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

About time for this, I figure! Fifth season premiered yesterday.

condragulations

Quite right!

this show is kind of fascinating in a "gender is all performance!" way - everyone congratulating each other (incl the judges) on how well they achieve some kind of archetypal female-ness

Okay come on, I KNOW I'm not the only person on here watching.

I promise to start now.

Marilyn Monroe should've been in the bottom. She didn't do anything.

Yeah that was an epic flop. I like Ivy well enough but that made me go "Whuh?"

Jinkx, Alaska and Roxy were the best overall, but Jinkx just owned it period.

I like Ivy too and I think she was lucky she didn't have to lipsynch against Lineysha. I didn't expect her to do so well (but her Celia Cruz was unforgiveable).

Deep clusterfuck, that. Also what WAS Detox thinking.

um hi I just started watching season 5 online having never watched and omg I'm hooked

I'll be caught up in no time :D

Don't forget to watch Untucked, an essential part of this show!

Yeah I just figured that out...gotta love these bitchy girls. MORE drag homework? *twists arm*

Very good. Join us, join us...

Shanté, you stay!

Season 2 still the best so far, I think.

I just binge-rewatched season 3 over the weekend on Netflix and I might have to vote for that one. Then again I just like Raja a hell of a lot, so.

Yes for Raja and Manila. But the rest, not so interesting. Yara-Sophia maybe...

It actually came down to the right final four I thought, Alexis was a character in her own right. But yeah Yara (Xara?) was next level.

I still haven't seen season four! For some stupid reason it's not on Netflix -- it was for about two seconds and then went away again without explanation. (Already know who won, obv., but I'd like to see it happen.)

Wait what!! Can't you watch it on logo online or something? We can't in Canada but I thought you could in the US.
Season 4 was pretty good, although they tried to create too much unnecessary drama. But I'll let you see by yourself.

You can see the Untucked episodes from season 4 on the site but not the main shows. Since you can buy all the shows from iTunes maybe they want to go that route? Who knows!

Makes sense. If RuPaul had a dollar everytime she mentions iTunes...

Hey, house payments are probably up there. (And I don't begrudge Ru ANY success and trappings.)

I don't either. At least she's very upfront and funny about it.

Fun fact we learned during the All Stars season: Jujubee's real name is actually Airplane!

Hahaha yeah I remember thinking "Wait, what?"

I also love that Manila's real name is the none-more-Minnesota Karl Westerberg.

Lol wow

Almost caught up on S5 now yay!

Every single time Alyssa glams up for the runway all I think is JOAN COLLINS JOAN COLLINS JOAN COLLINS

I don't know why but I think I like Detox. Jinkx is great but I dunno if the unglam thing is going to hold out for her or not. I love her for it, but it could wear thin.

I will say this, have started following her on FB -- win or lose she seems to be having a blast and is booked for other live appearances and things and more this year already, so I like to think of her as winning already!

Meanwhile, it's a little surprising to see such a mostly white group at this point. Not that I think the show is biased, appears to be more luck of the draw season by season in terms of who survives.

that little edie impersonation was fuckin awesome in the last ep. too bad her fashion totally sucks.

I found s2 streaming on Amazon Prime, so yaaaay

Meantime:

http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2013/02/27/drag_race_grey_gardens_and_jinx_monsoon_why_the_queens_need_camp.html

I do have to quibble with some of the assertions there -- while Sharon's success in 4 is great, in 3 Raja was more than a little disruptive herself -- as was Manila really; if anything Alexis was the one let go at the end precisely for being full pageant.

I haven't watched all the seasons, but I don't get the impression that they are only seeking pageant or necessarily favoring that. And while I noticed the lack of "camp history" in the S5 girls, isn't there an argument that maybe a lot of queens are trying to let go of that, like that cliche of teens not wanting to know about older music? I mean, I'm bummed that they don't know who Little Edie is but maybe when they see Jinkxs win they go find out. And it doesn't mean they're any more terrible for what they don't know of their history. If anything, it's kind of fabulous that they all came to that same place *without* it.
I dunno. That article seemed a little too buttclenched.

Related but I think better expressed post, linked off the official site

http://www.newnownext.com/drag-race-jinkx-monsoon-snatch-game-little-edie/02/2013/

Oh and in checking Twitter Alyssa DID apologize to Ms. Perry.

Also this exchange is interesting (notice it's everyone else BUT Jinkx and Michelle who get riled up -- and as Michelle notes, in noting the obvious, there's always editing).

https://twitter.com/JinkxMonsoon/status/306550634079977473

This is better than what they showed on the show:

http://www.newnownext.com/jinkx-monsoon-little-edie-rupauls-drag-race/02/2013/

My Top 5 Snatch Game contestants from all seasons:

1. Sharon Needles as Michelle Visage
2. Pandora Boxx as Carole Channing
3. Tatianna as Britney Spears
4. Jinkx Monsoon as Little Edie
5. Alexis Matteo as Alicia Keys

Only three eps in (S5; no previous exposure to the show). Anyone care to rank the hottest queens out of drag? So far from S5 I'm into Lineysha and, oddly, Ivy.

xpost I just watched the S2 Snatch Game, Pandora's Carol Channing was hysterical, so good.

Lineysha's gorgeous. Ivy's not a crazy answer either, that bone structure really is something else. I was thinking about her terrible Marilyn and found myself wondering why the hell she didn't do Joan Rivers. Eh. Hindsight

Yes she would've been a great Joan Rivers!

Yeah, I know this is probably the exact rongest angle to take on the show, but I'm finding it very interesting navigating my impressions/levels of attraction to certain contestants when they're in drag vs. when they're not in drag.

Alyssa's *almost* attractive but it's like her lips are too big for her and she keeps tripping over them when she talks. Beautiful eyes though.

Coco's blue contacts freak me out. I keep expecting them to shoot lasers

Haha Alyssa looks like Will Arnett in AND out of drag.

Hottest out of drag:

S1: Jade
S2: Tyra, Raven
S3: Raja, Carmen, Mariah
S4: PhiPhi, Lashauwn
S5: Lineysha

xp otm

Well, actually, in drag he often reminds me of Hugo Weaving.

xpost elmo otm! Defnitely Will Arnett out of drag. In drag as mentioned upthread I just get constant Joan Collins, lol

IT BEGINS (again!)

On the podcast front, the Trixie/Katya empire now having one has been kinda great precisely because they don't replicate Unnhhh (to be fair, how could they) and keep the general focus on their guests when they have them. Smart!

Did they shoot in a bubble for this season?

Presumably. Anyway, here's an intro playlist for the UK Season 2 contestants:

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhgFEi9aNUb0MTbw-MzfVJtYVa1EedJeg

Good lord it's all about to get busy again -- US season starts tomorrow, UK in two weeks' time.

I should also say that Trixie/Katya are owning the week again -- first, amazing podcast episode this week with Violet Chachki

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FTDLQJEGkY

LOTS of behind the scenes stuff from Drag Race itself as well as a not-surprising vent about kids at drag shows.

Meanwhile also this insane treat from their Netflix promo series.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxCC6a-POGI

Well that was an interesting start to things!

RuPaul’s Stanford Prison Experiment

— Rahul Kothari (@rahkothari) January 2, 2021

lmao

Trixie said on the aftershow that it was the first time in a first ep that she felt like she got to know all the queens, and breaking them down into their mini groups made them easier to root for which i def agree with! usually they’re all a bit of a blur in that first ep with maybe a couple of standouts

Symone & Tamesha have the best confessionals i hope they stick around for a long time

tamesha “i’m the only black girl here so i know you’re not voting me off” YES so great

Denali lipsyncing in the skates i died omg her poor ankles

I did not enjoy this format at all to be honest. It felt so contrived and unnatural "we are going home?" you are clearly not. And I know that this par for the course in the Runiverse but it just seemed scripted in a joyless way.

Also it means that there will be no surprises in the lip-syncs. We've seen who is and isn't good already so there's not going to be any unexpected moments of assassination or anything.

Eh there's enough off-kilterness that I'll allow for nerves (either way! you can be good at something at a moment's notice and still psych yourself out when a moment comes). But as an icebreaker per VG's comments, it was kinda great.

That said, it was probably obvious that the queens had been alerted as to what to expect as a lip-sync possibility for the first episode (SOP, I'm guessing) but that they'd also been paired up on that basis without them knowing -- unless they were alerted they had to prep for all six choices? (I *AM* glad we didn't get the same song over and over.)

Trixie OTM, and it's nice that every girl gets more shine than they would in a more typical first episode, but the result is a LOT of repetition that made the experience feel like a bit of a marathon. Does that make a me a Drag Race tourist (touRUist?)?

I am happy to see so many comedy queens, though, as opposed to having wall-to-wall Instagram girls!

the first episode werk room runway walks + the queens sizing each other up is one of the most fun moments of every season, so i disliked the concept of this episode just based off losing that alone. drag race is certainly not the first or last reality show to take a beloved concept and beat it into the ground and down to the core of the earth (top chef and restaurant wars etc) but this felt overboard even by those standards. some of the manufactured storylines had some tension (rose vs the younger nyc queen) but it was undercut by the fact that we know the stakes are ultimately pretty low. also leading a queen who was cast on the show only to get stage 3 colon cancer and make it all the way back to believe she was going home after 10 mins on set is kinda cruel, again even by the standards of reality tv.

"the pork chop" did make me laugh every time tho so i guess there was that

Elsewhere:

Go Farrah, go! pic.twitter.com/lSqPxhwsVm

— Ξvan Ross Katz (@evanrosskatz) January 3, 2021

tampa logic

I basically echo all of J0rdan's observations. The joy of cacophony and overall muchness replaced by cringe and cruelty. One could argue there's a way to get to know all the queens better out of the gate, but this isn't the way to do it. What did we learn about anyone other than they see a raw deal when they see one?

Also it means that there will be no surprises in the lip-syncs. We've seen who is and isn't good already so there's not going to be any unexpected moments of assassination or anything.

I will say that I think they were edited by and large to make each matchup look too close to call, whether that meant they undercut the assassins' screen time or overplayed the good moments of the Katyas of the group remains to be seen.

(Which, btw, I absolutely think Katya won some of her lip-syncs. Just making light of the fact that she has an epic LSFYL losing streak.)

I basically echo all of J0rdan's observations. The joy of cacophony and overall muchness replaced by cringe and cruelty. One could argue there's a way to get to know all the queens better out of the gate, but this isn't the way to do it. What did we learn about anyone other than they see a raw deal when they see one?

― On average, this critic grades 8.3 points lower than other critics (Eric H.), Sunday, January 3, 2021 3:13 PM (five minutes ago)

also for the people who want to learn more about the queens, they have been doing pre-season interviews w/ each queen for years. and they certainly give you better insight than the 30 second long back and forths that were the basis of this episode

lol @ "never let anyone tell you you're a loser" after eliminating her 3 times over, this season is a fucking disaster even by recent Drag Race standards

Man, I can't agree -- I think this is a feeling of slow TV at work in a strangely engaging way. As a friend pointed out last night this separation into two teams also makes sense from a health point of view right now, and I think it's having an interesting effect.

we never got to see anything from Sherry Pie last year and rightly so but they've already made up for it by forcing Tina Burner and Kandy Muse on us

I am enjoying this season, I get the complaints but so far I’m not mad at it

I love Kandy - her drag needs polish but her energy & personality is great. To me she’s like one of those Kid Mero’s female characters brought to life in drag, just like talkin a mile a minute & dont-fuck-with-me attitude- i live for all all that big Dominican-American Bronx energy, she’s good tv.

Tina I could take or leave, but I think she needs some bigger characters in the room with her - i’d rather see her play off Rose bc she kinda sucks all the air out of the room currently. And this “i was in a boy band” shit is tired already

Does this mean there won't be an elimination next week either ?

Guessing not at this rate!

“no losers” was foreshadowing of a season of no eliminations and a 13-way tie for the crown

as far as gimmicky twists go I like this season so far! showing everyone's lip sync chops from episode 1 definitely removes some of the surprise/anticipation but it was still incredibly compelling, it kind of felt like opening an entire advent calendar on Dec 1

I remember seeing Kandy Muse at Bushwig a few times and have been excited to see her this season, she's such a shit stirrer but I'm enjoying her so far. I feel like on paper I SHOULD like Tina Burner, but I just.... don't. I hate her Ronald McDonald color scheme her red hair looks so so so bad w her skin, like all of her outfits just feel incorrect. Also, have we talked abt the fact that she used to date Graham Norton????

The "top 7" from this past episode felt really strong across the board, and I wonder if this division btwn the two groups is going to extend throughout the whole season even after they're all united, it feels like they really have been accurately corralled into the top and bottom halves in terms of talent.

omg yes re Graham Norton - i googled trying to find out what “boy band” Tina was in (still no idea btw) & ended up finding 9 million photos of him w Norton instead

He reminds me so much of someone, but I can't figure out who. There, that was super helpful and informative.

it feels like they really have been accurately corralled into the top and bottom halves in terms of talent

Would disagree based on Utica and Tamisha alone.

Tamisha perhaps but Utica gives me pause, I can’t get a good read on her yet and I’m worried she might be one of those big-fish-little-pond edgy small-town queens who’s way out of her league (a la Aiden, who is probably peak RPDR cringe along side Laganja and All-Stars Derrick)

As a Minnesotan, agreed.

Utica is very clearly cut from the Katya cloth, but Midwestern, I found her interviews extremely charming not to mention hilarious.

I like Nina Burger! I will say that she's coming off VERY calculated and has been self-producing herself like a pro.

Funny, I look at Utica and I see Thorgy Thor.

yes, but a less bitter version so far

but just as annoying

well, we hardly got to know her yet.

i wonder if there will be an elimination in the next episode - because that would mean by voting elliott w2ts off they gave them an immunity (and it would justify the otherwise ridiculous twist of having to vote for somebody you just met).

Okay soooooo Drag Race UK Season 2 has now kicked in as well! That was a pretty great opening episode. Lawrence Cheney better be top 3 at the end of it.

this had all the excitement missing from season 13 opening (including the pit crew which season 13 haven’t even introduced yet)
this must’ve been filmed a while ago since there are no screens between the judges?

Different UK standards?

there is an old article saying they had to pause production due to the pandemic, so we might see more precautions taken in the future episodes.

Oh yeah, that's right, I vaguely remember hearing about that.

Meantime I'm sure word was floating around but confirmation on today's Race Chaser/Hot Goss episode via a Courtney Act guest turn that Ru and a bunch of Australian queens are filming the first season of Drag Race Australia about now. In New Zealand, apparently. I await VG's thoughts on it all.

I really like the UK girls! I thought Joe deserved better. Her Bowie look was a great interpretation of Life On Mars and her "God, Glenn Close looks rough" made me laugh out loud.

Joe deserved a lot better. Great Life On Mars look, which should have been spotted and acknowledged, and a better lip synch than that try-too-hard that she was up against. But if she’s 30, I’m 25!

...yeah I was wondering about that.

OMG yes !!

while I do think the judging of that Bowie look was wayyyyyy off, I didn't think they were robbed. They had given up before the lip-syncs started. I imagine that a working drag queen in the unofficial gay capital of the UK has accumulated lots of fans over the years, but being a good drag queen is not the same as being a good competitor on RPDR.

I can't stop thinking about Tia's amazing interpretation of Alan Turing. And Asttina has the same fearless beauty energy as Tyre Sanchez, only much more endearing.

It's tough this year. Although Glasgow is the obvious city for me to root for, I do have a soft spot in my heart for both Dundee and Newport, because of having lovely mini-breaks in both. Decisions, decisions.

Did anyone else notice that Ru says "may the best drag queen win" and not "may the best woman win"? Is this the way forward, I wonder, or is this some UK-only thing?

It’s the same over here now too.

I thought it was due to Gotmik being a trans man. But then the other contestants are also men. Did Ru still say "Gentlemen start your engines" when Gia was on All Stars ? I can't remember.

They had given up before the lip-syncs started.

I just saw her interview in PopBuzz and she said she could barely walk in the dress, much less dance in it unfortunately.

Forgive the thread spam, but I wanted to note that this show's 2020 season is nominated in the 2020 ILX TV poll:

ILX's Best Television of 2020 Poll / VOTING AND CAMPAIGNING THREAD / Voting Ends After January 29, 2021

If you like this show and you'd like to see it have a good showing in the poll (running in February) all you need to do is submit a ballot including it and your other favorites (3 minimum, 25 maximum, ranked by your favorite to least favorite) to forksclovetofu at gmail. It'll take five minutes; get to it!