RuPauls Drag Race All Stars
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All Stars 7, on the other hand, was a coup forDrag Race.
After trying that format once,All Starstried to backtrack into doing a typical season withAS8andgot diminishing returns.
Is that a bad thing?
Itll likely depend on your tolerance for this kind of format.
I thoughtAll Stars 7was, overall, a nice experiment that sometimes ground to a halt.
One of the best things the show has ever done.Santas School for Girls?
A boring mess made even worse because there were no stakes.
Stakes, in fact, is likely the word Ill keep parroting throughout this season.
As in: There are none.
The queens are all there until the end anyway.
Plus, now, theyre not even competing for themselves.
Yes, that would be a stretch forDrag Race.
But, also, theyve completely changed the format.
It may take a stretch to make it matter.
So, basically, I have concerns.
The season has not yet convinced me that I will not be bored by the end of it.
With that said: pretty solid start!
But enough with the vagaries!
Jinkx wonAll Stars 7not by being passable at sewing, but by absolutely murdering everybody else at comedy.
Next is Roxxxy Andrews, whom Im really rooting for moving forward.
If she has a downfall this season, itll be because of that, not in spite of it.
What matters is if she can punch through.
Ill be pulling for her.
Third is Vanjie, who so far is the court jester of the season.
Normally, that would be fodder for an interesting arc.
This season, it hasnt been brought up.
Angeria comes through the door next, and Im thrilled to see her.
Angeria is a good drag queen.
Even better, shes a queen whos good atDrag Race.
She takes well to challenges and always grits her teeth and gets down to business.
This season, shes starting well again.
Lets hope she keeps up with it.
Nina West follows Angeria.
Still, being fully transparent, Nina Wests drag is not the drag that gets me excited.
Thats great, thats fine, thats a needed part of the drag community.
Is it to my taste?
Plastique Tiara, the most-followed queen on all social-media platforms, enters the Werk Room next.
Then its Jorgeous, who I love.
Shes a petite ball of energy who makes me laugh and laugh.
Jorgeous is a queen who is just kind of inherently funny.
Anything she does is enjoyable because shes doing it with her gay little self.
She is, notably, not that good atDrag Race, but hey, I dont really care.
Shes a good time.
Happy to have her.
Finally, its Shannel.
Im a Shannel superfan, because I have taste.
I have watched the clip of her interviewing Tori Spelling more times than I can count over the years.
Maybe thats why she agreed to come back; who can say?
The season starts off with the reading challenge, which has had diminishing returns over recent years.
I thought this one was great!
Roxxxy does great and wins, though, for my money, Gottmik does alittlebetter.
I want to watch drag queens not remember the words to a verse they wrote.
Is that too much to ask?
Show me the mistakes, yo.
Jorgeous, in particular, stands out during the number.
Shes a ball of energy, and when Michelle later notes that it was entirely effortless, I agreed.
Plus, you’re free to tell that parts of the chorus were choreographed by her.
(Hands waving in front of the face is very, very Jorgeous.)
Angeria wins the challenge with her, which seems a little arbitrary.
Plastique or Vanjie could have gotten it just as easily.
The best-sounding verse is Ninas, but she doesnt perform as well as the others.
Shannel and Gottmik are fine.
Shannels verse is forgettable, and Gottmik still doesnt feel fully natural onstage.
The runway is a look-and-comedy challenge combo about perfume, which is odd.
Have we seen the girls have to do voice-overs that were not explicitly part of the challenge before?
This is not my favorite Gottmik look.
The chain looks randomly applied.
Her proportions have gotten better.
Plastique is a Victorias Secret model, it appears.
I loved that her bottle appears to have a fan.
Angeria is just about perfect.
Her perfume voice-over is the most fully realized of the night by far.
If this is what won her the challenge, I get it.
Vanjies voice-over is a little subdued, which is unlike her.
Jorgeous calls hers Little Chiquita and then, surprisingly, has the second-best voice-over.
Her outfit is boring, though.
Shannel is wearing a great gown and taking the challenge a little too seriously.
Roxxxy wears an Elsa dress and references a bunch of shit people got mad at her for onAS2.
It feels like heresy to say this, but this is my least favorite look of the night.
Jorgeous and Angeria lip-sync to the Freemasons remix of Whitney Houstons Million Dollar Bill.
So Angeria wins and she snips Roxxxy off.
Speaking of, lets get to the second episode.
If Im proven wrong and this develops further, that would be great.
Anyway, the actual thrust of the episode is just the queens attempting to deal with the ball challenge.
Its the Paint Ball, which Im honestly shocked theyve never done before.
Overall, Angeria does: not very well.
Im not into her monochromatic look at all.
No tits only works if the outfit specifically calls for it, and this isnt giving super-skinny high-fashion girl.
Her Mondrian look is boring and uninspired.
I love me some Shannel, but I remain curious what challenge shell absolutely kill this season.
Roxxxy puts together a series of good looks, but none of them rank among my faves of hers.
The ropes look is great, and the nude illusion is very impressively matched to her skin.
Her final pantsuit is super impressive given the time crunch, but its clearly the third-best look.
She has the best monochromatic look of the bunch, serving in a purple Trinity fromThe Matrix outfit.
Then she has the best art-based outfit with a stunning, bedazzled dress featuringThe Scream.
The hood makes the outfit.
Finally, she has the second-best painted outfit of the night.
The punk dress itself is pretty basic, but shes clearly the best actual painter there.
Thats not a good thing.
There are more critiques offered in episode two, but even then, theyre mostly waved away.
Make them want to impress the judges.
On that note, Ninas performance this week should have been ripped to shreds.
Her first look, to be fair, is a delightful and glorious pink dress.
Her final outfit is a clown mess.
Even her wig is ugly.
Her monochromatic Michelle-inspired look is cute.
Her art dress is supposedly inspired byStarry Night, which is, uhhh … not the case.
It is, instead, a loofah.
Her final, sewn look is passable.
Top-notch, unforgettable drag.
Her first look is a stunning crimson outfit that I have no critiques for.
Jadore her second, Yayoi Kusamainspired look.
That hair with it is perfection, as are the sunglasses with eyelashes glued on.Chefs kiss.
And her final outfit is indescribably incredible.
One of the greatest outfits ever made in the Werk Room.
The dress is beautiful, and the hand-painted cape is spectacular.
Its the kind of outfit that validates all of her other, beautiful outfits that werent made by her.
This is a queen with real sewing skills, and even better taste.
Shes followed by Jorgeous, and following Plastique is not a task Id wish on anyone.
Jorgeous is cute but not in contention.
Her first, weed-inspired look is adorable.
As in, I literally went awwww when she came out.
But even she doesnt seem to like her second, Picasso-inspired look.
In fact, her face gives I want to get off the stage and stop holding this hat up.
Her final, sewn outfit is okay.
The pattern is nice.
The song choice lays bare Plastiques limitations, unfortunately.
Then she chooses to cut off Angeria.
During the second one, production makes them playPictionary.
Next week is Snatch Game of Love.
Snatch Game of Love haters, prepare yourselves.
Predicted top three:Gottmik seems like a shoo-in.
Angerias got a good shot.
Maybe out of abiding love rather than smarts, Im going to pick Roxxxy as my third.
No guts, no glory winner pick:Gottmik.
Gottmik spending more than the prize money on the runway!
