RuPaul's Drag Race

RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 16, Episode 10 – Werq the World “Power” & True Colors runway Power Rankings

March 10, 2024 by krisis

RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 16, Episode 10 was a mash-up of a Girl Groups songwriting challenge and an election year voting challenge with Werq the World “Power” – a legit funk tune produced by Leland with a message of empowerment. Plus, a “True Colors” runway that let the queens play to their strengths (even when that turned out to be a weakness).

As a rock music nerd, I cannot tell you how excited I was to see a band on Drag Race credibly miming along to a track. “Power” is a legit funk pop and I love the nasty hook that uses Dorian Mode to give us a tritone of the major sixth against the minor third.

(The melody on the hook is E – F# – G – D – C#. In E-Minor, that C# would be a C. An E-Minor scale with a sharp 6th is called Dorian Mode. The G-(D)-C# leap is a tritone – it’s using the flatted 5th of the G to make a discordant sound even though they’re both a part of the Dorian Mode scale. Think “The SIMP sons” but as “The sons SIMP.”)

Pushing the queens to put on a high-energy performance to such a rocking track gave us one of the most energetic, entertaining music challenges we’ve had on the show. I’m only able to make some of the nitpicks I do in the Power Rankings below because I’ve rewatched this so many times!

This funky challenge proved the power queens have to control their own fate on this show when it comes to challenges that hinge on pure talent. In last week’s Neo-Goth design challenge Power Rankings I had Morphine Love Dion locked in for elimination because the judges weren’t giving her many positive notes. She week she delivered a decisive win, schooling the entire cast on what it means to show up and show out in a singing performance while other queens struggled. That means some major shake-ups in the Power Rankings… and not from the queen you might expect.

Readers, start your engines. And, may the best drag queen win!

RuPaul’s Drag Race UK vs. The World Season 2, Episode 5 – Seven!: The Rusical Power Rankings

March 9, 2024 by krisis

I’m back with more coverage of the Drag Olympics of Drag Race! RuPaul’s Drag Race UK vs. The World Season 2 Episode 5 – Seven!: The Rusical, a live-singing blend of Rusical and Girl Groups challenges with a “When I Glow Up” redemption runway of past looks.

Seven!: The Rusical is a direct lift from SIX, a rock/pop opera musical staged like a concert delivered by the six wives of Henry VIII – two of whom we met last week in Snatch Game! The Drag Race version of the musical is slightly less rangy in pop styles, mostly coming off like five subtle remixes of “Express Yourself” with a pair of unusual outliers rather than seven distinct songs from different music genres.

Much like “Drag Race World” in Episode 3, I think this episode (and the queens) suffered from poor production choices in what could have been an all-time great episode given their level of talent.

This Rusical was subtitled, “Confessions of a Drag Queen,” but Ru never fully defined what those confessions ought to be. In the original SIX, each queen confesses the story of her own love affair via a catchy pop tune. Each song could be effortlessly excerpted to radio without revealing it originated in a musical. Here, all of the queens merely confessed the stories of their runs on the show, trending towards tepid lyrics in the category of “look at me, I sashayed away, I’m gonna snatch the crown!” Only one queen (La Grande Dame) fully broke out of this model to deliver a verse entirely about herself.

Beyond the lack of direction for the songwriting, there was also a lackluster “vocal coaching” session with pop artist Self Esteem. After seeing some truly brilliant singing and songwriting advice on the recent Canada’s Drag Race Season 4, Self Esteem was a real letdown as a coach.

On Canada, the performance coaches treated the songs seriously – as if they were responsible for making improvements to a song that would really be released to radio with their names on it. They edited lyrics, revised melodies, and coached queens on delivery and support. By contrast, Self Esteem left the queens stuck with some easily-fixable problems… and for at least one queen she made her verse worse.

I’m not sure if Self Esteem was too starstruck by being on the show or if she simply isn’t a very talented songwriter, but she failed these queens. (Her lip sync track would suggest the latter.)

Finally, there was the failure of the choreography – or, lack thereof. I know next week is a full-on dancing challenge, so it didn’t make sense to have this challenge also hinge on learning professional choreography. Yet, a Rusical without choreography just doesn’t hit the same – especially on the same day we got an American franchise episode choreographed by Jamal Sims. (More on that tomorrow!) That’s what made this more of a Girl Groups challenge than a Rusical despite the title – the choreo was mostly walking and pointing.

I’ll make my own confession: I’m fully annoyed to be delivering this week’s Power Rankings, with a newly-solidified Top 4 compared to last week’s Snatch Game Power Ranking. This episode made clear that one queen who is crushing the season isn’t in true contention for the crown, while another queen delivering barely-adequate performances is Ru’s chosen one. Meanwhile, the three queens between them continue to deliver terrific performances each week.

(Want to watch RuPaul’s Drag Race UK vs. The World outside of the UK? For most of the world, it’s available with a Wow Presents Plus subscription as soon as the episode is done airing.)

Readers, start your engines. And, may the best international drag superstar win!

RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 16, Episode 9 – “See You Next Wednesday” Neo-Goth design challenge Power Rankings

March 3, 2024 by krisis

RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 16, Episode 9 was a third design challenge – a “See You Next Wednesday” Neo-Goth look inspired heavily by Netflix’s Wednesday series.

This has never once come up in over 23 years of blogging, but I was once a teenage goth! I wasn’t living the full-time goth lifestyle, but when I was at the start of my glam rock phase I wanted to be in all black, all the time with a pale white lip. I was all about looking svelte in black vinyl, pleather, or satin pants with diaphanous black shirts.

That meant my version of glam was always teetering on the edge of Goth – and, in Philly teen counter-culture at the time there was a strong Goth + Glam + Punk alliance. Or, at least, that’s what a typical night on South Street looked like, And, as luck would have it, the one Philly club that had an underage night had a room spinning all goth music!

I think a lot of queens mistook the “Neo-Goth” brief to mean “all black” and it hurt their presentations. Goth looks aren’t about being black all the time – they are about starkness. You can get away with white, red, brown, purple – even pops of brighter colors! However, Goth looks aren’t about being loud – and that’s true even when they are all black. For me, Goth is about selling a certain amount of austerity and drawing the viewer in. Neo-Goth is just a more casual, ready-to-wear version of that – a slightly preppier, ready-for-daylight version of classic Goth fashion.

What does yet another design challenge mean for our Power Rankings compared to last week’s Season 16 Snatch Game Power Ranking? Not only did we lose a front-runner, but one queen lost a bit of momentum and another one started to get her groove back. However, the real story is that we’re now into the top half of the placements! That means every queen is under scrutiny with little room to be safe. For queens who aren’t a lock for the finale, surviving each week is a careful dance of game theory in hoping the right combination of other queens fail while you succeed.

Readers, start your engines. And, may the best drag queen win!

RuPaul’s Drag Race UK vs. The World Season 2, Episode 4 – Snatch Game Power Rankings

March 2, 2024 by krisis

It’s another week of the Olympics of Drag Race! RuPaul’s Drag Race UK vs. The World Season 2 Episode 4 was the UK vs The World Season 2 Snatch Game – “Family Edition”! that was paired with a nautical “Gone Cruisin'” runway theme.

Snatch game often produces the most-iconic moments of each season of Drag Race. This time around, it seems to be about exposing habits and biases.

The first big bias has to do with the Snatch Game format. This “Family Edition” is a thinly-veiled version of survey-based quiz show Family Feud. The UK had a version of Feud called “Family Fortune” that ran for two decades and was recently revived in 2020.

Ru loves game shows. In addition to her obsession with old Hollywood standards like Match Game, Hollywood Squares, and The Dating Game. Ru has appeared on a riotous episode of Family Feud and she even hosted her own unfortunately-titled “Gay for Play” and a revival of Lingo on CBS.

Yet, in the UK, comedy panel shows are equally as popular popular than game shows. It would make more sense to reskin Snatch Game to be a copy of Quite Interesting (possibly my favorite television show!) or 8 Out of 10 Cats, where the entire point is to humorously volley with the host. If Ru actually was willing to somewhat localize Drag Race, this would be an easy change.

The second bias is also Ru’s. This is the bias that her advice is always correct. We very rarely see a queen go against Ru’s advice and be rewarded for it. Gigi Goode’s Maria the Robot on the RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 12 Snatch Game might be the best example. And, if Ru is diabolical with her advice in America, she is doubly bad in the UK. This is the RuPaul who on UK Season 3 told Choriza to be Cher and Scarlett Harlett to be Macaulay Culkin.

In this case, Ru had her heart set against a certain queen’s (very good) impersonation, and when that queen knocked it out of the park on Snatch Game Ru served her Total Neutch in response.

Next, we come to the habits of the queens. We saw some repeat offenses in this episode. Queens who impersonate a straight cis man by suggesting he is gay. Queens who pick a character known for one iconic trait but have no plan beyond that one trait. Queens who pick someone much funnier than they are.

And that was just on one panel! There was also a queen who gave the same answer three different times… and she won!

However, this Snatch Game also addressed one particular fan bias – or, at least, a common complaint. Fans loved to harp on how some queens get fewer shots at answering questions in the finale edit. Here, we got two full rounds from each team, presented in a way that meant they couldn’t have been chopped up or reassembled at all. The flops still flopped! But, I do think this edit was better at showing which queens stood on solid middle ground.

Big biases and bad habits in the Snatch Game meant that every single queen changed rankings this week compared to last week’s Drag Race World immersive experience commercial power rankings. It feels like we have a fully-formed Top 5 with two queens on borrowed time. Will either one of them be able to turn things around in the next two episodes, or will the real game begin with the cut before the final four?

(Want to watch RuPaul’s Drag Race UK vs. The World outside of the UK? For most of the world, it’s available with a Wow Presents Plus subscription as soon as the episode is done airing.)

Readers, start your engines. And, may the best international drag superstar win!

RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 16, Episode 8 – Snatch Game Power Rankings

February 26, 2024 by krisis

RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 16, Episode 8 was the Season 16 Snatch Game! That meant we also got our annual “The Library is Open” reading challenge – plus, an unusually animated Dancing Queens runway theme.

It’s incredible that an oddball challenge spoofing old game shows from way back in RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 2 has become the most iconic challenge on every franchise of the show – and also the most harrowing gauntlet for its contestants.

Hearing Drag Race queens talk about their Snatch Game experiences is like hearing war stories, even when they are from queens who do well.

No matter how well you prepare for Snatch Game by working on your impression and your improv skills, there’s just no way to completely anticipate how Ru will react and volley with your character. Planning answers and bits ahead of time isn’t always the wisest move, because you’ve got to be able to follow Ru’s lead in the room and pick up on what she finds amusing.

I was fascinated to see some strong queens miss these hints, while one in particular snatched every one.

What does that mean for our Power Rankings compared to last week’s epic “The Sound of Rusic” Rusical performance power rankings? Things have been truly shaken up, with one unlikely queen pushing into contention for the finale while a previous surefire winner sags in the rankings. Plus, we have a new supreme as a certain Russian doll turned into a real live queen over the course of this episode.

Readers, start your engines. And, may the best drag queen win!