Rusical

RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 10 Power Rankings, Episode 02 – PharmaRusical

March 31, 2018 by krisis

This week the 13 queens of Drag Race split into two teams to perform a musical parody of outrageous pharmaceutical advertisements. It’s a weird challenge that brings to mind the early seasons of the show, when challenges were deliberately ridiculous and meant to poke fun at the absurdity of other reality programs.

Slotting a straight-up performance challenge (complete with choreography from Drag Race All Stars alumnae Alyssa Edwards) after a classic design challenge really shakes up our ranking! Only a single queen holds on to her spot from last week’s ranking and ten of our girls wind up with an average between 6 and 10, which shows just how much the tables have turned from last week.

All right, readers – start your engines. And may the best woman … win! [Read more…] about RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 10 Power Rankings, Episode 02 – PharmaRusical

RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars Season 3 Power Rankings S03E02 – Divas Lip Sync Live

February 3, 2018 by krisis

This week on RuPaul’s Drag Race, the show sinks to new depths of low-effort self-promotion with a VH1 Divas Live impersonation concert where every one of nine famous divas are singing RuPaul songs.

This was an episode full of buffoonery, riggery, and straight up tomfoolery.

It could have been a truly iconic and hilarious event, as shown by BenDeLaCreme’s instantly-memorable performance lip syncing to RuPauls’ “Mother” as recorded in the style of Julie Andrews by actress/impersonator Christina Bianco.

Why was that performance so incredibly memorable, and all the others much less so? Two reasons.

First, “Mother” was sung in Andrews’ style but over what essentially sounded like original RuPaul backing track. It doesn’t stand up to a direct comparison, but it was a simulacrum of what you’d expect from Ru and nothing like a Julie Andrews song. BenDeLa benefited from the dissonance because she could play up the element of frantic, held-hostage nervousness in her performance. All of the other divas essentially sang an unrecognizable RuPaul song in their own style, which was less funny and gave many of them much less to do.

The second reason connects to that last bit. Essentially, Todrick Hall done fucked up drag race. He went totally ham on the choreography of Ben’s track because there was a lot for her to do. He also went ham on Janet Jackson and Mariah Carey, but barely touched the six other routines. Note his uncontained glee on the judges’ panel as the girls perform his super basic voguing during BenDeLa’s song, while he basically left the capable Thorgy (and, let’s be honest, Trixie) out to dangle.

Where does that leave our rankings? They’re not too shook compared to last week, though one queen is making her own case for an advance on the final three.

RuPaul’s Drag Race Power Rankings, S09E05 – “Reality Stars: The Musical”

April 22, 2017 by krisis

This week on Drag Race, the queens were faced with an all-syncing, all-dancing tribute to The Kardashians and a faux fur runway.

These pre-choreographed lip sync challenges rarely give any queens a chance to shine, but this week’s was a bit different since almost all of the girls got to impersonate a current celebrity.

Or, at least, I hear they are celebrities. Other than being vaguely aware that one of them is married to Kanye West and that another was a Drag Race judge, I really don’t have the slightest idea of who any of the Kardashians are.

Meanwhile, faux fur was a fail, with most queens looking rather slapdash in their attempt to mix and match fabric and fake animal skins.

Did anyone come out of this week looking good? Three queens rose from last week’s standings, although one was really more about sinking less than her competitors than rising. [Read more…] about RuPaul’s Drag Race Power Rankings, S09E05 – “Reality Stars: The Musical”

RuPaul’s Drag Race Power Rankings, S7E02 – “Glamazonian Airways”

March 13, 2015 by krisis

Do two episodes offer enough points to triangulate a potential top three? Last year, Adore was still a train-wreck at this point… well, I mean, she never stopped, but later the train wreck started being the whole point of her.

Which queen might still surprise us by coming from behind? Let’s take a look.

#1 Violet Chachki (avg 1, was #1)
Another week in the top spot? Why not? Despite my dislike of her french fry dress, the judges clearly dig her more outré fashions. Add to that her ability to deliver as a performer and to stay cute even when she’s being a bit annoying in the workroom. It’s her game to lose, but her downfall might be her Visage Venom. Being contrary to Michele never works in the long run. If she eventually takes a Michele suggestion to heart (a la Jinx), she’ll be set.

#2 Kennedy Davenport (avg 2, was #2)
She quietly delivered this week with only a minor fashion misstep. We have still yet to see all she has to offer, and even on her low-intensity setting she’s easy defeating the majority of the other queens. Plus, she seems to have a pretty positive attitude. I have a hard time picturing what’s going to trip her up.

#3 Ginger Minj (avg 3, was #4)
A rightful win, fantastic strategy and leadership, and fashion strong enough to not only survive being off-theme but WIN for it. That’s a fierce queen. If she can deal with her minor shading issues and keep up the comedy this could be our first big-girl winner – and you KNOW Ru was listening to “All About That Bass” when she was shooting this season. [Read more…] about RuPaul’s Drag Race Power Rankings, S7E02 – “Glamazonian Airways”

RuPaul’s Drag Race, S7E2 Recap: Glamazonian Airways

March 12, 2015 by krisis

RPDRS7 Gentlemen, start your engines! If you want to play along at home, grab a season pass!

Last time on RuPaul’s Drag Race: Violet rightfully won, Tempest was unjustly sent home.

After the elimination

Max is inexplicably still using her braces to walk around – can we ditch the disabled-face and just keep the old-face, darling? Katya is eating her own hair and being the one to freak out about “someone’s got to go home” in her interview segment. Kandy Ho says she wasn’t nervous about the lip sync against Tempest, but she should have been nervous about that face.

The girls congratulate Violet on her win and ask how how she feels, and she quickly fires back with “I hate Michele Visage … what she said rubbed me the wrong way. To be honest, she probably has a bigger man body than I do without her implants” Sasha Belle and Mrs. Whatshername are shocked, and non-coincidentally will probably be the next two queens to be sent home. Fame calls Violet’s win “valid” which is a terrific way to show she’s “not mad about it” (riiiiiight).

I am loving Violet’s non-villainous shade, let me tell you. It’s so boring when every mean girl has to be a villain, and I think Bianca disabused us of that idea by being the mean hero last year. Some of the other girls are over Violet’s healthy ego already (Ginger and, surprisingly, Max). Violet gives a bummed lip trill in her interview to show us how she really feels about it. [Read more…] about RuPaul’s Drag Race, S7E2 Recap: Glamazonian Airways