Well, I thought that episode was great. It was quite a surprise to see all the old queens come back simultaneously to interact with the new queens, and it retrospectively changed a my opinion of a bunch of them. I think Ms. Kasha Davis showed more than she ever had during the competition, and it's a shame we didn't get to see more of this side of her. I also thought that Max showed himself to be a little....boring.? I still think he was eliminated too soon, but we may have seen the crest of the Max wave. I thought his and Violet's effort was a little ho-hum when a big win was needed. Of course, the big winner this week was Trixie Mattel...but we'll get to that.
8.) Jaidynn Diore Fierce (OUT)- I thought Jaidynn put in quite a good effort during this competition. She stuck around as long as she could have expected to, and knocked out a few good queens in the lip sync competitions. Her lack of imagination on the runway and her pairing with the awful Tempest DuJour finally did her in, however
7.) Miss Fame- Ru protects Miss Fame once again. This is the third week in a row that Miss Fame has placed in the bottom, and Miss Fame still hasn't been made to lip sync for his life. Her inane narcissistic banter is really starting to get on my nerves as well. It's time for Miss Fame to go. With Jaidynn's exit she is the only queen remaining who hasn't one a single challenge, and she hasn't really distinguished herself in any way.
6.) Violet Chachki- Violet is hanging in there and got high praise for his attitude adjustment from Ms. Kasha Davis. I've noticed the change too. However, I can't shake the feeling that Violet is slightly closer to being on the outs than making a big leap into the final three. While Violet has been pretty competent throughout the competition, she hasn't impressed since the very first week. Kennedy was correct to note that the corset thing is getting kind of tired. If that was Violet's big card to play, she should have saved it for the end when it could make an impact in the tough rounds, but, then again, maybe she doesn't have any other cards to play? That's my fear with Violet.
4.) (tie) Trixie Mattel- Trixie made quite the leap back into the competition, not only winning this challenge but one upping Pearl on the runway. Now that Trixie's back, she suddenly seems dangerous where she seem moribund at the time of her elimination. If Trixie can realize her promise as a genuine comedy queen, she'll be a definite threat to get into the top 3. Ginger has shown more talent than Trixie through this competition, but she's also shown signs that the pressure is getting to her a bit. A newly energized Trixie, with nothing to lose, could overtake Ginger in the comedy queen lane if Ginger isn't
4.) (tie) Pearl - Pearl has been spot on since out performing Trixie in their lip sync competition. Pearl has been one of the funnier queens since then, and her growth is reminiscent of Adore Delano last season. Unfortunately Pearl doesn't have the huge singing voice that Adore did, otherwise I think Pearl would already be in the top three. Before we can consider Pearl a serious contender, I think we need to see him nail something on his own.
3.) Ginger Minj- I'm kind of worried about Ginger. Her ability should make her a shoe in for the top three, but her flagging confidence threatens to put her out. I thought she was simply out of it for this competition. While Sasha Belle was one of the worst queens to be paired with, Ginger still should have been able to pull something decent off without getting rattled. I thought Ginger's effort was the worst of the queens. I think it was entirely her fear and self doubt that wrecked her and not her ability.
2.) Kennedy- In contrast to Ginger, Kennedy's best asset is her unflappability. It might just be all the pot. She seems to always be in control of the room. She showed confidence by pairing the queens in a way that way just rather than rawly strategic. Her talent and sense of humor is not quite up to Ginger's but she doesn't seem to get as easily discouraged or rattled.
1.) Katya- Katya is a weak number one, but she is the one I can most envision in the top three. After misremembering her lines in week 2, she hasn't taken a wrong step since, and seems to be the funniest queen in the competition. I thought her runway look this week was hilarious, and of a piece with her sense of humor. Katya's doesn't have Ginger's bawdy one-liners nor does she mug for the camera like Trixie. But Katya has a sense of the subtly hilarious that none of the other queens do. I think she is the most oroginal and, therefore, the favorite at this point.
Thursday, April 23, 2015
Friday, April 17, 2015
RuPaul's Drag Race Power Rankings (Week 7)
Wellity wellity wellity, this was certainly an eventful week. I will get to the shocking news in a paragraph or two, but there are two items of note that may be interesting to fans of Drag Race. First, RuPaul came out with an app call RuPaul's Drag Race Keyboard that allows you to insert Drag Race emoji's, stickers, and gifs into your texts. If you are friends with me in real life, look for these soon.
ALSO, I was on twitter and noticed an interesting tweet from Bianca Del Rio, last year's winner. In it, she calls Detox, a drag queen from Season 5, her "boo." Does this mean that Bianca and Detox are dating? I looked up "boo" on urban dictionary just to be sure my understanding of boo wasn't mistaken, and it appears that "boyfriend or girlfriend" is the primary definition. Interesting! I wish them the best of luck if this is true. They were both excellent competitors on Drag Race. Now, on to the rankings.
8.) Max (OUT?)- It's a travesty that Max was eliminated this week. You can defend Ru's decision on the margins, but by any consistent strain of logic either Jaidynn or Miss Fame deserved to go. Yes, Max was one of the two worst performers on the Snatch Game, a huge choke, but Miss Fame was quite a bit worse and deserved to be eliminated for his totally uninspired and boring performance. Miss Fame chose a character that Violet also chose, got his way by being able to play that character, and still totally whiffed. It appeared as if they put Jaidynn in the bottom two because of how weak she had been overall, because her Snatch Game performance was not one of the two worst. Yes, she only had one gimmick, but at least she had something. Neither Max nor Miss Fame had anything. So if Jaidynn was included in the bottom two, they had to be considering past performance as part of the judging equation. If that's so, then there's no way Max's strong performance deserved to land him in the bottom two.
Almost immediately after Max's shocking elimination came the announcement from Ru that she had prematurely ejected one the queens. It's clear to me that either Max or Trixie is coming back. Hopefully it is Max, as he is much more promising performer. However, I have a nagging feeling that it is Trixie we will see back. Max was portrayed as a sort of villain on the show recently, and if Ru wanted to keep Max around she could have taken the very easy step of simply eliminating Jaidynn Diore Fierce, which was the obvious move.
There's also a narrative in favor of Trixie: Ru saw how poorly the current cast did at Snatch Game and realized she needed the funny one back. Incidentally, I saw this tasteless but very funny video of Trixie auditioning with her Snatch Game character of Anne Frank . Ru mentioned on the show that Trixie's audition tape, which featured this Snatch Game character was among the funniest he has seen. Thus it makes sense that the Snatch Game was the venue for Ru's reconsideration.
7.) Miss Fame- I have to say, I think Ru is protecting Miss Fame. There is no universe in which Miss Fame didn't belong in the bottom two. The character choice was unoriginal and the execution was worse than that. Also, the scene between Miss Fame and Katya was clearly staged. Notice how the camera was perfectly set up for that scene and captured every moment of dialogue. There is no way that Katya would go to Miss Fame for advice, it's as ridiculous as various people going to the Cookie Monster as a life coach. I think we're being encourage to think of Miss Fame as deeper than she actually is, and so I'm moving her back to #7 as a bit of mild protest.
6.) Jaidynn Diore Fierce- The Raven Simone impersonation was not as bad as I thought it would be, but the runway look was very so-so. I hope Jaidynn can hold on for another week.
5.) Violet Chacki- Violet is just sort of hanging around, she fell into a surprisingly good Alyssa Edwards impression (I think her Donatella Versace would've landed her near the bottom) and continues to impress on the runway. Violet is beginning to remind me of the Rex Ryan Jets whenever they would play the Patriots. At first they seem completely overmatched, but then they just keep hanging around until you realize that, despite everything, the game is actually going their way. I would've thought that Violet would be on her way out by now based on her past performance, but here she is, and she may have an outside chance to make it into the top 3.
4.) Pearl- Pearl might be the one who benefited the most from Max's unceremonious ejection. Now she just has to upset one of the top three to get into the finals. She had a strong week. Her performance in Snatch Game was excellent and her runway look was very good. Kennedy and Ginger have been consistent performers, and I think the world of Katya, but Pearl might have a higher ceiling than all of them. Pearl continues to be the most intriguing one of the bunch.
3.) Katya- I thought her Suze Orman was good but a little disappointing. Her runway look was excellent though. Of all the queens, I'm probably rooting for her the most.
2.) Kennedy- Little Richard was a gamble that improbably paid off. And she has been a good performer all along, although not as consistent as.....
1.) Ginger Minj- Ginger was clearly the best in Snatch Game with her hilarious Adele impression. I'm not even sure why she had to share it with Kennedy. With Max gone this race is Ginger's to lose. Whatever you do, Ginger, don't fuck it up!
ALSO, I was on twitter and noticed an interesting tweet from Bianca Del Rio, last year's winner. In it, she calls Detox, a drag queen from Season 5, her "boo." Does this mean that Bianca and Detox are dating? I looked up "boo" on urban dictionary just to be sure my understanding of boo wasn't mistaken, and it appears that "boyfriend or girlfriend" is the primary definition. Interesting! I wish them the best of luck if this is true. They were both excellent competitors on Drag Race. Now, on to the rankings.
8.) Max (OUT?)- It's a travesty that Max was eliminated this week. You can defend Ru's decision on the margins, but by any consistent strain of logic either Jaidynn or Miss Fame deserved to go. Yes, Max was one of the two worst performers on the Snatch Game, a huge choke, but Miss Fame was quite a bit worse and deserved to be eliminated for his totally uninspired and boring performance. Miss Fame chose a character that Violet also chose, got his way by being able to play that character, and still totally whiffed. It appeared as if they put Jaidynn in the bottom two because of how weak she had been overall, because her Snatch Game performance was not one of the two worst. Yes, she only had one gimmick, but at least she had something. Neither Max nor Miss Fame had anything. So if Jaidynn was included in the bottom two, they had to be considering past performance as part of the judging equation. If that's so, then there's no way Max's strong performance deserved to land him in the bottom two.
Almost immediately after Max's shocking elimination came the announcement from Ru that she had prematurely ejected one the queens. It's clear to me that either Max or Trixie is coming back. Hopefully it is Max, as he is much more promising performer. However, I have a nagging feeling that it is Trixie we will see back. Max was portrayed as a sort of villain on the show recently, and if Ru wanted to keep Max around she could have taken the very easy step of simply eliminating Jaidynn Diore Fierce, which was the obvious move.
There's also a narrative in favor of Trixie: Ru saw how poorly the current cast did at Snatch Game and realized she needed the funny one back. Incidentally, I saw this tasteless but very funny video of Trixie auditioning with her Snatch Game character of Anne Frank . Ru mentioned on the show that Trixie's audition tape, which featured this Snatch Game character was among the funniest he has seen. Thus it makes sense that the Snatch Game was the venue for Ru's reconsideration.
7.) Miss Fame- I have to say, I think Ru is protecting Miss Fame. There is no universe in which Miss Fame didn't belong in the bottom two. The character choice was unoriginal and the execution was worse than that. Also, the scene between Miss Fame and Katya was clearly staged. Notice how the camera was perfectly set up for that scene and captured every moment of dialogue. There is no way that Katya would go to Miss Fame for advice, it's as ridiculous as various people going to the Cookie Monster as a life coach. I think we're being encourage to think of Miss Fame as deeper than she actually is, and so I'm moving her back to #7 as a bit of mild protest.
6.) Jaidynn Diore Fierce- The Raven Simone impersonation was not as bad as I thought it would be, but the runway look was very so-so. I hope Jaidynn can hold on for another week.
5.) Violet Chacki- Violet is just sort of hanging around, she fell into a surprisingly good Alyssa Edwards impression (I think her Donatella Versace would've landed her near the bottom) and continues to impress on the runway. Violet is beginning to remind me of the Rex Ryan Jets whenever they would play the Patriots. At first they seem completely overmatched, but then they just keep hanging around until you realize that, despite everything, the game is actually going their way. I would've thought that Violet would be on her way out by now based on her past performance, but here she is, and she may have an outside chance to make it into the top 3.
4.) Pearl- Pearl might be the one who benefited the most from Max's unceremonious ejection. Now she just has to upset one of the top three to get into the finals. She had a strong week. Her performance in Snatch Game was excellent and her runway look was very good. Kennedy and Ginger have been consistent performers, and I think the world of Katya, but Pearl might have a higher ceiling than all of them. Pearl continues to be the most intriguing one of the bunch.
3.) Katya- I thought her Suze Orman was good but a little disappointing. Her runway look was excellent though. Of all the queens, I'm probably rooting for her the most.
2.) Kennedy- Little Richard was a gamble that improbably paid off. And she has been a good performer all along, although not as consistent as.....
1.) Ginger Minj- Ginger was clearly the best in Snatch Game with her hilarious Adele impression. I'm not even sure why she had to share it with Kennedy. With Max gone this race is Ginger's to lose. Whatever you do, Ginger, don't fuck it up!
Thursday, April 09, 2015
Ru Paul's Drag Race Power Rankings (Week 6)
Well no Snatch Game this week. I officially give up predicting which episodes come next! Anyway, speaking of predictions, I hope that the readers of this blog noticed that the bottom three in the challenge this week exactly matched my bottom three after last week's episode, and the top three matched positions 2-4 with Max being stuck on an island by himself (more on that later). I hope this convinces skeptical readers that this blog means business!
This week's challenge was an interesting one and I found the whole show and the Untucked episode to be really entertaining. I feel like this season is really starting to hit its stride, and my job is becoming easier, as the stratifications of the drag queens are becoming clearer and clearer.
9.) Kandy Ho (OUT)- Kandy Ho made it easy this week: a lousy performance, the return of the beard contour, and kind of a crappy attitude to boot. She put up a good fight in Lip Synch, but Pearl was right to reassure Jaidynn. There was no way they were keeping Kandy on the show after sleepwalking through these last few weeks.
8.) Jaidynn Diore Fierce- Kennedy must have gone forward in time and read my critique of Jaidynn from last week, because she and I have similar thoughts. Jaidynn seems way too self-conscious to succeed. Her Ru performance was not great, and the judge's (unjustified, in my mind) critique of her outfit appeared to destroy whatever confidence she had. I feel bad for Jaidynn, there's a scared look in her eyes all the time that must stem from her terrible home life. She's dependent on a family that totally rejects who she is.
I must say that I am getting increasingly impatient with families that refuse to even meet their children half-way on these matters. I suppose it is Jaidynn's responsibility to fully come out to her family, but, for God's sake, she is open to them about being a drag performer, and yet these people continue to torture her by suggesting that one day she will marry a woman. There's a lot of baloney that goes around about how "your family is all you have" that people like Jaidynn internalize. Your biological family is not all you have. And I don't know why we should have to indulge these people if they refuse to accept who you are. Does Jaidynn have this obligation to have a fraught conversation with her family that is clearly going to go poorly? I don't think so. I think at some point you have a right to walk away.
7.) Miss Fame- God, what a fucking idiot. And the mother too. Could you imagine being in a relationship with either of these people? The circular conversations and arguments that go nowhere. The many simple concepts you would have to explain. The inane stories from the 12-step program. I suppose the sex would be good, but, then again, I'm not certain someone called "Miss Fame" would be entirely concerned with your pleasure. While I'm putting her a little higher up, I sincerely hope Jaidynn beats out Miss Fame in this competition. I actually like Jaidynn.
6.) Violet Chachki- The most impressive thing about Violet this week was clearly that corset. I actually gasped when I saw his grapefruit sized waist. Violet is still the same externalizing bitch she's been throughout this competition. It would work if she was blowing everyone away, but she isn't.
5.) Pearl- No change this week, although Pearl is heating up rather than fading away. She managed to garner praise despite having to improvise with her death costume. And her performance in the nonsensical "Ru's Point of View" skit was quite good. Some other queens seem fed up with Pearl's attitude, but I think they mistake theatrics for effort. It's clear that Pearl is trying to make it on this show, and that she is succeeding. It's just that she doesn't feel the need to constantly remind to everyone that she is working hard.
4.) Kennedy- Kennedy had an unmentioned but great impression of Ru in her skit, but her runway look was insane. The story that she put in to explain in sounded like a long origin story you'd hear at the beginning of one of those dark Saturday morning cartoons in the 80s. I'm holding her here at the bottom of the non-Max top 3.
3.) Ginger Minj- Ginger did well, but I feel like she's beginning to suffer from the Darienne Lake syndrome. There is a creeping externalizing bitterness that is slipping in to her performance, and I don't like it. Ginger is very funny, but she did not deserve to win that challenge. Her runway look was in the same genre as Katya's but not has clever. She was hammier than Katya in the sketch but she was not as funny. She is in the game but if she starts to believe she is being persecuted she won't reach her potential.
2.) Katya- The shark attack runway look was the best, and I loved her performance in the sketch. Katya and Max have the most intelligent eyes in the competition. They are the only two thus far that don't seem to be caught up in the bullshit drama. They both have different approaches to it, though. Katya, slyly observes, whereas Max seems to be able to sit back and push buttons.
1.) Max- I have to say, I don't like Michelle Visage as an assessor of talent on Drag Race. She has a lot of chemistry with Ru, but she gets hung up on odd things during the season, only to drop them at some arbitrary point. Two seasons ago she thought Jinx Monsoon was sloppy until, all of a sudden, he wasn't and steamrolled the competition. Last year, she harangued Adore Delano over some small issue until she decided not to. Now she is apparently fixated on Max's gray wig. I don't know why. The gray wig is a great signature, and I would hardly describe the rest of Max's work as unoriginal.
Ginger commented that Max appears to think he is on "easy street." That is because he is. He is clearly the class thus far, and, outside of Katya, is several IQ points above the rest of the queens. In Untucked, we saw Max subtly manipulate the room into a few fights, pitting the rest of the queens against Ginger and Kennedy, two of her main rivals for the final show. In every challenge, thus far we've seen him push whatever queen he was paired with to a good performance. He is the perfect combination of deviousness and talent, and is thus, the favorite.
This week's challenge was an interesting one and I found the whole show and the Untucked episode to be really entertaining. I feel like this season is really starting to hit its stride, and my job is becoming easier, as the stratifications of the drag queens are becoming clearer and clearer.
9.) Kandy Ho (OUT)- Kandy Ho made it easy this week: a lousy performance, the return of the beard contour, and kind of a crappy attitude to boot. She put up a good fight in Lip Synch, but Pearl was right to reassure Jaidynn. There was no way they were keeping Kandy on the show after sleepwalking through these last few weeks.
8.) Jaidynn Diore Fierce- Kennedy must have gone forward in time and read my critique of Jaidynn from last week, because she and I have similar thoughts. Jaidynn seems way too self-conscious to succeed. Her Ru performance was not great, and the judge's (unjustified, in my mind) critique of her outfit appeared to destroy whatever confidence she had. I feel bad for Jaidynn, there's a scared look in her eyes all the time that must stem from her terrible home life. She's dependent on a family that totally rejects who she is.
I must say that I am getting increasingly impatient with families that refuse to even meet their children half-way on these matters. I suppose it is Jaidynn's responsibility to fully come out to her family, but, for God's sake, she is open to them about being a drag performer, and yet these people continue to torture her by suggesting that one day she will marry a woman. There's a lot of baloney that goes around about how "your family is all you have" that people like Jaidynn internalize. Your biological family is not all you have. And I don't know why we should have to indulge these people if they refuse to accept who you are. Does Jaidynn have this obligation to have a fraught conversation with her family that is clearly going to go poorly? I don't think so. I think at some point you have a right to walk away.
7.) Miss Fame- God, what a fucking idiot. And the mother too. Could you imagine being in a relationship with either of these people? The circular conversations and arguments that go nowhere. The many simple concepts you would have to explain. The inane stories from the 12-step program. I suppose the sex would be good, but, then again, I'm not certain someone called "Miss Fame" would be entirely concerned with your pleasure. While I'm putting her a little higher up, I sincerely hope Jaidynn beats out Miss Fame in this competition. I actually like Jaidynn.
6.) Violet Chachki- The most impressive thing about Violet this week was clearly that corset. I actually gasped when I saw his grapefruit sized waist. Violet is still the same externalizing bitch she's been throughout this competition. It would work if she was blowing everyone away, but she isn't.
5.) Pearl- No change this week, although Pearl is heating up rather than fading away. She managed to garner praise despite having to improvise with her death costume. And her performance in the nonsensical "Ru's Point of View" skit was quite good. Some other queens seem fed up with Pearl's attitude, but I think they mistake theatrics for effort. It's clear that Pearl is trying to make it on this show, and that she is succeeding. It's just that she doesn't feel the need to constantly remind to everyone that she is working hard.
4.) Kennedy- Kennedy had an unmentioned but great impression of Ru in her skit, but her runway look was insane. The story that she put in to explain in sounded like a long origin story you'd hear at the beginning of one of those dark Saturday morning cartoons in the 80s. I'm holding her here at the bottom of the non-Max top 3.
3.) Ginger Minj- Ginger did well, but I feel like she's beginning to suffer from the Darienne Lake syndrome. There is a creeping externalizing bitterness that is slipping in to her performance, and I don't like it. Ginger is very funny, but she did not deserve to win that challenge. Her runway look was in the same genre as Katya's but not has clever. She was hammier than Katya in the sketch but she was not as funny. She is in the game but if she starts to believe she is being persecuted she won't reach her potential.
2.) Katya- The shark attack runway look was the best, and I loved her performance in the sketch. Katya and Max have the most intelligent eyes in the competition. They are the only two thus far that don't seem to be caught up in the bullshit drama. They both have different approaches to it, though. Katya, slyly observes, whereas Max seems to be able to sit back and push buttons.
1.) Max- I have to say, I don't like Michelle Visage as an assessor of talent on Drag Race. She has a lot of chemistry with Ru, but she gets hung up on odd things during the season, only to drop them at some arbitrary point. Two seasons ago she thought Jinx Monsoon was sloppy until, all of a sudden, he wasn't and steamrolled the competition. Last year, she harangued Adore Delano over some small issue until she decided not to. Now she is apparently fixated on Max's gray wig. I don't know why. The gray wig is a great signature, and I would hardly describe the rest of Max's work as unoriginal.
Ginger commented that Max appears to think he is on "easy street." That is because he is. He is clearly the class thus far, and, outside of Katya, is several IQ points above the rest of the queens. In Untucked, we saw Max subtly manipulate the room into a few fights, pitting the rest of the queens against Ginger and Kennedy, two of her main rivals for the final show. In every challenge, thus far we've seen him push whatever queen he was paired with to a good performance. He is the perfect combination of deviousness and talent, and is thus, the favorite.
Friday, April 03, 2015
Ru Paul's Drag Race Power Ranking (Episode 5)
Well I wrong about this week being the Snatch Game episode. I guess Ru decided to hold it off for another week. I wonder if Ru decided that perhaps this years players were as deep improvisationally as last year and so they couldn't be trusted with a 10 person Snatch Game. I had the chance to check back in on last year's Snatch Game and it was more excellent than I had remembered. Bianca, Ben, and Adore were all very strong and there were good supporting turns put in by the other queens. Of this year's queens, I think Ginger, Katya, and Kennedy will all have a chance to be strong in the Snatch Game. Max and Pearl are wild cards, Max will succeed if he chooses the right character, while Pearl will succeed if she raids Jessie Spano's drug cabinet. I think Miss Fame and Violet will both be in trouble.
In news from this week, I got the chance for the first time to watch Untucked, and I think it will be mandatory viewing from now on. As you will see the show confirmed some opinions I had and shed a new light on some other queens. On to the rankings:
10.) (OUT) Mrs. Kasha Davis (-1)- No one likes a bitter old queen, Mrs. Kasha. Kasha seems to mistake gay theatrics for people actually giving up, which no one did. On Untucked, with all his "at least I tried" nonsense I thought he was going to launch into a live reading of Bill Clinton's 2006 smackdown of Chris Wallace. Mrs. Kasha may have been trying but the bottom line is that she wasn't very exciting. I probably would have sent home Kandy Ho before her, but it was not history's greatest injustice.
9.) Kandy Ho (+1)- Hey ho, Kandy Ho has got to go. Kandy is boring, unpolished, and not in the same league as the rest of the Queens. Even Jadyn Diore Fierce has shown flashes of talent in a mostly undistinguished run. Kandy has conspicuously avoided any excitement. I read a book this past week that discussed the possibility of multiverses where, in worlds slightly different than our own, the many quantum possibilities played out. Well, for the next 8 queens, I can imagine there is some Universe out there where they win Drag Race. Not so, for Miss Kandy Ho, however.
8.) Jadyn Diore Fierce (No Change)- I wish Jadyn would stop counting herself out. I have found her not totally unpleasant, and I think she could be funny if she had some confidence and the courage to work on it. This week she got totally steamrolled by Kennedy, whose performance on Untucked revealed her to be extremely ambitious and, above all, Aware. Jadyn seems to have the old "Deer In the Headlights" look to her. She's too starstruck to realize that she is a star.
7.) Miss Fame (No Change)- I'm sorry but I just don't think there's much depth to Miss Fame. "He's got no bottom" as Margaret Thatcher might say of him (now wouldn't she be a hilarious viewing companion for Drag Race?). Miss Fame is pretty but in a very conventional way. She doesn't ooze sexuality like Pearl or Violet, and she doesn't seem to have much to say. His freakout at Ginger's husband's phone call was strange and possibly condescending (OMG IF THE UGLY ONE CAN GET LOVE....THATS...THATS...INCREDIBLE!!!). She doesn't seem to have a sense of humor, and doesn't have any avant garde fashion sense to make up for that deficit.
6.) Violet Chachki (-2)- Violet does have a bit of daring to her, and I like that she's the bitch, but she seems so young and so Over It. She has promise, like Adore in the early episodes of last year, but she doesn't have Adore's eagerness or her kindness. I do think you have to have a bit of kindness to you to succeed at Drag Race. It's a humanizing quality and it allows you to be receptive to criticism. Violet just seems like she's too good, yet not quite good enough for every challenge.
5.) Pearl (+1)- Ah Pearl, perhaps the show's greatest enigma, and thus, the most intriguing character this year. I could see Pearl bottoming out next week or going on to win the whole thing. Whither Pearl? I'm excited to see what she does in the Snatch Game, because we saw she secretly does have some talent at mimicry. But why didn't we see that before? Maybe her withholding is subconscious strategy, an art learned to create the greatest possible intrigue. We all love a mystery.
4.) Ginger Minj(-2)- A drop for Ginger this week, and I can't fully explain it. It has something to do with the fact that she spent $5,000 for that hideous dowdy skirt. It also has something to do with the fact that she didn't quite connect with the challenge this week as I would have liked. I couldn't quite justify putting her above the queens ahead of her.
3.) Kennedy Davenport(No Change)- One look at Kennedy in Untucked solidified her character in my mind. She was standing up, with perfect posture, holding a drink, nervously looking around, and dispensing advice. She's in it to win, and she thinks she has the talent to do so. It was hilarious that she brushed aside all of Jadyn's suggestions and went with her personal vision for the challenge. I like that. It shows confidence and competence. I also think there's a little bit of Machiavelli in Kennedy, which will help her as the show goes along.
2.) Katya(+3)- I know! I can't believe Katya ended up this high either, but Katya is fast becoming my favorite. Katya's eyes belie an intelligence that has its equal only in Max. His opening was a bit of a clunker, but the acceptance speech was very good. I also have to emphasize that we still haven't seen the schtick that got him here. Here's hoping we see it in Snatch Game.
1.) Max(No Change)- Max thinks he has this thing in the bag, that much became very clear after watching Untucked. Max treats the other queens like wayward children who don't seem to have their heads fully screwed on. Incredibly the other queens take this treatment not with indignation, but with friendliness. That tells me that they believe it too, at some level. Max is only 22, the same age as Violet, incredibly, but he seems to be working on a different level. I think if Pearl had dropped out, Max would have been able to win that challenge by himself. But Pearl did show up, and Max brought out the best in him. At this point Max is the clear favorite.
In news from this week, I got the chance for the first time to watch Untucked, and I think it will be mandatory viewing from now on. As you will see the show confirmed some opinions I had and shed a new light on some other queens. On to the rankings:
10.) (OUT) Mrs. Kasha Davis (-1)- No one likes a bitter old queen, Mrs. Kasha. Kasha seems to mistake gay theatrics for people actually giving up, which no one did. On Untucked, with all his "at least I tried" nonsense I thought he was going to launch into a live reading of Bill Clinton's 2006 smackdown of Chris Wallace. Mrs. Kasha may have been trying but the bottom line is that she wasn't very exciting. I probably would have sent home Kandy Ho before her, but it was not history's greatest injustice.
9.) Kandy Ho (+1)- Hey ho, Kandy Ho has got to go. Kandy is boring, unpolished, and not in the same league as the rest of the Queens. Even Jadyn Diore Fierce has shown flashes of talent in a mostly undistinguished run. Kandy has conspicuously avoided any excitement. I read a book this past week that discussed the possibility of multiverses where, in worlds slightly different than our own, the many quantum possibilities played out. Well, for the next 8 queens, I can imagine there is some Universe out there where they win Drag Race. Not so, for Miss Kandy Ho, however.
8.) Jadyn Diore Fierce (No Change)- I wish Jadyn would stop counting herself out. I have found her not totally unpleasant, and I think she could be funny if she had some confidence and the courage to work on it. This week she got totally steamrolled by Kennedy, whose performance on Untucked revealed her to be extremely ambitious and, above all, Aware. Jadyn seems to have the old "Deer In the Headlights" look to her. She's too starstruck to realize that she is a star.
7.) Miss Fame (No Change)- I'm sorry but I just don't think there's much depth to Miss Fame. "He's got no bottom" as Margaret Thatcher might say of him (now wouldn't she be a hilarious viewing companion for Drag Race?). Miss Fame is pretty but in a very conventional way. She doesn't ooze sexuality like Pearl or Violet, and she doesn't seem to have much to say. His freakout at Ginger's husband's phone call was strange and possibly condescending (OMG IF THE UGLY ONE CAN GET LOVE....THATS...THATS...INCREDIBLE!!!). She doesn't seem to have a sense of humor, and doesn't have any avant garde fashion sense to make up for that deficit.
6.) Violet Chachki (-2)- Violet does have a bit of daring to her, and I like that she's the bitch, but she seems so young and so Over It. She has promise, like Adore in the early episodes of last year, but she doesn't have Adore's eagerness or her kindness. I do think you have to have a bit of kindness to you to succeed at Drag Race. It's a humanizing quality and it allows you to be receptive to criticism. Violet just seems like she's too good, yet not quite good enough for every challenge.
5.) Pearl (+1)- Ah Pearl, perhaps the show's greatest enigma, and thus, the most intriguing character this year. I could see Pearl bottoming out next week or going on to win the whole thing. Whither Pearl? I'm excited to see what she does in the Snatch Game, because we saw she secretly does have some talent at mimicry. But why didn't we see that before? Maybe her withholding is subconscious strategy, an art learned to create the greatest possible intrigue. We all love a mystery.
4.) Ginger Minj(-2)- A drop for Ginger this week, and I can't fully explain it. It has something to do with the fact that she spent $5,000 for that hideous dowdy skirt. It also has something to do with the fact that she didn't quite connect with the challenge this week as I would have liked. I couldn't quite justify putting her above the queens ahead of her.
3.) Kennedy Davenport(No Change)- One look at Kennedy in Untucked solidified her character in my mind. She was standing up, with perfect posture, holding a drink, nervously looking around, and dispensing advice. She's in it to win, and she thinks she has the talent to do so. It was hilarious that she brushed aside all of Jadyn's suggestions and went with her personal vision for the challenge. I like that. It shows confidence and competence. I also think there's a little bit of Machiavelli in Kennedy, which will help her as the show goes along.
2.) Katya(+3)- I know! I can't believe Katya ended up this high either, but Katya is fast becoming my favorite. Katya's eyes belie an intelligence that has its equal only in Max. His opening was a bit of a clunker, but the acceptance speech was very good. I also have to emphasize that we still haven't seen the schtick that got him here. Here's hoping we see it in Snatch Game.
1.) Max(No Change)- Max thinks he has this thing in the bag, that much became very clear after watching Untucked. Max treats the other queens like wayward children who don't seem to have their heads fully screwed on. Incredibly the other queens take this treatment not with indignation, but with friendliness. That tells me that they believe it too, at some level. Max is only 22, the same age as Violet, incredibly, but he seems to be working on a different level. I think if Pearl had dropped out, Max would have been able to win that challenge by himself. But Pearl did show up, and Max brought out the best in him. At this point Max is the clear favorite.
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