S10.E12: American

[OnceSane]

Quote

The top four queens must write and perform a verse in a performance of RuPaul's hit single, "American," and guest on Rupaul's podcast with Michelle Visage; choreographer Todrick Hall, style superstar Carson Kressley and Ross Mathews join.

Airs June 14, 2018.

[Cosmic Muffin]

The puppet mini challenge is gone but the emotional porn of talking to photos of their younger selves isn't? This isn't the way to go.

[CaioF]

I´m very pleased with this top 4... No surprise Ru keeping them all. Good to see the last few layers of them at this episode. Based on track record, should be between Asia and Aquaria but I think we might have some lip sync battle during the finale again, that can turn some things again.

Have to say tho, Asia is making a strong case for herself on how well spoken/inspiring she is, specially on this episode. Thats something can make Ru go towards her.

Edited June 15, 2018 by CaioF

[Temperance]

I'm with Asia ~ Vanessa Vanjie Mateo should be the winner.  "Vanjie"!

I missed the minichallenge. 

Asia's gown is my favorite. 

Call Me Mother is the song they walked to in the first mini-challenge and now they're lip-syncing.

[annewithaneee]

Boo on the editors for including "I've decided who to eliminate..." (or whatever the exact quote was) in the teaser. These penultimate episodes often feel long and anticlimactic on their own, they didn't need to telegraph from the jump that it was going to be a non-elimination episode. They could have at least had Ru do a bit more of a misdirect than that, it was crystal clear the end of that sentence was "...no one!", so I spent most of the episode just waiting for them to cut to the chase, as all the tension had been immediately removed.

I might be rooting for Kameron now? I mean, as much as I'm rooting for anyone, it's her. Her aesthetic has really grown on me as I realize what so many of her looks remind me of -- when she gussies up, she has the look and fashion sense of a WWE and/or MMA girl. Not just with draping a gown on a very muscular body, but it's that same trashy warrior princess thing and while it's not as Insta-ready as Aquaria's, I'm into it. More than that, I think she's been set a very clear challenge and pushed through it -- she kept up in the acting/comedy challenges and showed plenty of personality and charisma during her LSFYLs if nothing else. For me, she had the most clear deficit laid bare for her in critique, and overcame it. It's kinda the show's fault that we have no storyline like that for someone like Aquaria. We were never really shown Ru and/or the judges pushing her toward something, so while she's been pretty consistently good, I see her as skating through a lot.

During her talking heads tonight, I finally realized what my problem with Eureka is. I'm not sure if it's a couple cold sores or a drag injury of some sort, but I couldn't stop staring at the cuts/sores/whatever on her lips! And in a weird way, that made everything clear -- she's the grown-up version of that snotty little kid on the playground with fruit punch mouth. The nasal/too-much-dairy voice, the loudness, the mugging, just everything really...that's fruit punch mouth kid. I guess that makes her Honey Boo Boo Snatch Game pick about as natural as Adore's Anna Nicole.

[HunterHunted]

I guess I'm rooting for Kameron now. I don't really like Aquaria or Eureka. I thought Asia was the weakest tonight and I would have eliminated her. Or Eureka.

Aquaria's performance outfit was only ok. It was a weird mashup of Jean Paul Gaultier's cone bra dress and a very jazz age flapper dress. I don't think the mix worked especially because the cone cups were too high and too skinny. I thought Aquaria's performance and lip sync were very good. I thought her face during the runway was beautiful, but the straps on the crotch of her cut out dress were not successful and detracted from the overall line of the dress.

I really thought Eureka was in her head during the performance. I thought her runway dress was witty, but something about it didn't capture me. I thought her lip sync was serviceable.

Kameron had a great performance and I thought she looked stunning during the runway. She also had a fantastic lip sync.

I think Asia's performance was pretty strong, but I didn't like her runway look. I don't think the jewel worked and the dress looked like Asia was busy sewing blue shapes on a gold sequined (sequenced TM Roxxxy) dress the night before. I also thought her lip sync was lackluster.

But whatever, I'm in charge of nothing. 

[CaioF]

Since the judges gave 10´s all across the board, I gonna rank the performances and looks IMO:

Dance routine: Aquaria (everything tonight was close but she set herself to a higher level with her dancing skills)

                        Kameron (it was me or her part was shorter? Anyway, very efective)

                        Eureka (she really surprised me here.. there were some lazy movements by the end tho)

                        Asia ( I dont know if I was expecting more, but while the energy was there, I saw alot lazy/unfinished moves)

Runway Look: Asia (The most interesting and really stood out on her)

                       Aquaria (Very good, but a little expected)

                       Kameron (Same as Aquaria, actually I would  give them almost a tie)

                       Eureka (I liked she tried to go outside the box/not wear a predictable pageant gown, the idea was good, but I would have liked executed on a smarter way).

Edited June 15, 2018 by CaioF

[Sile]

Really?  Eureka is known as what Edison said when he invented the light bulb?  She should have had a bathtub on her head and earrings shaped like old naked Greek guys.

Or did Edison really say that and I just dislike Eureka so much that I pick her apart?  Or, as she will ever be known to me, Fruit Punch Mouth.  Thanks, @annewithaneee, that description is exactly what I get from Eureka!

I've been pretty much Team Kameron (she reminds me so much of Chad Michaels when she's in drag), especially since Monet left, but I'm amazed at how much I actually like Aquaria now.  Then again, I think Asia has had her moments as well (although Asia isn't really my cup of drag, I think boy Asia is adorable and personable).

Okay, I guess I'm pretty much Team ABE.  Rooting for Kameron, would be happy with Aquaria, wouldn't be made if it was Asia.  And Eureka?  Well, I guess it wouldn't be as egregious as Trixie "All Star That Never Won a Challenge or a Lip Sync" Mattel.  So, there's that...

Glad we're getting an actual reunion episode, I've really missed those since they been doing the "live" finales with an audience.

[lyric]

1 hour ago, annewithaneee said:

 The nasal/too-much-dairy voice...

I have no idea what the hell this means, but it's hilarious.

[rustyspigot]

In my mind I hope Ru is parodying Drag Race itself at this point with the child photos. Probably not, but he should be. 

Vanjie.

[HunterHunted]

13 minutes ago, Sile said:

Really?  Eureka is known as what Edison said when he invented the light bulb? She should have had a bathtub on her head and earrings shaped like old naked Greek guys.

Or did Edison really say that and I just dislike Eureka so much that I pick her apart?  

Edison and eureka is apocrypha, but very famous and well known apocrypha. I'd hazard a guess that the Edison story is probably better known than the Archimedes origin among average people because the Edison story is often taught in business and management courses. The chances are much higher that you've had a manager try to motivate you with some version of the Edison story. Additionally, there are way more mainstream media references to the Edison story than Archimedes origin.

You just don't like Eureka. It's fine. You are perfectly free to dislike her, but she's probably not wrong on this one.

[Gothish520]

#TeamAquaria

She killed it in this challenge, and has been bringing it all season. And I'm so here for it.

 

3 hours ago, annewithaneee said:

I might be rooting for Kameron now? I mean, as much as I'm rooting for anyone, it's her. Her aesthetic has really grown on me as I realize what so many of her looks remind me of -- when she gussies up, she has the look and fashion sense of a WWE and/or MMA girl. Not just with draping a gown on a very muscular body, but it's that same trashy warrior princess thing and while it's not as Insta-ready as Aquaria's, I'm into it. 

Hmm, you might be onto something there about the WWE aesthetic, and I think that might be exactly why I don't like her drag. There's always been something about it that I wasn't feeling, but I could never put my finger on it. I think as a boy, he's hot as hell, but the drag just doesn't do it for me.

[ivanp91]

5 hours ago, annewithaneee said:

During her talking heads tonight, I finally realized what my problem with Eureka is. I'm not sure if it's a couple cold sores or a drag injury of some sort, but I couldn't stop staring at the cuts/sores/whatever on her lips! 

It was tonight that I noticed the lip sores as well. I don't really "get" Eureka - she has the talent, sure enough, but the way the judges were gagging over her made no sense to me. I actually thought her runway look was the worst of the four.

Team Kameron for me, she has absolutely grown on me the last several weeks. If not her, then Asia.

[violet and green]

I thought Eureka melted both Ru and Michelle Visage's cold dead heart's in this ep, especially during the podcast section. And melted Todrick Hall's too, for that matter, talking on the main stage to little boy David.

I think it's well past time to have a full-figured queen win this thing.

I expect it will be Asia, who is serviceable, I guess... Or Aquaria, but then we've already had Violet Chachki. Good on my early fave Kameron Michaels for making it to the finals! I hope she gets a recording deal, at least, out of this.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Eureka was the weakest dancer of the four finalists, but I give her credit for working so hard between rehearsal and the final performance. During rehearsal it was clear that she didn't know all the choreography so she must have listened to Todrick's advice and stayed up all night to practice. I didn't love her final runway look. Without the words, it was just a simple white evening gown. It was pretty but not great.

Asia's final runway look was different and memorable. Dance-wise, I thought Asia and Aquaria were about the same level in the American performance.

Kameron's runway look was gorgeous! I know she's a long shot because the judges clearly love the other three finalists a lot more than they like Kameron, but I'm rooting for her!

@annewithaneee I laughed so hard at Fruit Punch Mouth!

[laprin]

This was not the Top 4 that I thought we would finish the season with, but I’m not mad. A Top 3 sans Eureka would have been better.   Between Aquaria, Asia and Kameron, it’s too close to call.  Aquaria has great looks, but her personality does nothing for me. I love Asia’s personality, but her looks have been hit or miss. Kameron has both a pretty good personality and fashions, but she is not an outright winner in either category.  As far as talent, they all land on above average. 

[filmfan2480]

Team Kameron.

Over the last 5-6 weeks, she's realllllly grown on me.  For the first 5 or so weeks, she was just that muscle queen who was quiet, but turned out decent performances/great runways that never stood-out as Top or Bottom-worthy in the results.  But I loved the Cher episode (which she won).  Then ... to see her in the bottom for the next 3 weeks and face her demons (too quiet, no confidence, stand-off ish) and to slayyyy with those LSFYL and then to NAIL this week, too .......

....... I just find her ARC to be much more interesting than the other girls. 

Aquaria has annoyed the crap out of my, at times.  But she is clearly near the top, here.  Her looks are amazing and she's consistently funny and she can act and sing when necessary.  She kinda has the IT factor. 

Eureka is MUCH.  But she DOES impress for the most part.  And she makes me laugh the most of all the queens.  By far.  And that is very important for me when looking at a potential winner.

Asia.  Kind of a minority opinion, here.  She's just good for me.  Always looks beautiful.  BEAUUUUUTIFUL.  She's had a few shining moments.  But sometimes she rubs me the wrong way.  And I didn't actually love her look this week or her performance.  They both were fine, for me.  And she's usually fine/pretty good for me.  Her singing is meh.  Her dancing is meh (comparatively speaking to some of the other girls in the competition) -- I just don't gag over her.  That said, she has many strengths and would be a decent winner.  I GET her appeal and how beautiful/strong/funny she can be.  She's just not for me.

Having said all of that, yeah, Aquaria looks like the one to me (unique x1000).  Unless ... they go BIG GIRL winner in Eureka.  Or ... they go for consistently impressive like Asia.  Or ... they pick the hard-working, super-professional queen who remains appealingly mysterious; the one who consistently surprises me ... Kameron.

Edited June 15, 2018 by filmfan2480

[annewithaneee]

9 hours ago, lyric said:

11 hours ago, annewithaneee said:

 The nasal/too-much-dairy voice...

I have no idea what the hell this means, but it's hilarious.

This is a thing, right?? That somebody can just sound like they drank a full glass of whole milk after demolishing a bunch of Baby Bels. Sort of the same as if they're stuffed up, but instead of mucus, it's ice cream? As I elaborate, that sure as hell sounds like a fat joke, but....I just think too-much-dairy voice is a thing lol. But it probably isn't.

[dolphincorn]

Kameron's got this. The winner of the regular season never has a name that starts with a vowel.

[Gothish520]

1 hour ago, filmfan2480 said:

Team Kameron.

Over the last 5-6 weeks, she's realllllly grown on me.  For the first 5 or so weeks, she was just that muscle queen who was quiet, but turned out decent performances/great runways that never stood-out as Top or Bottom-worthy in the results.  But I loved the Cher episode (which she won).  Then ... to see her in the bottom for the next 3 weeks and face her demons (too quiet, no confidence, stand-off ish) and to slayyyy with those LSFYL and then to NAIL this week, too .......

....... I just find her ARC to be much more interesting than the other girls. 

Aquaria has annoyed the crap out of my, at times.  But she is clearly near the top, here.  Her looks are amazing and she's consistently funny and she can act and sing when necessary.  She kinda has the IT factor. 

Eureka is MUCH.  But she DOES impress for the most part.  And she makes me laugh the most of all the queens.  By far.  And that is very important for me when looking at a potential winner.

Asia.  Kind of a minority opinion, here.  She's just good for me.  Always looks beautiful.  BEAUUUUUTIFUL.  She's had a few shining moments.  But sometimes she rubs me the wrong way.  And I didn't actually love her look this week or her performance.  They both were fine, for me.  And she's usually fine/pretty good for me.  Her singing is meh.  Her dancing is meh (comparatively speaking to some of the other girls in the competition) -- I just don't gag over her.  That said, she has many strengths and would be a decent winner.  I GET her appeal and how beautiful/strong/funny she can be.  She's just not for me.

Having said all of that, yeah, Aquaria looks like the one to me (unique x1000).  Unless ... they go BIG GIRL winner in Eureka.  Or ... they go for consistently impressive like Asia.  Or ... they pick the hard-working, super-professional queen who remains appealingly mysterious; the one who consistently surprises me ... Kameron.

I pretty much agree with all of your assessments, except I still land on Team Aquaria, lol. The "it" factor is strong. 

[HunterHunted]

I got to take umbrage with the point that "Aquaria can sing." She can't. She's not terrible, but she's not good either. I'd put her on the bad end of mediocre. She legit couldn't tell that she hadn't gone up an octave after Todrick prompted her to a couple of times. She's barely tolerable or serviceable, but decent enough that the wonders of computers can put together something downright ok.

Monet can actually sing and has training. Kameron can sing and I'm sure kills at karaoke, but lacks training. Eureka has got a barely better than average voice and I mean barely. Asia and Aquaria are average. Neither knows how to listen when singing--Aquaria was an octave off and Asia was off beat. Listening can be taught and I'm sure someone will teach them when they record their eventual singles.

[Omeletsmom]

The thing that struck me the most this episode was that both Aquaria's lyrics and her Why-should-I-be-the-next-drag-superstar? answers were all about HER.  Her lyrics were very LOOK AT ME while the others actually reflected the spirit of the song -- this is me,  I am an American, and so are you.  Her answer to Ru's question about what she would do with the title where similarly about what it would mean to her, not what she would represent to others.  I must confess, I gigglesnorted when Kameron threw shade at Aquaria while "complimenting" her during Untucked.  She just has no awareness of how self-absorbed she comes off.

[HunterHunted]

AV Club Recap

Vulture Recap

[CaioF]

3 hours ago, Omeletsmom said:

The thing that struck me the most this episode was that both Aquaria's lyrics and her Why-should-I-be-the-next-drag-superstar? answers were all about HER.  Her lyrics were very LOOK AT ME while the others actually reflected the spirit of the song -- this is me,  I am an American, and so are you.  Her answer to Ru's question about what she would do with the title where similarly about what it would mean to her, not what she would represent to others.  I must confess, I gigglesnorted when Kameron threw shade at Aquaria while "complimenting" her during Untucked.  She just has no awareness of how self-absorbed she comes off.

For me, its just a case of confidence and be optimistic. Like said above, even knowing how the show/Ru loves a sad backstorie and be surrounded by it, she didnt faked anything about herself/her life. She openly said shes very lucky for having a good relation with her parents, nothing to complain about her life that would match other people problems.. In other hand, she grew to be very aware of the other queens and supportive (following her on instagram, half of her stories is her sharing other queens gig, even asking people to vote for Monet forMiss Congeniaty). IMO, thats the difference between be confident/not complaing easily about life and be self-absorbed. The same way is important to have the queens sharing their struggles, its also important to have someone like her, showing the audience that gay people/ drag queens not always need to have a traumatic life experience/be full of insecurities, that things are improving. 

Edited June 15, 2018 by CaioF

[kicotan]

It all comes down to marketability ~ who’s brand will bring in the most bang for the buck.

All four have something going for them in that respect, which is why, I think, they won’t do the finale for two weeks so they can gauge the fan response to #Teamwhoever.

The Kardashian clan wouldn’t have the fan base it has today if Kim’s sextape wouldn’t have made the rounds in the media, so oftentimes it isn’t who gave the best performance but who got the most likes/hits on social media.

I think they are all very talented performers, for different reasons, and therefore any of the top 4 would do a swell job representing RuPaul’s brand of drag superstars.

[violet and green]

7 hours ago, Mayberry said:

I've got to give her props though. When Ru said that the main challenge would involve complex choreography she was the only one who didn't look panic-stricken (while Eureka looked the most.) She just seemed happy about it. So she's not neurotic. Nobody's perfect :P

Aquaria's good at dancing, she could confidently pull out a twirl in heels 'in either direction'. She knows she can dance, why wouldn't she be confident? Why does she get props for looking happy to hear, that here is a challenge she can easily do?! Aquaria borders on narcissistic, to me, but then that is appealing to the populace these days.

[Gothish520]

1 hour ago, CaioF said:

For me, its just a case of confidence and be optimistic. Like said above, even knowing how the show/Ru loves a sad backstorie and be surrounded by it, she didnt faked anything about herself/her life. She openly said shes very lucky for having a good relation with her parents, nothing to complain about her life that would match other people problems.. In other hand, she grew to be very aware of the other queens and supportive (following her on instagram, half of her stories is her sharing other queens gig, even asking people to vote for Monet forMiss Congeniaty). IMO, thats the difference between be confident/not complaing easily about life and be self-absorbed. The same way is important to have the queens sharing their struggles, its also important to have someone like her, showing the audience that gay people/ drag queens not always need to have a traumatic life experience/be full of insecurities, that things are improving. 

I like that assessment, well -said! Humble is wonderful, but too much self-deprecation can get tiresome. Sometimes there's nothing wrong with someone saying I'm fabulous and I know it!

[Kaboom 2.0]

LWith each passing episode I miss Monet, Mayhem and Monique more and more. Hell, Cracker's only been gone one episode and I already miss her. 

Todrick shading Asia's lyric delivery in front of Ru's producers should have been wrong but I still rewinded several times to see and hear it again. Find your inner Whitney, Asia. LOL

I guess I'm Team Kameron, I can be shy and quiet too but am nowhere as fabulous as she is, and she just keeps fighting and working hard and slaying. I wouldn't mind her or Asia snatching that crown. 

Vaaangie.

[rustyspigot]

38 minutes ago, Kaboom 2.0 said:

Vaaangie.

You better stop.

[theatremouse]

8 hours ago, HunterHunted said:

I got to take umbrage with the point that "Aquaria can sing." She can't. She's not terrible, but she's not good either. I'd put her on the bad end of mediocre. She legit couldn't tell that she hadn't gone up an octave after Todrick prompted her to a couple of times. She's barely tolerable or serviceable, but decent enough that the wonders of computers can put together something downright ok.

But she also clearly went into it knowing that. When they were practicing she's the one who said not to worry there's autotune. So I think Aquaria went into it knowing she had to do just enough so the autotune could fix it without sounding full-on Cher vocoder. They were all autotuned to death in this ep, but Aquaria knew they would be and prepared accordingly. She knew she didn't have to do more, so she didn't. I'd much rather hear someone who can actually sing, but in a weird way, Aquaria's approach was... efficient? Practical.

[violet and green]

Entitled? Arrogant?

I loved the way Todrick smacked her nose, "Don't flirt with me, I'm a judge.'

[annewithaneee]

4 hours ago, kicotan said:

It all comes down to marketability ~ who’s brand will bring in the most bang for the buck.

All four have something going for them in that respect, which is why, I think, they won’t do the finale for two weeks so they can gauge the fan response to #Teamwhoever.

The Kardashian clan wouldn’t have the fan base it has today if Kim’s sextape wouldn’t have made the rounds in the media, so oftentimes it isn’t who gave the best performance but who got the most likes/hits on social media.

I think they are all very talented performers, for different reasons, and therefore any of the top 4 would do a swell job representing RuPaul’s brand of drag superstars.

I don't think anyone other than World of Wonder's production and social media team can know for sure, but...I don't think the #teamwhoever has any impact other than getting the show trending and inflating their social mentions. There's no accountability or tracking for it, at any rate. 

My pet theory is that massive fandom reactions may matter, and that the queen's overall social media reach may matter. I think one or both of those things made Ginger Minj lose Season 7 to Violet. It could be what pushes Aquaria over the top -- her following is consistently massive, from before she was cast up until now, and probably even trumps Eureka's, though I haven't run them through SocialBlade or whatever so I don't actually know. And while fan reaction does kinda figure into the #teamwhoever shit, I figure it's bigger than that. And also I just really doubt that anyone could be bothered to actually tabulate, or even guesstimate, those "results" across all platforms. It's probably not even possible even if you had all the fucks to give, and I really doubt WoW gives very many fucks about it other than increasing their brand's engagement.

[Sew Sumi]

Didn't they already film the finale last week?

[April Bloodgate]

7 minutes ago, Sew Sumi said:

Didn't they already film the finale last week?

Technically, yes. But in recent seasons, they've been filming an 3-4 endings with each finalist crowned as the winner so that the live audience can't spoil it. I'm not sure the exact timing on when they decide who the winner is/which ending to air, but I know they reveal it to the contestants themselves pretty close to the airing.

[7-Zark-7]

2 hours ago, violet and green said:

I loved the way Todrick smacked her nose, "Don't flirt with me, I'm a judge.'

Oh, it was totally working. As you were.

Of the four remaining, I want Eureka to win. Tom and Lorenzo did a decent job explaining Aquaria's value on their podcast today, but still, I look at her and I see mostly privilege. If the show wants to celebrate drag queens of the future as super young, beautiful, with no real pain, no financial hardship and family support, they had their chance with Naomi Smalls.

Edited June 16, 2018 by 7-Zark-7

[April Bloodgate]

This is a really lackluster final 4 to me. Aquaria is a worse version of Violet Chachki and Eureka is a worse version of Ginger Minj. Asia is just kind of boring to me. So I guess I like Kameron best of the 4, but I don't think she's on par with most of the previous winners. I wish Monet could have stepped up her looks just a little bit because she would have been a shoo-in to me otherwise.

[7-Zark-7]

2 minutes ago, April Bloodgate said:

I'm not sure the exact timing on when they decide who the winner is/which ending to air, but I know they reveal it to the contestants themselves pretty close to the airing.

The contestants find out who won at the time the show airs. You can go on Youtube and find clips from different seasons of the three finalists sitting together at a bar finding out which one of them won and then going on stage to get their applause and check.

[phoenix780]

Eureka would impress me more if she were just a person, not someone consciously trying to represent a type. 

It's cool though, I have three possible good outcomes. There's not one that I love more, or feel is dominating, and I'm not, like, blown away. But, three good outcomes is pretty great. 

[Delete]

Asia’s pageant experience shone through tonight. I expected her to promise she’ll end world hunger and bring about peace to the universe. :p

Eureka and her fake cry, and big girl inspiration. I'm over her.  There are other queens that came before her who were much more inspirational and  genuine.  Latriceeeeeee! 

Aquaria. Distracted by the baubles hanging off her face. She looked like fishing lure. She’s a ‘star’ so she had be literal and wear stars on her dress. She’s eye catching but offers little substance. 

Out of the remaining four, Kameron is my pick. She’s different and I like that about her. Tonight she turned from a muscle queen to a very feminine curvy bombshell. Overall she remained herself and quietly showed that she can turn it out. 

The last few seasons of RPDR have been meh.  It has lost its campy fun. It is more like RuPaul's Cryfest. I don't even remember UnTucked being so serious in the past. This season the fun left when Monet was voted off. 

Edited June 16, 2018 by Barbara Please

[ClareWalks]

2 hours ago, Barbara Please said:

Eureka and her fake cry, and big girl inspiration. I'm over her.  There are other queens that came before her who were much more inspirational and  genuine.  Latriceeeeeee! 

Yeah, I feel like Latrice was far more of a "body positivity" advocate than Eureka. Eureka regularly makes fun of herself with how big she is and how much she eats, an obvious defense mechanism. Latrice was like "I am GORGEOUS, bitches. Period." 

[ladle]

If you told me at the beginning of the season that I would have become #teamAquaria, I wouldn't have believed you.  Yet here we are... 

I kind of want to go back and rewatch all the episodes and see how this happened. 

[Destiny74]

I was just a little annoyed at Asia "standing up" for Kameron when Eureka wanted to hear her lyrics.  Throughout the show (edited, I know) she has shown no real relationship with Kameron while Eureka is the one who has been friendly with Kameron (I think they bonded while on smoke breaks).  Let their relationship be their relationship.  Not to mention, I thought Kameron was holding her own aganist Eureka.  

I don't really care who wins.  They all have pros and cons but I still really like Eureka.  She makes me laugh.  But I agree with the above poster...Latrice Royale is still the big queen and has yet to be dethroned.  Love Latrice!!

Edited June 16, 2018 by Destiny74

[annewithaneee]

6 hours ago, ClareWalks said:

9 hours ago, Barbara Please said:

Eureka and her fake cry, and big girl inspiration. I'm over her.  There are other queens that came before her who were much more inspirational and  genuine.  Latriceeeeeee! 

Yeah, I feel like Latrice was far more of a "body positivity" advocate than Eureka. Eureka regularly makes fun of herself with how big she is and how much she eats, an obvious defense mechanism. Latrice was like "I am GORGEOUS, bitches. Period." 

So much this.

Every time I start to think about "big girl" queens in Drag Race, my brain shoots in so many different directions and I'm pretty sure I could write a meandering mess of a thesis about it. But I think with Eureka, what disappoints me about her run this season and especially if she wins -- it's gonna suck if the first big girl was a returning contestant. Because it tells me what she had that Latrice, Ginger, Delta, Darienne, etc didn't have, and really what probably made all the difference: post Drag Race $$$$ and connections.

I'm not sure I can even put into words without going on a long walk making plenty of caveats and couching things, but it's frustrating that the downfall of basically every big girl before her was turning out looks. It's sorta hard to remember now, because present-day Latrice has it fully together (because she's in that post-Race tax bracket now), but on the show even though she had C.U.N.T. in spades, she wore those same ugly ass boots and got eliminated in the ball challenge. And then you look at the Ginger of it all, and again I'm having to summarize like 8 billion tangled thoughts in a nutshell -- as Drag Race has become this massive hit and we're seeing more and more queens who got into drag because of the show, we see a lot of queens who are ultra-thin, have seemingly deep pockets, try to scrub their personalities free of any controversy and sharp edges as much as possible to stay on the right side of the fandom, and prior to casting have followings bigger than winners of the early seasons currently have. Because of this, Drag Race feels to me like it mirrors culture a lot more than counter-culture these days. A lot of these queens seem to mirror the hot cis ladies that make millions off of being already gorgeous and rich and having an Instagram. And cool, there's a place for that, but...I miss Drag Race feeling much messier. I'm not Eureka's fan for a lot of other reasons, but it's gonna suck if it turns out the only fat queen to win had already sold merch at two Drag Cons and had a wardrobe full of shit that could finally rival the girls who are rich (or have access to bigass loans), gorgeous, and anti-bitchy. That feels gross.

[Delete]

12 hours ago, Mayberry said:

 

I think Aquaria's frequent successes in the challenges and on the runway was the substance. The proof is in the pudding. She did those things well, consistently, and faced every challenge with a positive attitude. She didn't self-sabotage and believed in herself. Unlike queens like Kameron and Cracker.

 

She did quite well in the challenges, but I was speaking more about her personality. IMO, there is no substance there. But she made it to the top 4 and has a real shot at winning, so good on her!

[violet and green]

22 hours ago, Mayberry said:

She does represent a lot of the populace- young, not bitter, the selfie generation. Eh, let 'em live. 

Young! That won't last. Narcissism turns very bitter very quickly when not rewarded and stroked.

I like Aquaria most for her exceptional eye-makeup skills and gorgeous use of aquas and pale greens there. She has an excellent grasp of fashion history, and the funds to turn out extraordinary looks. But she is a little lacking in depth.

The more I think about it, the more I think she might win... and it would be a deserved win, but I find Eureka and Kameron Michaels far more likable.

[Kaboom 2.0]

On 6/15/2018 at 7:47 PM, rustyspigot said:

You better stop.

I seriously cannot. I want to hear the rest of Vangie's "Vangie is a multi purpose thing" (paraphrased) that is used in the teaser clip for the Reunited episode this week. What does that MEAN, Vangie?! LOL

[doesntworkonwood]

#TeamKameron I like her the most. I like how off stage she's quite shy, but on stage she's the opposite. She's obviously worked hard to get to the point, and I hope it's rewarded. 

I wouldn't mind if Aquaria or Asia won, but I hope that it's not Eureka. She's whingy and annoying and there's nothing that makes her stand out besides her size.

[goodbyeglittergirl]

I miss Monet.

I hope Eureka pulls off the win. I think she's been pretty consistently good, and I think she's at her best when she's just off the cuff - she's more sincere and enjoyable and seems just naturally sort of funny. 

I was underwhelmed by this whole episode!

[theatremouse]

4 hours ago, Kaboom 2.0 said:

I seriously cannot. I want to hear the rest of Vangie's "Vangie is a multi purpose thing" (paraphrased) that is used in the teaser clip for the Reunited episode this week. What does that MEAN, Vangie?! LOL

You know how Smurfs use the word "smurf" as a noun, but also an adjective and sometimes a verb? "Vangie", to Vangie, is like "smurf" to smurfs. Educated guess. ;)

[Temperance]

Aquaria is a great looks queen, but she's also been great at the acting challenges. (I have been legit surprised at good she is.)(Eureka's breastworld and Asia's Beyonce might make Aquaria the best actress of those still here, excluding people who've been eliminated like Monet.) I did think she deserved to lip sync at least once in a few challenges, but she just barely scraped out of the bottom.  As for her singing, she described herself as having a "five note range"  in Cher challenge, which would be considered weak.

Kameron is definitely the strongest singer and imo the strongest dancer of this top four. She doesn't have too much competition in the singing (both Monet and Blair are good singers). Her pre-electronic-ized sound was the strongest even though her voice cracked

singing a little  higher than she's used to.  I actually think her biggest problem is she doesn't know how to take her asthetic of comic books, and video games and translate that into a narrative she can sell. Like when if she had said to Ru, when Ru asked her why she should win, she didn't mention her brand. She said "I'll show people they should never give up on themselves." But if she had said or added  "Well, I'm a comic book, superhero, weight-lifting, videogame queen and I'm going to use my interests to bring new people to drag."  For me that would have been a stronger answer. 

Asia and Eureka are both great queens with a lot of the same strengths: humor, giving good answers, turning looks, good dance skills, and a strong ability to connect with people indiviually and as an audience. I actually think Eureka would have been elminated when she lip-synced against Kameron if someone had gone home.

On 6/16/2018 at 8:51 AM, ladle said:

If you told me at the beginning of the season that I would have become #teamAquaria, I wouldn't have believed you.  Yet here we are... 

I kind of want to go back and rewatch all the episodes and see how this happened. 

If you want, you could  watch the Pit Stop with Raja on youtube, you can see their breakdown of all the episodes. 

Edited June 18, 2018 by Temperance