S10.E14: Grand Finale

[noveltylibrary]

10 minutes ago, SHD said:

Eureka benefited from TWO non-eliminations this season. No wonder Aquaria was upset.

She benefited because she earned them, or in the case of the first final lip sync, Aquaria didn't blow her away.  If she was throwing shade that sucks.

Edited to add: I really don't think she was talking about Eureka, rather herself"go out with a bang"

6 minutes ago, Temperance said:

My favorite was Kameron and she's still amazing to me. 

I loved her grandma's video, and how proud her grandma was of her. 

Kameron is still quite the lip sync assassin. She eliminated 3 queens and needed 2 queens to take her down. 

Kameron!

and she looked like she was really enjoying herself, just gorgeous.

Edited June 29, 2018 by noveltylibrary

[HunterHunted]

1 minute ago, noveltylibrary said:

I can't stand the camera work during lip syncs and for the dance numbers too.  Just keep it still so we can see how everyone's doing!

They needed one on each queen, 2 wide covering the stage, and 2 on the crowd. The camera work was so bad that I kept thinking this show gets Emmys for hosting, hair, and makeup, but no one would ever give it an Emmy for directing or editing. Yuck. Such a mess.

2 minutes ago, noveltylibrary said:

She benefited because she earned them, or in the case of the first final lip sync, Aquaria didn't blow her away.  If she was throwing shade that sucks.

Let's hope she wasn't because that's one more reason why she has no business winning.

[CaioF]

Couple things from people that went to the finale tapping:

During her interview, Kameron was sorta asked about if she could replace herself for another queen at the finale/if she would and she said yes, she would swap with Miz Cracker because she felt she deserved it @_@

The Vixen walked away during the interview/segment with Eureka =_=

Asia couldnt hide how sad she was when the butterflies thing went wrong and even cried backstage after it.

They say that during her lip sync against Eureka, Aquaria tripped a couple times/fall once and somepeople expected Eureka to win because of that. Others tho, felt Aquaria held her own despite that. (maybe thats the real reason she was a little down after her lip sync and talked about second chance).

Despister her fall on the first lip sync, it was quite unanimous there that Aquaria won the final lip sync.

All queens went to hug Aquaria on her winning tapping while on Eureka it seems that Vixen and Asia didnt went for her.

Edited June 29, 2018 by CaioF

[BloggerAloud]

1 hour ago, Jeffurry said:

1 hour ago, CaioF said:

 

 

The final lip synch was by three artists. Could this possibly have been because RuPaul already knew there would be a final three?

I think  they always intended on a final three lip sync but I don't think they were prepared for Asia imploding. 
This finale proved that these queens took away the entirely wrong message from Sasha Velour's So Emotional performance. They focused on the gag of the reveal and totally missed how Sasha used her reveals to tell a story within the song. What were Asia's butterflies, even if they worked, going to do in relation to either "If" or Nasty.

Edited June 29, 2018 by BloggerAloud

[HunterHunted]

3 hours ago, BloggerAloud said:

This finale proved that these queens took away the entirely wrong message from Sasha Velour's So Emotional performance. They focused on the gag of the reveal and totally missed how Sasha used her reveals to tell a story within the song. What were Asia's butterflies, even if they worked, going to do in relation to either "If" or Nasty.

 

YES! This! All of this! Every last one of the finalists in season 9 understood the use of gags and tricks to build a narrative in the song better than all 4 of the finalists in season 10.

Also if you can tell a queen is hiding another outfit underneath the first, then it's not much of a reveal, which is why Kameron, Aquaria, and Eureka's first reveals didn't work. However, Eureka's hair loaf and 2nd reveal did work. 

If you've ever seen the Filipino I Will Always Love You performance from 8 years ago, it's a great demonstration of how to slightly transform a song into another narrative based on tricks and gags and it builds and builds.

Edited June 29, 2018 by HunterHunted

[Zuleikha]

The butterfly dress also just looked weird. Sometimes it's hard when we have a strong vision to accept that it's actually a bad idea and not going to work, but Asia's idea was just never going to work. Even if the butterflies had flown out, it would not have created a message of love and optimism. Maybe it would have been cool enough to move her on, but it mostly would have led to "what do butterflies have to do with Nasty Girl?"

[CaioF]

Oh well, seems Asia really took it hard on herself (it didnt helped that bitter fans knowing the spoilers couple weeks ago, already started to attack her sending buttefly gifs etc): 

[Aerobicidal]

Thousands of '90s children will now have a better reason to be traumatized by butterflies than the fact that they owned the CD maxi single of the Crazy Town song "Butterfly" as youths.

I was happy with the winner and with miss congeniality, but the first season of the Thai version kicked U.S. season 10's ass. I'm ready for more international versions. Too bad Tammie Brown wasn't there, but she has nothing to RuPaulogize for about that in my opinion,

Edited June 29, 2018 by Aerobicidal

[phoenix780]

I feel bad for Asia. She's such a good person, this was just a bad idea. 

I get what people are saying about Aquaria and privilege, but I also think she's really talented and deserving, and smart. That she did the dance for my favorite video was impressive. 

I hope Kameron performs in my town soon, it'll be a good show. There's something, though, in her moves that feel very 80's, and something in her look/demeanor reminds me of Tori Spelling. It's weird, and I like it. 

Eureka can go now. Far as I'm concerned she lost twice this season, she got way too much airtime, and I hope she has a great career...off this show. 

Overall I think this season had the most queens I like in one cast, a solid final four, but it's still underwhelming. I can't figure out why that is. 

[violet and green]

2 hours ago, noveltylibrary said:

She benefited because she earned them, or in the case of the first final lip sync, Aquaria didn't blow her away.  If she was throwing shade that sucks.

Edited to add: I really don't think she was talking about Eureka, rather herself"go out with a bang"

What Aquaria said, to me, could only have referenced the, to her, utter outrageous insult of not winning her round against Eureka - as her sour face said at the announcement both were staying. What an entitled little bitch.

Not my winner. I really enjoyed the reunion show up until that point, though.

[belligerent]

I didn't realize how much I wanted Aquaria to win until this episode. I thought I was on Team Whomever but as soon as they finished the second round I was ready to be angry if they said any name but hers.

Her second lip sync outfit reminded me of jojo's bizarre adventure for some reason.

I wasn't as mesmerized by any of them as I was by Sasha's performances last season.

[HunterHunted]

Young Griff over on the AV Club said this prior to the finale:

Quote

I’ve got issues with pretty much the entire top 4, which has left me feeling pretty blah about the whole drag race finale. Let’s see- in no particular order:

Aquaria- Pro: incredibly talented, obviously a star who deserves to win... eventually. Con: incredibly full of herself, which probably wasn’t helped by Ru showing serious bias and sparing her from the bottom 2 on multiple occasions when she deserved it. (That god awful queen of hearts curtain comes to mind)

Asia- Pro: well rounded and incredibly talented, very generous and supportive with others. Con: except when she showed a really unflattering side of herself by trashing Cracker and Money X Change.

Eureka- Pro: a fat girl needs to win! Con: But not this one. She’s incredibly annoying and backstabbing, and her outfits are tacky AF.

Kameron- Pro: lipsync assassin, incredible outfits and clear talent with singing/dancing. Con: kind of boring, also apparently a bit of a bitch on the drag circuit.

So yeah... Not sure who I want to win. Asia I guess? Meh.

https://tv.avclub.com/1827213757

I pretty much agree wholeheartedly. I did not love this group. Last season, I didn't like Trinity Taylor (I thought she was kind of shady and her plastic surgery hurt my eyes), but I didn't begrudge her place in the final 4 and was curious to see what she'd do. With this season, it's like I have an alternate final four that I would have much rather seen (Monet, Monique, Blair, and Cracker). Sigh. On to season 11.

AV Club review

Vulture Recap

Jezebel

Edited June 29, 2018 by HunterHunted

[bobbyjoe]

Quote

They gotta figure something else out for these finales. That final three lip sync was a fucking mess, and wasn't at all fun to watch imo. 

I like Aquaria and I'm not sorry she won, but the structure of the finales now should definitely not hinge everything on a lip sync.  It puts certain contestants at a supreme advantage and others at a disadvantage.   I mean-- c'mon-- a big girl is never going to have a chance to win if it all comes down to lip sync athletics.  It would be the same thing in reverse if, say, the finale hinged on a comedy challenge.  Eureka would have it in the bag.  But the whole season shouldn't come down to who does the best splits and backflips any more than it should come down to who does the best Cher impression.

If Ru is still gonna have challenges in the finale, then it should be like a triathlon of challenges:  fashion, comedy, then lip sync.  This would feel more exciting and give every finalist a chance to win, not just whoever's the most limber that night.  All remaining contestants would likely ace some of those categories but not others, which would lead to more suspense about who Ru was going to choose. As others have said, this lip sync showdown is awkward and it doesn't do justice to the other kinds of qualities that can make a winning queen.

[Gothish520]

6 hours ago, annewithaneee said:

Oh, Asia. As someone who's gone to too many bad weddings, as soon as I understood what she was trying to do I was like "....she knows those butterflies are gonna be sleepy as fuck and not fly, right?". I've seen a few brides (all of them at dry weddings, too, so it was so paaaainful) try similar stunts and they never, ever worked.

Poor Asia. 

And dry weddings are a crime against humanity.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

This finale was very underwhelming. Based on all the lip syncs we saw in this episode, I'd say Kameron was the only one who did a convincing job.

First of all, I'm tired of so many queens doing costume reveals during the lip syncs. Yes, they can be dramatic and amazing but when you walk onstage wearing what looks like a metallic sunshade around your body, it's obvious that your plan is to do a Big Reveal, which kind of takes away from the drama since we can clearly see that it's going to happen. Three out of the four finalists did costume reveals during their lip syncs, and the fourth had an elaborate gimmick that didn't pan out. I'd rather see everyone spend their time actually performing.

On the other hand, most of the lip syncs in the finale were pretty dismal. Asia spent almost the entire song dealing with the butterflies hidden in her costume. Eureka kept doing the same (bad) kick and the same splits during both songs. Aquaria seemed to think that learning the choreography for If is the same thing as performing it well. Her flailing spaghetti arms and sloppy dancing were very reminiscent of a middle school dance recital where you think you get credit just for learning the steps even if you aren't performing them cleanly. Kameron's lip sync for Nasty was the only good one of the night. The Bang Bang performance with Aquaria, Eureka, and Kameron was so lackluster and boring. I kept waiting for the song to end so that it would stop.

I thought Asia had a good chance of winning but she really miscalculated with her butterfly costume. I think it was a pretty runway outfit but it was not a good fit with a Janet Jackson lip sync. Despite that, I think she could have done okay if she had just danced instead of focusing on getting all the butterflies out of her costume. When you're performing on a huge stage in a large theater like that, you can't expect tiny butterflies to have a wow factor. You need something that the people in the back row can see. Even watching it on my tv when they zoomed in on her, I still couldn't tell what she was doing for the first half of the song. It just looked like she was taking off the boob sections and then maybe blowing glitter from her wrists later.

Kameron's black and white outfit was just okay but at least she was smart enough to wear something that she could dance in.

7 hours ago, HunterHunted said:

even though Aquaria had some dance training as a kid, she's slightly terrible or more correctly undisciplined (she's all big big big, nor does she understand how to dance a narrative through line in a song).

The 3 part abomination...ugh. Aquaria. I guess. Doesn't understand nuance for shit when she dances or how to build. Once again, Eureka built up through the song better, but her moves weren't as strong. And because Aquaria went big for the first 2/3rds of the song, she was dragging a little by the end. I couldn't tell what was going on with Kameron because the camera work was a fucking mess.

Agreed on all counts.

5 hours ago, Aerobicidal said:

Thousands of '90s children will now have a better reason to be traumatized by butterflies than the fact that they owned the CD maxi single of the Crazy Town song "Butterfly" as youths.

Come my lady come come my lady you're my butterfly sugar baby!

[BloggerAloud]

I wish the queens had a defined part of the stage they had to stay in when they are doing the finale lip syncs.

[violet and green]

They need more cameras and better editing if they are going to have competing lip syncs in the finale. I liked the year Pearl was in, when each final queen did a different solo number.

That was a hot mess to watch, I couldn't see who was doing well - and three was one too many for an uptempo number on that stage - but gathered from the way the camera/edit panned to Aquaria she was the one to watch and would therefore win.  Egh.

I feel very sorry for Asia, after a fairly solid season - that was baffling until the camera finally did a close up of three startled/doped-out butterflies on the stage. It was a whole lot of looking down at costume parts and throwing things in the air - I thought she'd not memorized the song or something.

It was a really strong cast. I thought Blair St Claire, Monet, The Vixen, Aquaria and/or Mz Cracker would be in the finals at the start of the season. So glad Monet got Miss Congeniality.

I am bummed Eureka didn't win - it was hard to tell how she was doing in that last messy three... Others who were there have said she beat Aquaria in the previous head to head, but I guess the fix was in.

Ru has to please the fans and increase the fanbase, I guess; but it's a bit sad the way the show is skewing more and more to Instagram stars, and rich young kids with flashy gowns. I like a bit more heart in my Queen.

[worleybird]

Please, please, please. No more drop splits during LSFYL!. This ain't gymnastics in the RuLympics.

[dolphincorn]

I want a Season 11 finale lip sync where one queen removes her beehive wig to reveal a real beehive full of angry killer bees that swarm her competitor.

[Stenbeck]

Monique's face during the Asia/Kameron LSFYL said it all. 

I'm heartbroken for Asia, she wasn't my favorite, but damn! it's going to take a while to get over that disaster. IMO, she should embrace the fail, come out dressed as a gorgeous butterfly and perform the hell out of her shows. 

Editing was a mess, especially during the final three. 

IF is a pretty difficult song to lip sync to, I would've preferred Rhythm Nation or my favorite JJ song Love Will Never Do (Without You). 

For future queens: Your performance needs to be 85% lip sync, 15% look/gag/gymnastics/whatever.

[annewithaneee]

The more I think about it, the more I feel badly for Asia and really hope this is the last season where they do a sudden-death knockout round of LYSFYL's in the finale. The show's production should have absolutely not allowed that to go forward. Multiple different people on production had to have seen Asia preparing backstage, and whoever it was supplying the butterflies coming in with them. And anyone who knew that was part of her costume should have immediately said "yeah no, you can't have live insects in your lip sync, sorry about it". 

If they keep the sudden-death lip syncs as a taped-live finale tradition, it's gonna end in tears at some point. We've already seen that the queens take this as an opportunity to out-gag the previous season....it feels very likely that at some point somebody's going to accidentally set their wig on fire or something. WoW hasn't shown themselves as a professional enough outfit to keep doing it this way. They should thank their lucky stars the only casualties so far have been a bunch of butterfly corpses, and quit while they're ahead.

Also, I just don't think it makes for good TV, and it changes the spirit of the competition. America's next drag superstar shouldn't be the queen who used their post-filming time to get the best team together to help her present the best gag of them all. I could maybe see it working if they had a LYSFL tournament to whittle down the semi-finalists to a top three or two on the runway (actually, way better idea than the pointless "all four of you listlessly lip sync to a Ru song prior to nobody getting eliminated"), but not the finale. 

[Dani331]

2 hours ago, worleybird said:

Please, please, please. No more drop splits during LSFYL!. This ain't gymnastics in the RuLympics.

I'm so over the splits and death drops! 

[Delete]

Too many gimmicks in the LSFYL. The finale three were trying to top what Sasha did the previous year, but that was pure magic, and can't be replicated. The props helped Sasha, but she delivered the goods with her performance. BTW. Sasha looked incredible last night. She's so unique. 

I like Asia, but using the butterflies was just wrong. She could have nailed it if she went completely Janet Jackson and danced and lip synched her little heart out. 

It was hard to follow the final three, and their performances, and would have preferred the final two with Aquaria versus Kameron. 

I didn't care for either of the two looks that Aquaria wore in the lip synch, and especially didn't care for the deformed boobie reveal.

Aquaria deserved the win , but she wasn't my choice. Although, I'm glad Monet X Change got Miss Congeniality. (she's the real winner in my eyes)

Edited June 29, 2018 by Barbara Please

[Jrae9233]

Another privileged, snotty, thin white winner...yay. Much unique, so New York. 

And Kameron does the same exact moves in her lip sync and doesn't deserve the title of lip sync assassin. Her competitors just performed worse than she did.

 

A good season with no "yass queen" moments.

[jaync]

Did Asia think Ru said do fuck it up? Because ol' girl sure did.

[HunterHunted]

45 minutes ago, Dani331 said:

I'm so over the splits and death drops! 

Much like Sasha's rose petals and Peppermint's twirl, these queens seemed to have learned the wrong lesson from the successful splits and death drops. Monet's most compelling lip synch moment was when she looked like she was going to death drop, but didn't. Latrice just stood there while Kenya danced and leaped. Jinkx and Detox just lip synched and did some slight gyrations to the song. Not everything needs acrobatics.

Even in actual acrobatics/gymnastics, they need other movements to help punctuate the flips and tumbles. These performances were like one of those most expensive listicles online--most expensive hamburgers in the world--where they describe a burger made with an aged Kobe beef patty, foie gras, shaved black truffle, 24-month cave aged cheddar, mangalitsa bacon, duck egg, Moet champagne mayo, aged cognac barrel smoked sea salt and osetra caviar. It's special on top of special on top of special. It's too much! I need a reprieve so that I can appreciate the splits and death drops when they do happen.

[cpcathy]

3 hours ago, dolphincorn said:

I want a Season 11 finale lip sync where one queen removes her beehive wig to reveal a real beehive full of angry killer bees that swarm her competitor.

You win the internet today!

[BarneySays]

15 hours ago, 7-Zark-7 said:

It’s kind of like the message for this season is, “No matter who you are or where you come from, you can make it — just not as a far as the pretty, rich white people.”

Owning a hoagie shop outside philly does not make one rich.  Nor does taking ballet classes.

15 hours ago, 7-Zark-7 said:

The camera cut back and forth on that final lip sync so often that I felt I couldn’t tell who was doing well. I’m not surprised at the final decision though.

That's been a problem all season.  The cast would hoot and holler bout a lipsynch and it just looked like a lot of disjointed manic moves.

[le bordel chaud]

57 minutes ago, BarneySays said:

Owning a hoagie shop outside philly does not make one rich.  Nor does taking ballet classes.

 

I'm not Aquaria's accountant nor do I even know her personally so I didn't feel like I could accurately comment on her financial status. But nothing about her parents screamed WEALTHY to me...

Edited June 29, 2018 by Victim Noises

[Blakeston]

I don't buy that Aquaria was trying to shade Eureka with her comment about getting a second chance. It wouldn't make sense for her to credit her victory to Eureka being given a second chance.

I suspect that after the crowd went berserk over Eureka's reveals, and began chanting Eureka's name, Aquaria feared she'd lost that first lip sync. She may very well have felt that Ru's decision gave her a second chance.

Aquaria has been heavily criticized for being snotty, but she's actually been far more humble than I ever would have expected. So many of the under-25 contestants have thought they were hot shit for being young. And this is someone who's been a big deal in the drag world since she was a child - a recipe for a monster if ever I've heard one. 

But Aquaria was very open to criticism, she was willing to admit when she was wrong, and she seems to have the respect of most (if not all) of her competitors. And she never acted like being young made her better than anyone else. She's also an extremely hard worker who's very familiar with cultural references from before her time. A lot of the young queens from previous seasons would have benefitted from taking notes from her.

Edited June 29, 2018 by Blakeston

[HunterHunted]

1 hour ago, BarneySays said:

Owning a hoagie shop outside philly does not make one rich.  Nor does taking ballet classes.

7 minutes ago, Victim Noises said:

I'm not Aquaria's accountant nor do I even know her personally so I didn't feel like I could accurately comment on her financial status. But nothing about her parents screamed WEALTHY to me...

 

His family has only owned the restaurant for about a decade. Additionally, they had 2 locations, but one closed about a year or two ago. Prior to that his dad was in financial services. I say this as a Pennsylvanian, a lot of people can be very blue collar and have a money, especially for that generation.

However, I don't know their exact finances. Aquaria has described her upbringing as comfortably middle class in interviews. I'm going to take her at her word because I know what that looks like including the dance and theater classes she took as a kid and college tuition that her parents paid for. That's a decent amount of privilege and advantage.

4 minutes ago, Blakeston said:

Aquaria has been heavily criticized for being snotty, but she's actually been far more humble than I ever would have expected. So many of the under-25 contestants have thought they were hot shit for being young. And this is someone who's been a big deal in the drag world since she was a child - a recipe for a monster if ever I've heard one. 

I've actually spent some time around actual famous children or child phenoms, like Chelsea Clinton (we're the same age and went to nearby prep schools) and LeBron James (my brother was in the same basketball league and I lived in Akron when he was playing in high school). They were waaaaaay more grounded despite having millions of international eyes on them as kids. LeBron's high school games sold out in college and professional arenas. People talked about him being an NBA Hall of Famer as a teen. Aquaria's spotlight ain't shit compared to either of them and her online bitchery prior to the competition that only ever seemed to come for queens of color...yeah.

Listen, I think she had a leg up that some of the other queens didn't have, but so did Eureka as did Bianca, Courtney, Chad Michaels, Coco Montrese, Derek Barry, Alaska, and honestly Raja did too. I think Ru gave her a couple of passes when she should have been in the bottom 2. However, Aquaria is talented and creative and won according to the rules of the competition.

People are complaining about these issues with Aquaria because it's highlighted a fundamental unfairness in how the game is played and maybe some measures need to be taken to level the playing field because this inequality is scaring talented creative queens with no money away and trickling down to local drag scenes where patrons expect Drag Race level shows on a Monday night. These issues are neither good for the show or drag culture.

[theatremouse]

I did not really enjoy Aquaria most of the season, however, I think her never being in the bottom two was probably a major advantage for the finale. One thing I realized while watching the lipsyncs was the Kameron and Eureka, during both songs, immediately struck me as doing exactly what I've seen them do before. I've seen them lip sync how many times this season? And then saw them do two songs within 20 minutes. It felt so same same same. So by the end of the episode, not only did I expect Aquaria to win, I wanted Aquaria to win. Because I was not bored by Aquaria's performances. Possibly the editing helped, but Aquaria also did not seem to do 80% the same moves both times. Possibly, if I'd seen her lip sync before she might've fallen into the same autopilot mode they seemed to be in and it'd factor less into my personal judging. But in the moment, Aquaria was just plain more interesting to watch. At the end of the day, they choose the winner based on the performance, not on the interviews or talking heads or anything that came before. So the result made sense to me.

[7-Zark-7]

   2 HOURS AGO,  BARNEYSAYS SAID: 

Owning a hoagie shop outside philly does not make one rich.  Nor does taking ballet classes.

 

I'm not Aquaria's accountant nor do I even know her personally so I didn't feel like I could accurately comment on her financial status. But nothing about her parents screamed WEALTHY to me...

———-

Her outfits screamed “more expensive than most everyone else’s” all season.

Edited June 30, 2018 by 7-Zark-7

[CaioF]

Extra footage of the live audience reacting to Asia´s VS Kameron Lip Sync:

https://media.giphy.com/media/amnZC37fDEuoE/giphy.mp4

[Blakeston]

1 hour ago, HunterHunted said:

=I've actually spent some time around actual famous children or child phenoms, like Chelsea Clinton (we're the same age and went to nearby prep schools) and LeBron James (my brother was in the same basketball league and I lived in Akron when he was playing in high school). They were waaaaaay more grounded despite having millions of international eyes on them as kids. LeBron's high school games sold out in college and professional arenas. People talked about him being an NBA Hall of Famer as a teen.

Chelsea Clinton and LeBron James aren't drag queens. I love drag queens, but they tend to be outrageously narcissistic. And drag queens who are the hot new young girl on the scene are extremely prone to being unbearable.

Just comparing Aquaria to other college-aged queens on the show, she's easily been one of the more grounded ones, and one of the young queens with the healthiest respect for those who came before her. She and Blair St. Clair stepped it up for 21-year-olds on this show, attitude-wise.

[CaioF]

The fact that by the end, all queens seems to really respect Aquaria and think she is a deserving winner (even queens that called her out during the season like Dusty, said she saw such of a growth/different side of Aquaria that she couldeven be a contestant for Miss Congeniality), says more than any impression from people outside.  Now about how she has a better life than other queens, c´mon, this is no Ru Paul Charity Race and theres is a limit on how money can help if you dont really have the talent to back it up, specially on competition like Drag Race that test different aspects from the queens.

Edited June 29, 2018 by CaioF

[Temperance]

I feel like the top four  were evenly matched moneywise. Not so for the whole competition, but this top four group of queens seemed to be on a level-playing field moneywise.  (Miz Cracker who came in 5th and Kameron were the ones, who talked about spending a lot of money on the contest.)  Asia and Eureka both imo seemed to keep up moneywise. Aquaria's biggest advantages money-wise might be make-up, which is her career and the pieces her engineer friend help her create (like her evil twin look).

I agree last night's performance was gimick-heavy. 

I think they should pick songs that bring out different things in the performers and call for different performances.  While "Bang-Bang" is slower, it's still too similiar to the Janet songs.  They could do the first two lip syncs being more dance grooves and have the third (and final) be a slower ballad-type song with more heart. 

[CaioF]

Final 4 live reaction to the finale/winner announcement:

Edited June 29, 2018 by CaioF

[jaync]

Quote

It’s kind of like the message for this season is, “No matter who you are or where you come from, you can make it — just not as a far as the pretty, rich white people.”

So only ugly, poor POC should be able to compete for the win? 

[HunterHunted]

1 hour ago, Blakeston said:

Chelsea Clinton and LeBron James aren't drag queens. I love drag queens, but they tend to be outrageously narcissistic. And drag queens who are the hot new young girl on the scene are extremely prone to being unbearable.

Just comparing Aquaria to other college-aged queens on the show, she's easily been one of the more grounded ones, and one of the young queens with the healthiest respect for those who came before her. She and Blair St. Clair stepped it up for 21-year-olds on this show, attitude-wise.

Are you actually trying to make this argument? To a person, the fields of politics, athletics, and celebrity have a higher concentration of toxic narcissists in them than drag could hope to field. Have you even listened to a 21 year old athlete who either is in or is going to the pros? I've known people in all of those fields. LeBron and Chelsea are on the more grounded end. I've known others on the complete opposite spectrum including my cousin who after retiring from the NFL made his wife, an obstetrician stop working, to help him with his retirement business.

No one said, that Aquaria was Lindsay Lohan, Floyd Mayweather, or Anthony Weiner, but she's not that grounded or self-aware either. I would put her solidly in the middle for drag queens and even among the young queens, she is pretty self-absorbed, narcissistic, and not grounded.

Young queens (age they were when filming):

• Season 1: Akashia (24)
• Season 2: Tatianna (20)
• Season 3: India Ferrah (23)
• Season 4: Kenya Michaels (21)
• Season 5: Serena ChaCha (21)
• Season 6: Trinity K. Bonet (22)
• Season 7: Max (22)
• Season 8: Naomi Smalls (21)
• Season 9: Aja (22)

If we add in Blair, then Aquaria comes across on the snottier end of the spectrum.

You like her. It's ok. It's easier for you to overlook her flaws. I don't like her, which made it harder for me to overlook her flaws. Plus, I never thought her look was so unique in the way that always left the judges gagging. I KNEW exactly what she was referencing. When she failed to pull it off, I'd say so in my posts. However, I did think some of her looks were absolutely tops.

Frankly, I didn't much care for any of the final 4. I thought Kameron was boring and a little shady. I called her the Olive Garden of drag; it's serviceable, but you're not excited about it. I thought Asia was a seasoned professional who wasn't nearly as talented as she needed to be and wasn't nearly the mother figure she pretended to be. I thought Eureka has personality in spades, but it wasn't a personality you always wanted to be around. She also always made the world's most obvious choices.

[BarneySays]

4 hours ago, HunterHunted said:

His family has only owned the restaurant for about a decade. Additionally, they had 2 locations, but one closed about a year or two ago. Prior to that his dad was in financial services. I say this as a Pennsylvanian, a lot of people can be very blue collar and have a money, especially for that generation.

However, I don't know their exact finances. Aquaria has described her upbringing as comfortably middle class in interviews. I'm going to take her at her word because I know what that looks like including the dance and theater classes she took as a kid and college tuition that her parents paid for. That's a decent amount of privilege and advantage.

Grew up in south Philly- the home of the cheese steak!  (It comes with white American cheese, not cheez whiz.)  Google tells me Aquaria is from west chester- that is blue collar, not wealthy at all.  Financial services can mean anything.  I work around financial services people and none of them would use their considerable wealth to open a hoagie shop.  And the parent looked like typical blue collar suburban philadelphians.  I would have guessed they were from delaware county, which is pretty similar to west chester.  My parents were blue collar, but we all went to catholic school.  That didn't make us privileged.  The real question is whether the family's hoagie shop makes a good cheese steak, which requires an amorosso roll. 

[HunterHunted]

25 minutes ago, BarneySays said:

The real question is whether the family's hoagie shop makes a good cheese steak, which requires an amorosso roll. 

I hate wiz. I'd rather have provolone over American, but I prefer roast pork over a cheese steak. The place is apparently better known for their burgers.

[Zuleikha]

Quote

Aquaria's biggest advantages money-wise might be make-up, which is her career and the pieces her engineer friend help her create (like her evil twin look).

3-D printing isn't expensive beyond the initial investment in the 3-D printer. The initial investment for a small home one is within range for many single people with jobs ($350 to $450 range, not cheap but not multi-thousands like the industrial ones)  They're not supposed to be that hard to use. Those pieces may not have been very expensive at all, especially on drag queen budgets that include Swarovski-covered clothes and high quality wigs.

Money will definitely help, but I don't see how RPDR can get around that. However, drag queens presumably get around it the same way burlesque artists do--learning how to craft and fabricate and rolling over most of their initial income into costuming. Also, a lot of time spent thrifting. As we've seen in some of the design challenges, good conceptual design skills can make relatively inexpensive items pop.

Edited June 30, 2018 by Zuleikha

[violet and green]

51 minutes ago, BarneySays said:

My parents were blue collar, but we all went to catholic school.  That didn't make us privileged.

Given Aquaria, in the segment on stage with the photos of themselves as kids, when talking to 'little Giovani' referred to her upbringing as 'privileged', then I guess her upbringing was in some way, or comparative to the other contestants' stories in that moment, 'privileged'. I mean, it was her term.

Edited June 30, 2018 by violet and green
typo

[ClareWalks]

3 minutes ago, Mayberry said:

Footage of Miz Cracker at bar reacting to Aquaria's win. Or rather not reacting. I guess it must be tough for her, being a NY queen and also being compared to Aquaria so much. Cracker's too much in her own head again:

Yikes. That is...cold. Weird because she said (before the reunion) that she was rooting for her NYC sister. I noticed Dusty also seemed pissed off for parts of the finale last night. Bitter is not a good look on these queens. And I was a Cracker fan and wanted her to win.

[Fiero425]

24 minutes ago, ClareWalks said:

Yikes. That is...cold. Weird because she said (before the reunion) that she was rooting for her NYC sister. I noticed Dusty also seemed pissed off for parts of the finale last night. Bitter is not a good look on these queens. And I was a Cracker fan and wanted her to win.

For all we know, they're still as catty to one another behind the scenes! For a 21 year old Twink from NY, that was some transformation we saw over the season! At  the beginning "it's all about her," but by the end Aquaria's got Toddrick snowed tearing up at rehearsal about how incredible it was to be in her position! No one becomes a saint that quickly; esp. that young and narcissistic! Vixen's act of storming out mid-reunion is what I expect out of someone with that much rage! Aquaria's conning us all right? ;-)

[Fiero425]

12 hours ago, worleybird said:

Please, please, please. No more drop splits during LSFYL!. This ain't gymnastics in the RuLympics.

That's the "go to" move going back to Sahara Davenporte who saved herself a couple times from the 1st show of Season 2 on! She has one of the most memorable Lip Sync victories going up against Morgan McMichaels to Martha Wash's "Carry on!" Those 2 splits set the trend and even the big girls got into the act going back to S2's, Mystique Summers Madison! ;-)

Edited June 30, 2018 by Fiero425

[Fiero425]

20 hours ago, phoenix780 said:

I feel bad for Asia. She's such a good person, this was just a bad idea. 

I get what people are saying about Aquaria and privilege, but I also think she's really talented and deserving, and smart. That she did the dance for my favorite video was impressive. 

I hope Kameron performs in my town soon, it'll be a good show. There's something, though, in her moves that feel very 80's, and something in her look/demeanor reminds me of Tori Spelling. It's weird, and I like it. 

Eureka can go now. Far as I'm concerned she lost twice this season, she got way too much airtime, and I hope she has a great career...off this show. 

Overall I think this season had the most queens I like in one cast, a solid final four, but it's still underwhelming. I can't figure out why that is. 

I had heard and seen spoiler so I wasn't surprised, but all concerned believe it was a rotten idea with the butterflies! Did any take off? Asia stepping/dancing on their remains! Kameron was freaked out and looked at them on the stage! I was appalled with many in the audience looking hard wondering WTF?! lol! I was in Target the other day and walked by some guy that looked just like Kameron; down to a ballcap and tattoos on his neck! I didn't want to stare so I didn't follow him around, but from a 2nd and 3rd glance, it could have been him except I'm in Chicago, he's from Tennessee, and this guy in the store was sporting a skateboard!

[Zuleikha]

Yikes. That is...cold. Weird because she said (before the reunion) that she was rooting for her NYC sister. I noticed Dusty also seemed pissed off for parts of the finale last night. Bitter is not a good look on these queens. And I was a Cracker fan and wanted her to win.

It seems gross to me that someone filmed Mz. Cracker--from far enough away that she may have had no idea--and then uploaded to the Internet. People should be allowed to feel genuine feelings without getting thrown to the Internet wolves. It's not like Mz. Cracker watched someone hurt and in pain and walked away. She had a human reaction of disappointment--whether it was to Aquaria specifically winning or to not being there herself.

[Kaboom 2.0]

This is Miss Vangie's world and we're all just squirrels trying to get a Vangie.

I admit to not really caring who was crowned season ten's winner after seeing the return of the season one queens in all of their season ten-lighting glory. Nina! My season one love!! Ongina! Jade! Squee!  

But where the hell was Tammie Brown? Walking children in nature?! 

I am glad that Monet and her sponges won Miss Congeniality and especially because her fellow contestants cast the votes, she seemed truly surprised and touched. I still heart Mayhem and Monique, would not have minded if either of them had won Miss Congeniality.

And Sasha, you gorgeous, mythical, fantastic treasure. You slayed, queen, you slayed. (snaps of respect)