'...and DON'T *bleep* IT UP!' -- the RuPaul's Drag Race thread

Yeah, so much for my top four!

As for the UK you could kinda see the hints about them going top four. I’m still amused next week wraps that up while we still have seven queens left in the US one.

UK: Ellie's lip-synch was adorable, possibly my favourite moment of hers so far, while Tayce's felt a bit same-old, same-old: there hasn't been much, if any, interpretive difference in any of hers.

The UK's final four are the cover story in today's Weekend Guardian colour supplement - some great photos, too.
https://www.theguardian.com/global/2021/mar/13/ru-pauls-drag-race-uk-finalists-ellie-diamond-lawrence-chaney-tayce-bimini-bon-boulash

the winning team in the US ep did such an amazing job! well deserved win for both and exactly what they both needed at this point in the competition.

honestly this week's US challenge is one of my favorites in the history of the whole show, I can't remember the last time I was SO EXCITED to see the results of the challenge. I thought they all did a great job, even the bottom two did so-so and not awful imo (except for Olivia's make-up which was v v bad)

Given this episode alone, I mean the bottom two def did the worst, and the winner of the lip sync def won the lip sync, but it still feels shocking to see the loser sent home right now!!!

Indeed! And yes, it was a solid challenge all around, it almost feels like an actual start of the season/high stakes moment.

yeah a great twist on the makeup challenge, with many consequences, like the loser having to say farewell while not in their own drag

Agreed, and Utica kept me on pins and needles the whole episode long after I'd written her off -- I thought after the Bob Ross afro debacle, she was for sure not going to be up to it, and I am pretty sure the producers thought the same.

Also, I think this ep proved once and for all that Symone can basically wear the hell out of anything.

absolutely, but what made it especially exciting was her change from the initial apprehension to “i just have to go there and own it”

didn’t quite like how they were setting it up with the editing to make it look “omg are they going to do blackface?!”

symone and utica posted the pics of them wearing their own drag used in the swap and as expected both are gorgeous

Utica is so pure and I love her so much and this is giving me a boost of hope that she might go farther in this competition than I would have thought.

Also really loving how anyone’s-game it still is!! Looking at the last couple of seasons’ contestant progress it’s all very much “hm, yes, that seems about right”, I think they all fell into a very logical order, but honesty you could give me any elimination sequence at this point and as long as Symone was in the top I’d believe it.

Symone plus Gottmik seem locked in. The other spot or spots are up in the air.

symone, gottmik, rose would be my top 3. not sure who else would make top 4
it definitely feels wrong that there is still so many of them left!

wonder what the UK top 4/3 would look like if veronica green didn’t have to drop off.

I assume that Raven's still doing Ru's makeup, but I wish she'd stop contouring her nose into such a sharp Michael/Latoya Jackson blade.

The lie, where is it

I was aimlessly clicking around YouTube and stumbled on a video where someone describes Utica’s approach to conceptual drag as having very “Maureen from RENT vibes” and...I mean...I love her, but...they aren’t wrong.

— Alexander (@purplechrain) March 14, 2021

Yes I know the UK finale is here and I still haven't seen it so I'll be back on this thread later but in the meantime, a wonderful repurposing from the US end of things

*58 minutes into a 1-hour meeting*

"Well that's all I have for today. Happy to give you guys a few minutes back of your day!" pic.twitter.com/rIH3GIqGJB

— 4d hair advocate (@OfficiallyVex_) March 17, 2021

UK finale: okay, honestly surprised? In that the winner totally makes sense (and I love the choice for many reasons) but I thought someone else had been coming up big time over the last few episodes, so! I'll take that!

I was not at all happy with the winner. Alan Carr handwaving the inability to follow choreography highlighted to me how arbitrary and inconsistent the judging is on this show.

Ru will have an absolute shit fit next time he visits Glasgow and discovers that there's basically an entire city of people who talk just like that, and it's really not so special or hilarious.

I watch a lot of Drag Race via my wife without getting too involved in who wins, but the winner was a clear 3rd in my mind, and the runner up who won just seemed to be the complete package.

* the runner up who won

Someone upthread pointed out that Bimini clearly had a load of extra money invested in them by someone else during the break, while the others didn't and I wonder if that influenced the final decision.

except of course they're not actually from Glasgow, they're from Helensburgh which is far more posh and middle-class than their persona would have you believe. I can guarantee you that nobody from Glasgow Proper was having a tweed cape hand-sewed for them as child.

Ha ha, I didn't even know that. I just assumed they were from somewhere nice in the West End.

Tayce won the group challenge, the runway and the final lipsync imo and would have been a worthy winner. I wanted a Tayce win by the end. I really didn't like Bimini's final runway look and her lipsyncing in the group challenge was dreadful but I was expecting a win from BBB. Lawrence was quite clearly third.

i lol’d at sister sister’s trolling. did a’whora say anything about it at all or was she too busy serving sour grapes?
wish they spent more time on the reunion

As for US this week, well that’s a color scheme I don’t have to think about again.

I am really finding Gottmik very samey.

I haven’t paid extremely close attention to the RPDR fan base’s toxic contingent this season but after this week’s results I figured what the hell. Yup, not surprised by what I found.

Kandy Muse is the devil. Utica’s commercial was somehow better than Kandy’s. Olivia should’ve been sent home last week if not weeks before. And Utica’s runway was better than Symone’s.

Just crystal clear in its unabashed racism.

Good grief. (But not surprising, of course.)

Now that we're down to six I think three out of the four will be Symone, Gottmik and Rose. And I'm not sure about the fourth? I probably won't be until it happens.

yeah the diehard fan groups for RPDR have such awful toxic energy, its kinda gross

i am counting down to olivia going home
god i am so over her
she’s like Tony Curtis’s character in “The Great Race” at this point, minus the DING when she smiles

i wonder if Kandy could squeak into the 4?
the judges looooove her

Kinda hoping that!

that would be kinda cool

i go back and forth on her but she’s such a vibe

I don't necessarily have Rose pegged as a for-sure top 4 yet, but I'm hard pressed at this point to imagine what Utica or Olivia could do to take her spot. Kandy is, to me, kind of a slam dunk.

Meantime at least Drag Race Down Under will start off without anything causing controversy like Sherry Pie did or anything uh er wait hold on

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2021/mar/18/rupauls-drag-race-down-under-contestant-apologises-for-past-performances-in-blackface

yeeeeeep. Australia gonna Australia :(

i don't find kandy's drag to be all that strong, especially what she had last night - i thought she'd get read for it looking like a halloween costume. i don't see her being in the top 4, but then ru'll do what ru wants to do.

i thought rose did great last night - her look was stunning and her ad was the funniest of the bunch.

yeah I loved her runway look esp that makeup!

i also gotta say Tina kinda grew on me as we got to know her. Not so much her drag but her talent & personality. and it makes me wonder what she could have done if she had not been so in her head. Good candidate for an All Stars in future imo.

also I liked how Rose tried to talk to Tina about her critiques, not coming for her but trying to get her to see the bigger picture in a kind yet direct way.

also

is there a worse song in this world than “My Humps”? I havent heard it in so long & it still makes my skeleton want to leave my body.

i thought rose did great last night - her look was stunning and her ad was the funniest of the bunch.

"I'm not doing... that" is my new catchphrase.

also I liked how Rose tried to talk to Tina about her critiques

Slipping in an impromptu jingle in the process!

I do agree that Kandy's runway look was the worst of the night and, really, maybe among the worst of the season.

there is no way anybody will ever top lala ri’s bag dress

xp re: my lumps - exactly my reaction also, but i had to admit it made for a pretty good lipsync song

xp oh that's true

Olivia is like community theater level compared to the rest of the queens.

is there a worse song in this world than “My Humps”? I havent heard it in so long & it still makes my skeleton want to leave my body.

I actually don't thank you for reminding me of this. I literally had forgotten it was the lip sync song and now you have reminded me and I hate you.