RuPaul's Drag Race

[Gazz]

Absolutely beautiful bridge. Okada-esque.

I can't believe [redacted] went 12 minutes over, did the doddery old/drunk/both woman act again and wasn't in the bottom two.

[Katsuya]

1 hour ago, Gazz said:

I can't believe [redacted] went 12 minutes over, did the doddery old/drunk/both woman act again and wasn't in the bottom two.

I've seen this a fair bit today, and I'm going to guess the reason was that (whilst we barely saw it, for obvious reasons), [redacted] was probably consistently funny throughout that whole set, even if it's a rehash of old material. Whereas Heidi bombed and Jaida's only saving grace was the moments where she pointed out that she was flopping.

Granted Jaida was almost set up to fail thanks to [redacted], but I can imagine that's what the real difference was. Then again I'd say the only ones who really did well this challenge were Crystal and Jackie and even then, they weren't really that much compared to previous "one woman show" type challenges.

[RPS]

 Gigi has been awful the last three episodes. How has she not lip synced once? 

I'm team Jaida and Crystal. Jaida is drag excellence. Everything she does is perfection. Crystals drag mind is insane. She thinks really outside the box in a way that mixes glamour and camp in a unique way.

[Gazz]

I think it's pretty obvious that Gigi fits exactly into the mould of what Ru wants in her series winners. She's polished, poised, fashionable and you know she'd do the work as a winner. She'd put on a decent show. She's a bit too 'WWE' for me, overproduced, overrehearsed and where's the soul?

[RPS]

7 minutes ago, Gazz said:

I think it's pretty obvious that Gigi fits exactly into the mould of what Ru wants in her series winners. She's polished, poised, fashionable and you know she'd do the work as a winner. She'd put on a decent show. She's a bit too 'WWE' for me, overproduced, overrehearsed and where's the soul?

And also very not poised when it comes to being unscripted. Each time she has a challenge where she has to rely on her own personality with no guidance from anyone else, she completely fails.

Also her runways are deteriorating in quality. 

[arwrestling]

I like Gigi, but I agree she isn't as strong a contender for the crown in my mind now than she was early on (and the fact that she's only 21 shows she HAS talent... winning and working with Ru's team afterwards will only help her). Crystal has really, really grown on me and I agree, the more I see her the more I appreciate her art and "get it", so to speak. She is really genius and I think she's got a real shot at winning, especially considering Yvie Oddly won the previous season over poised competitor Brooke Lynn Hytes. Personally would love to see the two of them with Jackie Cox in the finals.

I have to disagree with Jaida being "drag excellence". She's fallen really flat with me for the most part, she's good, but she fades in the background for me more often than not. I agree that Sherry should have been in the bottom based on the time thing and, again, doing the same old same old... but, personal life aside, she does represent the quintessential drag queen people think of. She's like Divine in a sense, she's talented and she has the classic drag look. I can see why she gets away with it, because her drag is really polished and established as it is. The show rarely rewards people who change it up, despite often asking certain queens to change it up (think Bebe winning season 1, she never switched it up. she's a great queen, but she knew her drag and didn't stray). 

I can't be upset about Heidi going home though. I enjoyed her, but she was the weakest one of the remaining queens. 

[RPS]

When I envision drag excellence, I mean more so the paint and the gowns. And Jaida looks stunning every time she is in drag. Gigi and Crystal have interesting themes and make it camp. But Jaida is polished and stunning each time she does drag.

It is interesting because we are at a time in drag where it is defined by Drag Race. 20 years ago, drag was really about make up skills, an outfit, an ability to MC a bar and, most importantly, a great lip sync. That is why drag race the show culminates with the lip sync. But Drag Race has made singing, music videos, high concepts, a popping personality is what is associated with drag. Queens appear on Drag Race having never worked a bar before. It is super interesting how it is expanding to encapsulate other things. That is why when I hear or say drag excellence I think of a great mug and a stunning gown.

For anyone interested in the history, check out Paris Is Burning. It is like watching drag race but 30 years ago.

[arwrestling]

22 hours ago, RPS said:

When I envision drag excellence, I mean more so the paint and the gowns. And Jaida looks stunning every time she is in drag. Gigi and Crystal have interesting themes and make it camp. But Jaida is polished and stunning each time she does drag.

It is interesting because we are at a time in drag where it is defined by Drag Race. 20 years ago, drag was really about make up skills, an outfit, an ability to MC a bar and, most importantly, a great lip sync. That is why drag race the show culminates with the lip sync. But Drag Race has made singing, music videos, high concepts, a popping personality is what is associated with drag. Queens appear on Drag Race having never worked a bar before. It is super interesting how it is expanding to encapsulate other things. That is why when I hear or say drag excellence I think of a great mug and a stunning gown.

For anyone interested in the history, check out Paris Is Burning. It is like watching drag race but 30 years ago.

Thats cool. I meant no offense I certainly don't think Jaida is a bad Drag Queen at all. And yes, admittedly my experience with Drag is quite limited. I had gone to a show, exactly as you said, MC / Hosted by one, about 7 years ago and that was my first real exposure to drag (I mean I worked in a gay club for about a year and so I had seen people come in dressed in drag, but our place never hosted events or whatnot so I actually hadn't seen a drag performance prior to that one... the rest were essentially crossdressers as far as I knew at the time). 
 

So aside from that, I started watching Drag race a few years ago on netflix and what attracted me most to the show is the performance aspect and I kept looking at what they were doing it and relating to my acting experience / training and clown training and realized it was an actual art form. And a really intriguing one. I think that's why I really dig the celebrity one, because you're seeing these artists apply their trade / training and discovering drag and it's super fascinating. I'd love a non-novelty version of that, full season length, of watching people discovering and growing in drag. 

Speaking aout Celebrity Drag Race
 

Spoiler

what a great episode. I mean, genuinely the best roast I had seen on the show, and it was great seeing these celebs get with the tucking part compared to episode one. They really got much more immersed in the experience, and I think it's great. Also great to see a comedian known as being the typical straight jock type guy do the show and do it seriously. Ross was right with his comments about that. 

And good to know about the documentary, it was on my list but I'll definitely check it out soon. 

Edited May 11, 2020 by arwrestling

[RPS]

5 minutes ago, arwrestling said:

Thats cool. I meant no offense I certainly don't think Jaida is a bad Drag Queen at all. And yes, admittedly my experience with Drag is quite limited. I had gone to a show, exactly as you said, MC / Hosted by one, about 7 years ago and that was my first real exposure to drag (I mean I worked in a gay club for about a year and so I had seen people come in dressed in drag, but our place never hosted events or whatnot so I actually hadn't seen a drag performance prior to that one... the rest were essentially crossdressers as far as I knew at the time). 

No offense taken, I just find it really interesting how drag has moved as an entertainment property. Like a good chunk of what the drag queens now do on Drag Race are things that drag race introduced as central to drag. The focus on acting, branding yourself, improvisation, learning choreo, music videos, original music etc. is not really what drag was about. Before drag race, a great drag queen was someone who could paint a good face, make a great outfit or buy a great outfit and lip sync the house down. 

I had this discussion with a friend once who was a big fan of Trixie Mattel and I was like "she is a great entertainer, but she is not much of a drag queen". There are probably lots of people like me with the same outdated view. 

Quote

So aside from that, I started watching Drag race a few years ago on netflix and what attracted me most to the show is the performance aspect and I kept looking at what they were doing it and relating to my acting experience / training and clown training and realized it was an actual art form. And a really intriguing one. I think that's why I really dig the celebrity one, because you're seeing these artists apply their trade / training and discovering drag and it's super fascinating. I'd love a non-novelty version of that, full season length, of watching people discovering and growing in drag. 

There is a show done by HBO featuring three past contestants on drag race doing just that. We're Here. I have not personally watched it, but the premise of the show is three past drag race stars going to small towns and teaching people about drag. 

[arwrestling]

I saw that show too and wanted to watch it, I didn't know what it was about. 

And what's interesting is my perception of Drag when I first watched the show was this big flamboyant caricature of a woman lipsynching. Exaggerated make up, over the top hair and gowns... Like Divine. 

I think that's why I loved Nina West on season 11, or [redacted] now (I hate to admit and it's such a shame but she's a strong contender) or even Sasha Velour, who morphed that aesthetic but still had the qualities I recognized as Drag (hers was one of the first seasons I had seen). So, for me the show definitely changed me pre-conceived notion of what drag is and definitely highlighted the artistry behind creating these characters. I still tend to be more interested by the ones with that over the top aesthetic and performance...... 

And what's funny, personally, about what you said of drag being initially a face, an outfit and a lipsynch..... I don't particularly find RuPaul to be a great representation of that, at all. I find her a great female impersonator, and a pretty good entertainer as a whole, but I usually despise her choice of gowns.... and I've never seen her lipsynch so I can't comment on that (i know she's  singer but still, haven't seen her do it to be honest). But she's pretty and fishy... and I think that's why she tends to occasionally favour queens that fit that type of aesthetic more so than the classic drag you've described (really, I can think of no winners that fit that classic drag queen mould).  

Anyways.... the whole thing is interesting. Thanks for those shows, I'll check them out.  

[Mx. Canadian Destroyer]

I would be very surprised if Crystal wins. I love her, but I have a feeling Ru won't crown two "out-of-the-box" queens in back-to-back seasons. Drag Race hasn't really had a comedy queen win since Bob, so I could have seen Sherry winning. However, with the finale now being a lip sync-off, it will be harder and harder for a comedy queen to pull out the win. I can see Gigi bouncing back a bit, surviving to the final four and then having a good enough lip sync to be crowned. I imagine the final comes down to Jaida vs. Gigi, unless the lip sync battle ends up pitting them against each other before the final.

With all that being said, I really like Jackie and am rooting for her. I felt so much sympathy for so many of the critiques she got during challenges she was excited about (improv, the debate). She clearly gets an idea in her head and gets stuck on it. I loooooved her one-woman show. I would have loved to see her win the challenge, but I think Crystal's performance was just a bit better. 

[Katsuya]

They're genuinely doing a Zoom lip sync for the crown 😱

[RPS]

That was an... interesting episode. 

I hated the final challenge. The Ru-Mix with each having a verse and choreography for a 3 minute is what you need in that situation. I watched the whole finale challenge and was like "I have no idea how you determine who was the worst or best" because I was not sure what parts they wrote, what was written for them or how much agency they had over the entire challenge. It seemed like zero.

I am good with Jackie not making the top 4 and it being a top 3, as she was very good, but not amazing. She had no chance of snatching the crown, so it is best to leave her out.  

Sherry Pie's presence looms over the season. It is interesting, because I never found her runways very interesting, her face is awful and uninteresting and her performance in challenges was redundant. 

I am cool with Gigi, Crystal or Jaida winning. I would prefer Jaida or Crystal win, but only because Gigi did really poorly three consecutive weeks at the end of the competition, where it is important you succeed. I left the last week knowing what Jaida and Crystal would bring to the winner's circle, but uncertain of what Gigi would bring. 

[arwrestling]

I'm hoping for Crystal, she really won me over progressively, but I can see Gigi taking it which would not be bad either. Jada is so uninteresting to me as a whole, so I'm hoping it isn't her... but I suspect she's got a good shot. 

[RPS]

With the way the fan votes have gone, I have to imagine it is either Crystal or Gigi. 

[Mx. Canadian Destroyer]

I feel like Jaida is good enough that she can beat out both of them, even if they seem to have more support on social media. 

Also, did any of you follow any of the controversy over how a bunch of the white queens were verified on Twitter, despite having fewer followers than some of the black queens. 

[Gazz]

Rucha Libre!

[Katsuya]

Finale thoughts:

Spoiler

Lol, Zorro mask.

So, so happy that Jaida won, and I think that if anything, this finale might have opened up avenues for them change up future finales. The decision to let the queens film their own videos with the songs they wanted was genius and I think Crystal came so close on the basis of I'm Like a Bird alone. 

I think to be fair, they each won one round - Gigi was the best in the close-up, but her Take On Me was...I mean, pretty dull TBH. It's such an iconic music video and she didn't really sell it until the very end with the cardboard cut-out. Compared to how creative Crystal had just been it felt a bit of a let down. And her Dorothy reveal just didn't quite work in Survivor IMO. As much as I loved her, it should have been Crystal v Jaida in the top 2, butttt...

It just felt like Crystal gave up in Survivor? I think they needed Gigi in there to give Jaida some competition in that lip sync, because Miss Hall *killed* it. That moment with the crown at the end sealed the deal. I'm so happy for her.

 

[Mx. Canadian Destroyer]

Finale thoughts.

Spoiler

Thrilled with a Jaida win. Felt like the best choice of the three. Echo what Kats said about Gigi not living up to such an iconic video with Take On Me. Very happy with the final 3, the winner and Miss Congeniality. 

[Katsuya]

AS5 Episode 1:

Spoiler

GURL. The Derrick/India shade was hilarious. But it felt like something was off with the whole production this week - the audio for a lot of the performances felt weird (and they didn't even really blend the performances in well together). India vs. Yvie was also a suprisingly great lip sync and India really managed to match Yvie for some of it.