'...and DON'T *bleep* IT UP!' -- the RuPaul's Drag Race thread

Lexi Love is far and away my favorite queen after this week. Everyone else: DUST

lexi love rules so hard and is a walking dream blunt rotation, i loved onya nurve tho. she feels teleported in from an earlier, scrappier version of the show

"church lady vibe" haha otm
it's just so bizarre, even in drag she somehow manages to look like she's about to start handing out chick tracts

onya reminds me of kennedy davenport a lot (in a good way)

i see onya in the lineage of queens i've loved like dida ritz, heidi n closet, chi chi devayne (RIP legend). there's no elaborate concepts or crazy tricked out couture fashion, you can tell they're scrapping the outfits together, which might not even fit properly, so it's just all about going on stage and selling their charisma uniqueness nerve and talent. the lovability of the underdog. it's the true essence of drag permeating into a show that has created its own ecosystem that is related to, but also a distortion of, what being a drag queen really is

yeah Onya is great, her talent song was SO good

Excellent description re Onya.

yeah J0rd otm

in other news i realize I somehow completely skipped s16 so i am finally watching that as well <3

the last part of j0rd's post articulating what I've been feeling re: Drag Race for years - increasingly resentful of the show for molding drag into what Ru deems to be drag - and barely allowing any colouring outside the lines (and the one or two queens per season that are allowed outside its narrow definition and confines of what is drag - see the queens j0rd listed - are still predictable in its own way), ofc I'll still watch every season (but not All Stars, I have a limit ffs) but I'm fucking sick of it

when I go out and see drag irl and see creativity that is not on Carson fucking Cressley's radar, it's a balm

i agree with a lot of this but i think certain credit should be given to Ru for openly favouriting queens like Jinx, Yvie, Sasha Velour, Sharon Needles, Willow Pill etc

Yeah, it’s not all pristine glamour, but in the end both points are accurate.

the end of my post isn't necessarily a criticism of the show, tho it certainly could function as one. i remain a fan and loyal viewer of the show, it's just an endlessly watchable format for a TV show, for one, and they still routinely surface thrilling artists and performers. drag race is just so unique in terms of the world its built for itself and how the enterprise interacts w/ the artform/profession that its based on. like, top chef for instance was (is) seen similarly by the food world as a legitimately meaningful competition for chefs to win or even appear in, it's made about as many multimedia careers for chefs as drag race has for drag queens. but you don't hear from chefs out in the real world about how top chef is affecting the food economy, or how it distorts the creative output of the restaurant world. you don't have 21 year old chefs who started cooking two years ago who know all the lore of top chef but have cooked in a restaurant kitchen a dozen times in their life, or maybe never, and who seem to be thinking about their food only thru the prism of what is successful on top chef

survivor is the only show i can think of that is comparable to drag race in terms of this self-sustaining cycle of fans turned contestants who come onto the show and openly talk about all these things that have happened previously on the show, and how their own experience on the show is being filtered thru what happened to previous contestants, often peppered w/ trivia and minutiae that establish the show as this own big little universe unto itself, with a hotly debated hierarchy of popularity and success which is constantly being invoked on air, all further actively cultivated by the show's host, because the lore fuels the passion that sustains the entire endeavor. but survivor has no real world art form w/ its own significant but separate legacy and present day culture that is being permanently altered by what happens on the show, so it's, obviously, a lot less complicated

all that said, i do think the show was better in the earlier seasons, because the lore was less established, and there was less money being poured into the specific act of winning rupaul's drag race. i am wowed by the nymphia winds of the world and think it's sick to see queens handmaking couture level runway outfits in the werkroom, however i always love to see someone like onya who, as i said in my initial post, seems teleported in from a scrappier, less pretentious and more pure version of the show. there is something that triggers for me on an emotional level that most of the newer day contestants just don't hit. willow pill is a mt rushmore drag race queen for me bcuz she embodies it all -- the high concept high fashion club kid runway fantasias but w/ that ragtag underdog i'm just a broke artist from some midsize city about to own this mf stage attitude and verve and worldview that was present in so many of the contestants from the earlier seasons, and which, really, in a general sense, powered the show overall

Yeah, Willow was a real delight of a breakout. And I would enjoy Onya going the distance -- I've said before about how there are good season 'narrators,' who by default go to the end or almost all the way and have a great insight into everything in terms of dynamics and how to talk about them punchily in confessionals. Onya right now seems like she can be a great one, especially since she's approaching it in a more singular fashion rather than interwoven into one scene or lineage or another.

there are good season 'narrators,' who by default go to the end or almost all the way and have a great insight into everything in terms of dynamics and how to talk about them punchily in confessionals

the Asia O'Hara of it all...

drag race is just so unique in terms of the world its built for itself and how the enterprise interacts w/ the artform/profession that its based on

otm, and i don't think one could argue that the show itself is responsible for revitalizing the art and bringing it into the general public awareness - but that came with the inevitable commercialization and all the horrible consequences of it. on the other hand, it also means that the performers get paid and get paid better now, and there is more demand for it (at least i hope it's the case but then we had a Canadian contestant who mentioned getting paid C$37.50 per performance..)

and it should be noted that a lot of this elitism comes from the former contestants themselves, like monet and raven criticizing onya's outfit.

feels like the regional franchises are going through the same transformation and there is more pressure for "glamour"

contestants who come onto the show and openly talk about all these things that have happened previously on the show, and how their own experience on the show is being filtered thru what happened to previous contestants, often peppered w/ trivia and minutiae that establish the show as this own big little universe unto itself

which also feels unique to drag race in that the trashiness of the earlier seasons is openly discussed and celebrated.

feels like the regional franchises are going through the same transformation and there is more pressure for "glamour"

I realize it was partially because they filmed in the Philippines studio for it, but I was a little bummed to lose the distinctly different Drag Race Thailand season 2 werk room for the season 3 one.

I’ve been watching old Fashion Photo RuView eps & can i just say the eps that Violet & Katya hosted together were great & adorable. I love them together.

the Taylor Swift ep is chef’s kiss
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tj4z5-GxMM

Hahah yeah I should go back to those myself!

Violet should be the next Vogue editor.

Man the one who wasn’t sent home in the end should have fallen through a trap door after confessing not knowing how to sew.

shocked and upset about who went home last night in the US drag race. i was expecting great things and was looking forward to seeing more.
and, considering her drag, for her to go out that way? heartbreaking.

if anybody deserved a second chance, it was her. but no, the production had to waste one on hormona (who better deliver drama now as it's the only reason they kept her)

Onya really sold the hell out of her look. It do take nerve!

bummed for the going home queen. the one who got to stay is a trainwreck and will be run out on a rail soon i hope

Yeah the cast were joking in promos in how Arietty is supposed to be the villain of the season but based on the lip sync — as well as the self-serving whining in Untucked out of the gate! — I know who I’m really getting annoyed with and it sure ain’t Arietty.

Onya absolutely sold it. (More so than the porcelain doll who won.)

Better than expected challenge, well deserving winner and THE RIGHT QUEEN WENT HOME.

.. an episode late

Truth but at least sooner rather than later.

the badonka dunk thing seemed like a potentially entertaining idea but it only works that way if Michelle does get dunked. so now lipsync queens either have to wait for the results while the tank is being set up, or the losing queen has to wait already knowing she will likely go home, which seems a bit cruel. and then as they sashay away they have those levers sticking out in front of them and obscuring the view.

---

speaking of rewatching old Fashion Photo Ruview episodes, don't forget this stone cold classic:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUtKgqq4epM

Yeah, at least they get a trip to Vegas out of it, but it's not a great way to incorporate the sponsor or see off the departing queens.

didn't expect these two in the bottom considering there are still 12 queens left.
untucked was pretty unhinged!

that speech from suzie in untucked was so good, just fully embodying Ru’s “Unless they paying your bills, pay them bitches no mind”

her and Onya, man - every time another queen cuts eyes & underrates them, they are just inhaling it like MM YES GIVE IT TO ME

its very inspiring

i think Arietty’s runways are gorgeous & impeccable but aside from that i dont really rate her as a performer or anything. She’s only got one setting: plucked. Like quit pouting! You aren’t OWED a win. Jesus christ.

oh and Lydia Butthole slaaaayed that lipsync <3

s17 rise of the booger queens! claim your crown

yeah, definitely taking Butthole more seriously now. still hate her makeup though!

Catching up with everything and phew at all that! Monet and Salina going off in the Pit Stop of course.

Yeah Salina was fun!

I wish Law Roach had time to judge every ball. Funny, useful critiques.

since he wasn't the special guest judge my hope is that he will become a more regular judge, i agree he's often on point but it's also the entertainment factor which he delivers in abundance (i wish judging on drag race would occasionally reach the levels of drama on HBO Legendary). also, Hunter Schafer was delightful!

almost expected a double elimination, the lipsync was pretty atrocious. and talk about sour grapes for the loser!

Agreed, it was a poor lipsync. For a minute I thought it might go the other way because Lana committed the cardinal sin of interfering with the other contestant, even if it was only deliberately standing in front of her.

Yeah I wasn’t sure who was going to get it. But now we know! And yeah, make Law a regular.

Law was great. And yeah that lipsync was a snore.

Asia OHara guested on PitStop for the first time ever & goddamn just make her a regular cohost. Excellence!

agreed. asia certainly didn't hold back when it came to discussing the tarpgate!

i like the pitstop guests who are honest in their critiques.
so many are trying to be diplomatic & its boring. like diya betty the other week was zzzz

xpost yes! and she was right. i wonder it was a producer note to onya, like “dont tell her now, WAIT”
either way it was NAGL to plau dumb when lexi was clearly going through it

i wonder *if

apparently, Jewel shared that the whole thing went on for three hours, and production had to get involved.

we just rewatched that part, and it looks even worse for Onya on second watch. it certainly looks like she had multiple opportunities to confess and apologize (and gotta give kudos to Hormona for calling Onya out), and instead she attacked Lexi - and Lexi again was the bigger person the next day by trying to resolve the bad juju. i wouldn't be surprised if this ends up costing Onya the crown.

lord this snatch game
i’ve barely started watching and ughhhhhh

Yeah it's not as bad as the near-total disaster from a couple of seasons back but it veers close.