Month: January 2021

RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 13 Episode 5: A Recap

This week, the queens must serve three different looks in a Ball challenge related to bags.

Last week on RuPaul’s Drag Race, we (finally, but sadly) said goodbye to our Mackie Doll, Kahmora Hall.

For this week’s mini challenge, the queens need to shake, rattle, and roll in quick drag for “Baby Got Back.” This mini challenge was definitely a little interesting — seeing these queens dressed up as babies was something I could have gone without seeing. LaLa Ri is declared the winner of this week’s mini challenge.

For this week’s maxi challenge, the queens need to bring three looks to the runway: Mixed Bag, a punny look that includes the word “bag” in its description, Money Bags, a boss bitch look that says, “I own everything,” and a look made entirely out of bags (grocery bags, garbage bags, duffel bags, etc).

Rosé, who calls Kandy, Symone and LaLa Ri the “bald brigade,” mentions those three don’t know how to sew, so the chances of them doing well this week aren’t very high. Kandy is thinking of creating a “hoe-y” first day of college look with backpacks, while Utica is being a total sweetheart helping LaLa Ri thread her sewing machine. Symone seems very lost, and it’s clear her lack of sewing knowledge is impacting her confidence. LaLa Ri instead takes the hot glue route, and starts hot gluing mini party favour bags onto a bodysuit. However, things start to go south when she realizes there aren’t enough bags to cover her entire body.

RuPaul visits the queens in the werkroom to get an idea of who knows what they’re doing, and who doesn’t. Kandy promises the judges they won’t see any undergarments this time around, and RuPaul tells Symone not to listen to his inner saboteur despite not being able to sew. Gottmik mentions he went to FIDM before Drag Race, but hasn’t practiced his sewing skills in quite some time since. Utica makes costumes professionally for aerialists and fire dancers, so things are looking high (ha — get it?). Joey and LaLa Ri seem hopeful, but not confident — aka they aren’t confident at all, so we’ll have to see how it goes for them.

Before leaving the werkroom, RuPaul lets the queens know they have to accessorize their looks with a COACH Create tabby bag — OKAY, BUDGET!

On elimination day, Gottmik is feeling confident he’s going to win, but Kandy is questioning Joey’s taste level due to his costume being a bit of a mess. The queens also have an emotional talk about the Black Lives Matter protests, which is extremely moving. LaLa Ri gets emotional in his confessional, and I would be lying if I said I wasn’t hurting for him.

On the main stage, RuPaul is joined by judges Michelle Visage, Carson Kressley, and this week’s extra-special guest judge (again!) Nicole Byer.

For Mixed Bags, Denali is dressed as a crash test dummy, Joey is wearing a rhinestoned bodysuit with poison ivy leaves while carrying an IV bag, LaLa Ri is wearing a black bodycon dress with various human bones (obviously fake) attached to it, Elliott is a bright blue gift bag, Tamisha is giving us grandma (literally, she made herself look like an old lady) chic in a white pant suit, Symone is wearing a velvet, sparkly bodycon dress with balloons as breasts which she pops with a needle right before she exits, Olivia is dressed as a wrestler, which looks similar to Symone’s “Lamé, You Stay” runway, Gottmik went gruesome with a human body parts bodysuit and body bag, Rosé is paying homage to her Scottish heritage with a kilt dress and bag pipes on the back, Tina is a paper bag from the liquor store, Kandy is giving us latex realness while carrying a “magic bag,” which she pulls a baseball bat out of, and Utica is giving us poodle realness.

For Money Bags, Denali is giving us a Cruella de Vil as an Editor-in-Chief of a fashion magazine fantasy look, Joey is giving us an Annie Lenox moment in a red blazer with black latex pants, Elliott is wearing a red monochrome over structured blazer with a pencil skirt, Tamisha looks classy and as if she’s on her way to fire someone, Symone looks like a “futuristic rich lady” in a pink pantsuit, Olivia is wearing a blue pantsuit with a cape, Gottmik has a pinstriped suit with one (sparkly) bra cup exposed, Rosé is serving 80s business chic in reference to the 1988 movie Big Business, Tina is giving us a complete houndstooth fantasy, Kandy has a wig made out of dollar bills with a hoe-y pink two-piece, and Utica is giving us executive realness in a black, fitted suit and oversized jewelry.

For 100% Bag Drag, Denali is giving us a fashionable twist on a traditional Mexican garment made out of floral-print purses, Joey is mixing Madonna, Lady Gaga and Minnie Mouse made from white-polka dot canvas bags, black net bags, and black sequin bags, LaLa Ri, on the other hand, has an extremely messy and practically falling apart bodysuit constructed with mini party favour bags, Elliott made a pink cow-print two-piece and overcoat out of a bean bag, Tamisha is wearing an interesting (and not in a good way) sparkly dress, Symone is wearing a vintage-inspired red and white two-piece with an extra-long pony tail, Olivia is wearing a green, gladiator two-piece crafted from holographic bags, Gottmik went with a futuristic look made from backpack straps and silver drawstring bags, Rosé is spinning down the runway in another futuristic, femme fatale robot look, Tina is wearing red yet again (I’m over it, Tina!), made from a bean bag, Kandy has a tube top and mini skirt made from JanSport backpacks, and Utica totally gagged the judges with a campy look made entirely from sleeping bags.

This was my reaction after seeing some of these “100% Bag Drag” looks (I’m looking at you, LaLa Ri):

The queens that are declared safe this week are Denali Foxx, Elliott with 2 Ts, Symone, Olivia Lux, Tina Burner, and Kandy Muse. While the safe queens exit the stage to untuck, the judges critique the top and bottom queens: Joey Jay, Tamisha Iman, Gottmik, Rosé, and Utica Queen.

Joey’s “Mixed Bags” look confused the judges because she made an accidental 2-in-1 pun, while Michelle noted she’s definitely seen worse for her “100% Bag Drag” look. The judges enjoyed LaLa Ri’s “Money Bags” look, but they clocked her for her disastrous “100% Bag Drag” look. Tamisha’s “Money Bags” look was too ‘real life’ and not theatrical enough, and her “100% Bag Drag” had a few elements that the judges could have done without. Michelle also made a comment that she needs to improve on blending her makeup and suggested she speak to some of the other queens who are extremely talented with makeup (cough cough, Gottmik). Speaking of Gottmik, her fashion school education clearly worked in her favour, because she was praised for all three of her runway looks. Rosé also received positive critiques with few minor suggestions, and Utica received extremely positive critiques left and right — I’m going to assume Utica will likely be snatching the win this week!

While the top and bottom queens exit the stage to untuck, the judges deliberate to decide the winner and bottom two of the week. After deliberations, the rankings this week are as follows:

Gottmik – WINNER

Utica Queen – HIGH (clearly my assumption was wrong).

Rosé – SAFE

Tamisha Iman – LOW

Joey Jay – BOTTOM TWO

LaLa Ri – BOTTOM TWO

Joey and LaLa Ri face off in a lip sync for your life to “Fancy” by Iggy Azalea ft. Charli XCX. Both queens are definitely serving it, and it could likely go either way. However, the judges and queens (and me, too!) are absolutely living for LaLa Ri’s interpretation of the song.

LaLa Ri is declared the winner of this week’s lip sync, which means we are unfortunately saying goodbye to our queen Joey Jay. We’ll miss you, Joey!

What did you think of this week’s episode? Let me know in the comments below!

Ta-ta for now!

x

Why We Need To Work On Making PrEP More Accessible

Manitoba has work to do on protecting those who are at risk for HIV.

Please note: this post discusses PrEP in Manitoba, Canada. What may be discussed here may not apply to you if you live elsewhere.

If you’re one of the at-risk groups for contracting HIV (human immunodeficiency virus), then you’ve probably heard of something called PrEP (Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis).

Before we dive into what exactly PrEP is, let’s talk about who it can benefit:

According to HIV.gov, PrEP may benefit if you if you are HIV-negative and any one of the following apply to you:

You are a gay/bisexual man, and you:

  • have an HIV-positive partner
  • have multiple partners, a partner with multiple partners, or a partner whose HIV status is unknown–and you also:
    • have anal sex without a condom, or
    • recently had a sexually transmitted infection (STI)

You are a heterosexual male or female, and you:

  • have an HIV-positive partner
  • have multiple partners, a partner with multiple partners, or a partner whose HIV status is unknown–and you also:
    • don’t always use a condom for sex with people who inject drugs, or
    • don’t always use a condom for sex with bisexual men

You inject drugs, and you:

  • share needles or equipment to inject drugs
  • are at risk for getting HIV from sex

As you can clearly tell, PrEP isn’t just for men who identify as gay or bisexual. While HIV more commonly affects this particular group, we shouldn’t be singled out. This means PrEP can be used by so many people who can benefit from it — so why do we make it so inaccessible?

Before I continue, let’s break down what exactly PrEP is:

PrEP is an HIV prevention method, in which people who are HIV-negative take HIV medicine daily to prevent contracting the virus. If you are in one of the at-risk groups I listed above, PrEP can significantly reduce your chance of contracting HIV by 99%.

99% sounds pretty great, doesn’t it? I agree.

Now here’s the problem: do you have an extra $250-$1000 a month to shell out?

If you answered yes, then congratulations! Go get yourself some PrEP.

If you’re like me, and you answered no, then that’s exactly why the inaccessibility of PrEP is such a huge problem.

Tenofovir/Emtricitabine (Truvada), which is the most common brand used for PrEP, is not an eligible benefit covered under Manitoba Pharmacare.

But guess what?

Manitoba is the only province in Canada that doesn’t provide coverage for PrEP.

If that doesn’t upset you, then quite frankly, I don’t know what will.

Unless you have a third-party or private insurance company who may offer coverage for PrEP, even then, it’s not a guarantee.

So, I ask this question again: why are we making PrEP inaccessible for Manitobans who may need it the most?

As a province, we need to do better, and we need to take care of our community.

And taking care of our community doesn’t mean picking and choosing who we think deserves to live, and who we think deserves to die.

Let’s take this into consideration: In 2019, there were 121 new cases of HIV in Manitoba.

That may seem like a low number to you, but that’s because you don’t have HIV.

Those are 121 people who could have had a chance at still being HIV-negative today.

But now? It’s something they have to live with for the rest of their life.

As a gay man, I don’t feel comfortable having sex with a stranger, because how do I know if they’re HIV-positive? Sure, they can say no. But when was their last test? Do they have proof of being HIV-negative?

It sure sounds a little weird to ask someone for their STI panel before you have sex with them, doesn’t it?

We can take that worry away by making PrEP covered under Manitoba Pharmacare.

But is anyone putting in the work to make it more accessible?

I believe that Manitoba should step up and cover PrEP under their provincial healthcare plan. If we can save even a few lives every single year, then those are still live’s worth saving.

Even though you may not know someone living with HIV, those who do are someone’s friend, brother, sister, mother, father, grandmother, or grandfather.

You aren’t safe from HIV either.

Please use your voice to make PrEP more accessible.

If you want to learn more about PrEP, here are some helpful resources below:

Nine Circles Community Health Centre – PrEP information for healthcare providers

Manitoba 2019 HIV statistical update

CATIE (Canadian AIDS Treatment Information Exchange) – PrEP access and coverage

RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 13 Episode 4 recap: Which queen was finally sent home?

The queens act in cheesy movies for the “RuPaulmark” channel. One of the queens is finally sent home.

DISCLAIMER: This post discusses spoilers from RuPaul’s Drag Race season 13, episode 4. If you haven’t seen the episode yet, don’t say we didn’t warn ya!

Another week, another episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race, baby!

We start the episode off with the winning group of queens waiting for the Porkchop queens in the werkroom. Elliott with 2 Ts decides to hide for when the Porkchop queens enter, and they’re definitely gagged when they see her walk out.

There’s also some tension between Elliott and Tamisha when Elliott confronts the queens for sending her home — she asks why Tamisha didn’t go home (which doesn’t really make sense, because the tie break was between Elliott and Utica, not Tamisha), which Tamisha responds, “They didn’t vote [for] me. They voted you.”

TEA, TAMISHA.

This week, we learn that a queen will finally be going home this week.

I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m actually looking forward to seeing queens sashay away (officially this time).

Let’s get right into the recap, shall we?

MAXI CHALLENGE

For this week’s maxi challenge, the queens will be starring in their own TV shows on the RuPaulmark (Hallmark) channel.

And instead of having a mini challenge to decide who gets to be group captains, RuPaul chooses the groups instead, leaving the queens to choose their own roles in their respective groups.

Acting in Misery Love’s Company:

  • Denali Foxx
  • Elliott with 2 Ts
  • Kahmora Hall
  • Olivia Lux

Acting in God Loves Flags:

  • LaLa Ri
  • Rosé
  • Symone
  • Utica Queen

Acting in April Fool’s Rush In:

  • Gottmik
  • Joey Jay
  • Kandy Muse
  • Tamisha Iman
  • Tina Burner

While the queens are reading through their scripts and deciding their roles in the werkroom, RuPaul visits the queens. He tells them to carefully look through each group’s scripts to find any similarities—this is essentially a jab at Hallmark for all of their movies having very similar plots to each other. The edit skips right over the Misery Love’s Company group—yikes. The God Loves Flags group seems to be in good shape, and when RuPaul visits them, he asks Utica if he’s ever smoked weed before, and, well.. I’m going to let this video speak for itself (trust me, you won’t regret it):

I don’t think I’ve seen RuPaul cackle this hard in a long time.

When the queens go to film, Gottmik and Joey are struggling a bit, while Tamisha on the other hand, is making me CACKLE with her Cher impression. Kandy and Tina also did very well, so it seems like Gottmik’s group is looking fairly promising.

Symone and Rosé definitely know what they’re doing, but Utica forgets her three lines she has. LaLa Ri is supposed to be sad in her role, but girl.. she is giving us NOTHING. The only thing she is giving us is monotone realness.

Denali’s group? Well, it’s safe to say they are struggling. And by struggling, I mean they’re a complete mess. Denali keeps messing up her lines, and Kahmora somehow couldn’t pronounce “I was rooting for us!” properly (she’s reminding us of “Opulence, you earn everything!” from season 11). Let’s hope Olivia Lux and Elliott can somehow pull the group together.

While the queens are getting ready for the runway, Symone reveals to the group her first time in drag was during her high school prom:

We also find out that Tamisha Iman used to date girls—AND HAS THREE BIOLOGICAL CHILDREN. He mentions how it took him a while to come to the conclusion that he was gay, when a friend took him to a gay club, which is where he had his “a-ha moment.” He then started doing drag at the age of 20. Fun fact: “Tamisha” is the same name as his eldest daughter, who is 35-years-old!

RUNWAY

On the runway, RuPaul is joined by judges Michelle Visage, Ross Mathews, and this week’s extra-special guest judge, Loni Love, who was a previous contestant on RuPaul’s Secret Celebrity Drag Race.

This week, category is: Trains For Days!

Denali has a quetzal bird-inspired look with a giant green mohawk and an ostrich feather train, and Olivia went for a Beethoven-inspired look with a metallic train, while Elliott channels Glenn Close and Meryl Streep in a white lace catsuit (anyone else think it reminds them of Morgan McMichael’s catsuit from her lip sync on All Stars 5?) with a big, poofy train. Kahmora has a gold, metallic dragon-inspired dress with spikes along the back, and Symone has a teal tracksuit with an extra-long durag as her train. LaLa Ri is giving us snake realness, while Utica took inspiration from “Gone with the Wind” with a curtain rod along her shoulders. Rosé has a bold, blue pantsuit with a huge train made of tulle, Gottmik wore a bodysuit and chiffon train with the transgender flag colours (while carrying a bedazzled leafblower), Tina went with a campy train conductor look, Joey wore an all-black look with a huge train meant to look like a pierced tongue, Kandy went total glamour in a velvet, blood red gown, and Tamisha strutted in a skin-tight pink catsuit with a sheer train.

To see all the looks from tonight’s runway, here’s a compilaton from the RuPaul’s Drag Race Twitter account:

CLOSING

The safe queens this week are: Elliott with 2 Ts, Olivia Lux, Utica Queen, Joey Jay, Gottmik, Tina Burner, and Tamisha Iman. Personally, I thought Tamisha and Tina would have placed higher than safe!

Meaning the tops and bottoms of the week are: Denali Foxx, Kahmora Hall, Symone, Rosé, LaLa Ri, and Kandy Muse.

The judges critiques this week are as follows:

The judges loved Denali’s train look, but think she could have gone way farther in the acting challenge. Kahmora is similarly praised for her look as well, but the judges mentioned she fell flat in the challenge. Symone was praised for both her runway and performance — could Symone take her second win of the season?

The judges enjoyed LaLa Ri’s look as well, but said her performance was too “internal” and “withdrawn.” It’s clear at this point LaLa Ri needs to let loose a bit more before it lands her in the bottom. Rosé’s look was apparently mediocre (I disagree), but she was praised for bringing so much life and joy into a stationary character. Kandy was also praised for staying committed to her character in the challenge, but was clocked for her runway being messy.

After the judges deliberate, the rankings this week are as follows:

Rosé – HIGH

Symone – WINNER

Kandy Muse – SAFE

LaLa Ri – LOW

Denali Foxx – BOTTOM 2

Kahmora Hall – BOTTOM 2

Denali and Kahmora face off in a lip sync for your life to “100% Pure Love” by Crystal Waters. Denali rips off the lower half of her train and starts giving us high energy. She’s definitely dancing the house down BOOTS. Kahmora, on the other hand, is giving us low energy — but I don’t blame her, she’s hampered by her restrictive dress, and it’s a shame.

Unfortunately, we say goodbye to Kahmora Hall this week, and RuPaul did not HESITATE to send her home. Usually once a lip sync is over, RuPaul says the same thing: “Ladies, I’ve made my decision..”

(cue the suspense)

However, this time, RuPaul said, “Denali, that was 100% pure fun. Shantay, you stay.”

Am I the only one who was gagged at that? I mean, Denali destroyed Kahmora, but still, ya know?

What did you think of this week’s episode? Let me know down below!

Ta-ta for now!

x

RuPaul’s Drag Race UK Season 2 Episode 2: A Recap

The queens sing live in their rendition of RATS: The Rusical.

DISCLAIMER: This post discusses spoilers for RuPaul’s Drag Race UK season 2 episode 2. If you haven’t seen the episode yet, don’t say we didn’t warn ya!

Last week on RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, we witnessed a robbery, folks.

Joe Black unfortunately went home, and girl, when I say that was a choice? It was the ultimate choice — and not a good one.

If you ask me, eliminating Joe Black is like eliminating Bianca Del Rio.

The fans aren’t the only ones who are shook about Joe’s elimination — the queens are too, and it’s obviously made a few of them wake up and realize anyone can go home at this point.

However, a new week means a new mini and maxi challenge, so let’s move on, shall we?

MINI CHALLENGE

For this week’s mini challenge, the queens must “flood his [a member of the Brit Crew] ballot box,” meaning each queen must fill out a ballot voting for a queen that best fits the following four positions:

  • Secretary of Shade – Who is the shadiest out of all the queens?
  • Trade Minister – Who is the hottest out of drag?
  • Leader of Lording It Up – Who is the cockiest queen?
  • Baroness Basic – Need we say more?

The results are in:

  • Secretary of Shade – A’Whora
  • Trade Minister – Tayce
  • Leader of Lording It Up – Lawrence Chaney
  • Baroness Basic – Tia Kofi

MAXI CHALLENGE

For this week’s maxi challenge, the queens need to sing live in their rendition of RATS: The Rusical (a play on Cats: The Musical).

Singing live is always interesting for these rusicals — because when it comes time to perform, you’re going to be in awe one second, and cringing the next (not everyone can sing, and this challenge definitely tells us who can and who can’t..)

Since Tia Kofi was elected Baroness Basic, she will be assigning all the roles to the queens. GAG.

Are we surprised though? Meh. Usually when queens do some sort of ‘voting’ for the mini challenge, almost always the queen who receives the ‘worst’ ranking (in this case, Baroness Basic), is the one who gets to assign the roles as a form of revenge.

This is definitely a shady twist, because Tia can easily give the queen who is the worst at singing the toughest role, meaning that queen will likely go home. But girl, we LOVE a good twist!

Unfortunately, Tia doesn’t take the shady route, and instead says she wants the rusical to be “as good as it possibly can.”

However, there’s a little bit of tension when it comes to casting Evita von Fleas, the love rat — Veronica Green says she’s been doing musical theatre and singing for 15 years, even as a living before she started drag, but Cherry Valentine also wants the role.

Cherry Valentine says Veronica’s musical theatre experience “doesn’t mean anything.”

I’m sorry — in a MUSICAL THEATRE challenge, wouldn’t you want the person with the most experience in musical theatre to do that role? It doesn’t make sense.

Eventually, Tia puts Cherry’s cockiness aside (maybe Cherry should have been elected as Leader of Lording It Up!), and gives Veronica the role. I guess we’ll see if that pays off or not!

Lawrence Chaney, on the other hand, who’s usually the loudest in the werkroom, hasn’t said anything so far. We can definitely tell she’s nervous because she mentions not having any singing or dancing abilities.

The official casting goes as follows:

Jane: Asttina Mandella

Evita von Fleas: Veronica Green

Dame Doody Stench: Ginny Lemon

Depravity and Miss Dysentery: Bimini Bon-Boulash and A’Whora

Scat Rat and Scabies: Tayce and Ellie Diamond

Rat Pack #1: Sister Sister

Rat Pack #2: Cherry Valentine

Rat Pack #3: Lawrence Chaney

Specimen #1: Tia Kofi

In rehearsal, the queens have Michelle Visage and Dane Chalfin as their vocal coaches. The Rat Pack has a bit of nerves they need to shake off, and A’Whora is told she’s holding back, compared to Bimini who is giving it. Needless to say, Veronica is SLAYING in rehearsal — I’m definitely glad Cherry didn’t get the role of Evita. Tia is told she needs to work harder since she’s only appearing in the beginning of the Rusical, while Tayce needs to work on her enunciation.

Jay Revell and Kieran Daley Ward will be choreographing the Rusical this week. A’Whora is struggling to be a “punk” compared to Bimini (again), while Tayce and Ellie picked up their choreo like no tomorrow. Veronica and Asttina also had no problems (are we surprised?), but on the other hand, Lawrence is on the struggle bus EXPRESS and starts getting emotional in rehearsal.

In Tayce’s confessional, she definitely isn’t here for the tears, and takes a jab at Lawrence for crying in “only week two.” This is a difficult show, Tayce!

In terms of the final performance, I think all the queens SLAYED, and I was definitely laughing along with the judges. There were also no particular queens who I felt did absolutely terrible, which is great, because during rehearsal it seemed like the final performance could have gone either way.

RUNWAY

On the main stage, RuPaul is joined by judges Michelle Visage, Alan Carr, and this week’s extra-special guest judge, Sheridan Smith.

Category is: Surprise, surprise! (meaning we can likely expect all the queens to have a “Ruveal,” or a “2-in-1” as part of their runway).

A’Whora entered dressed as a groom in a black tux with a cane, and ripped off her suit and top hat to ruveal a wedding dress. Lawrence Chaney entered with a flag of Scotland-inspired jumpsuit, which transformed into a kilt patterened dress. Ginny Lemon went with a classic “Ginny Lemon” look with yellow tights and chunky Crocs and a granny patterned dress, which she ripped off to reveal.. the same dress?

But then she turns around, and we see a hairy you-know-what.

Anyway..

Cherry Valentine is wearing a big, poofy yellow dress with black polka dots, which she reveals into a yellow mini bodycon dress with a pregnant belly. Along the belly has the word “gender.” Tia is wearing a bodysuit with a fake six-pack on it and leather harness, which she ruveals into a red flamenco dress. Ellie Diamond is serving scarecrow realness, which transforms into a Tin Man dress, and then the THIRD reveal turns into a scared, Cowardly Lion dress. This was definitely a serve — I didn’t expect three looks!

Tayce enters wearing a grim reaper cloak, which she rips off to ruveal a pink ninja look, while Sister Sister goes from conservative southern belle to sexy, red lace dominatrix. Veronica is giving us 1950’s housewife in a blue and yellow floral dress with a pink apron, which she ruveals into a gold robotic look. Tayce went with three looks, all of which were red: an overcoat, into a jacket, into a catsuit, paired with red pumps and a platinum blonde wig, while Bimini went high fashion with a corset made of canvas, which had mini black heart-shaped balloons attached to it, paired with black latex gloves and stockings.

CLOSING

The safe queens of the week are as follows: A’Whora, Ginny Lemon, Asttina Mandella, Sister Sister, and Bimini Bon-Boulash.

Meaning, the tops and bottoms of the week are Lawrence Chaney, Cherry Valentine, Tia Kofi, Ellie Diamond, Veronica Green, and Tayce.

The judges critiques of the week:

Lawrence got a bit lost (but recovered) in the Rusical, and her look on the runway was “like watching Cirque du Soleil.” Cherry’s enunciation was a bit off, and the judges blamed her ‘inner saboteur,’ while her surprise in the runway was “predictable.” Tia was praised for her hilarious performance in the Rusical, but clocked for her simple runway; Ellie Diamond hesitated a bit in her performance, but the judges loved her Wizard of Oz inspired ruveals. The judges, to no surprise at all, fell head over heels for Veronica’s performance, and felt the same way about her runway. Tayce, on the other hand, was harder to understand, and was clocked for her look on the runway being too simple.

Based off the queen’s performances in the Rusical, along with their runway looks, the rankings this week are as follows:

Tia Kofi – HIGH

Veronica Green – WINNER

Ellie Diamond – SAFE

Lawrence Chaney – LOW

Tayce – BOTTOM 2

Cherry Valentine – BOTTOM 2

Tayce and Cherry Valentine face off in a lip sync for your life to “Memory” by Elaine Paige, which is a slow song — something we don’t see often on Drag Race. It was definitely not my favourite lip sync as both queens didn’t really do much, but there’s only so much you can do when lip syncing to a slow, emotional song.

Unfortunately, we say goodbye to Cherry Valentine this week. We’ll miss you, lady!

NEXT WEEK: The queens must craft a look for the runway that “totally outshines their fashion frenemy.”

What did you think of this week’s episode? Let me know in the comments below!

We Need To Talk About How Good Michelle Obama Looked At Joe Biden’s Inauguration

The iconic look took the internet by storm, and was designed by Sergio Hudson.

Today, January 20, 2021, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were officially sworn in as president and vice president of the United States of America, respectively.

This is truly a moment in history many of us will remember for years to come — I mean, Trump is finally gone, so who wouldn’t remember this?

While looks and history were definitely made today, we need to talk about how Michelle Obama came to stun.

She wore a monochromatic maroon ensemble by Black American designer Sergio Hudson, paired with a gold buckle belt, and when I tell you I was gagged? Oh girl, I couldn’t breathe. I was dead, deceased, and sent to the heavens.

Michelle Obama arrives alongside Barack Obama at the 46th presidential inauguration. MELINA MARA / GETTY IMAGES

And while the outfit is definitely a serve, can we also talk about her hair for a second?

Mama, that hair is laid down better than every. single. woman who was present at that inauguration — I’m not joking. From the curls, to the volume, to the shine, everything about it was absolutely perfect.

And Twitter quickly found the woman who was responsible for it. Her name is Yene Damtew, who is the owner of Aesthetics Salon in Arlington, Virginia. She’s definitely getting some well-deserved fame thanks to her magic hands (we all dream of having Michelle Obama’s hair, let’s be real for a sec), and we love that for her.

Speaking of Twitter, let’s see how the rest of the world reacted to Michelle’s inauguration look:

What did you think of Michelle Obama’s inauguration look? Let me know in the comments below!

Ta-ta for now!

x

RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 13 Episode 3: A Recap

The losing queens record and perform their own verses to RuPaul’s “Phenomenon.”

DISCLAIMER: This post discusses spoilers from RuPaul’s Drag Race season 13, episode 3. If you haven’t seen the episode yet, don’t say we didn’t warn ya!

This week on RuPaul’s Drag Race, the queens in the Porkchop Loading Dock (the “loser” queens) performed their own verses to RuPaul’s “Phenomenon.”

The queens are excited to enter the werk room and get a second chance at rudemption. And the first thing we notice is that the losing queens are full of TRADE, TRADE, TRADE.

There definitely wasn’t any trade in the winning queen group, just saying.

MINI CHALLENGE

Just like last week’s episode, the losing queens must also bring two looks to the runway: “Lady” and “Vamp” (a play on Lady and the Tramp).

While the queens scramble to get ready, Kahmora immediately begins to panic, because back in Chicago, she’s known for taking hours to get ready for a performance. While she barely makes it in time, I was definitely cringing a bit. After 12 seasons of Drag Race, you should know how fast-paced the show is, right?

For the “Lady” runway, Denali had a gorgeous blue mini dress with embroidered blue flowers on one of her tights, Joey gave us “cool aunt who shows up drunk to the family gatherings” (with no wig?!), Rosé went with a geometric pop-art dress with bold butterfly shoulder pads, Tamisha wore a stunning pink pantsuit, Utica went total camp and covered herself in plastic balls and a patterned colourful mini dress, and Kahmora served us 1950’s First Lady realness.

For the “Vamp” runway, Denali went with a completely different “goth girl at the prom” look, Joey gave us “cool aunt” again, but this time she’s wearing a black catsuit (and no wig, again..), while Rosé wore a gag worthy red leotard with an exposed hoop-skirt and black halo covering the top half of her face. Tamisha wore a dress covered in synthetic black hair and a silver corset. Kahmora gave us a simple black mini dress with a silver cross necklace, and Utica served camp AGAIN with a Victorian-inspired look.

MAXI CHALLENGE

The time now comes where the queens record and write their own verses to RuPaul’s “Phenomenon,” as well as choreograph their own routine.

Denali instantly takes charge as she says she’s a professional choreographer, but the queens begin to clash as Rosé also attempts to try and take control of the routine. I liveee for some choreography drama!

Needless to say, this rehearsal seems to go smoother because Denali took charge as opposed to Elliott, who didn’t speak up about being a professional dancer last week.

Back in the werk room while the queens get ready, we learn that Kahmora doesn’t do drag full-time because her boyfriend isn’t supportive of it (SHE ONLY DOES DRAG ONCE OR TWICE A MONTH – HELLO?)

She also mentions that when she does do drag, she tries to do it “away from him,” and she keeps all of her drag in a separate storage unit.

This made me FUMING.

I don’t know about you, but if my partner isn’t going to support something I love to do, you can walk right out the door, sis. Although Kahmora loves her boyfriend (as they’ve been together for 8 years apparently), I would never hide a part of myself from someone just because they don’t like it. When you’re in a relationship, especially for that long, you don’t get to pick and choose the pieces you want from your partner’s life. You either get all of it, or none of it.

NEVER SACRIFICE YOUR HAPPINESS FOR SOMEONE ELSE’S, KAHMORA.

In terms of the actual maxi challenge, girl..

These queens ATE THIS CHALLENGE UP!

The choreography was on point and went perfectly with the music (they even brought in small pieces of fabric to wave in the air as props), the verses were great, and the dancing? Definitely not half assed like last week.

This may be the “losing group,” but the “winning group” better watch out, because these queens did NOT come to play.

Also – Tamisha’s verse was I-CONIC. That’s it. That’s the tweet.

RUNWAY

Category is: We’re Here, We’re SHEER, Get Used To It.

Denali gave us a high fashion lavender dreams mini dress with black detailing in the hair, earrings, and shoes, Joey served up some black fringe (with no wig, again..), Kahmora looked rich in a Britney-Cher inspired catsuit with a sheer kaftan on top, Rosé wore a dress covered in hand-dyed plastic with some flowy billowing sleeves, Tamisha wore one of the most gorgeous gold gowns that has ever graced the runway with a big sheer buckle, and Utica wore a fire-and-ice Fleetwood Mac-inspired flowy dress.

CLOSING

The judges critiques this week:

Denali received praise for the contrast in her two looks in the mini challenge, and Michelle couldn’t take her eyes off her during the “Phenomenon” performance. The judges loved Joey’s sheer look on the runway, and Michelle and Ross questioned why she didn’t wear a wig for any of her runway looks or the performance. Kahmora was told she has “impeccable taste,” but that she needed to “come to life” and have more personality (she was compared to a mannequin.. ouch). The judge’s loved all of Rosé’s looks, and received huge praise from Michelle for her powerhouse performance in the maxi challenge. The judge’s couldn’t get over Tamisha’s sheer dress (I can’t blame them!) and was clocked for her “lowkey” performance in the maxi challenge, and Utica got some love for her unique and weird personality.

The queens leave the main stage while the judges deliberate on who will be the top two queens of the week (that’s right – no one is going home this week either — yet!)

The top two queens of the week are Denali Foxx and Rosé, which I agree with. They both served LEWKS, and their performances in the maxi challenge were definitely top of the line. The rest of the queens are declared safe and head to the back of the stage.

Denali and Rosé lip sync to Britney Spear’s “If U Seek Amy” (YAAAASSSSS), and I was cheering the entire time, seriously. Both of them had so much personality (when it’s Britney Spears, you have to serve). While Rosé took a more comedic approach to the song, Denali definitely embodied the song more.

The winner of this week’s maxi challenge, along with a $5,000 cash tip, is Denali Foxx! Rosé is safe to slay another day.

According to RuPaul, starting next week, “heads will roll.” (AKA – queens are going to start packing their bags each episode).

While I enjoyed these first three episodes, I’m excited to finally get the competition rolling and seeing who goes home next week.

NEXT WEEK: The queens star in cheesy holiday movies for the “RuPaulmark” (Hallmark) channel.

What did you think of this week’s episode? Do you think the losing queens did better than the winning queens in their performance?

Ta-ta for now!

x

RuPaul’s Drag Race UK Season 2 Episode 1: A Recap

In the premiere of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK season 2, the queens bring two looks to the runway – “UK Gay Icons” and “Queen Of Your Hometown.”

DISCLAIMER: This post discusses spoilers from RuPaul’s Drag Race UK season 2, episode 1. If you haven’t watched the episode yet, we warned ya!

Oh honey, you best believe we’re recapping RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, too!

Today, season 2 of Drag Race UK premiered, and I am OBSESSED with this cast.. and you should be, too!

Let’s dive right into the episode, shall we?

ENTRANCE LOOKS

The first lewk we see is Lawrence Chaney, who is wearing a bold patterned dress that matches her boots. Cherry Valentine, who had to enter twice because her heart-shaped headpiece hit the doorframe and fell off, is wearing a classic skin-tight, black full bodysuit with red jewel accents. Tia Kofi is giving us 2000’s Spice Girls in her cheetah print bodycon dress, and Bimi Bon-boulash, has a revealing, bedazzled pink two-piece with some (very) thick platform boots.

Ginny Lemon enters next, who is definitely a character. She bolted into the werk room DRIPPING in yellow. We’re talking head to toe, and she even brought a stuffed lemon. Ellie Diamond, who immediately reminds me of Trixie Mattel, is wearing a bedazzled pink mermaid-style dress that has a heart cut out in the chest – I love it!

Sister Sister is up next, and she is showing off CAMP REALNESS. She has some zebra tights on underneath a lightly bedazzled pink and mustard house dress. My favourite part? The glittery red lips and blue circle around them. So creative! Tayce is serving Naomi Smalls and Naomi Campbell realness – a beat mug, long black hair, long legs, and a sickening outfit. Joe Black is giving us old Hollywood “crystal ball” glamour.

Veronica Green enters in a very underwhelming one shoulder purple dress and a big purple bow on her head. It looks like something you would wear to prom in the ’80s. Asttina Mandella looks just like Naomi Campbell on her way to the office — a bit basic, but she is SERVING. A’Whora is giving us sexy Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz with some knee high red boots – there really is no place like home!

My favourite entrance lewks go to A’Whora, Sister Sister, Asttina Mandella, and Cherry Valentine.

MINI CHALLENGE

For the first mini challenge of the season, the queens must take center court in a tennis-themed photo challenge and serve a championship pose.

The thing with these photo challenges is that there is always some sort of trick – and this time around, balls are flying EVERYWHERE.

(Tennis balls, you weirdo).

We definitely have quite a few comedy queens this season, because I was absolutely dying during this mini challenge – my favourite quote was “Give your big, green balls!”

The hilarious winner of this week’s mini challenge goes to Lawrence Chaney, and rightfully so!

MAXI CHALLENGE / RUNWAY

For the season’s first maxi challenge, the queens need to serve two looks on the runway: one that pays tribute to their favourite British icon, and another that shows RuPaul why they are the “queen of their hometown.”

When all the queens de-drag, Lawrence Chaney doesn’t take her makeup off, which makes the other queens curious as to why. To her, it’s a “barrier,” and gives her the confidence she looks for. As a viewer, I love seeing the vulnerable side of the queens. We all have our insecurities, and it takes a lot to be able to embrace them.

On elimination day, Tayce and Asttina both find out that they’re both doing Naomi Campbell for their “British gay icon” runway looks – sadly, there wasn’t any good drama around it. Why do we have to be civil? Cut up each other’s wigs!

(Just kidding – please don’t).

On the main stage, RuPaul is joined by Michelle Visage, Graham Norton, and this week’s extra-special guest judge, Elizabeth Hurley.

For “UK Gay Icons,” Joe Black is paying tribute to David Bowie in a non-traditional yet stunning sparkly blue suit-dress, Asttina recreates Naomi Campbell’s iconic Valentino sheer dress from 2019, Ginny Lemon embraces Kate Bush in her iconic red dress from Wuthering Heights, and Tia Kofi breaks free from handcuffs in honour of Alan Turing, a computer scientist who went to prison for being gay. She is wearing a suit with rainbow binary computer coding, which translates to the word “love.” Bimini is representing Princess Julia in an androgynous ’80s plaid suit paired with fuzzy pink pumps, Lawrence Chaney struts in a navy blue Diana Rigg catsuit, Cherry Valentine vacuums the runway (literally) Freddie Mercury style in a leather skirt, pink tube top, and obviously with the classic Freddie moustache. Veronica Green is dressed as Boy George from the Karma Chameleon video, and she’s even wearing shoes that used to be owned by Boy George! A’Whora is serving Vivienne Westwood punk rock with a LOT of different patterns and colours. I can’t even describe it into words, it’s that bizarre. Sister Sister is representing Dusty Springfield in a simple blue gown. Ellie Diamond is serving Lily Savage in a pink cheetah leg slit gown, and Tayce is also representing Naomi Campbell in a sexy, vintage black two-piece. 

For “Queen Of Your Hometown,” Joe (Brighton) is serving up a bright, gold Brighton Pavilion-themed gown, Asttina (East London) looks like she’s walking home from the club in a magenta checkered puffer jacket, black mini skirt, and silk top covered in gold chains. Ginny (Worcester) is honouring the very first drag king, Vesta Tilley, in an all-orange suit that says “Feeling Saucy” on the back of the blazer. Tia (Nottingham) is giving us sexy Robin Hood realness with lots of leg, Bimini (Norwich) has a yellow and green leotard and knee-high black boots in reference to Norwich City Football Club. Lawrence (Glasglow) is paying to tribute to a Glasglow designer, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, in a latex gown inspired by stained glass. Cherry (Darlington) has a Victorian-inspired black one piece, Veronica (Lancashire) has a stunning upside down red dress meant to look like a rose with a huge hoop skirt and green gloves. A’Whora (Nottinghamshire) is also giving us her best Robin Hood, while Sister Sister (Liverpool) is wearing pink silk pajamas and hair rollers because “scouse women leave the house to run errands in their pajamas.” Ellie (Dundee) is giving us a Dennis the Mennace-inspired red and black latex dress, and Tayce (Newport) has a red and green dragon mini dress.

CLOSING

On the main stage, the queens that are SAFE this week are Ginny, Tia, Cherry, Veronica, A’Whora, and Tayce.

The remaining queens, Joe, Asttina, Bimini, Lawrence, Sister Sister, and Ellie, represent the “Tops” and “Bottoms“ of the week.

The judges critiques this week:

Joe Black’s David Bowie wasn’t “Bowie” enough, and she was clocked for overthinking her pavilion dress, which is gold, even though the pavilion is white. Asttina was praised for both her Naomi Campbell and hometown look. Bimini “undersold” Princess Julia, and was clocked for having her tape exposed in the back of her hometown look. Michelle thought Lawrence’s Diana Rigg was fun, exciting, and polished, and she was praised for having versatility in both of her runways. Sister should’ve gone bigger for Dusty Springfield, and she seemed “happier” in her hometown look. However, Michelle said the look would have been more authentic with fuzzy house slippers. Ellie received credit for creating her own wigs and costumes herself, and other positive critiques left and right.

While the top and bottom queens leave the stage, the judges deliberate on who should win, and who should go home this week.

Astitta Mandella is the winner of this week’s maxi challenge, and Joe Black and Bimini bon-boulash are in the bottom two this week.

Joe and Bimini face off in a lip sync to “Relax” by Frankie Goes to Hollywood. I think both queens killed it in this lip sync, and my eyes were drawn to both of them equally. I think this could have even been a potential double shantay!

Unfortunately, we say goodbye to Joe Black this week. While I would have liked to see what other looks she had planned for the season, someone has to go home every week, whether we like it or not.

NEXT WEEK: The queens sing live in their rendition of “RATS: The Rusical.”

What did you think of the premiere of RuPaul’s Drag Race season 2? What are you looking forward to for next week’s episode? Let me know in the comments below!

Ta-ta for now!

x

RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 13 Episode 2: A Recap

The winning queens face off and record their own verse to RuPaul’s “Condragulations.”

DISCLAIMER: This post discusses potential spoilers for RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 13, Episode 2. Unless you want to know what happens, don’t continue reading. I warned ya, sis!

OPENING

This week on RuPaul’s Drag Race, we continue from the cliffhanger in the premiere, where the queens faced off in six rounds of lip syncs.

In case you need a reminder, the queens who won their lip sync were Kandy Muse, LaLa Ri, Symone, Gottmik, Olivia Lux, and Tina Burner. The queens who lost were Joey Jay, Denali Foxx, Tamisha Iman, Utica Queen, Rosé, Kahmora Hall, and Elliott with two Ts.

The “eliminated” queens remain in the Porkchop Loading Dock, where we learn that they must vote one of them out — WHAT?

We’ve never seen someone be voted out on a regular RuPaul’s Drag Race season, and let’s just say this was GAG WORTHY. After a tie break between Joey Jay and Elliott, Elliott sashays away.

BUT WAIT.

As the episode starts, the queens (as boys now) come into the werk room and RuPaul lets them know that he’s bringing back a queen who he believes “didn’t get a fair shot.”

And guess who walked through those doors?

ELLIOTT.

Yup, Elliott may have been “voted out,” but she didn’t actually sashay away!

Needless to say, the queens who won their lip syncs didn’t take well to this and assumed Elliott was there to spy on them. Because of this, Elliott wasn’t afraid to throw some shade to Kandy Muse, which made the queens even more suspicious.

Not a good move on Elliott’s part if you ask me.

MINI CHALLENGE

The first mini challenge of the season is a runway challenge where the queens must serve two looks: “Daytime Drama, Mama!” and “Nighttime Is The RIGHT Time!”

In Daytime Drama Mama, Gottmik wore a rainbow mini dress, Kandy worked a glamorous red wrap dress, LaLa Ri went with a simple southern style curtain dress that got caught in her heel, Olivia Lux was midcentury in a simple purple feathered dress, Symone presented a bare chest in a vibrant (and caped) business suit, Tina Burner glammed it up in a sequined red babydoll look, and Elliott capped it off in a long red dress and matching beret.

In Nighttime Is The RIGHT Time, Gottmik switched into a sexy black velvet dress with a pasty on one nipple, Kandy returned in red with a latex bodysuit and messy makeup, LaLa Ri came out in a dominatrix black and caged chest look, Olivia had a shiny burgundy dress and what she said is a “rare brunette wig,” Symone put on a mustard and orange wrap dress, Tina also came in latex in more red (and yellow and orange), and Elliott looked like a dark circus master with a whip and feathers.

MAXI CHALLENGE

For the first maxi challenge of the season, the queens must record and perform their own verse in a girl group to RuPaul’s new song, “Condragulations.”

I don’t know about you, but I love these kind of maxi challenges. I love being able to see what kind of verses the queens come up with — and if you ask me, it’s a big way to tell who knows their stuff, and who doesn’t.

The queens are tasked with also choreographing their own dance along with these verses – and when this happens, it’s usually a hit or miss.

No one wanted to step up to the plate and choreograph the dance, which was a little awkward, even though Elliott, who is a trained dancer, refused to do it. Yet later we see Elliott step in and start to direct the dance, which further ostracized her from the rest of the girls after being quiet for so long.. yikes.

The rehearsal had some tension due to Gottmik, as a transgender male, facing some gender dysmorphia and not being able to pick up the choreography.

However, she didn’t say anything about it until the next day to Olivia Lux in the werk room, who agreed that during rehearsal wasn’t the time to talk about it. She was so sweet and supportive of her – can you say Olivia Lux for Miss Congeniality?

As the queens get ready for their performance in the werk room, Elliott is still the center of attention, and the queens want to know what happened and why she was brought back.

Elliott reveals to them that all the losing queens are waiting in the Porkchop Loading Dock and that she was unanimously voted out. The queens are gagged, and they definitely feel a little better now knowing Elliott isn’t a double agent.

On the main stage, RuPaul is joined by judges Michelle Visage and Ross Matthews, and this week’s extra-special guest judge Jamal Sims (who typically choreographs for the queens).

The singing and raps? Not bad. The dancing? Well, it’s pretty half-assed to say the least. If we compare this performance to “I’m That Bitch” from last season, this one definitely lacked. Elliott and Symone really stood out for me.

RUNWAY

The runway theme this week is “Lamé, You Stay.” Gottmik was inspired by a sea dragon in tendrils of fabric, Kandy went pinup in lingerie, LaLa was wrapped in gold from head to toe, Olivia looked elegant in white and mint green, Symone took on a boxing theme in shorts and a robe, Tina finally dropped the red fabric for an all silver Tin Man fantasy, and Elliott had an Ariel wig and a sea green and blue dress.

CLOSING

Ross told Gottmik that her mini challenge looks earlier in the week were fun and together with the main stage look showed versatility, but Jamal and Michelle clocked her for overthinking the choreography, which “made her performance a letdown.”

Michelle liked Kandy’s look on the main stage, but asked her to explain her thought process behind the look (agreed). Kandy said it was a “medieval mother of the hookers.” LaLa got high marks for her gold look on the stage, and was told her confidence in the performance really shined through.

Ross called Olivia a joy to watch in the performance, and they all loved the looks that she presented in all the challenges. Symone also won over the judges in every moment and Michelle called her day look “hot,” while Ross and Ru were already saying she had star quality.

Michelle was happy to see that Tina was finally not wearing red, orange and yellow (yikes). Ross and Jamal really enjoyed her performance, but Michelle advised her to be more aware of performing for television and not like they would in a bar.

Michelle said Elliott’s night look was fantastic, and Jamal said that Elliott looked like she was waiting to show her stuff throughout the performance. Ross backed that up by saying that she proved she deserved to stay.

Olivia and Symone are the top two queens of the week (instead of the usual sole winner). The rest of the queens are safe, meaning this week, there are no “tops” or “bottoms,” aka no one is going home.

Olivia and Symone lip sync to Dua Lipa’s “Break My Heart” to be the sole winner this week, along with a $5,000 cash tip. Both queens used their garments to their advantage and delivered really strong performances. Symone’s use of her long braids was brilliant.

Symone is declared the first winner of the season, and I think this immediately sets her apart as a frontrunner.

NEXT WEEK: The queens in the Porkchop Loading Dock record and perform their own song and dance to another RuPaul song to get the chance at a second impression on the judges.

That’s it for this week! Let me know in the comments – what did you think of this week’s episode? What are your predictions for next week? Do you think anyone’s gonna go home?

Ta-ta for now!

x

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