S03.E01: All Star Variety Show

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

In the Season 3 premiere, a mystery 10th queen joins the nine All Stars competing for $100,000 and a place in the Drag Race Hall of Fame. The first test is to compete in a drag variety show.

[le bordel chaud]

No comments yet? Odd.

Morgan just won the Darwin Award for Drag Queens. Gurl? It's not a bad strategy to eliminate the stronger girls if you're a weaker queen like Morgan (it's obviously the only way she would have any kind of path to the crown). We can also put aside the fact that she would actually have to do great at a challenge and then win the lip sync to implement her plan.

But it goes without saying that you keep that strategy to yourself. The minute she started blabbing about that out loud, I knew she was done for. She's set herself up as a huge liability for any of the stronger queens who Morgan might take out. And tragic for Morgan, they can actually win lip syncs like Ben did and therefore have the ability to eliminate someone. So it was a no-brainer for Ben to knock out Morgan who has told him to his face she is gunning for queens of her caliber.

Note that Aja doesn't appear to have the same consensus strategy of following the judges' critique but like a smart bitch she kept that shit to herself. And I will be curious to see if she did in fact eliminate ChiChi, who let's face it, is much stronger competition than Morgan.

So yeah, I loved it! So happy to have my show back!! Bebe is just flawless and I'm tickled pink over her inclusion! Also Kennedy always brings the shady talking heads so I am loving her as well!

Hopefully this will be a great season after Season 9 left a somewhat lukewarm taste in my mouth.

Edited January 26, 2018 by Victim Noises

[ElectricBoogaloo]

No surprise that Ben won the reading competition. She was the only one who managed to be funny while reading more than one of her sisters. The other queens were lucky to be funny even once.

As for the variety show, Thorgy was correct when she assessed the acts beforehand - too much singing and dancing. Thorgy knew that playing the violin would stand out just by virtue of being different. If you're going to sing and dance, you have to do something to set yourself apart. Ben's act was memorable because of her cheeky attitude.

I'm still undecided about whether Ben chose Morgan for elimination to seem like the magnanimous queen who is trying to keep all the more talented queens in the competition or to ensure that Morgan wouldn't have the opportunity to choose Ben for elimination. If we're looking at performance, I thought Chi Chi's was far weaker. Her dancing was just okay, her baton twirling was decent but not amazing (and I say this as someone whose sister was a twirler), and her costume was lackluster. If we're going by the judges' comments, I thought they had a lot more negative things to say about Chi Chi. They didn't like her flat shoes, they said she wasn't on the same level as the other girls, etc.

2 hours ago, Victim Noises said:

No comments yet? Odd.

The forum was temporarily shut down for a software upgrade until less than an hour ago.

Edited January 26, 2018 by ElectricBoogaloo
Noticed a typo

[CaioF]

Good episode overall.. Very solid.. (not the most memorable premiere tho, but good). The talent show was very good aswell, and yep, the dancing/lipsync girls set themselves for their very own competition, so no surprise Morgan and Chi Chi totally came off was weaker and pale in comparison with the others that killed at it.. Milk could be a case for a bottom but at least she was a little bit different. Shes not my favorite at all but Thorgy had one of my favorite numbers.. Just a tiny disappointed on Trixie.. it started boring/meh vocals, got better and more charming once the backing vocals came.. (I still wish/hope she could inject some of her drag character/comedy into her songs).

Sing for the legacy was very close but at least Ben was more original on her take.. Aja was giving it all but maybe trying too hard/selling stuff that wasnt matching the song in spots (like when she tried to mimic the bazooka move that we saw from Peppermint but the song didnt had the beat to match with it so it missed the impact).

And about the elimination, I was rolling my eyes with Aja and Morgan talking about Ben not keeping up with her speech., specially Morgan... GUUuuuuirl, you said for everyone that if it was for you, you would just send the strongest home. So why are you trying to use judges comments thinking Ben should take them in consideration if you dont? Yes, Ben said she will be fair with the judges comments but as long she sees the girls agree with that. Morgan said outloud she didnt, so, like she said, she had to send her home to try to preserve her strategy and herself. Sure, as we see, this is not a full agreement (and couldnt be) and Ben should be aware on that. But for now, she made the obvious and probably right decision.. Hard to say out of the two who could be a bigger competition because it will depend on the challenges, soo it was better not take the risk on save Morgan and run the risk to having her winning on a week where she is in the bottom (specially knowing producers would love to force that to happen).

[Stowaway]

Morgan McMichaels is the Cobra Commander of drag. She just ended a week of messy Facebook drama about another queen stealing her dress by having to admit that she got blackout drunk and forgot she gave the dress away. So it's not too surprising she's not as effective a villain as she thinks she is.

[BloggerAloud]

I really enjoyed this episode. It feels very different from All Stars 2 in regards to the fact that that season had an obvious clique of queens who were going to stick together going into it. This year feels very "every queen for herself" which completely shifts the dynamic.

[PaulaO]

I really thought Aja would be in the bottom.  I would have picked Thorgy to be one of the winners, maybe Kennedy Davenport for the other.  Milk kind of creeps me out.  When she's not in drag, she doesn't have a gap between her front teeth, but in drag she does.  I wonder which is real.  And I still have a girl crush on Shangela.

[annewithaneee]

So glad to have the show back! Even though my love for the show seems to have peaked in Season 6, even a lackluster episode is better than most things on TV.

So, I still really dislike the "Lip Sync for Your Legacy"/queens voting twist and I was disappointed that it carried over. I do think the casting for this season is a much better fit for this format than AS2 - because half the cast isn't from the same season and there's no Rolaskatox - but I still think it's just not a great fit for this show. Except for the RuTurn episode, it entirely removes the possibility for a legendary LSFYL! I can't recall a single one from AS2 other than the fabulous Alyssa/Tatianna "Shut Up and Drive" one, and go figure that was the one where the queens were desperately trying to save themselves. With the winners lip syncing for a chance to vote out a queen, it takes away a lot of the urgency -- especially if one or both of the girls is tempted to throw it so they don't have to be the bad guy, 10k be damned (Katya basically admitted to doing this, if I remember right). But still, this isn't RuPaul's Survivor Race. The queens are so concerned with the reaction of the rabid fandom, transparently so, and it leeches any potential joy from the proceedings in a way that most other "contestants voting each other off" shows don't have to deal with. It just doesn't work, and it makes me sad that we're not seeing these seasoned and spectacular queens lipsynching to stay -- I think we're being robbed of a lot of potential epic showdowns.

I really loved the variety show, but I do wish it had been possible for some of these queens to work with production to get rights cleared for a song or two. Clearly that was why Morgan had to record her own song just for this, and I get why she was uncomfortable -- more to the point, with so many of the girls doing lip sync performances to their own tracks, even though basically all of them were great, it all blurred together for me. Had any of that been a Britney song or something I think it would have woken me up. I think the average of all their performances was better than AS2, but none of them came close to the surprise of "Same Parts". More outside the box acts would have been fabulous.

[cpcathy]

So glad the show is back!

See ya, Morgan!

I am rooting for Thorgy so I liked the violin solo, plus ONE HANDED CARTWHEEL!

My husband and I had to discuss who is more handsome, Pearl or Milk. Pearl, for me, definitely (sorry, I LOVE season 7).

[Dandesun]

I was all 'Is Milk gonna ice skate?' I mean, I set myself up for it because I knew no such thing was going to happen but it was still kind of disappointing. Still, she managed to bring enough weird to rise above Chi Chi and Morgan who came out with surprisingly lackluster performances. I mean, you could kind of get behind the baton twirling and maybe there was more throwing and actual twirling in edited out parts but it didn't stand out as being the real highlight. I think I blame Chi Chi's wig more than anything for that. It devoured her face. Meanwhile, Morgan's kept trying to escape.

Trixie got out her Dolly Parton drag to play the autoharp and sing and while the two younger guys at my house were less than impressed, my sister and I liked it. The only problem was voiced by my sister. "Not enough glitter." Look, we saw Dolly live last year and that ethereal creature has dowsed every single instrument she plays (and she plays a LOT of them) with glitter including the autoharp. Trixie was more 70's Dolly to me. Gingham rather than rhinestones but even if her performance was more low key it was different and set her apart. Plus, she can actually play and sing so she didn't screw the pooch on that one.

All of the different dancing/lip synchs... man, you really had to pull something out that separated you from the pack in a good way. Shangela was the first one out but I still felt her performance was too frenetic. I was pretty 'meh' on it. I knew that Aja could dance but the various costume reveals and then the jumping death drop was pretty great. I particularly liked the 'Is she going to jump off that?' from Milk right before Aja jumped off. Nice job, editing. Then Kennedy came out and flipped onto the box. Well played! Woooo, shut up!

I confess I didn't even recognize that Thorgy played 'Sissy That Walk' I guess a repeat is required. Bebe pulled out another one of her famous looks but then channeled Camaroon and played to that strength. Very nice. And then Ben dela came out in a burlesque number that was funny and witty and well performed. I was dying. 

I remain a bit torn about Bebe returning simply because I didn't think bringing a winner back was the way to go. At the same time, she never did Snatch Game, Season 1 was very pared down and didn't have the sheer amount of acting challenges that later seasons did so I can see how bringing her back might be a way to go. I still have to settle on it. My sister was of the opinion at our viewing party that 'Ru is reminding us that this is her show and she will do whatever she damn well pleases!' Well, she's not wrong.

Ben sending Morgan packing was not a surprise after Morgan revealed her villainous scheme to all. Aja is clearly not on board with the 'judges critique' method of deciding who should go but she's far more wisely not putting it out there. Alyssa during AS2 said flat out she didn't agree with the whole judges critique consensus which was acknowledged in the reunion but Alyssa is the 'it's not personal, it's drag' originator (on the show, don't know if someone else came up with that in real life) and, anyway, we all know that Alaska and Detox saved Roxxxy when she didn't deserve it. I freaking loved Milk going 'can we at least agree that if someone lets you borrow an ugly sequined tank top you send the bitch home?' Ugh, that still pisses me off. Also, Alaska's tears over it like anyone thought she was going to do anything else. All of Ben's promo stuff has been "I was Miss Congeniality so I don't have to be nice anymore!" I am here for it.

[Glade]

I'm glad Morgan is gone already, I wasn't into her attitude, her face, or her (polished, but pretty standard) look.  Her performance was lame and totally flat, and I adored that Ben won and sent her packing.  Go Bendela.  I was not thrilled, however, to find that they'e kept the same 'queens send each other home' twist as last year, given the fact that it totally ruined AS2.  At least theres no junior high clique in the cast this year...

I didn't like that Bebe was present, if only because it seems to preclude the idea of an all-winners season.  I also thought she would be in the bottom given the fact that her lipsync was totally lacklustre; but then there were so many lipsyncs that she blended into the crowd mostly.  I'm sure this is the only time that Aja will be on top, since the other challenges are likely to require the talents she doesn't have, but which queens like Bendela do.  Her recap shows she was clearly cast for the drama, anyway. Shangela looks amazing, and she has the potential to go a lot farther this time.  I also loved Trixie's 60's folk ballad, which was very refreshing.  The cast is really amazing, especially compared to last year.

[HunterHunted]

4 hours ago, CaioF said:

And about the elimination, I was rolling my eyes with Aja and Morgan talking about Ben not keeping up with her speech, especially Morgan... GUUuuuurl, you said for everyone that if it was for you, you would just send the strongest home. So why are you trying to use judges comments thinking Ben should take them in consideration if you dont? Yes, Ben said she will be fair with the judges comments, but as long she sees the girls agree with that. Morgan said outloud she didnt, so, like she said, she had to send her home to try to preserve her strategy and herself. Sure, as we see, this is not a full agreement (and couldnt be) and Ben should be aware on that.

This is exactly my issue with Morgan. Morgan announced her straight up manipulative Survivor strategy and was shocked. Was. Shocked. To learn that everyone thought she was a duplicitous snake. I wish the Drag Race Queens would learn from from larger competitive reality tv to learn that proclaiming one's elimination strategy is not a way to survive.

Thorgy is an asshole and a mess. Thorgy Thor has been quick to look for conspiracies left and right that excuse/explain why Thorgy didn't win. However, if the deck had really been stacked against Thorgy, a lot more shit would have gone down. 

[annewithaneee]

43 minutes ago, Glade said:

I didn't like that Bebe was present, if only because it seems to preclude the idea of an all-winners season.

I personally love that Bebe's back because she is fabulous and deserves shine, but I don't expect we'd get an all-winners season at all or at least anytime soon. I think the risk of failure - flopping, villain edit, whatever - would outweigh the extra $$$, and most of them are well-booked enough that money probably wouldn't be enough incentive. Most of the previous winners are probably as booked and successful as they can get from the show already, so why sink the time, money, and stress into competing again and risk losing fans? Really only Bebe and Tyra Sanchez need the boost, and Tyra can kick rocks.

[Xazeal]

Even before the season was confirmed I posted here that Trixie pretty much has a hypothetical All-Stars 3 in the bag. WoW adores her and she's clearly raking in cash for them. That said, she didn't do great on season 7 and although she's definitely more confident now, I wonder if the show just isn't a great fit for her. I'm worried that if she does win, it's not going to feel earned. But I love her, so I hope she actually pulls it out.

As for this episode, I loved it. Even though AS2 was awesome, I really wasn't a fan of the fact that half of the cast was from season 5. Here we have a bunch of different seasons represented and a ton of queens we haven't seen interact with eachother on the show..I LOVE the inclusion of Bebe, and I love that RuPaul basically said they're bringing her back because she's a fierce queen who deserves more exposure than she could get on season 1. It's absolutely true and I really hope she crushes it this season. 

Now, fucking Aja! When the season 9 cast was announced I remember saying that Aja was a fierce queen who needed another year or two to mature, and I really think I was right. I fell in love with her tonight, and although I thought Dela deserved the win, Aja was my MVP of the premiere. I think I'm mainly rooting for her, Trixie, Bebe, and possibly Shangela.

[Glade]

38 minutes ago, annewithaneee said:

I personally love that Bebe's back because she is fabulous and deserves shine, but I don't expect we'd get an all-winners season at all or at least anytime soon. I think the risk of failure - flopping, villain edit, whatever - would outweigh the extra $$$, and most of them are well-booked enough that money probably wouldn't be enough incentive. Most of the previous winners are probably as booked and successful as they can get from the show already, so why sink the time, money, and stress into competing again and risk losing fans? Really only Bebe and Tyra Sanchez need the boost, and Tyra can kick rocks.

I agree to some extent, it may not pay off at all but just be humiliating for some of the winners.  I recall Bendela's fiery statements about why she wouldn't go on AS2.  But, Bendela is on it now and several of the winners have expressed interest in the all-winners season (though Bianca and violet have said no at this point.) Maybe they could switch up the format so all the queens are honored (for instance, no eliminations--they all stay till the end) for an all-winners season.  Or maybe it will never happen.  I agree that Tyra can kick rocks.  Unfortunately though we may see her added to AS4, since she would undoubtedly bring lots of her never-ending drama onto the show and the producers would love that.   At least Bebe is likeable and mentally stable. 

[Stowaway]

One thing worth knowing from the tea spillers at reddit: apparently Milk said at a viewing party that Chi Chi injured her hand the day of the show. What had been rehearsed as a baton routine with a little dancing became a last-minute dance routine with a little baton. I'm not sure how much that really explains (e.g. the shoes), but I definitely didn't think she would be the one to bomb like that.

[CaioF]

38 minutes ago, Stowaway said:

One thing worth knowing from the tea spillers at reddit: apparently Milk said at a viewing party that Chi Chi injured her hand the day of the show. What had been rehearsed as a baton routine with a little dancing became a last-minute dance routine with a little baton. I'm not sure how much that really explains (e.g. the shoes), but I definitely didn't think she would be the one to bomb like that.

Hmm, that might have hurted her performance but still it looked that it was somehow her mistake (as she even took the blame herself).. Once again, maybe she should have tried to do with other thing.. Maybe a more emotional routine (like her Natural Woman lip sync) or a more sexy number,, Now, if she couldnt change the track, yep, still, the shoes.. whyyyy? She hurt her hand not her legs!

[JakeyJokes]

Chi Chi was also hurt by a lot of the other girls being smart and prepared enough to have songs written BY THEM so they can be used on the show (I hope WoW paid them for the usage, but wouldn't be surprised it they stiffed them). Last year for AS2, everyone wondered why Coco didn't do her best Janet -- it's because the show doesn't pay for the music. I have seen Kennedy live and she is an AMAZING lip-syncer, but luckily she is also a tremendous dancer.

I think Milk is trying too hard to be catty and funny in his TH's and it's just coming off as mean. The weird thing is Trixie does the same thing but somehow her delivery comes off as kinder or in on the joke. Is it because Milk is so conventionally attractive as a male that's throwing me off? Hmm.

I saw Thorgy play the violin at a Christmas Queens and she got a standing O, so good for her.

Bebe was the co-host at my viewing party SO IT WAS INCREDIBLE!!! Even through the first commercial break, she was denying that she was going to appear.

[Kaboom 2.0]

Locas, I may have squeed when Bebe appeared as the final all star. LUV her. 

I don't really dislike any of the queens this season, even Shangela. I know! I felt for Morgan being first out but can't believe she made such a mistake wrt strategy and announcing it like she did.

How perfect are Chad and Alaska in those handmaid outfits? And honorable mention to Vanessa Hudgens for her LSFYL vs Pork Chop. Ru asking for gravy was perfect. LOL

[Primetimer]

In the season premiere of Drag Race's most enduring spinoff, the queens know that basic-cable-fame can pay the rent, and they're hungry for it.

View the full article

[Ananayel]

Conspiracy theory making its way through Reddit/social media: Bebe isn't actually competing, she's Ru's mole. She won't be in the bottom or top, just coast along until late in the season, when all will be revealed - apparently there is a twist that will make us gag that has been promoted. That way she can still compete should there be an all winners season.

I feel like this is going to be Alaska/Katya all over again. Trixie will be the adored fan favorite who gets "robbed" this time. Maybe by BenDeLa, maybe by Shangela, but I'll be shocked if Trixie wins.

I feel like I'm just missing something regarding Aja. She still looks pretty busted, and there are as good or better dancers on every season. I would not have put her in the top for sure, but maybe Ru didn't want to stick Trixie or Shangela up there quite yet. Morgan bugged the everloving snot out of me the first time, and she did it again this time. Don't let the door hit you...

[briancvann]

The pictures of Chad and Alaska hanging in the "Hall of Fame" both said "Ofrupaul" which made me laugh.

[ClareWalks]

I loved that when people read Bebe for being "fat," she either laughed or made an amazing "why I never!" face. Alexis Michelle should take notes!

[Corgi-ears]

Trixie should have been eliminated from minute one when she glided into the workshop in rollerblades instead of rollerskates.

[lyric]

I want to love Thorgy, but her bitterness and Bob obsession is so weird and unsavory.  

I agree that the premise of girls voting out each other is less problematic without the Season 5 block, but what I don't like about it is that it still feels manipulated.  As in AS2, I'll be interested to see if the lesser of two lip syncs wins, based on whose lipstick they're holding.  i just think this 'it's ALL up to the queens' is a little disingenuous, but I could be wrong.

Yeah, as others have said - interesting reads on Bendela...so, has she really gone MIA, or is it just because she's stayed exclusively in Seattle?  If so, wouldn't she still have connectivity to the queens via Jinxx? 

[goodbyeglittergirl]

8 hours ago, briancvann said:

The pictures of Chad and Alaska hanging in the "Hall of Fame" both said "Ofrupaul" which made me laugh.

Yaaaaas. And seeing them in their Gilead getups was awesome. 

I loved this premiere. Honestly, I have the flu and so it was just nice to see a bunch of people I already know and watch them have fun and compete and not have to actually think about who was who etc. I still love Thorgy but see no sign that she's overcome being her own worst enemy. Am thrilled to see Bebe. I have a soft spot for Milk b/c I think she's so different and interesting - she's the best live performance I have been to. I hope the first few to go are Kennedy (she's very one-note) and Shangela (yawn.)

[Egg]

What a blast!

I'm glad to see most of these queens back. I always thought Aja was awful in every way, and I feel like I got enough Kennedy, but I'm okay with seeing what else they have to offer. Aja already seems seriously improved, and any time we see Kennedy dancing is worth it. What's so baffling about her is how can someone who talks sooooooo s l o w l y move so fast!

I'm actually very excited for Shangela! She's had enough time to bake and I expect her to be great. Of course, every time I rewatch Season 3, I like Shangela for the first few episodes, and then get really annoyed with her by the end.

Milk was charmless and mean in her talking heads, and her ego was on full display. I liked her the first time around but really hated her this episode. I hope she gets better or goes home. The basically spoken word with very predictable (because they were right there on stage) costume changes did nothing for me, and I thought she was worse than Morgan, although I'm not particularly sad to see Morgan go home.

At first, I didn't remember Thorgy very much, but she sure hasn't changed at all, has she? Girl, Bob won. Get over it.

My money is on Trixie or Shangela--the former because she's clever and it would be good for the WoW brand, and the latter because I'd imagine her to be the most improved since her original season, and it would be great to add a little dancing charisma to the existing all-stars HoF.

[BloggerAloud]

19 hours ago, Mayberry said:

I didn't find Milk very convincing in his THs when he was trying to be bitchy

I think Milk does have an inflated sense of ego about how artsy his drag is in comparison to the other girls. That was something he had on his own season and there is always talk of how a blowout between Milk and Adore got edited out from Untucked that basically came down to Milk being condescending as fuck. I still think she's great but she's not nearly as revolutionary as she thinks.

[violet and green]

I think Milk should just focus on being a beautiful male model. Then all his artistry comes out. His drag is try-hard art school, to me, and nothing to be so smug about!

[violet and green]

26 minutes ago, Mayberry said:

Something Milk recently said (I think it was in the All-Stars preview) was that he got into drag because his partner and his partner's friends were all doing drag and Milk kind of looked down at it at first but didn't want to be left out. So they introduced him to it and he came to love it. He does seem to treat it more as outlet for some of his creativity and doesn't really like to go full-out glam.

Yes, I saw that. I guess I just like the pretty! I also found DeLa's one hundred breasts with pasties invention far more delightful and creative than any of the looks Milk's worked.

[hoosier80]

While I certainly consider lip synching a talent, the talent show to me was to show, hey look I'm multi-talented, multi-faceted.  Some of the lip synchs were great, however.  I did appreciate the people who did something other than lip synchs, more, even if they bombed.  S

Chi Chi doesn't seem that prepared, and she has to know how the game is played by now. 

Aja really surprised me (so far).  Dela and Shangela seemed very prepared.  I honestly, think though, this is Trixie's to lose.  She didn't stand out too much in the opening episode, but it could be a strategy.  Stay in the middle of the pack for a while, let everyone else take people out, plus you're not a target.  Morgan was stupid to say what she planned to do.  A real "villain" will plot, but doesn't give away their plan.  

Thorgy, jealousy will just bite you in the ass.  Get over it.  This is your redo, but it seems she is never going to get over being bested by Bob.  I see a 90 year old Thorgy saying, "if only Bob hadn't been talking so much........".   So what did Kim Chi do to her?  She placed higher, so did many others.  She's just obsessed that she's the comedy queen, better than Bob; had Bob not been there, she would have won.  Not necessarily.  It may well have been that Kim Chi or Naomi would have won, or maybe the person who was the queen who was in Bob's place.  

[Couver]

I thought this was a great premier.

I did think the talent competition in A2 was stronger but the girls this season all put on a good show. Even the bottom two weren't horrendous. I was disappointed in Chi Chi. Mostly because as Dela said we know she can do more. All her lip syncs from her season were so much better than what she performed. Although with the tea spilt about an injury and the issue with song rights I guess she couldn't fall back on doing a classic lip sync with a well known song. Could have gone with a wig that have some life in it though. I do love that she owns her critiques though. No boo hooing or making excuses. I didn't even understand Morgan's excuse. Shouldn't you know your own material better? I feel like the judges would have scored her higher if she had engaged with them more. She made her act too much about being the bitch and coming for the other girls.  I hope Chi Chi improves now that she's been given a second chance.

It's nice having Bebe back. Ye she's a winner but I agree with Ru a lot of people didn't get a chance to see her on her season. And as others here have said she didn't get to do a lot of the newer challenges. It may have been interesting if the returning winner was Tyra though. Especially given her relationship with Morgan. I also think she needs it more than Bebe. Bebe is pretty well loved by fans that do know her.

Can't wait for the reveal of whatever Chad and Alaska are doing to the eliminated girls. It's going to be hard to top that mirror reveal from A2.

[annewithaneee]

39 minutes ago, Couver said:

I didn't even understand Morgan's excuse. Shouldn't you know your own material better?

I'm not a redditor and I don't follow the queens on social media so I don't know if this has been more clarified off of the show, but Morgan's excuse on the runway made total sense to me. She recorded that track, her first, just for the show -- presumably so she'd have something to lip sync to that didn't need to have the rights cleared. I think the prep time the girls get before the season is only a month or two at most, so I could understand being nervous and unsure with the song as it was much newer to her than it was to any of the other girls, who put out albums and have been performing those tracks across the country/globe for ages. She probably would have been better off just pulling out some other talent, though, like Katya's acrobatics from S2. 

[film noire]

Apparently, I'm now rooting for Shangela.

WTF?

~"I'm proud to be known as the girl who keeps coming back. In a box." Shangela, finally blended.

Edited January 28, 2018 by film noire

[Trishelle]

Fantastic recap, but I've gotta say I disagree with Mark about the elimination order not mattering.  Yes, even the first queen to go home gets amazing exposure and a lot more gigs for at least the next year.  But a queen who's there for every episode gets so much more exposure: so many more opportunities to show off her talent and wit and to make the fans love her and to coin some dumb catchphrase that's quoted on social media for the rest of eternity.  As nasty as the fans were to Roxxxy about making it to the top 4 on AS2, I bet you she got a bigger financial boost from that season than Coco or Ginger did.  I'm not saying there aren't exceptions, but in general, I think lasting on the show longer is definitely better for your career.  So I get why the queens take the elimination strategy so seriously.

Edited January 29, 2018 by Trishelle

[cpcathy]

I saw the interview on Vulture.com with Morgan, who mentions she is British. Wut?

[MaryWebGirl]

On 1/27/2018 at 5:52 AM, Corgi-ears said:

Trixie should have been eliminated from minute one when she glided into the workshop in rollerblades instead of rollerskates.

I think she was inspired by this Barbie, which came out in 1996. That's pretty solid roller blade territory.

I just want to wax poetic about Bendela's talent show number. It was funny, witty, a nod to burlesque, which I consider classically in the same universe as drag, skillful, creative, and incorporated the traditional drag technique of outfit reveals in a cool way. It made all the lipsynchs/high energy dances look tired in comparison, and everyone else was a distant second to me. I swear I'm not a giant Ben fangirl! She just really impressed me.

[Dandesun]

25 minutes ago, MaryWebGirl said:

I think she was inspired by this Barbie, which came out in 1996. That's pretty solid roller blade territory.

I just want to wax poetic about Bendela's talent show number. It was funny, witty, a nod to burlesque, which I consider classically in the same universe as drag, skillful, creative, and incorporated the traditional drag technique of outfit reveals in a cool way. It made all the lipsynchs/high energy dances look tired in comparison, and everyone else was a distant second to me. I swear I'm not a giant Ben fangirl! She just really impressed me.

Oh Lord, that's totally who Trixie was channeling. Headphones and the pattern on the jumpsuit and all. And, yes, the 90s were rollerblade time. I had a pair. All of my siblings had a pair. It was a thing.

And man, I loved Ben dela's burlesque number. It was tight. The reveals, the comedy. I loved how the nipples kept moving, then she had all of the nipples ever on the one bra and then finally the jump rope tassels. It was hilarious and the beats were spot on. And it was different. It was a dance number, yes, but it wasn't a lip synch and it wasn't about death drops and splits and EDM. Loved it. I mean, there were a lot of great dance numbers but there were so many that it was just... *sigh* another one. Mm-kay.

[HunterHunted]

On 1/27/2018 at 5:39 PM, hoosier80 said:

Thorgy, jealousy will just bite you in the ass.  Get over it.  This is your redo, but it seems she is never going to get over being bested by Bob.  I see a 90 year old Thorgy saying, "if only Bob hadn't been talking so much........".   So what did Kim Chi do to her?  She placed higher, so did many others.  She's just obsessed that she's the comedy queen, better than Bob; had Bob not been there, she would have won.  Not necessarily.  It may well have been that Kim Chi or Naomi would have won, or maybe the person who was the queen who was in Bob's place.  

Thorgy's bitterness is unwatchable. She's also obsessed with this idea that the fix was in for Bob. But even without Bob there, Kim Chi was consistently funnier with better runway looks than Thorgy. Her LSFYL against Chi Chi actually didn't play to Chi Chi's strengths, which was dancing, despite Thorgy's belief that the song was chosen to bump her from the competition. And finally, slapping Bob after Bob won is childish and reprehensible.

[film noire]

7 hours ago, MaryWebGirl said:

I just want to wax poetic about Bendela's talent show number. It was funny, witty, a nod to burlesque, which I consider classically in the same universe as drag, skillful, creative, and incorporated the traditional drag technique of outfit reveals in a cool way. I

It was fantastic - both fresh and timeless (a hard combination to pull off, but I could imagine seeing that in Paris in the 20s or a 100 years in the future, and it would still land).  It was also joyful, something many other performances lacked.

Edited January 30, 2018 by film noire

[Watermelon]

6 hours ago, cpcathy said:

I saw the interview on Vulture.com with Morgan, who mentions she is British. Wut?

I thought she was Irish and that’s why she’s McMichaels instead of regular Michaels even though she’s Chad’s drag daughter.

[Sew Sumi]

I think Morgan has always claimed Scottish heritage. In which case, shouldn't she be MACMichaels? 

[Halo]

15 hours ago, Sew Sumi said:

I think Morgan has always claimed Scottish heritage. In which case, shouldn't she be MACMichaels? 

Morgan (Thomas White) was born in Scotland and moved to the U.S. when he was like 15. Plenty of time to lose an accent. 

[MizStaken]

I have always liked Bendala and thought she should have gone further in her season. I don’t know why everyone thinks this is Trixie’s to loose, I’ve never found her at all appealing. Yes Bianca does heavy garish makeup but Trixe’s makeup is beyond. I guess I prefer a more natural queen. I think Ben really does have the whole package and I’m hoping she’ll go far. Looks really good after winning both challenges. 

[Primetimer]

In the season premiere of Drag Race's most enduring spinoff, the queens know that basic-cable-fame can pay the rent, and they're hungry for it.

View the full article

[Cosmic Muffin]

Todrick has recorded a video on YouTube responding the the criticisms about the choreography that he gave Thorgy. I'm not even going to talk about the content; I want to remark that it's 16 minutes long, and the whole time Todrick is wandering around someplace under construction, with jackhammers and everything else. Regardless of what he's saying now, I don't understand why he recorded this in this loud place.  

[ElectricBoogaloo]

4 hours ago, Cosmic Muffin said:

Todrick has recorded a video on YouTube responding the the criticisms about the choreography that he gave Thorgy. I'm not even going to talk about the content; I want to remark that it's 16 minutes long, and the whole time Todrick is wandering around someplace under construction, with jackhammers and everything else. Regardless of what he's saying now, I don't understand why he recorded this in this loud place.  

I don't get that either. You can't expect me to watch 16 minutes of loud background noise. Sorry, I won't. Find somewhere else to record, damn it. Everyone has fancy phones now, which means you can record ANYWHERE now without needing a bunch of equipment. Go sit in your damn car or find a room without a jackhammer to record your video.

Edited February 8, 2018 by ElectricBoogaloo

[Fiero425]

On ‎1‎/‎30‎/‎2018 at 2:38 PM, Halo said:

Morgan (Thomas White) was born in Scotland and moved to the U.S. when he was like 15. Plenty of time to lose an accent. 

Watching the 1st episode now and poor Morgan probably thought she was home free with all those glowing compliments on her costume! It had to end up being "broken face" time when it all ended just that quickly when beat over the head by the judges due to a bad performance! No one would have any sympathy for her when she was the one who said "I'd eliminate the competition instead of the one more deserving of being sent home!" Ben sending her packing was KARMA! I used to think Morgan and Sonique were so cute back in Season 2, but they're such b!tches I couldn't hang! ;-)

[Fiero425]

Amazing how b!tchy some of these queens can be for no damn good reason! Milk did her thing, entertained the judges and audience, but there's Chi Chi & Kennedy rolling their eyes talking about "insert crickets!" Funny, Milk was safe while Chi Chi was up for elimination and barely squeaked out staying with Morgan the one sent packin'! ;-)