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

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!

OK, this week's LSFYL was pretty titanic on the winner's half. A song like that just begs getting in there and getting UGLY. Also clocked a rare non-frontal shot when [winner] synced the "I'm gonna be there til the end" with a throat cutting gesture aimed at the rest of the girls upstage.

Denali killed it, god she dances so well & that dressssss fuck so good. i felt bad for Kahmora trapped in her beautiful prison dress.
i was a little sad that they had to go up against each other, the untucked exchange btw them was v <3
that whole porkchop group are so tight now, i love them

Denali was great in the lip-synch but is very unlikeable in a way that reminds me of Jan.

Symone is so obviously the frontrunner this season and Tamisha has got Miss Congeniality in the bag.

Meanwhile in the UK I've decided that I really dislike Chaney and I want Asttina to win but I know that will not happen.

You dislike Chaney? Aw man. One of my faves for sure.

The UK lip sync was an obvious song choice but kinda sucked the energy out of the room. But in a real shock the actual Rusical was...good?

at first I thought it was just that thing where Scottish people make me cringe on TV as a Scot... but then I realised that Chaney is needy beyond belief and happy to dish out shade but unable to handle any criticism or sense they're flawed.

Denali was great in the lip-synch but is very unlikeable in a way that reminds me of Jan.

THAT IS ONE OF THE BEST LIP SYNCS IN DRAG RACE HISTORY

— Jan (@jansportnyc) January 23, 2021

Roffle.

Denali fuckin killed it, Kahmora didn't even try, it was really sad to watch.

boxedjoy OTM abt Symone, can't remember the last time we had such a clear frontrunner so early. Maybe Bob? It feels like this season is pretty stacked, like usually you can kinda deduce which handful of queens are going home first, which are going home in the middle, and which are poised for top 3/4, but this feels like a lot of talent across the board.

I'm delighted with Utica, she has grown on me a lot and completely nixed my fears that she's all talk/no talent.

Also I looooove Joey Jay as a human being but less so as a drag queen and it seems clear they're headed home in the next episode or two. But I think they are the closest I've come to having a crush on a RPDR contestant?

oh man I just rewatched that lipsync twice, I have more thoughts:

* it is rare that we get a song as exciting as "100% Pure Love" and much rarer that we get a performance that lives up the caliber of a song like this, so this one really felt extra-special

* the queens in the back are going HAM, there are multiple shots of a slack-jawed Kandy, the energy in the room is palpable and a bunch of them start dancing along which happens sometimes but not all the time

* even though brilliantly executed, Denali's performance did recycle a few things (jerky arm movements, bouncy duckwalk, goofy physicality) in a way that makes me worried this won't be as fresh the second time around

also wtf was up with the Rose-Denali exchange in Untucked, like are they fucking already or???

it is rare that we get a song as exciting as "100% Pure Love" and much rarer that we get a performance that lives up the caliber of a song like this, so this one really felt extra-special

Yeah as soon as the song credits popped up I was all "Oh this'll be GOOD." Still sounds like the future, somehow.

yeah I feel like for every time I go "Oh this'll be GOOD" when the song credits pop up, it's only actually amazing like... 1 of 5 times. OTM re: it's longevity tho, this has been a fav since childhood and I still listen to it regularly and am surprised at how fresh and almost timeless it sounds

Anyway this isn't wrong, really

Drag Race is just 3 50 year olds getting progressively angrier that 20 year olds don't understand their references

— Super Darrio Galaxy (@fuckyeats) January 23, 2021

xxxposts i was wondering the same thing re denali & rose, surprisingly intimate/tender

also i said this on FB but when Rose flattens down her hair out of drag it gives me a real Corky St Clair / Simple Jack vibe that I just can’t unsee lol