Previous Seasons Talk

[RCharter]

^^I would also like to know the answer to this question!

[editorgrrl]

7 hours ago, lordonia said:

Was there ever any reason given why Santino left? I'm fine with whoever the judges are, but it seemed kind of abrupt. Did he and Ru have a falling out?

I don't know what happened, but I doubt there's any bad blood. Santino came back last season as a guest judge for episode 711 (the Hello Kitty challenge).

[PaulaO]

I'm re watching season 4 and Willam just puked.  I know he wasn't kicked off for barfing, but it was never explained why he left.  What's the T?

[Cosmic Muffin]

Officially, WOW and Willam admitted that he was receiving conjugal visits from his husband, which was forbidden as it broke the confidentiality agreement. This was discussed at the reunion, along with him calling out Phi Phi's behavior towards Jiggly as psycho. The clip is up on YouTube.

Willam appeared in a play soon after getting kicked off, while Drag Race was still filming. He's hinted that he did stuff to get kicked off so he could go do the play. He's also indicated that Phi Phi and others had phones, which is forbidden, but no one did anything about it. Recently, in one of his Beatdowns he referred offhandedly to his time on Drag Race as "My 'Nam", so while he's been neutral about the whole thing lately, and always speaks well of RuPaul I don't know if he would have done it again if he had it to do over. At the time, he was pretty mad about being asked to be on All Stars 1, then being disinvited. He wrote the song "Rupologize" about that, and in the video Sharon Needles plays RuPaul. He also said that he carefully puked into and umbrella  and cleaned everything up so a stagehand wouldn't have to.

Can you tell I love Willam?

[JakeyJokes]

Willam also hinted (but never outright said, likely due to legal reasons) that producers not only asked him to do the show, but knew he was booked for the NYC Fringe Festival show during the dates that conflicted with filming. He was never going to win, but the way he was supposed to leave was ... Not what happened. He has a book coming out this year that will probably explain as much as he can without being sued.

There is a *lot* of T on his Tumblr about World of Wonder and it doesn't make them look good. However, they do seem quick to offer regular gigs for popular alumni on their YouTube channel.

[roamyn]

Jade's cousin was one of those killed this weekend in Orlando, Edward Sotomayer.

[AKA...CJ86]

I've been watching interviews featuring some of the Season 7 Queens  (Trixie, Katya, Tempest, MKD...) and quite a few mention a few of the girls don't get that much work...which Queens?  

I think  a few are probably obvious but do they ever go into more specifics on who?  I'm just glad my favorites seem to be doing well from the season.

[JakeyJokes]

S7?

Sasha Belle works as much as a booker (based in Iowa City) as a performer.

Kandi Ho books shows in Chicago and I heard very unsubstantiated T that she makes her girls pay to play, which has sullied her reputation. 

MAX is based in my hometown and I saw him booked exactly once during/after S7.

[Cosmic Muffin]

There is a new Youtube Hey Qween with Jiggly Caliente. I haven't watched the main interview yet, I have to run off to work soon, but I did watch the 3 part Look at huh!, since those are my favorite parts of the interviews. Pt. 2 Look at huh! starts off with Phi Phi O'Hara and Jiggle told a short but funny story about Phi2.

Gotta run, go check it out if you like that sort of thing!

[voiceover]

Season 2 is rerunning tonight; all my favorite girls were in this one and it's not even close!*  Jujubee, Pandora, and Raven...thanks again Ru for bringing them back for Drag U (which I've missed).

*partly because LOGO priced itself out of my cable package after 5

Tyra doesn't piss me off (as much) this time around -- although how the hell did she win the bride challenge? She was obviously Ru's favorite, at least from the initial edit. 

But I'm still #shouldabeenraven.

Edited August 23, 2016 by voiceover
I can't stop defending my own opinion

[Watermelon]

Tyra won that bridal challenge, solely because she glued that shit on her skin. Ru loves old school drag tactics

[buttercupia]

the glue, the oversized bouquet, the flawless makeup, the jump up from kneeling, the attitude. at the time I was mad but looking back I can really see why tyra deserved to win the season. she truly did bring it.

for extra points watch for the shared wigs and accessories.  tyra's beyonce wig was morgan's wig in the gone with the windows challenge. don't know who it actually belonged to. in snatch game, pandora's necklace as carol channing is the same one tyra wore with the nappy pompadour/see through skirt from the starrbooty runway.

[kieyra]

3 minutes ago, buttercupia said:

the glue, the oversized bouquet, the flawless makeup, the jump up from kneeling, the attitude. at the time I was mad but looking back I can really see why tyra deserved to win the season. she truly did bring it.

That stank attitude though. 

[buttercupia]

yeah, but she wasn't the only one. Raven and Morgan were  nastier than nasty.

[DisneyBoy]

Just started watching this crazy show - exactly the kind of escapist fare I needed. Like Top Model...but somehow more believable and grounded.

Since I've seen random episodes, its hard for me to follow how and when people left, but here are some of my fave contestants:

Ginger Minge (shoulda won), Bianca Del Rio, Kimchee, Latrice Royale and Willam.

 

Actually knew Willam from her Beatdown series and Nip/Tuck. Like her...but find the whole "I used the show for publicity" thing pretty shady. I wonder how mentally well Willam is. She comes off a little...drunk maybe sometimes? She's smart and charismatic...but likes to stir the pot and marches to her own tune.

 

I did not like Santino one bit.

Edited August 28, 2016 by DisneyBoy

[HunterHunted]

I've been re-watching season 5. I'm floored by how obnoxious and condescending Roxxxy was. Roxxxy is really good at the mechanical aspects of drag (hair, makeup, padding, and clothing), but kind of shit at the other parts that are essential for a career as a drag queen. She can't dance. Her lipsyncing is ok. She's not funny. She's not good extemporaneously. She's also really all that creative or witty. She is minimally talented, but those pageants have filled her head.

[kieyra]

I'm rewatching season 6 as I try to figure out how the show lost its magic. I'm watching the Shade: The Rusical episode and I suddenly remembered this site existed:

http://graphtv.kevinformatics.com/tt1353056

I believe this site uses viewer ratings metadata from places like IMBD. You can see how the show peaked in season 6 (right around the episode I got to tonight). 

I'm no closer to knowing what went wrong, though. Seems like a casting problem.

[AntManBee]

Quote

I've been re-watching season 5. I'm floored by how obnoxious and condescending Roxxxy was. Roxxxy is really good at the mechanical aspects of drag (hair, makeup, padding, and clothing), but kind of shit at the other parts that are essential for a career as a drag queen.

I know Roxxxy was less than pleasurable in how she was presented to the TV audience, but seen through the filter of the judges eyes (IE seeing only the runways and parts of the maxi challenges shown to the judges), it is easy to see how she did so well.  Plus, that wig under a wig reveal!  I could've crowned her just for that.

Quote

I'm no closer to knowing what went wrong, though. Seems like a casting problem.

I am no detective, but I have seen my fair share of Columbo and Murder, She Wrote.  So of course I have some theories.

Season 6 is when Logo stopped airing Untucked.  The entire Untucked presentation changed.  No more Form Decor, no Interior Illusions, etc.  In the few seasons, the show had also lost sponsors in Al & Chuck Travel, and most notably, Absolut.   I don't know what that means.  But Ru is emphatic that it's her choice who wins.  There were rumors in early seasons that Absolut pulled for certain winners, and a rift was created when Ru went with Sharon over Chad in Season 4.  This was also the first season where Ru announced a winner at a "live" reunion special, where she crowns each finalist the winner, to "prevent spoilers."  IMO this is more so Ru can read the social response to queens and crown a likable queen Jinkx and not somebody like Roxxxy (allegedly Absolut's pick) or Alaska (my speculative Ru pick, were she selecting a winner in the vacuum, like in seasons 1-3). 

Season 4-5, I think also represent the change of RuPaul from lovable, approachable, Drag Queen of early seasons to the polished, but likable, brand of today.   This is mirrored in how contestants are farmed.  Season 6 saw Adore, Bianca, and Courtney ... all alleged ringers.  And even if they weren't, one would be blind not to immediately pick them as a final 3.  Cast some other fun quirky (quarky) characters and put on a show!   Get Ru to hashtag plug, social media, trend, monetize, brand, shill more things, and the ball keeps rolling.

This becomes Season 7.  The season, I believe, that was overcast with attractive ingénues, with strong social media savvy, with the intention of building social media frenzies.  And it worked in a certain microcosm, while also alienating many other fans.  Reaction, overall, is bad, and the pendulum swings the other way in Season 8. 

1 hour ago, kieyra said:

http://graphtv.kevinformatics.com/tt1353056

This graph is fascinating, and it demonstrates where I think Season 8 messed up, perhaps worse than Season 7.  It starts out strong, but quickly falls off a cliff in enjoyment.  It becomes painfully obvious that Bob is going to win early, that Derrick Berry is not as exciting as you'd expect a celebrity impersonator celebrity in themselves to be, and once Acid Betty is out, it all becomes so dull.   The challenges begin to feel like uninspired mashups.  Snatch Game disappoints.  Madonna on the runway angers many.  The season seems short, which too many undercooked queens getting pretty far.  Some decline over the season makes sense, especially as favorites get eliminated.  But, the sharp drop in ratings for Season 8 pretty much mirrors how I felt about it.  Season 7, at the time, felt awful, but in hindsight, it just was an average season that came after 3 great ones (which also got progressively better).

Now it almost feels like the show is auto pilot.  Like a corporation that is playing it safe to make an expected profit.   It produces what we want.  Camp, and kitsch, and fun, and references, and aesthetics, and lip syncs, and the pit crew.  Yet it somehow feels less fulfilling.

[ClareWalks]

I think part of the problem is that the challenges are becoming so repetitive. We used to have maybe 1 or 2 acting challenges a season, now it feels like every week. There should be more creative/sewing challenges, or at least bring back some fun ones like in season 1 when they had to do an infomercial for a drag item.

I also agree that not airing Untucked (except on YouTube) is a killer. It makes us less invested in the queens. Of course, for those of us who have to watch it all online it doesn't matter much (I have neither Logo nor VH1 on my cable package), but they shouldn't be making people go out looking for Untucked. I prefer the new format for it, though, because it feels less produced and more like the queens are being authentic. How else would we have found out what a crazy bitch Alexis is?

[MaryWebGirl]

11 hours ago, AntManBee said:

IMO this is more so Ru can read the social response to queens and crown a likable queen Jinkx and not somebody like Roxxxy (allegedly Absolut's pick) or Alaska (my speculative Ru pick, were she selecting a winner in the vacuum, like in seasons 1-3).

I'm not super up on RPDR tea, but there were also rumblings that Jinkx was a drunk mess on the tour, and that's what pushed Absolut to end its sponsorship.

[AntManBee]

2 hours ago, MaryWebGirl said:

I'm not super up on RPDR tea, but there were also rumblings that Jinkx was a drunk mess on the tour, and that's what pushed Absolut to end its sponsorship.

Good point.  I had forgotten about that.  Fame also hit Sharon rather hard after she won too.  I could see how Absolut and Ru both might want to part company, given those two.

[JakeyJokes]

I wonder if S7 is so maligned because it came after S6, which to me was perfection. Sure, I was a Bianca stan, but you had Courtney and Adore and Dela and Milk and Trinity and Laganja and Gia and Joslyn. I also think Untucked really made S6 for me. You had Bianca stealing Laganja's moment, "Did you or did you not come for me?", Darienne saying she can find a man when she loses a lot of weight and Courtney telling her she can find a man looking just like that.

S7 never gelled for me. Most of the eliminations made no sense, and some felt like they were being drawn out of a bucket. Why did Kandi Ho last so long? Kasha Davis' exit seemed like the producers remembered she was over 40 and they couldn't have that on this season. Miss Fame and Pearl were good TV. Nobody knew Trixie would be as popular as she was and her (first) elimination caused a lot of sourness. The very popular Katya is eliminated at #5, but then her eliminator Kennedy is eliminated in the #4 position yet we never see her dance, because we know she actually *can* dance and probably tore the house down. Producer fingerprints are all over reality shows, but S7 seemed especially ham-handed.

[le bordel chaud]

I love Season 7 but fully acknowledge all the flaws mentioned. To me, Violet is one of the best winners. I live for her stunning and creative looks.

[Watermelon]

7 hours ago, delicatecutter said:

I love Season 7 but fully acknowledge all the flaws mentioned. To me, Violet is one of the best winners. I live for her stunning and creative looks.

Violet to me is what they tried to sell Kim Chi and Naomi as on  Season 8 and I just have to say, NO.

Naomi was not worthy of top 3. IDC IDC IDC.

And while I don't need my drag race winners to dance, they shouldn't clomp. And they shouldn't lisp. Sorry, not sorry.

[ClareWalks]

I agree about Violet. I like her as a winner. She is polished and stunning. I could literally not take my eyes off her when she was on screen. Is she as straight-up entertaining as Bianca or Bob? No. But she really elevated drag to art, and as the season progressed she became less afraid of looking stupid and I admired her fearlessness and her aesthetic taste.

[cpcathy]

Violet, come thhhhhhhhhhhroughhhhhhhhh!

I love Violet, I guess they call her a "look" queen, but WHAT a look! I couldn't even see her at Drag Con, her booth was so crowded! I am one of the few that feels season 7 was not a failure, we got some gorgeous looks on the runway, and even the bad ones were amusing.

And I love Pearl too, I know that's not popular around here.

[GingerPudding]

I'm trying to get some friends into Drag Race. What do you think is the single best episode to get them into it? I'm thinking the beginning of season 6 because I adore Bianca. 

[Zuleikha]

Violet was underrated. She's not just a look queen, though. I get defensive for her about that. She's a sexy fetish-style performer and has developed into a solid aerialist. Her season didn't give her many opportunities to show her performance skill because the performances were all comedy camp. I think Ginger Minj should have won based on actual show performance, but I think Violet is every bit Ginger's equal. They're just two very different kinds of talented.

[ClareWalks]

19 hours ago, GingerPudding said:

I'm trying to get some friends into Drag Race. What do you think is the single best episode to get them into it? I'm thinking the beginning of season 6 because I adore Bianca. 

If I were picking a season 6 ep it would probably be "Oh No She Betta Don't." Especially if your friends are of that generation that enjoyed some 90s hip hop :)

[kieyra]

On 5/12/2017 at 11:58 PM, GingerPudding said:

I'm trying to get some friends into Drag Race. What do you think is the single best episode to get them into it? I'm thinking the beginning of season 6 because I adore Bianca. 

My favorite seems to be Scream Queens, although it's quite early in the season so there are a LOT of names and faces. 

[GingerPudding]

Thanks for the suggestion! They loved it though I did occasionally have to pause it and explain the references like reading is fundamental. I have converted three more to worship at the alter of drag race. 

[kieyra]

Season 6 rewatch: 

Back in 2014 TWOP had just closed and I was hanging out on reddit. I wasn't able to watch Glitter Ball live but I looked at the subreddit briefly and saw lots of "THIS IS BULLSHIT!!" posts. I was terrified it meant Bianca or Adore had been eliminated, so I immediately clicked a thread and spoiled myself, and was relieved to see it was "only" BenDela. At the time I was pretty whatever about it because his looks did seem a little costumey to me.

But re-watching it now I can totally see where the outrage came from. Every single one of Darienne's runways was busted, and Ben was generally more entertaining (although I've seen Darienne live since and she's fantastic). I guess it was a "shock" ploy? 

Meanwhile, does anyone remember rumors during S6 that Adore had producer/outside help with her outfits for this one? Maybe that was just some reddit nonsense.

(Watching "whiny Adore" in the workroom makes Farrah Moan look pretty bad by comparison. Whiny Adore was at least often funny and self-aware.)

[JakeyJokes]

Hard to remember for me! S7 was the first season I started regularly watching at viewing parties, and it was always easier to get a general sense of the public since then. For me, Darienne's 4th placement was very similar to Kennedy's 4th; she was good, but they were never gonna let her go in the top three no matter how she performed (you could argue that this was true for Chi Chi in S8 as well).

Quote

Meanwhile, does anyone remember rumors during S6 that Adore had producer/outside help with her outfits for this one? Maybe that was just some reddit nonsense.

Didn't Bianca help her quite a bit? I remember this was the episode where Bob Mackie was the judge and he was a hero of Bianca's, and he didn't like Bianca's looks but *loved* Adore, and Bianca called Ben a cunt onstage! It was a very rare imperfect moment for her.

[kieyra]

7 minutes ago, JakeyJokes said:

Hard to remember for me! S7 was the first season I started regularly watching at viewing parties, and it was always easier to get a general sense of the public since then. For me, Darienne's 4th placement was very similar to Kennedy's 4th; she was good, but they were never gonna let her go in the top three no matter how she performed (you could argue that this was true for Chi Chi in S8 as well).

Didn't Bianca help her quite a bit? I remember this was the episode where Bob Mackie was the judge and he was a hero of Bianca's, and he didn't like Bianca's looks but *loved* Adore, and Bianca called Ben a cunt onstage! It was a very rare imperfect moment for her.

Bianca calls out some advice, but the rumor I read was something that supposedly happened off-camera, that they brought in someone to help her (not Bianca). 

Honestly, I'm not too sure why I brought it up since I can't remember where I read it. I think it's because the transition between Adore hopelessly wrestling with the corset and tulle and Adore suddenly having three really good runway looks was pretty abrupt. Her executive realness look just doesn't look like something Adore came up with on her own, or would have packed. And she suddenly owned non-mermaid wigs.

 (I still love her. And as Bob Mackie pointed out, she owned each look either way.)

[dusang]

Just discovered seasons 2-7 have been returned to (Canadian) Netflix!! It's funny starting S2 -- Shangela was one of the few names I recognized and she was first out! And most of them are so quiet!!

[dusang]

Up to S2E5 (the wedding). I will grant that Tyra looks good on the runway but that child is dumb as rocks and mean to boot. So tiring. Really disappointing to know he won.

[Ciarrai]

I am so happy to find 2-9 on Netflix. I'm on the fourth episode of S2 and completely and utterly hooked. I've watched S3, S5, S8, S9 and S10 (plus the last two All Stars) and I'm incredibly excited to watch the rest.

However, I haaaaate Alaska. I hated her in S5 and I hated her in All Stars.

[Amello]

How do you guys watch knowing untucked is out there in the ether with so many iconic moments being unwatched?

[dusang]

It's taking everything in me to not live post my S2 watch. I'm on ep 9 with the Diva awards -- WHY does Ru love Tyra so much? She's stank garbage!! And her "drag mom" in the previous ep looked terrible!! She should have been in the bottom.

[ClareWalks]

28 minutes ago, dusang said:

It's taking everything in me to not live post my S2 watch. I'm on ep 9 with the Diva awards -- WHY does Ru love Tyra so much? She's stank garbage!! And her "drag mom" in the previous ep looked terrible!! She should have been in the bottom.

OOH CHILE, I am literally watching the finale of season 2 at this second. Just saw the Diva awards too and I agree, Tyra turned looks but that's about it. No C-U or T.

[dusang]

And every time he mentions his son, I can only think, "What poor girl slept with this idiot?"

ETA just watching the finale judging panel and Merle just said, "I think Tyra is very intelligent." I literally screamed "What?!" alone in my apartment. Where's Michelle? She never would have fallen for Tyra's lockjaw, monotone bullshit.

[dusang]

Into season 3 now -- three lip syncs & two got physical?! What in the sweet hell was Mimi Imfurst thinking?!

[Lovelylv]

Where could I see past seasons of RPDR? I have spectrum and they only show the last season I think lol I would like to binge watch all the seasons, I never saw season 1 at all. 

[aradia22]

Wee! Seasons 1-5 are on Amazon Prime. Well, I know what I'm doing for the next few days. I know a bunch of the queens from their personal youtube channels, WOW content, their music, etc. but I've never watched an episode so I'm excited to dig in. 

Initial thoughts watching S1E1... it looks like it was filmed with a potato. Also, it's interesting to see the variation in this first group of contestants. There are a bunch who showed up looking like realistic women. One or two seem like "characters." And the rest have an over the top painted look. I'll be interested to see how the judging evolves knowing the queens that are coming in the future. My favorites are Willam, Alaska, Bianca, Katya, etc. I like a comedy queen who knows how to paint her face. But sometimes I watch Miss Fame, Violet, etc. for the legit makeup skills. 

[aradia22]

More season 1 thoughts... It must have been so weird competing in early seasons. There's so much being thrown at them and it doesn't seem clear what the judges want. The overall format seems based on America's Next Top Model. But it seems like an odd mashup of a lot of things... the sing off from The X Factor, the fashion design of Project Runway, makeup skills, etc. Honestly, it kind of seems like they're making it up as they go along.

It feels like a lot of it ended up on the editing room floor. I get the sense that they wanted the queens to display more of Ru's glamazon sensibility. You can say an outfit is poorly made or choreography is bad but you get into trickier territory with the judges telling the girls to be more feminine. I feel like that's not the goal of everyone's version of drag. I almost wish future seasons would do the ANTM thing and get very specific. Like how ANTM wanted short models or plus size models, I kind of wish drag race would do a season with the kind of queens with an old Hollywood vibe who care about Marilyn and Judy Garland and a season with glamazons and a season with more alternative looking queens and so on. It creates a more even playing field when it's less subjective and everyone is being judged on who is the best at doing a particular thing rather than getting a bunch of contestants who mostly do different things. It's like in a singing competition when most people know they should sing pop songs but you get a country act or a lounge singer or a musical theater singer and they got knocked for not being more like a pop singer. 

S1E3 loved Shannel's runway look... Like a jungle queen Medusa in a 60s B movie but with a 90's/2000's aesthetic

BeBe's animal print look with the reveal was great too. Very polished.

It was fun to watch Akashia lip-sync. I don't know if it was performing as much as amazing karaoke but I still enjoyed it.

S1E4 Shannel's reaction to the way Ongina did her makeup was hilarious

BeBe's look was great again. Very 80's diva glam. Like this woman owns a mansion and a big cat she walks on a leash.

Nina looked flawless. Like a makeup lookbook come to life. 

Shannel was showing off. I didn't love the look but she looked great in the bodysuit, the juggling was impressive, and she gave me real woman. 

It was really lovely that Ongina won and felt like sharing her status. Actually a couple of the girls were able to provide enough for them to cut together decent commercials. Which is impressive when girls on ANTM fail when they have an actual script. 

Jade was beautiful but she really didn't have presence in her lip-sync. The dancing was good but her face wasn't giving enough.

I do think the tone of the show in season 1 is kind of off. The judges and the contestants make really catty comments sometimes. But then the show also wants to have a supportive community/believe in yourself sort of message. It clashes. You're critiquing someone's self expression. It's going to come across differently from most other competition reality shows where you're at least able to isolate a skill. Sure, people put something of themselves in the way they sing and the food they cook and the clothes they make and whatever. But it definitely has a different energy on Drag Race. It feels a little uncomfortable for the judges to read people sometimes. 

S1E5 I feel like this showed which contestants can do makeup on other people as well as on themselves. 

BeBe's girl looked good but she might have just been naturally pretty. Shannel's girl was looking a little hard but for a drag look, I think it was good. Rebecca's girl was very pretty. I think Nina and Ongina had pretty girls and let them down with the makeup looks. BeBe's girl was definitely the best at the lip-sync.

In the final lip-sync battle, I feel like Ongina was singing and BeBe was PERFORMING.

S1E6 There were a lot of... nontraditional moves in that voguing challenge but I still enjoyed it.

Executive Realness: BeBe and Nina were adorable secretaries. Shannel was the kind of secretary who steals your husband. A bit too glam. Rebecca looked like a bad mannequin at a discount store.

Swimsuit: BeBe didn't have the best garment construction but the headpiece helped sell it. Nina would have made more sense as Hedda Lettuce. Why did they give her so much green? Shannel definitely had the best look. Very fashion. Rebecca was pretty but her look was a big meh.

Evening Gown: I liked the styling of Bebe's look from the head up but I felt like the dress mainly worked because of her body. The dress was basic. I loved the 80's glam Nina conjured for her hair and makeup. I was less enthused about the outfit but I appreciated the creativity in incorporating mango. A bit old-fashioned but I enjoyed the showgirl/pageant vibes of Shannel's look. I think Rebecca took this category with her gown.

LOL, the drama of Shannel nominating herself. I can understand her being frustrated. 

With the lip-sync, it seemed like Rebecca was doing a better job of selling that she was actually singing and Shannel relied on big gestures.

[aradia22]

Final season 1 thoughts: I think my favorites of the season were Shannel, Ongina, Nina, and BeBe. I probably would have preferred Nina winning but I'm fine with BeBe winning.

Part of me gets Tammie but most of me does not. Maybe I'd feel differently if I'd watched All Stars or knew her outside the show. I don't get her inexplicable accent work and most of the wacky things she says don't feel like jokes, just nonsense.

I feel like the show was a lot of things cobbled together, at least in season 1, but one thing that was surprising was remembering what reality TV was like in the early 2000's. Most shows are so slick and glossy and formulaic now. I forgot all the attempts to manufacture drama and awkward promotions/sponsorships.

I do think Santino was perhaps a bad judge to have on the show. As Akashia pointed out, he didn't win. In fact, his final runway was rather dreadful. I feel like they wanted him for his big mouth and not any real knowledge of drag or fashion.

The reunion special was lunacy. Why did anyone let that air?

[aradia22]

SEASON 2 EP 1: When I first saw the girls, a lot of them were looking... HARD. Somehow the makeup made them look older and worse. They were cuter as boys.

Nicole Paige Brooks looked very modelesque and (relatively speaking) natural. I liked her look immediately. Tatianna and Tyra were also pretty. Shangela and Pandora came in with the best energy.

A Gone With the Wind photoshoot? That's almost as bad as what Tyra would come up with for ANTM. Pandora's photo was actually fantastic. Sahara, Tyra, Raven, and Shangela looked pretty good too. I'm impressed that none of the lashes flew off with as much as they were flapping in the wind.

Wow, they already dropped from MAC to NYX?

For costumes made in the workroom, I thought the season 2 cast was already a step up from the season 1 cast. I wouldn't have put Shangela and Sahara in the bottom 2 but that was a very entertaining lip sync.

[aradia22]

S2E2 Ooh, God. I forgot that whole Christina Aguilera Dirty/Pussycat Dolls aesthetic. 

Sending them outside to try to sell gift certificates was just rude. No one likes people begging for stuff on the street. This was a bad trend in reality shows that just felt like the producers wanted to do something cheap and had no ideas.

I was impressed with Sonique's moves. Morgan was good too. Raven was not as sexy as she thought she was. 

A lot of girls can do the splits this season.

Team Sahara's was messier and a little aggressive (a lot of shaking) but more fun.

For all her laziness, Tyra was great in her solo. Sahara was amazing but I expected that. I'm starting to like Jujubee.

Runway: I liked Sonique. If I describe it, it sounds bad but I was really into it on her for some reason. Sahara was giving me Tyra Banks in Life Size. I don't know why I didn't like Jujubee's look more. All the parts worked separately but whenever they pulled back for a full body shot, she looked wide. Mystique looked nice. Morgan didn't follow the challenge but it was a cute outfit. With Tyra the sparkles were pretty but the dress looked cheap. Tatiana looked okay. I forget how bad fashion was. 

[aradia22]

S2E3 

Commercial Challenge: Jujubee's Ellie May makeup was really pretty. Pandora was giving me great comedy queen energy. Mystique had straight up Ursula from the Little Mermaid makeup.

Tyra looked like a beauty doll as the baby. But I think she's just naturally pretty and then put on those huge lashes. I think Sonique was the Auntie. I loved the makeup but she's kind of anonymous. I had to figure out who she was by process of elimination.

Runway: Sonique was giving me Coyote Ugly glam. Jujubee was very real. Raven was a little Marilyn but I liked it a lot better than episode 2's look. Tatianna was more fly girl than country. Pandora was solid. I think that was the best Jessica has looked so far. Mystique looked... unfortunate. And not on theme. I didn't love Tyra's look until the reveal. 

Neither commercial was totally successful. There were weak links on both teams.

Santino has the most useless critiques. Why doesn't your voice change? I'm glad they replaced him.

[aradia22]

S2E4

The skinny white queens were so bitchy about Mystique.

The Price is Right game was silly but fun.

Snatch Game: I don't think Pandora nailed the Carol Channing voice but she was fun. Morgan looked nice but played Pink very... normal. Sonique's look was fun but she wasn't giving a lot. Jujubee was okay as Kimora. Jessica's Ru was looking kind of rough. Raven's Paris was looking hard. It was pretty makeup but she looked old. I don't know why Raven goes so severe with her makeup. I liked Sahara as Whitney. Tatianna was a cute Britney. Tyra was pretty but her Beyonce was pretty basic.

Pandora and Tatianna did the best job. They were the funniest.

Runway: Pandora looked a little more glam but the dress was still kind of cheap and basic. Tyra looked FABULOUS. Same for Sahara. Breathtaking. Morgan, Sonique, Raven, and Jujubee looked good but in an unexciting way.

Lip-Sync: They're both good but Morgan came out swinging. I can see why she took it. She focused on the lip-sync and not the tricks.