Episode Discussion: Shade: The Rusical
Mar. 17th, 2014 04:48 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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Welcome back, squirrel friends! It’s time for the beginning of a brand new race! Bust out your wigs and padding because this is going to be a crazy ride.
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Date: 2014-03-18 04:31 am (UTC)It's really a shame that Courtney was so great, because I thought Ben did a really super job as well. Not just onstage, but as a leader. Too bad the leader thing only ever seems to come up if you're a bad leader (unless you're Adore coughcough). I thought Ben was funny onstage, sang well, and had a really cool look both for the performance and the runway. Oh, well. Suppose there can only be one winner.
I honestly didn't think anyone particularly did poorly this week - a few people faded into the background (Milk, Darienne), but nobody was horrid. Particularly not April, who I'm sad to see go. I really thought she could've made it to the top five. I can't say that anybody deserved to go in her place, though. Trinity really knocked it out with that lip synch.
Adore wasn't bad. Her voice was a little shaky - either she was nervous, or these songs were juuuust out of her range. I was really ready to start rooting for her, right up until the moment on the runway when she said, "I'm a better drag queen than I'm coming off". Well then start showing it, girl! Sheesh. I'd say that she can't afford to be sloppy anymore, but with the way the producers are saving her neck, I think she could show up half asleep and in a pair of chinos and be called safe.
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Date: 2014-03-18 05:10 am (UTC)I agree! Trinity slayed that lipsync! They both did well but Trinity was serving it UP.
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Date: 2014-03-19 10:47 pm (UTC)So agreed. I was 110% sure she was in the bottom, and I was not impressed with her performance or her outfit, but yet again, even Santino found something to praise and she ended up near the top. I mean, I guess she remembered the words, at least...
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Date: 2014-03-18 04:49 am (UTC)Milk: I feel like she and Ben dlC took on very similar roles as they did last time and once again it was a little boring and flat. It wasn't BAD, but it wasn't anything special. As for her pregnant runway, honestly? Yawn! Already been done in Drag Race for one thing and for another the outfit was so basic and uninspiring. I agree with Gia in that I want to see some femininity and less boy from Milk.
Laganja: Seriously girl? You're going to throw a temper tantrum and complain that everything isn't only about you and people have interrupted your moment when in the first ep you made Gia talking about her mom be ALL about you. For serious!?! My opinion of Laganja has been steadily decreasing the more time goes on. My RL Drag Race watching partner was hating on her from the beginning, and I was always in her corner and even considering her as possibly a favourite in the beginning, but she just gets more annoying by the day.
Ben de la Creme: She did really well. It was pretty much a given that one of the Idols was going to be the winner, but she gave them a run for their money. I was rooting for Ben from her interview, but then got annoyed by her and tired of her during the first episode until she pulled out that outfit, so she's definitely been surprising me (for both the good and the bad)
Trinity: She worked it out in the lipsynch, but can she just go home though? She's dreadfully boring, has too many excuses, and needs to stop with the defensiveness. She's got a pretty runway and can lip synch, but despite what she seems to believe that's not the sum total of what being a drag queen is about.
Darienne: Not good this week. Not terrible, but flat and dull as wallpaper.
Gia: Ugh shut up! She thinks she's all that, but she's just a mediocre, childish, ignorant queen and I'm tired of her. She needs to take a page out of Bianca's book and learn the art of reading without being personal and taking it personal. She just keeps ending up making herself look bad and it's frankly embarrassing to watch. Girl is fish for days, but she relies on that too much and her range is VERY small and focused solely on very recent pop celebrities.
Jocelyn: Black/dark horse indeed! I was so over her in the first episode, but she's definitely grown on me and shown a far greater level of talent and maturity than I though she possessed. Her hair this week was pretty bad though. Also while I love colours and Disney, it's a little much...
April: Nooooooo! She really did do pretty bad in so many aspects of the challenge, but I wanted her to stay. She fought hard in the lipsynch and it was an epic battle. I just feel like April had so much potential (and runway looks) that we hadn't seen yet while I really don't think Trinity has anything else to give.
Bianca: LOVE HER! She is my favourite by far and may just be my favourite queen ever (Sorry Manila!). I would like her to step it up a bit though. I feel like she's been playing it a tad safe and I'd like to see her really shine. I really love how she's able to read ALL the time, but still be a really nice person.
Courtney: She did well this episode. Her vocals weren't as good as Adore's by far, but her character was good and very Broadway. Not a big fan of her though to be honest. She's just very woman, very safe, very fake... But not very drag. Also she like never blinks and it creeps me the hell out!
Adore: Blah... Her vocals were fantastic (which honestly surprised me having looked up some of her Idol performances), but the outfit was cheap looking and thrown together without any body molding. When I first saw her I judged her to be all the things I hated about Alaska at times (Sloppy, unwilling to put in the effort when giving up is far easier, kind of annoying) and she's proven me right, but whereas I always liked Alaska despite her faults and grew to love her as she grew on the show, I don't see that happening with Adore. Judging by the previews she stays for a good long while, but I've gotta say I'm not particularly looking forward to it.
Can't wait for snatch game next week!
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Date: 2014-03-18 05:37 pm (UTC)This, completely. I watched bits of April's audition tape and she actually had a pretty solid Kim K which surprised me. I'm 100% convinced it would have been stronger than the Beyonce I'm sure we'll see from Trinity.
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Date: 2014-03-18 05:05 am (UTC)I was really impressed by both teams, actually. They were edited to look like they were going to be clusterbombs but they all turned it out! I think that BenDeLaCreme did superb as well as Courtney Act. Although she still grates on me, I do give Adore credit for also doing a great job.
It seemed like they crammed so much stuff into the epiode, though. Everyone looked gorgeous on the runway and they gave little to no recognition to anyone! I mean, really. Milk was PREGNANT. I was living.
May I also just say that I think Joslyn Fox is a dark horse in this competition. Like someone else said here, she's just putting on an innocent cutesy act but the moment the other queens let their guard down, she'll come for a bitch. I really like her, though. The shade she threw at Bianca Del Rio was amazingly cute.
As for Untucked, I really felt for LaGanja. I thought it was sweet that her parents made that video (although it was rather long, right?). Especially since she boo-hooed in the first episode about her mom. My sympathy soon went up in smoke, though, when she got all weird and self-righteous about 'her moment'. Gurl, calm the tuck down and be glad you're given the camera time you are - we know you're thirsty af for it. That little tantrum didn't do her any favors in my eyes and I would have liked to hear about the other queens' experiences! Milk's dad doesn't even KNOW ffs.
Also, why is Gia Gunn coming for everyone and their mother? It's like she's TRYING to be the villain. She reminds me of a vapid high school girl who gets all uppity when people call her out for being a bitch.
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Date: 2014-03-18 04:21 pm (UTC)What's wrong with Gia? How can she be so stupid? Did she really asked what a Tony award is? I can't believe she's been doing kabuki theatre and she's still so uneducated. What a shame for Japan.
I'm going to miss April, it's a pity Trinity was so amazing, I'd love to see her leaving.
Luckily this time we didn't have much Bianca or Laganja!
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Date: 2014-03-18 07:23 pm (UTC)Courtney: She had the ingenue role down. I'm not sure how many people wear pink hair to the Tony's, but whatever. I'm not mad about her win but I think I might have given the edge to....
Ben de la Creme: For all that Courtney hypothesized that she was being held to a higher standard, BdlC for sure was; Michelle complained that she "only took it halfway to Toni Braxton." I thought she was fantastic in the Rusical, and loved her runway, with or without the big shoulder flower thing. Also, every time I hear her name I think this, and since it's the musical episode, I gotta share it with you guys: "The Ben de la Creme of the chess world, in a show with everything but Yul Brynner."
Adore: She did a fine job in the performance. I continue to feel deeply meh about her.
Bianca: She is so great. And though she's pretty much always there with a zinger, she does walk it back if she senses she's gone too far.
Joslyn: I can't believe I thought she was just filler. Her wit is nearly as sharp as Bianca's! And the way she stuck up for Milk against Gia in Untucked...good for her. Admittedly, her runway hair was really very crispy and she had way too much jewelry on.
Milk: I actually loved her Rusical performance, she has a lovely quality to her voice. The pregnant runway didn't quite work for me--I think mostly from a silhouette perspective--her bewbs should have been bigger to balance the belly, and she should have shifted her center of gravity back a bit if she really wanted to look pregnant.
Darienne: I liked the pond-scum dress. Missed opportunity in the Rusical, she could have stood out way more.
Laganja: Adequate performance, adequate runway. But oh wow the narcissism and ego displayed in Untucked--MY MOMENT MY MOMENT MY MYMYMY. Super childish and selfish.
Gia: Ignorant! Elitist! She deserved the way they came for her after she tried to read Milk.
Trinity: Last picked again, ouch. "I'd rather just kinda play it safe." I think that maybe says it all about her. I wonder why nobody suggested she forego the flipper for the performance? Her runway was lovely.
April: She tried so hard but it wasn't enough. :( I wish we could have seen more from her.
Minichallenge: Whenever they take them out separately, I wonder if the "winners" actually WON. No one would know if Joslyn got more answers correct than Adore but they wanted Adore to be team leader for whatever reason.
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Date: 2014-03-18 11:14 pm (UTC)I'm sad with April going home, it was one of my favorite queens. Maybe she was in the wrong season? and if she was in a season with less singing/acting challenges she would have make it waaaaaaay further? I don't know, let's hope she's on all stars 2. Btw, I didn't know Beyoncé could lip sync so well.
Also, I was surprised because I wasn't hating Gia in the episode today, then I saw untucked... she's so arrogant, girl you need to stop. It was kind funny when she got mad because Joslyn said she was being ignorant (by the way THANK YOU /tatianna) - and not in a rude way. And Laganja... I want to understand her attitude because I'm attention seeking too but... no.
Saving the best for last: I CAN'T STOP LOVING BIANCA I'M EVEN STARTING TO FIND ROY ATTRACTIVE OH MY GOD
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Date: 2014-03-19 01:52 am (UTC)Snap. I get just a little bit pregnant every time he snarks.
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Date: 2014-03-19 01:44 am (UTC)Courtney`s runway look was lovely this week, but the girl is flat, she needs to get the foam out and cut herself some more T&A.
What Bianca said about Detox nose I was thinking the same last year.
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Date: 2014-03-20 02:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-03-20 05:48 am (UTC)Detox doesn't need a funky nose to give "personality" to her face. Her personality and attitude does that already. At this point it's just hanging on to one of her natural features, purposefully or otherwise.
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Date: 2014-03-20 07:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-03-19 01:15 pm (UTC)Adore: Y'all, I still don't know. Her voice wasn't even all that great unless she was holding a note out for a long-ass time, and her drag is as half-assed as ever. If this were a battle on The Voice, Courtney Act would have kicked her ass. The best thing about her performance was when she fell down and Milk got to step over her.
Badulkadulk: What the heck do you mean, Sheryl Lee Ralph, that her runway was too much? Girl, you were Etienne on Designing Women! You should know better! This episode was a contest between La Creme and Courtney Act, hands down.
Bianca: Her drag is beginning to grow on me (like a rash!), pancake face and all. I'm starting to see her as what Kathy Griffin would be like as a drag queen - again, pancake face and all.
Courtney: Turned it, questionable 1980s She-Ra doll hair on the runway and all. But really, no surprise there. Unless you count Adore laughably being put on the same level as her and BDLC, of course.
Darienne: Not nearly as bad as they made her out to be.
Gia: For someone who did kabuki, bitch doesn't seem to know how to bring any drama where it counts. She seems more like someone who would have been a kuroko (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuroko) in a bunraku (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bunraku) play. And again, every time she talks, all I hear is "Stacyyyy,,, (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQflpKcQXOM)" My goodness, what a dull, stupid bint.
Joslyn: Love this girl, but I think she should have been lip syncing this week. What happened to being the Butch Queen in the play? She was just Joslyn! At least Trinity was acting!
Laganja: Forgettable week for her. Also, Jesus Tap-Dancing Christ, please dial it down to at least 11. They can feel you mugging in the South Pole, Laganja; your overacting is actually a bigger blast in the face than the endless winter of Antarctica.
Trinity: Bitch did try and performed the hell out of this challenge as much as she could. But her attitude *sucks*. I don't see her as being as flat-out rude or trollish as Tyra, but Trinity is almost as full of excuses as Adore and comes off as borderline unteachable about anything. And we all know how much Ru loves to impart wisdom these days. Unless she learns how to react to shit better, she's not long for this competition.
April: Poor girl. She gave it the old college try, but her Big Queen look was just hippy, and she was way off beat throughout her whole performance. Her LSFYL did give Trinity a run for her money, though - both of them seem like they're from the Manila Luzon school of lip syncing, but unfortunately Trinity is better at it, I'll miss her.
It's no surprise, of course, that Santino knows 8,638,753,013,683,781,378,136,835,908,273 times less how to judge musical theater than he does judging drag queens. Why the fuck is he here instead of Lady Bunny again? "Book of Morons" indeed.
Lucian Piane, will you marry me? I don't even care if your sister has to live with us, provided she brings Our Lady J along for sing-along night.
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Date: 2014-03-19 06:23 pm (UTC)Perhaps if it was a requirement, certain girls wouldn't think that not being fishy is equal to not being a good drag queen.
They should have a mini challenge of drag queen trivia. Which of the girls would know her queens?
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Date: 2014-03-19 11:53 pm (UTC)This episode -- I've now watched it twice, and there's just so much crammed into it.
Adore -- She can really sing. I see her youth, and I sympathize with the fact that her drag is just about put together with baling wire and spit. I also get that Ru and Michelle seem to be trying to mold an early talent. I guess it's compare and contrast television to see the kids alongside the more experienced and polished queens but ... I just don't find Adore's personality very interesting. I am sorry. I will say that my heart went out to her when she told the story of her well-intentioned mom trying to protect her by telling her to tone it down for American Idol, and I could see how much that really hurt -- I did just want to hug her, then, and I can see where her insecurity about performing comes from. I wanted to hand her the warm fuzzy blanket of confidence and say, "You can do it, little drag queen!" That said, I think she's too unpolished to win S6, but this is probably a good learning experience for her if she's able to take notes.
April -- Poor April. She seems like such a sweet person, and her runways are gorgeous. Also, in the exit interview with Michelle, she's a smarter, more thoughtful queen than I think the editing of the show made her appear to be. She put her all into that final lipsync, but with it being her second consecutive appearance in the bottom two, I saw the writing on the wall. Like Kelly Mantle, I feel like she would've gone further had the challenges been ordered differently (she had two bad ones in a row), or like she wouldn't have been cut for a few more episodes had she been in a different season. If she were appearing in a drag show within driving distance, I'd definitely go see her.
Ben de la Creme -- I'm so glad that she was recognized along with Courtney Act and Adore. Frankly, no disrespect intended to Sheryl Lee Ralph, but I liked her red dress just as it was: it's drag, and I liked the structure and visual elevation the shoulder accent provided. Ben has been one of my favorites from the beginning. I'm exceedingly curious to see what she can deliver in Snatch Game.
Courtney Act -- She's more than a pretty face for sure: she sold that performance this week. A well-deserved win. I don't feel much about her one way or another in the personality department, and some of her runway looks could use just a tiny bit more polish -- just a little! -- but she absolutely nailed it this week. Side note: does anyone know the rules on international queens competing? I mean, I'm glad she's there, but there are some other queens from other countries I'd like to see as well.
Gia Gunn -- She actually did pretty well with her small role in the musical, but I just find her dull and tedious. I'll admit to being pleasantly surprised that she did kabuki, and I respect her for that, but I can't even generate enough caring or energy to hate her. I only wish she'd get cut so we'd have more time with some of the other queens.
Joslyn Fox -- I liked her pre=show interview, and she's been pleasantly surprising me. Good performance in the musical, and cute shade toward Bianca. (I suspect editing there -- was that Bianca's real reaction to her comment? Because based on what we've seen of her so far, I could see her laughing and throwing it back at Joslyn.) I think she might be good in the Snatch Game, too. We'll see.
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Date: 2014-03-20 01:22 am (UTC)Word. I don't do fashion, but I've watched enough Project Runway to know what couture is. And it's not out of the realm of possibility that someone who wanted to make a statement - like a *drag queen* - might wear couture to an event. BDLC's runway look was couture, and frankly without the shoulder ornamentation, the look became boring.
Side note: does anyone know the rules on international queens competing? I mean, I'm glad she's there, but there are some other queens from other countries I'd like to see as well.
From what I understand, there are no limitations on foreign-born queens provided they are currently residing in the US - Bebe won Season 1, after all. And as far as I know, Courtney currently lives and works out of West Hollywood rather than Oz.
I would think that Ru would welcome international participants - it would mean RPDR is an international phenomenon, after all - provided they could fulfill all the show's commitments, i.e. living in the US long enough for taping, special appearances, and the Drag Race Tour (provided they still do the Drag Race Tour).
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Date: 2014-03-19 11:54 pm (UTC)Laganja Estranja -- Oh, Laganja. I liked her runway, and thought she did acceptably well in the musical, but ... I have such mixed feelings about her. On the one hand, she was right: that was her moment in Untucked, and I respected her standing up for herself. On the other hand, in my opinion, she took it too far. She could've made a point without turning it into a tirade. I think there's a sweet person in there who has this really fake persona that she's using as a shield. I fear she's going to look back at this season five to seven years from now and feel embarrassed. If she can shed some of her insecurity, she might well become an amazing queen: she's got style and dance talent ... but boy, does she seem uncomfortable with herself right now, and I feel bad for her.
Milk -- Speaking of mixed feelings. I get that she's staying true to what she does, but RPDR is a learning opportunity: these challenges are intended to take the queens out of their comfort zone and see how they can stretch and grow. When I was in an acting camp, we were forbidden in improv to use any "shticks" we'd brought with us. We had to do something new -- keep it fresh; innovate or die. Two weeks in a row, we've seen her glue prosthetics to her face; this week, she was pregnant for what was supposed to be a Tony Awards look -- and yet, those shoes and socks would never appear at the Tonys. Can she do more? Is there any more range to Milk than what we've seen so far? I like the performer well enough in interviews, but if this is all she can show us, well, the next drag superstar needs to be able to play more than one note.
Bianca -- I liked her less these past two episodes. Oh, she was fine in the musical, and she's clearly an experienced queen, but if I'm going to call Milk out for lack of range, I'm going to cite Bianca, too. Were I her, I would have tried to soften my facial contours just a bit for the Tony outfit. She's funny, but both in the episode and in Untucked, I thought she moved away from funny toward biting, and I find that off-putting. When she's witty, she's awesome -- I loved her comment to Gia about the Whitesnake video -- but she's got to walk that line of cute and clever or she'll turn a lot of people against her in a hurry.
Darienne -- Her makeup skills are amazing. I loved her updo wig, and while her runway dress was a bit pedestrian, she still looked very pretty. I agreed with Michelle that she receded into the background a little during the musical, but maybe that was a tactical move on Darienne's part: she didn't want to come across as a stage hog after winning the Scream Queen challenge. Unless she screws up in a way I don't expect, she could be Top 5.
Trinity -- I really think folks are being a little hard on Trinity. Like April, these were not really her two challenges, but she seriously turned out that lip sync. I'm a mite surprised the judges didn't call her out for her slightly lumpy bosom on the runway gown -- she needed a little more filler. I have the impression that most of her drag sisters do not get this slightly-introverted Southern queen. She's been honest about having had trouble with the challenges, and felt awkward trying to learn a new thing. Now, she should've expected that she'd have to learn new things in the competition, to be sure, but I don't think Bianca coming for her time and time again is helping. To me, Bianca's sniping came across a little like fraternity hazing or military college hazing: putting the pressure on a competitor to see if that link in the chain breaks or if it's strong enough to hold. I understand that it's a competition, but I'd much rather see people win based on sheer talent rather than playing psychological mind games and kicking an opponent when she's down -- that's just my personal code of decency.
I think I've now seen enough to predict a squishy Top 5:
1. Ben de la Creme
2. Courtney Act
3. Bianca del Rio
4. Joslyn Fox
5. Adore / Darienne
All of these could move up or down, but unless they keep Gia around strictly for drama, I think these are the queens we're likely to see making it to the finish line.
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Date: 2014-03-22 11:30 pm (UTC)Most of the queens did a good (or, at the very least, adequate) job. Gia was a surprise (given how much of a bad singer she was during rehearsals) by following the advice given to her by Lucien and co. Courtney was great.
Trinity's performance was way better than I'd expected. I didn't like how defensive she was throughout this episode. After all, for all her complaints about not being a singer or actor, this is the show's sixth season. By now, any queen who applies to be a contestant has to be fully aware that the demands placed on the chosen ones will be really big. Mama Ru has already said that RPDR is the "Olympics of drag". Based on what was shown, Bianca kept trying to give Trinity pointers. Sure, none of Bianca's advice was sugar-coated (it's not in Bianca's personality to be overtly sweet). But Trinity's constant dismissal of everything Bianca told her was super-frustrating to watch.
The real surprise, for me, was Ben de la Creme. Up until this episode, I had lukewarm feelings towards her. Ben tends to be "on" all the time. I feel that she was more herself outside of drag and a really great performer. I'd been OK with Ben winning the challenge if Courtney hadn't won it.
The rest of the queens were OK. in truth, I was a little disappointed that we didn't get to see much of the performance (don't even get me started on the sped-up runway. I wished there had been more time to hear the judges' comments).
This episode confirmed to me that I am deffo not team Adore or team Laganja. Adore (for all her beauty and singing skills) keeps making excuses whenever the spotlight falls on her. I'm annoyed because the judges seem to see something about her that I don't. Namely, she should've been in the bottom two last week or this one. And, gauging by the opening credits in Untucked, she'll stick around for a while.
Meanwhile, Laganja's OTT tantrum in Untucked made me roll my eyes. Sure, Bianca's comment was a tad bitchy, but she did apologize when it became obvious that Laganja was hurt.
Another thing this episode made very clear to me is that, for all her kookiness, Milk has very tiny chances of making it to the end. IMHO, her weird factor isn't marketable. It's cool that she brings a different kind of drag but she's got to start showing that she is flexible or versatile in her looks. Otherwise, she's going to get axed.
April's sashaying away was sad because she was a fave of mine. :(