgies, and not performative art in itself (translation: this week's episode of Drag Race France).

[Ms.Lulu]

I think that's part of the reason that Monet and Bob are so disappointed.  Monet came back and shared their experiences with Bob and they both believed Monet won.  Yes, they film both queens winning and sometimes they record a tie too.  I think it helps to have the winning queen celebrated by the other queens--because they don't know the real winner so no negative emotions.  And it allows the winner to give a funny speech without being overwhelmed by emotions.

I watch Sibling Rivalry and Pit Stop and there were a few instances where Bob gave a knowing glance or said something that suggested that despite dominating the season, Jinkx would stumble at the end and come up short.

Also, RuPaul absolutely considers Twitter voting, which on this site suggested was a landslide for Jinkx. Now that Drag Race is mainstream I think it matters even more than it did a few years ago.

I know Monet is disappointed.  I hope they'll consider all that Drag Race has given them and get past this.  And I wonder if this will keep Bob from competing in the next queen of queens.  

I hope not.

Shea Coulee posted something on Twitter congratulating Jinkx, reminding people that this is entertainment and someone had to win.  I appreciate that she isn't engaging with the folks who are unhappy with the outcome.

Edited July 30, 2022 by Ms.Lulu

[Neeners]

I truly feel bad for Yvie not winning a dime. Geez. Is there anything we could do for her?

[30 Helens]

9 hours ago, The Mighty Peanut said:

I really enjoyed having such a positive season but not at the cost of someone who was struggling a lot being reduced to a happy "big dick mascot".

This is not at all the impression I got of her from the edit. I could tell Yvie was struggling physically, but that made her no less a contender in my eyes. That just highlighted what a pro she is. She was there to put on a show, and she delivered. The fact that she received no money for it is just bullshit. That mushroom dress alone should have earned some $ —that was breathtaking.  And the fact that Yvie placed ahead of at least 2 other queens at the end yet got no compensation? So wrong.

To learn that Yvie felt so denigrated, and that the season was such a struggle for her mentally, just hurts my heart. Yvie is nobody’s mascot. She is a fierce, one of a kind, truly gifted artist, and she deserves nothing but respect. (And a much bigger payday. Come on, Ru. Fix that.)

[Lethallyfab]

I would literally read an entire book about how and why and when the show determines its music licensing decisions.  I will settle for a thorough oral history on Vulture.com.
 

Like, I think that not even KatyKats or Barbs would place ‘Swish Swish’ at the top of either Perry or Minaj’s discographies yet somehow it is the track to determine the Queen of all Queens?

[Keywestclubkid]

I love her 

[The Mighty Peanut]

On 7/30/2022 at 7:10 PM, Ms.Lulu said:

Also, RuPaul absolutely considers Twitter voting, which on this site suggested was a landslide for Jinkx. Now that Drag Race is mainstream I think it matters even more than it did a few years ago.

That's really too bad. Drag Race twitter is a shit show. Shea fans mad because they think the show was rigged against Shea. Monet fans mad because she won the lipsync and still lost, there was even a #JinkxMustAbdicate movement. Jinkx fans are mad at Monet fans because Jinkx was the stronger overall performer. The only fans that don't seem upset about the top 4 are Trinity fans. And I have to wonder if that's because Trinity is very open that she'll block anyone who trash talks the cast.

There is also a twitter narrative that Bob hates Jinkx and thinks she robbed Monet, even though Bob posted a picture congratulating Jinkx and referring to her as the most talented drag racer he ever met, of whom he is in awe.

Meanwhile, Raja just has a bot post updates for her daily zodiac. She's just sitting pretty with her wine and 50k. Raja ftw as always. 

Edited August 1, 2022 by The Mighty Peanut

[funnygirl]

Thrilled for Raja winning She Done Already Had Hers's! 

I don't think anyone should be shocked that Jinkx took the top crown of the season. 

This was fun. All Stars is so much more fun. 

[gorgy]

I watched this after working my third 15 hour shift in a row with 2.5 hours of sleep, so I was half asleep watching/fast-forwarding.

I pretty much stopped watching drag race after the abominable All-Stars 5 season when Ru was laughing at Shea's "drag" Flavor Flav like Miranda Hobbes laughing at a Che Diaz routine. I don't like Shea, but I'm not going to pretend she's untalented. Some of her looks are upper echelon, top-tier drag (her ode to her grandmother might be my favorite look of the season) but after that I don't like her.  

Long-story short, I came back to watch Raja and Jinkx and I'm happy they both managed to show how truly talented they both are. 

I don't mind tricks and stunts when lipsyning, but Raja was on another level while Yvie was like a magician pulling any old thing out of her hat. Raja just owned both of those tunes.

Again I was exhausted and just wanted to get it over with, so the last song being a Katy Perry made me fast-forward through the whole thing. It looked like Monet beat Jinkx in the battle but Ms. Monsoon was so far ahead of the competition, she still won the war. (I also don't think much of Monet - everything about her is just so obvious. On the C.U.N.T. scale, it's 6.5s across the board.)

It was great to see Jaida. meh to everyone else. Maybe I'll be back for an All-Stars with the messier winners.

Edited August 1, 2022 by gorgy

[TallulahBelle]

14 hours ago, Keywestclubkid said:

I love her 

I was at this show!!!!! - also lucky enough to have purchased a ticket in Nov 2019 for this show that then got postponed twice due to a pandemic and then the night it was on, was the night Jinkx Monsoon won All Stars.  It was an absolute DELIGHT being there to celebrate Jinkx - after that vid ends, Dela explains that tonight they've decided to throw away their normal show and instead she took a total backseat and let Jinkx drive.  She did some torch songs she hasn't done in ages, talked about being on Allstars and they just gabbed about their friendship.  It was incredibly gracious of Dela and the most wonderful show of sisterhood, I didn't know I could love them both more.

[Blakeston]

1 hour ago, gorgy said:

I don't like Shea, but I'm not going to pretend she's untalented. Some of her looks are upper echelon, top-tier drag (her ode to her grandmother might be my favorite look of the season) but after that I don't like her.  

I adored that look, too. I was irritated with Shea, though, that she said that the outfit was "inspired" by her grandmother. It was inspired by the designer's grandmother. Shea saw a model wear the outfit on the runway and decided she liked it, which is fine - but she made it sound like she was involved in the creation.

I truly don't understand anyone looking at the season and thinking that Jinkx received unearned favoritism, and that Shea and Monet were screwed over. The most blatant acts of favoritism this season were a) Ru handing Monet the winning idea for the viral dance video challenge, and b) Ru absurdly awarding the winners of the talent show three stars each.

On a side note, Yvie posted something interesting on social media. Referring to filming this season she wrote:

Quote

TBH my experience was pretty gruesome from the start. And while you can be assured that "none of that will make the edit" it doesn't change anything in the moment. Going back I learned a lot about myself, as I was forced to question whether or not I fit into this specific world (even as a winner). But instead of showing ANY of that struggle (or really any reason for me to be there) I've been lobotomized and presented as some goofy, big-dicked mascot, bravely laughing through my chronic illness, happy to be along for the ride. The only part of my truth that was shown was how the girls were my rock in this competition, and how happy it's made me to share any more of my art with you...so for that I'm truly thankful.

I have to think that the editors probably thought they were doing her a favor by presenting her as so cheerful and "brave," but that's clearly not what she wanted.

[rollacoaster]

On 7/30/2022 at 5:53 PM, davidcalgary29 said:

I think Trinity's an amazing dancer. That being said, I think she envisions all of her numbers as some type of Pussycat Dolls routine, as they reek of hard, cheap, cocaine-fueled orgies, and not performative art in itself (translation: this week's episode of Drag Race France).

I just have to say that this may be my favorite sentence I've ever read on here. I laughed out loud at work. 

[Kaboom 2.0]

I can't possibly be the only person here that clapped her hands in glee during the mini challenge when Trinity removed a can of hair spray from her boyfriend mid dance move, can I? LOL 

So happy that Raja & Jinks got the wins but Swish Swish as the finale lip sync song?? Why?!? Such a boring song choice for such a momentous moment. 

I'm not on social media, even I know all these negative tweets and posts are almost expected nowadays, but it's still sad to see and read about here. From what y'all have posted makes me love Yvie even more, if that's possible, and Trinity for blocking trolls and fanatics.

[Shinyshiny778891]

16 hours ago, TallulahBelle said:

I was at this show!!!!! - also lucky enough to have purchased a ticket in Nov 2019 for this show that then got postponed twice due to a pandemic and then the night it was on, was the night Jinkx Monsoon won All Stars.  It was an absolute DELIGHT being there to celebrate Jinkx - after that vid ends, Dela explains that tonight they've decided to throw away their normal show and instead she took a total backseat and let Jinkx drive.  She did some torch songs she hasn't done in ages, talked about being on Allstars and they just gabbed about their friendship.  It was incredibly gracious of Dela and the most wonderful show of sisterhood, I didn't know I could love them both more.

That is wonderful! I am so happy to read your post. 

[Sbeetle]

18 hours ago, Blakeston said:

Ru absurdly awarding the winners of the talent show three stars each.

I think Ru did this to neutralize Shea, who allegedly complained all season. I don't think it was an accident that Shea and Jinkx were in a lip-sync together. 

18 hours ago, Blakeston said:

a) Ru handing Monet the winning idea for the viral dance video challenge,

That was an odd win. Quite frankly, I'm annoyed at Monet. She's been off this entire run. She did not come off favorably this season, in my opinion. 

Bussy Queen did her review and she suggested ending the Lip Sync Smackdown. I agree. If Shea was put out for initially losing due to a lip-sync, but others stated they should have done something similar for Monet, (thanks to @Glade for the reminder) then maybe it's time for this idea to end.

I think this started because Bianca won without ever lip-syncing, and some queens protested. She never lip-synced because she was never in the bottom, you fools!

[Rai]

I'm gonna speak up in favor of the lip sync showdown. I want the queens to get more creative and evocative with how they manage these lip syncs in the finale, but the idea in and of itself is not flawed. There's always some big finale competition that ends reality shows, even lovely, gentle ones like GBBO, and my interest in watching the finales went way up after they started doing more than the reunion on stage. Top Chef, you cook the meal of your life. Project Runway, you make a collection. ANTM, you had to walk in a "real" show, etc. If the lip sync is how each queen potentially lives or dies during the competition, then it only makes sense that to have it be the final arbiter (outside of Ru just picking her fave).

I will say that nothing has topped season 9 for spectacle and surprise, but season 12 came close! It may have been done on zoom, but that pushed the creativity. Maybe the producers need to take a few notes from what made that work and think about how to apply them to a live format. Season 10 had the unfortunate Butterfly Effect.  Season 11 was season 11. Season 13 was playing to an empty theater and a little too overproduced. Season 14 also seemed overproduced and had too many finalists (sorry, Daya, it's true though). But the concept is sound, it just needs rethinking.

You can't manufacture the lightning in a bottle that was Sasha Velour's performances, but she did what Ru always tells the queens -- figure out what it is you do well and apply it to everything. She did props and fashion to a high level and therefore no one cared about her lack of choreo. Jaida does performance and her own costumes and managed to push both of those to overcome a zoom format. The queens have to be more clever, and the producers (possibly Ru) have to let them be more clever.

Edited August 1, 2022 by Rai

[TallulahBelle]

3 hours ago, Rai said:

I'm gonna speak up in favor of the lip sync showdown. I want the queens to get more creative and evocative with how they manage these lip syncs in the finale, but the idea in and of itself is not flawed. There's always some big finale competition that ends reality shows, even lovely, gentle ones like GBBO, and my interest in watching the finales went way up after they started doing more than the reunion on stage. Top Chef, you cook the meal of your life. Project Runway, you make a collection. ANTM, you had to walk in a "real" show, etc. If the lip sync is how each queen potentially lives or dies during the competition, then it only makes sense that to have it be the final arbiter (outside of Ru just picking her fave).

The issue I personally have with lip syncs is that the finale seems to always be to some big bombastic number or an iconic pop anthem, but not all queens are suited to that kind of LSFYL - but obviously at a live finale a torch song/Broadway mashup final lip synch would be gonzo (but also maybe awesome?!) so I don't know what the answer is either! 

I think Jinkx beat Shea - I don't think she won against Monet. I thought the same with Raja, that she won her first but that Yvie won the second, but that if you're going off the overall season, then yes, the right two queens won their 'divisions' but that Yvie won NO money?  That's unreal to me.

[Blakeston]

I feel bad for Yvie that the one time she had a shot at $10K, she had to lip sync to a Dolly Parton song. That was unfortunate luck for her.

[lyric]

On 8/1/2022 at 5:49 PM, Rai said:

There's always some big finale competition that ends reality shows, even lovely, gentle ones like GBBO, and my interest in watching the finales went way up after they started doing more than the reunion on stage. Top Chef, you cook the meal of your life. Project Runway, you make a collection. ANTM, you had to walk in a "real" show, etc. If the lip sync is how each queen potentially lives or dies during the competition, then it only makes sense that to have it be the final arbiter (outside of Ru just picking her fave).

True, but to use your analogy, it would be like Top Chef saying the finale show is “you can only cook Indian cuisine”, or Project Runway “a collection of only ball gowns”, etc. great for those who specialize in those areas, but thumb on the scale against those who might excel in everything but. In this case - comedy / actor queens, vocalists, fashion queens, etc. 

I also think a night of all lip syncs - like 3 or 4 collections of ball gowns - makes for boring television, but I realize that’s a personal preference. I wish they would have the final queens perform them but stipulate it’s not the only criteria - it renders everything else they do as unimportant, ultimately. Why reduce winning down to one talent when there are so many?

What great season though - unfortunate there’s backlash. Not a good look for queens crowing they were screwed. This show has never been “fair” or objective but it seems most queens go on to great success, which I’d think means more than the prize money anyway.

[The Mighty Peanut]

As unfair as the money thing is, the queens are all going to make bank in booking fees, sponsorships, tours, appearances, etc. Monet said at the Roscoe's viewing party that she agreed to do Secret Celebrity Drag Race "because the check was right". Vivienne and Trinity are touring, Jinkx and Dela...none of them are hurting for money. IIRC both Trinity and Alyssa Edwards said something to the effect of the prize isn't the crown, it's the gigs. 

So yeah the principle of the thing bothers me (especially with Yvie, getting no money after all the emotional and physical stress), but the queens are alright.

Edited August 7, 2022 by The Mighty Peanut