RuPaul Review Round-up ep. 5 Snatch Game!

[heathergalaxy.livejournal.com]

Here's this week review Round-up! I saved it to Friday because all of the Logo website problems. It's unanimous that Chad, Sharon, and Willam knocked it out of the park this week. Go ladies! As always, post corrections and new articles to the thread! Happy weekend y'all!

AV Club: "There are few hours of television more entertaining than the annual Snatch Game on RuPaul’s Drag Race, and the fourth season does not disappoint, giving us hilarious celebrity impersonations followed up by a plate of serious drag drama. There’s a solid divide between the queens this season, and Snatch Game makes it explicitly clear, with the older queens—Chad, Sharon, Willam, and Latrice—handling the game with a degree of professionalism while the rest bark for attention. (Dida is the exception, but she just looks frazzled for most of it.) "

Blackout Blog: "When Madonna’s “Vogue” came on, I just knew that Milan had it. From what I know of Milan (an NYC queen), she’s involved in the voguing community. Madonna’s song and choreography for the video came straight off the runways of voguing balls, so this was literally right up Milan’s alley. Pair that with Kenya’s tenuous grasp of the English language, and it’s over."

BYT: "We soon find out Chad Michaels is the winner (duh) and as Ru starts to dismiss the safe(r) girls Willam has an unexpected emotional moment. She shows sadness for the girls who will be left to duel, and says that she doesn't have a lot of "Girl Friends" and doesn't hang out with a lot of Drag Queens. Her last statement about sadness when sending the girls home when she wins leaves the rest of the queens (and audience) wondering if this was sincere. I actually had a chance to speak with Willam today regarding his upcoming visit to DC on March 10th where he will be performing with myself and the Ladies of Town Drag Show (Showtime 10:30pm - shameless, I know) and we discussed this moment. I asked him what was the deal, was this just editing or was he/she genuinely sad?"

Crass Talk: "When the queens enter the workroom, Willam immediately claims Madame’s hangers. Madame La Queer has scrawled on the mirror in lipstick: “Chad, Sharon, Milan, Dita = True Friends.” Awww that’s sweet, Madame. It’s a shame you spelled your friend DiDa’s name wrong. Willam says she doesn’t care. Willam, NO1CURR. “It’s a new day,” says Milan. Latrice is feeling good about her win: “America’s next drag superstar will be a big bitch!” As long as she’s you, Latrice, I am all for this."

Drag you Later with Jon and John: VIDEO "To break it all down for us, as always, we have the incomparable Jon Mallow and John Polly giving their five favorite moments. And we hope you’re hungry… Because there’s a lot of “finger lickin’ goodness” being served up in this here recap."

Entertainment Weekly: "The fact that Chad Michaels took home the crown for the evening was basically a foregone conclusion — girl has been shilling her Cher impersonation since she walked through the door in the season premiere. I don’t think any of the queens thought they had a chance at beating her."

Fierce Black Queen : "Entirely off-topic…and forgive me for being so slow, but the Queen has been wondering what was up with Latrice holding a pillow in front of her during the majority of Untucked episodes so far. I just figured out that Miss Thang strips out of her outfit the minute they get into the lounge. Now THAT is a Black Southern Woman for you: as soon as she gets home from church–off go the pumps and dress. Gotta love that. I just wonder how much time it takes for her to get back into it once she has to go back onstage?"

Hedda Lettuce: The world's bitchiest drag queen columnist gives her opinions: "What can I say about "RuPaul’s Drag Race" episode 5? That Dita Ritz should be given the boot for spelling surgeon, sergin. That Kenya Michaels, Puerto Rico’s very own Pez dispenser thinks Beyonce acts like Britney Spears on crack, beats a parked car with an umbrella. That Milan (who is a dear friend) might be one of the worst Diana Ross impersonators on the face of the Earth. For God sakes I could do a better job. That the crocodile tears Wilam shed at the end of the show proves she is a terrible actress and that she should be fed to an alligator. Phi-Phi, open your mouth up nice and wide."

Houston Chronicle: "The continually tiresome Phi Phi O’Hara offered a limp Lady Gaga that should have landed her in the bottom two. Latrice Royale had zero soul or sass as Aretha Franklin. Jiggly Caliente barely registered as Snooki (though she again wasn’t the worst). And Milan, who repeatedly claims to be a TRAINED ACTOR, failed miserably as Diana Ross. It was almost embarrassing. Those were minor gaffes compared to Kenya Michaels, who claimed to be doing Beyoncé but came off as, well, a slightly less schizophrenic Kenya Michaels. Poor thing barely seems to understand what’s happening most of the time. I get that there’s a language barrier, but why not make it work instead of making it a hindrance? (She totally should have done Charo, BTW.)"

Ology review: "It’s like a gay Minute To Win It, with the queens pinning rubber cocks on a poster of RuPaul, blowing feathers across the room without letting them touch the ground, throwing rings around fake roosters, and carrying raw eggs across the room between their legs. It’s very silly, but Sharon is a highlight, wandering off completely as she tries to pin the Ru poster, copping a feel of the pit crew instead. Phi Phi is a pro at holding thing between her legs, and she wins the mini-challenge, earning a phone call home that she gives to Chad Michaels so she can call her partner on their eighth anniversary. It’s a very sweet move from the show’s resident bitch, although it will be completely negated by her unbridled obnoxiousness throughout the rest of the episode."

OUT Magazine:"Chad Michaels is declared the winner for her impressive and thorough Cher; Kenya and Milan must lip sync for their lives to Madonna’s “Vogue,” which is shooting fishy fish in a barrel, if you ask me. Milan rewarms last week’s lip sync performance, sliding her taint all up and down the stage, while Kenya whips her hair and focuses on giving face. In the end, a clean stage is most important to Ru, and Milan gets to stay. At this point, she can see her reflection in that shiny, shiny stage. Kenya, however, must sashay away, proving that Billy B. was wrong; Kenya turns out not to be the one to beat."

Queerty: "Sharon did well by playing off of the relationship between Michelle Visage and RuPaul, “We were on uppers, downers and candy corn.” And she had the best response to the question, “Fatty Patty is so fat that when she steps on a scale it says…” “Hello, Madame LaQueer!” Sharon, just consider that your ticket to the finale."

Reality Nation: "Phi Phi O’Hara. Ugh. Lady Gaga. How original. First of all, Gaga doesn’t really have a big personality. She puts all of her stock into her costume. So a drag queen dressing as Gaga is great. But impersonating her is not a good idea. And according to Phi Phi, Gaga is epileptic. All she did was sit their having one long seizure. And despite her being paid to go “all over the country” as Gaga, she didn’t look anything like her either. Busted hunty. Busted."

Rochester City Paper: "And what was going on in the front row? The Fame Whore Express was chugging along at full speed. The three queens who had no idea what they were doing - Kenya Michaels as Beyonce, Jiggly Caliente as Snooki, and Phi Phi O'Hara as Lady Gaga - tried to cover for their incompetence by acting a fool. Phi Phi kept yelling and crawling on her desk. Parts of it worked, because Gaga IS over the top. But the lines weren't funny, and it just kept getting broader and broader and worse and worse. Jiggly seemed to start out OK - she did better initially than I thought she would, but it was mostly just namechecking "Jersey Shore" memes. But then she kept trying to steal attention away from everyone else by getting loud and cutting people off, and physically "smooshing" herself into Phi Phi's Gaga."

Throwinshade: Video review by two drag queens!

Tom and Lorenzo: Plus their second post on the ep."We’re having some problems with Willam. Like we said in an earlier writeup, he’s essentially in character non-stop (something he confirmed in the comments section). It can be a funny character and god knows, he’s got her down right to the blinking, but it makes him hard to take in the long term and he winds up saying things that don’t sound all that funny in the context of a competition, like that teary speech on the catwalk about sending girls home “so I can win.” That line would be hilarious in a spoof of beauty pageants or something like that, but there’s real money on the line and that’s kind of a nasty thing to say when you’re all competing for it."

What's the T: Video review.

Bonus:

Fifth Queen Eliminated Interview: "To start, can we again mention just how much energy this girl has? She spent most of the conversation laughing and giggling and speaking a mile a minute about all she has in store. “A lot of people are recognizing me all around. My bookings are so full,” she says of her post-Drag Race life. “All of March, April, May.”"

Ology Interview with 4th Eliminated Queen:"Were you surprised to be put in the bottom two with Milan? Well, I’m not surprised. I would think it would be me and Phi Phi, not me and Milan. We’re thinking about, oh my god, are we going to be in the bottom two? Me and Phi Phi? We’re like best friends. So hard. "