Episode Discussion: Lip Synch Extravaganza Eleganza

[keeper-of-stars.livejournal.com]

Lip Synch Extravaganza Eleganza

Welcome back, squirrel friends! It’s time for the next leg of the race! Bust out your wigs and padding because this is going to be a crazy ride.

Wigs and heels don’t go on for a few hours yet, but let’s get the T flowing now!

Just a few things to keep in mind…
~ Try to stay on topic. This is an episode discussion after all.
~ Don’t be throwin’ no shade towards your fellow LJ-ers. (Everyone is entitled to their own opinion.)
~ Since this is an episode discussion, there will be spoilers in the comments. Enter at your own risk.
~ Please do not post spoilers for upcoming episodes.
~ And of course, don’t forget to werk.

Also, don’t forget that @rupaulsdragrace is once again holding their contest to win a prize pack! Just re-tweet the specified message and you’re entered.

Comments

[keeper-of-stars.livejournal.com]

I'm really pulling for Alaska. It's not that I'm a huge fan (yet), but I really want her to prove everyone wrong. I want her to prove that she's not a poor man's Sharon, but that's she's a talented queen in her own right.

[stormkpr.livejournal.com]

I really like what I'm seeing of Alaska. I think she's going to bring it soon and prove the naysayers wrong.

[thethicket.livejournal.com]

Kristen Johnson is absolutely my new favorite guest judge. Let's get rid of Santino and just have her instead, yes?

[keeper-of-stars.livejournal.com]

Really? I like her as an actress but she bothered me as a judge. I felt like she was abrasive and kind of rude. I wish Billy B would replace Santino full time.

[lucifuge-5.livejournal.com]

I respected the fact that she took the judging seriously. However, I found her critique slightly too harsh. YMMV, of course.

[teacup-werewolf.livejournal.com]

NGL I am sort of worried for Monica. Now that she came out, I am totally afraid of the queens' transphobia being thrown at her. I am trans too so I understand the fear and the frustration she must have go through, now that she came out I hope she can bring her A-game.

Also I am sort of rooting for Detox and Alaska I really like Coco too.

[myswtghst.livejournal.com]

I was actually really happy overall with the reactions to Monica's coming out during the Untucked episdoe. The queens overall seemed super supportive, and I especially thought Alyssa, Coco, and Jade were really cute about it (IIRC). Hopefully they'll keep it up. :)

[ian-exclamation.livejournal.com]

I am surprised by how much I like Detox! I really thought she was going to be an arrogant mean queen but she's totally proven me wrong (so far)! And the Untucked made me love Coco so much more!! I want to hang out with her!

[panteakid666.livejournal.com]

Coco has became my new favorite on untuck during her Producer interviews, she's hilarious!

[dali-muse.livejournal.com]

Coco Montrese for all the quotes!

"No ma'am, Pam."

"Cha cha away, Ole!"

Her Lashawn Beyond was amazing! So freaking funny and completely on point.

[keeper-of-stars.livejournal.com]

Coco cracks me up. I'm not a fan of her drag, but she is hysterical. She makes me think of some little old lady sitting on her porch and throwing out words of "wisdom."

[kapvik.livejournal.com]

I LOVED this challenge. It should totally be a regular, like Snatch Game. I don't know about the mini-challenge though; a lot of the queens were straight up trying to emote with their mouths and pull off the Old Hollywood Grimace, and that was just weird and messed up. It made it look like RuPaul's music made them constipated.

What was up with runway tonight? So many of the queens made themselves look so *old*.

Lineysha: Her Tyra was a little off to me. I would have actually put her in the bottom half of the group. I can understand wanting to give her the win because she deserved it last week, but that's not exactly fair judging practices. Her runway was very LaToya Jackson. Also, I now know the word "Caribena" which I had never heard before.

Honey Mahogany: I want to like her more, but she always has this spaced-out dull surprise expression that's starting to go the wrong way for me. And her runway outfit made her look like she has a poochy belly. I didn't get what was so great about her Mariah lip sync, but then I didn't really pay a lot of attention to Mariah to begin with.

Ivy Winters: Aged Up Makeup #1; she made herself look like Lucille Ball. I thought the butterfly/stilts outfit was questionable at first, but since the category was "dress to impress" I can see why it worked. I loved that Ru was stunned to see her walk out like that. Plus he is such a cutie as a boy!

Vivienne Pinay: Meh. The "Oh Might Isis" joke the judges made was more impressive than she actually was. And she looked like she was about to fall off her heels or was trying to shoplift a watermelon by clutching it in her cooch - which would have been a little shameful, considering Ivy had just done runway on stilts.

Alyssa Edwards: So she's always going to be some flavor of lit up Joan Collins then? All right. She looks even worse as a boy than in the last episode. And that pig-call holler of hers got on my last nerve during Untucked. But I loved Juliette Lewis saying that she walked like a dressage horse!

Serena Caca: Aged Up Makeup #2 and the Queen of Old Lady Makeup. Bitch went from 21 to 81 overnight. Still busted, but in a different and somewhat worse way. Panties hanging out of her outfit. Trying to lord her (questionable effective) art school education over everyone else, constantly going on about "soft sculpture" this and that and whatnot. "I read books" - did she want applause for that? 3-year-olds can read books, bitch. And for all her entitled self-aggrandizement, Serena comes off like she learned how to be a drag queen by reading one of those books she talked about. Like everything about her was pure theory that was put into practice in the absolute worst way. And in the lounge, when it became clear that she could not compete on the same level as a drag queen as the others, and that she could not earn their respect as a drag queen, she started stigmatizing the culture as ghetto and uneducated. I cringed. And what was with that Raja? Was she trying to do Old Lady Raja to go with her geriatric runway makeup?

[kapvik.livejournal.com]

Continued:

Jade Jolie: Aged Up Makeup #3, the Receding Hairline version. I wasn't feeling her lip sync; she came off more like Jiggly Caliente than Delta Work, holding those bits of food the whole time. I also wonder what the hell kind of game she's playing, if Honey's accusations are true.

Roxxxy (how many Xs?) Andrews: It's kind of novel and refreshing to see a plus-sized body queen. Her runway was very Cher-meets-Tina Turner-meets Britney Spears. But what the heck was Santino smoking when he tried to call it Chewbacca? What weird-ass Star Wars movie with a fucking sparkling gold Chewbacca did HE watch? Shut up, Santino.

Jinkx Monsoon: She definitely got the Old Hollywood moves right, and she killed that team lip sync mashup performance. But that nose makeup was ghastly; it was like she was competing with Detox and Alaska for the Freaky Nose Prize. I love how she's Boy George as a boy, though. And as mean as it was, when she was doing her talking head about praising Monica for being strong and true to herself...I was on the edge of my seat waiting for the narcolepsy to kick in. I am disappoint.

Monica Beverly Hillz: Chris Brown wearing Rihanna's outfit! I don't think anyone actually minds trans women competing here, since there seem to be unspoken rules about how transitioned one can be in order to still qualify for the show. And she killed LSFYL, going for smoldering and sultry in the face of Serena's desperation. What I enjoyed was seeing that she is the spitting image of her mother, who seemed genuinely apologetic and accepting and loving of her. I'm glad that that's one less cross for her to bear.

Alaska: Her runway wasn't great, but it was straight up Fran Drescher/Janice from Friends realness, so I thought it was awesome. Her talking smack about Sharon's triumph over Pee Pee was fantastic, as was the impromptu makeout session during the dramatic lip sync.

Coco Montrese: Aged Up Makeup #4. When they said she looked like Patti LaBelle in a glam rock costume, they were not kidding; she looked like someone who'd been born in 1944. She was one of several queens who outshined their original lip sync counterpart, and it was almost too much, but it worked for her.

Detox: She's consistently funny and fun to watch, but she's always going to look like some variant of some wicked queen or witch with that face. Whoever called her the Joker during the mini-challenge was not fucking kidding. As heartless and soulless as I am, I actually feel bad about how much I do not want to look at her out of drag.

Juliette Lewis' impression of Jiggly Caliente almost outshined the queens!

[stormkpr.livejournal.com]

I agree - this challenge needs to become a regular, just like Snatch Game! I loved it.

[keeper-of-stars.livejournal.com]

Roxxxy (how many Xs?) Andrews: It's kind of novel and refreshing to see a plus-sized body queen.
That would be Roxxxy with 3 x's. I guess she likes to keep a spare around in case one goes flat.

And I totally agree. I love her body and the way she uses it. She's gorgeous. I have a hard time thinking of her as plus-sized though. She seems more... average sized, to me.

[kapvik.livejournal.com]

True. She's not plus-sized in the sense of Mystique or Latrice, certainly. But you can tell that Roxxxy is still more substantial than your average queen, and certainly more than her body queen predecessor Carmen. She obviously doesn't have what is usually thought of as a model's physique, but she's too trim to be what I would call "thick" as well. I don't know what to call Roxxxy's version of plus-sized. What's the girl version of "husky"?

[ian-exclamation.livejournal.com]

Was it just me or was the editing really bad this episode?? It seemed like stuff was rushed together so we could see what dramatic secret Monica Beverly Hillz had to reveal. That said, I loved how everyone was so supportive of her. I hope she turns it out!

The mini challenge was great! The main challenge was alright. Is the Snatch Game coming up soon?! I can't wait!

The runway looks were all pretty good (except Serena Cha Cha) and gurl! Ivy on STILTS?! I think she may have busted that trick out too early, tbh. They seemed to just brush over it.

Also, what happened with the RANDOM lip-sync contest during the Untucked?! It was like they had so much stuff to fit in this episode and it all just got kind of jumbled and spliced together. The song was cool, though. Totally downloading it haha.

And with Untucked...idk. Serena Cha Cha is lame and stupid and young, yeah...but the bullying? I don't disagree that she deserves to be put in her place but I guess I just expected more from professional drag queens. They were really tearing into her. Maybe I'm just too nice =\

[kapvik.livejournal.com]

There were moments when I felt a little sorry for Serena with everyone ganging up on her. But then I remember that she basically brought it all down on her own head. She didn't have to plow into the competition spouting her art school bullshit, thinking that she knew everything about drag and was better than everyone else because she was only 21 and had been to art school and had read books.

And then when it became clear that none of Serena's knowledge or skills were on par with any of the other queens, she tried to turn around and call them - and by extension, the black and Latino-generated drag culture - ghetto and uneducated. She basically came to the party naked, got laughed at, and tried to say "I'm not naked; it's just that none of you are talented or erudite enough to comprehend the diemnsion in which my dress exists." I don't blame the queens for ripping her to shreds; Serena came on her busted high horse trying to read, only her horse was an ass and she could barely spell.

[bodacioussylph.livejournal.com]

What did you guys think of "Ro-laska-tox"? (The creation of the nickname, not that particular trio.) I think the second episode is a bit too soon to be making up a nick for your little clique. The Heathers/Boogers thing didn't start until the fourth or fifth episode.

The unedited spoken lipsyncs are on Logo. Kinda surprised Vivianne didn't win; her lipsync of Tati was much tighter than Lineysha's. Maybe Lineysha got the win for her spot-on "hmph/glare" at the end; for a second or two she was flawless Tyra.

Bye bye Serena. You were not ready for prime time.

[stormkpr.livejournal.com]

I loved the part in Untucked when they showed the lip synching mash-ups that the 2 un-safe teams had to do. Those remixes were great, and Team Detoxx and Team Serena did amazing with the lip synching and their moves.

Though I have no idea why that footage ended up in Untucked instead of in the, you know, actual episode.

[kapvik.livejournal.com]

Probably time constraints. After all, it was pretty clear that Serena was going to be bottom two, and I could see why Monica wound up there as well. The team lip sync performances were great, but ultimately they didn't affect the episode narrative (though mmmmmmmaybe it managed to save Jinkx Monsoon from being in the bottom).

[irveja.livejournal.com]

Am I the only one hating the lip sync's songs? First Miley then Rihanna, nah, it really doesn't fit with the whole drag thing.

Jinkx is so lovely, omg, rooting for her already, Alaska is better than I thought. Also, I want to see more from Ivy, Roxxxy, Detox (she hasn't done anything surprising for me yet) and Lineysha.
The next ones to go out are probably Monica, Vivienne (I can't stand her tbh, too bland, too basic, too boring), Honey (loved the look, but she's being bland as well) and shady Jade.
Glad Serena went home.

[keeper-of-stars.livejournal.com]

Nope. I'm hating the song choices as well.

Yes! Jinkx is beyond adorable.

[lucifuge-5.livejournal.com]

This episode had so much that, in order to get the full experience of it, one had to look at it AND Untucked. Loved the main challenge! Leave it to Mama Ru to make her gurl WORK. Hee!

I thought Lineysha killed with her Tyra impersonation. Monica's confession was heartfelt. It was also great to see the rest of the queens give her support and encouragement. I'm still trying to cheer for Alaska. Mind you, I like her but I'm still waiting to be 'wowed' by her. Coco and Detox are the two queens I'm cheering for with absolute glee. Honey and Vivienne are the two queens who seriously need to step it up. Their personalities and styles blend a little too well with the background.

Granted, Alyssa, Coco, Roxxxy and Detox can chew scenery like whoa. To me it seems like Mama Ru is really looking for something extra c.u.n.t.-y. Could be I'm thinking too much about how, in the previous ep, she let the safe queens go with a pointed comment that safe isn't quite acceptable (anymore?) OTOH, 5 seasons in, it isn't too out there to expect the new queens to rest on their laurels.

Serena was a hot mess from the moment she made it to the show. Her obnoxiousness, the poor styling and seriously crappy drag, and the whole 'I'm an art student. I KNOW DRAG (better than these queens) would have driven ANYONE crazy. IJS.

Were the other queens excessive in their snapping at Serena in Untucked? Yes and no. Serena must have had 'something' for Ru and co. to pick her over other queens who tried out for Season 5. OTOH, she was bratty and way unpolished for the level of drag that's expected in RPDR. In the end, I'm glad she's gone.

[pharna.livejournal.com]

YESSSSSSSS Finally. No more, as kapvik so perfectly put it, Serena Caca.

Serena, you're book smart at an art school. The only thing impressive about you is your command of the English language. You could read the other girls if this was RuPaul's Spelling Bee. But it's not. So SHUT your little mouth up and learn about what you're competing about from people who are clearly better at it than you.

Main Challenge:
I think Jinkx as Mimi was the best, followed very closely by Coco Beyond LaShawn and Alyssagela. Team Ivy's better on average, but the best of the other teams definitely were better than the best of Team Ivy. Serena's Raja and Monica's Jiggly were definitely outstanding in the TERRIBLE category.

Lineysha was a total troll, but in a way that matched Tyra's trolling.

Runway:
I was waiting for Ivy to start juggling. Her not doing so was a little disappointing but didn't take away from it.
Monica Beverly Hillz, you're like Michael and Janet Jackson. In one. I almost expected her to start doing some THRILLER. I woulda been thrilled...
I ended up liking Vivienne's outfit more. At least, the dress texture is interesting but the hair execution is just OK.
Honey is just flying under my radar. Again. Not bad, but not great. Loved her hair, but the jewelry just seemed, lame and costume not glitzy.
Lineysha, you should have beaten Roxxxy last week(tho not by much) but you definitely didn't win this week.
Jade....You little drama vampire. You're very good with hair, but whips. Not so much. Her outfit didn't seem all that sharp. Love her expressions on that other challenge. <3
Jinxk dear, that dress is future fab, but your hair and face were in the future in a BAD way. I still have high hopes for her.
Detox as Sharon, lol. I thought her runway was wanting to be Cabaret but then...Wasn't.
Alaska. Edgy and well done. It's hard to do something edgy and not get chewed out for it.
Coco. I'm a sucker for spanglies and well patterned and used ones at that. If there's a sci-fi challenge like in season 3, watch out.
Roxxxy was sexxxxxxxy. Wow. As far as boob plates and stuff go, hers looked good. I hated some of the previous seasons queens' because they were lame manchild fantasy boobs. India's tennis balls? LOLOLOLOLOLOL no.

Good gawd, did Team Detox kill that additional challenge. Great choreography, and everyone felt way more involved.

I lost it when Monica got cut off by Roxxxy "except for Serena." I think I peed a little from laughter after that.