tv show RuPaul's Drag Race | Meet the Queens of Season 17

[TrueBlood]

34 minutes ago, Solaris said:

This post got me thinking, and there’s a few things I want to say.

 

First, we‘re just saying we like having a final lip sync between the finalists. Nobody suggested changing how lip syncs are judged. With the way they’re judged, the scenario you described is basically impossible, and that’s why it’s never happened.

 

Lip syncs naturally have diminishing returns, meaning it gets harder and harder to impress any audience the more numbers you do. Coco and Trinity were considered the best of all time for getting through 3 of them without repeating themselves. And the show has always punished queens for repeating tricks, like Detox. Nobody can get through 10 lip syncs without losing at some point, if only because they’ve already done everything you know how to do and the judges are particularly tired of seeing them.

Also, mistakes happen in lip syncs all the time, and eventually your luck will run out. If Alyssa Hunter can accidentally break her money gun, and if Trinity K Bonet’s can lose her wig, and if Silky can mess up a simple fat suit reveal, then it can happen to anyone. You would have to be extremely lucky to get through 10 lip syncs without any wardrobe malfunctions, forgotten words or slips and trips.

 

But second and more importantly, if someone did the impossible and won 10 lip syncs in a row, why is that not winner material? I think your comment is an example of how lip syncing is undervalued on Drag Race. I think since the format traditionally only had queens lip sync when they were in the bottom, many people now see lip syncing on the show as an unimportant skill, or just a punishment and nothing more. But I think lip syncing should Ben up there with comedy and fashion.
 

If Jinkx can win All Stars 7 just for being the funniest, and if Violet can win season 7 just for being the best designer, why can’t someone else win just for being the best lip syncer?

I don't think lipsyncing is undervalued, but definitely the way queens are forced to lipsyncs doesn't tell much about how a queen commands a stage, aside from the obvious natural performers/comedy queens who can deliver any song through their personality. Lipsyncing is fundamental for a queen, but no one outside of drag races forces you to 1) lipsync against another queen and 2) lipsync through a pretedermined track which may happen (if you're lucky) to be congenial to you or it may be simply the wrong song for you. There are many queens out there who are amazing performers (with their own tracks) and simply didn't do very good on Drag Race 'cause they were just unlucky or their style didn't vibe with the song at all.

 

I don't think lip syncing is actually undervalued on Drag Race at all when you have entire challenges based on that (and to add at what I was saying before, queens who 100% relied mainly on their lipsyncs ability like Jasmine Kennedie or Jax, got actually eliminated in a lipsync challenge) and basically your entire fate on the competition relies on that (on regular seasons, which are also the ones where the LSFTC seem to be more objectively judged).

 

My scenario was of course extreme, even though it already happened that a queen won an entire season being safe each and every episode, therefore being crowned JUST by a final lipsync which was also quite debatable (and it widely is among the fanbase). In general, I don't think a single edition of drag race has even been won by queens who relies solely on an aspect. Jinkx is an amazing performer (her spoken word lipsync proved that, even though Monét was simply superior) and also a singer, an actress, a comedy act. Violet isn't just a designer: I don't know if you've ever watched her live, I did and I'd go as far as saying she's one of the best queens I've ever seen in my entire life. Her numbers are just mesmerizing to watch, definitely not something anyone has ever done on Drag Race, not even in a talent show.

 

Lastly, there are countless of examples of mainly lipsyncers who came close to winning or won. Anetra, for example. And Sasha Colby definitely didn't win 'cause she's an oscar-worthy actress or the reincarnation of Joan Rivers. 

 

The thing is: it's basically impossible to win drag race if you're good at JUST ONE aspect of what Drag Race requires you to do. So, coming back to the initial argument, I think it's quite fair to actually take into accounts multiple factors to determine who wins an entire season and not have the crowning based on a single moment which can be influenced by multiple factors as you rightfully said.

Edited August 24, 2023 by TrueBlood

[CroNich]

On 8/23/2023 at 9:12 AM, G.U.Y. Gaga said:

https://twitter.com/violetchachki/status/1694094954518208917?s=46
 

for a second I couldn’t tell what gotmik had to do with this 

 

I don’t know how to post links anymore lol

The fact that Gottmik served Megan Trainer realness before transitioning gooped me 

[G.U.Y. Gaga]

2 hours ago, CroNich said:

The fact that Gottmik served Megan Trainer realness before transitioning gooped me 

At first I was like who is this white lady and what does she have to do with violet  

Edited August 24, 2023 by G.U.Y. Gaga

[alfonso12]

23 hours ago, loveisdead9582 said:

Why do you think AS1 happened? Lol. I think that they knew that crowning Sharon was a mistake even back then. 

No, Sharon might be trash as a person but her drag really brought something new to the table back then.

[G.U.Y. Gaga]

But yes sharon used to be a big deal 

 

Her drag just isn’t for this era though (but I honestly don’t know what Chad is doing either)

 

her insta is so bad I unfollowed 

[Rotunda]

Finale lip syncs and the Lip Sync For the Crown made more sense to me back when it wasn’t a guarantee that every queen would lip sync during the season. 
 

Now that we have the Lalaparooza, or Lip Syncs for the Win during non-elimination episodes, I don’t see the utility, especially when nobody’s surpassing S9. 
 

For the finales give the girls a budget and let them produce their own acts. Comedy shows, skits, lip syncs, deep performances, whatever. Don’t force Angeria to sing along to someone else’s dumb song about her track record. Don’t force us to sit through another butterfly reveal. 
 

The best challenges happen when the queens are given real creative control and when they don’t feel like they have to one-up each other on the same stage. 

[Rotunda]

With all the above said, I have to admit they ate this one little thing. All finale performances should have this much thought behind them.

[loveisdead9582]

25 minutes ago, alfonso12 said:

No, Sharon might be trash as a person but her drag really brought something new to the table back then.

Sharon did bring something to the table then - I’m not arguing that. But there was definitely a bit of backlash when Chad also did well in the competition. Just as AS5 was made for Shea, AS1 was made for Chad. 

[brooklyndaddy]

2 hours ago, loveisdead9582 said:

Sharon did bring something to the table then - I’m not arguing that. But there was definitely a bit of backlash when Chad also did well in the competition. Just as AS5 was made for Shea, AS1 was made for Chad. 

I didn't watch AS1. Was the judging fair/accurate? I also see very little discussion about Shannel's performance that season, is it just nothing very noteworthy?

[CBC]

13 hours ago, Edge Of Glory said:

this is another weird take i've been seeing pop up a lot on drag race twitter/youtube jdsfjfk like, "sitting on a secret" is obvs the funnier song, but the eliminated girls totally flubbed the actual image and branding part of the girl group idea. first you have 4/5 of them wearing pink, with chi chi randomly being the odd one out in full silver  on top of that, you have her and milk with a total mess on how their aesthetics/names/lyrics are supposed to fit - chi chi is cajun kitty, but her look is a futuristic catsuit and her lyrics aren't southern themed either. then milk is "milky kitty", which ig is supposed to fit HER aesthetic, but then her look isnt rlly the strange milk aesthetic that we know from s6 so like...

 

the top 5 girls did the spice girls' whole "distinct but united" thing so much more solidly, even if the weaker ones in the team were still easily identifiable. no riggory here i fear!

ig the girls in the competition won the spice girls cosplay (challenge) but i think the other song is much better. the choreo is more fun and cohesive, the lyrics are super fun and quotable (i always sing "if you think your drag is art is NOT" all the time). also i dont agree with chi chi being the odd one out, milk is basically all in white and thorgy has a white coat, so to me they have a very cohesive white/pink theme

[TrueBlood]

3 hours ago, Rotunda said:

For the finales give the girls a budget and let them produce their own acts. Comedy shows, skits, lip syncs, deep performances, whatever. Don’t force Angeria to sing along to someone else’s dumb song about her track record. Don’t force us to sit through another butterfly reveal. 

Totally this. They should just need to give some them budget and work with the queens to create something like an elevated (not a minute-condensed one) talent show.

[Edit0rz]

Just finished watching s15 with my partner and he thought Loosey should have won the Rusical. I thought MIB might take it. He was shocked Loosey got put in the bottom.

[Edge Of Glory]

1 minute ago, Edit0rz said:

Just finished watching s15 with my partner and he thought Loosey should have won the Rusical. I thought MIB might take it. He was shocked Loosey got put in the bottom.

hot take mayhaps but s15, as great as it was, maybe suffered JUST a teeny bit from not having a single twist after the s13/14 fuckery. no non-elim premiere meant irene HAD to go home despite being so poised to be a main character of the season, no top 2 episode means that loosey's track record got ****** near the end despite her performing amazingly in her last 2 eps, and them waiting til the last possible second to use the double shantay makes them look dumb af after teasing a top 3 lmao

[HonourableVomit]

9 hours ago, brooklyndaddy said:

I didn't watch AS1. Was the judging fair/accurate? I also see very little discussion about Shannel's performance that season, is it just nothing very noteworthy?

AS1 is weird. Raven & Jujubee were the stars of the season but didn't win any challenge and they kept putting them in the bottom despite having the most/best confessionals. Alexis Mateo was absolutely slaying and then got punched out in what should be considered the top 3 due to the teams format but then doesn't get to appear in the last two episodes. It makes such a dissonant viewing experience lol. 

 

Shannel & Chad did fine and never really bombed but I felt they were reaching a lot to hand them wins. 

Edited August 25, 2023 by HonourableVomit

[bestfiction]

8 hours ago, Edit0rz said:

Just finished watching s15 with my partner and he thought Loosey should have won the Rusical. I thought MIB might take it. He was shocked Loosey got put in the bottom.

The fact that both Loosey and Salina didn't get any negative critiques and were thrown in the bottom for no reason at all

Production really was fed up with the complaints about the amount of non-elimination episodes in s14, they avoided repeating it at all cost 

[Solaris]

The 3 best lip syncs in all of Drag Race are:

 

1) Coco vs Alyssa Edwards

2) TKB vs April Carrion

3) Nina vs Aja

[Solaris]

Wait I just realized, why are all the good lip syncers black

[Relampago.]

10 hours ago, Solaris said:

The 3 best lip syncs in all of Drag Race are:

 

1) Coco vs Alyssa Edwards

2) TKB vs April Carrion

3) Nina vs Aja

This makes sense, idk if it’s my same top 3 but I fully agree with #1. All three are slays

[Solaris]

13 minutes ago, Relampago. said:

This makes sense, idk if it’s my same top 3 but I fully agree with #1. All three are slays

They do NOT make gworls like Coco and Alyssa anymore hunny

[CBC]

 

[Lightbringer007]

Icons

 

 

[Just a Gay on ATRL]

5 hours ago, Lightbringer007 said:

Icons

 

 

Love Maddy's interviews because of her deadpan humor and good questions. She also doesn't kiss the girls' asses and isn't afraid to be shady lol (without being disrespectful though)

[Just a Gay on ATRL]

Keoina is a ******* legend oh my god ahhh

[Gwegend]

On 8/25/2023 at 4:01 PM, Solaris said:

The 3 best lip syncs in all of Drag Race are:

 

1) Coco vs Alyssa Edwards

2) TKB vs April Carrion

3) Nina vs Aja

The Dida Ritz erasure 

[Gwegend]

2 hours ago, Jaded. said:

Keoina is a ******* legend oh my god ahhh

Best track record of all time.