RPDR All Stars 3: E2 - Divas Live!
Saturday, February 3, 2018 at 12:00PM by Chris Feil
After a phenomenal premiere last week, RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars retuned with a nod to it’s new VH1 home for a lipsync tribute to VH1 Divas Live.
For the children who may not remember this landmark televised event of living legends sharing a stage and its subsequent installments, this was the thunderdome of vocal runs and balladry. Some helpful context: last week Aja’s jawdropping performance snuck up on formiddable competition and Céline-d a stage of Aretha’s and Mariah’s. Morgan McMichaels was Carole King and didn’t stick around. Valentina Whitney Houston-d because everyone wondered why she wasn’t there.
Seriously VH1, it’s the 20th Anniversary of the first Divas Live. Be good to us and start a revival. And true to Divas Live, this episode delivered as much on personality as it did performance.
The queens performed hits from Mama Ru’s Available on iTunes songbook while in character as their assigned diva. Some assignments were too good to pass up (Trixie as Dolly Parton, Chi Chi as Patti LaBelle) and some would be more difficult to pull off (Dela as Julie Andrews, Milk as Céline). Cue the high expectataions and nightmares of Milan’s S4 Snatch Game because Bebe was given the pressure Ru’s favorite diva Diana Ross.
Thorgy, already pegged last week as our complaining queen, had some things to say regarding her diva role Stevie Nicks. Stevie Nicks not a gay icon? Foot in mouth. Stevie Nicks as providing a lack of comedy or gagworthiness? Plain foolishness. Or maybe she was THAT stuck in her head.
Great Moments in Unintentional Quotability:
Meanwhile Shangela’s method acting shenanigans as Mariah Carey brought out the worst in Milk’s ever-present ego. Now, it’s always an eyeroll when viewers complain about contestants having an ego on this show - as if they have suddenly forgotten they are watching a show about drag queens. However, Milk’s dismissiveness and inflated sense of his Céline vs. Shangela’s focus-pulling clownery illustrates exactly the kind of ego we want to see and the kind that is never a cute look.
Before the performance, the queens discussed how they were perceived on their original seasons. Time has been kind to Shangela, so you might have forgotten that at the time of season three she was somewhat divisive. This time around she has much more polish and she takes herself less seriously, let’s just hope she doesn’t let the competition take over her creativity again.
Best Resting Bitch Face Look - Kennedy’s Makeup Dress
Touch the fashion, change your life.
Can we love on the Dancing Diva of Texas for a second? If you’re not on board with Kennedy Davenport’s adorable grouch status, get on board. This was simply not her week though, and she was the furthest off of all of the queens with her words and choreography. And the choice to deliver “What’s It Gonna Be?” Janet (though reader, I screamed) over the Rhythm Nation/Control Janet that matched her verse didn’t do her any favors for precision. If the runway had been more of a factor this week, her Long Night of Hooking rehash was strong enough to have saved her. I suspect she’ll bounce back as soon as these queens get a true comedy challenge next week.
The rest of the Divas Live performance was fun, but my unpopular opinion is that these mega-lipsync challenges don’t always showcase the queens themselves. This one did better than the previous Kardashian musical and Glamazonian Airways iterations because it did provide more time for each queen to shine. Unlike Thorgy’s claim that she had less to do with her role, the real imbalance here was in the actually song pairings. Kennedy’s Janet had safely the least interesting song portion, but Trixie and Bebe weren’t done any favors either.
Is there an argument to be made that Shangela had the biggest advantage with a choreo light and comedy heavy portion? Sure, but I think that ignores the brilliance of Shangie’s embodiment of Mariah. From the look to the aura to the self-awareness, this was a spot on Mariah. If you argue the win was handed to her on material alone, you can’t ignore Shangela worked her ass off for it. Similarly you could reduce Dela’s bit to the irony of Julie Andrews saying filthy lyrics, but that does disservice to the layers and giddy exactness he brought to the verse.
Best RuDemption Runway - Aja
While some queens revamped looks they originally did well (Dela and Trixie), Aja completely turned her lowest moment in the competition on its head and made them eat it. Nothing but respect for MY Disney Princess, Dizastah.
Forget that I mentioned the judging positively last week because the top and bottom divide this week was bonkers aside from Dela and Shangie deservedly snatching the top two spots. The strangest choice was putting Chi Chi in the bottom after delivering one of the funniest and precise performances because she... wore a coat? The judges said almost entirely positive things for her. And if she wasn’t already playing right to my heart this week, she had to throw in some love for junk 90s cinema. “Eraser, baby, Eraser!”
Bebe placed in the top after once again hardly being featured. This twist is quickly becoming one of Drag Race’s most underwhelming. We’ll avoid discussing those rumors about her role in returning to simply say this: bring her back for more reasons than twists, because this queen deserves the air time. Her Diana Ross was hilarious, but how is the show supposed to reintroduce her when it keeps forgetting her?
Milk on the other hand should have been rejoicing to be safe instead of pitching a fit. If Kennedy’s Janet was mildly placeable, Milk’s Céline was unplaceable without the assistance of the funny vocal track. Céline’s dramatics are intense, not manic. You can understand the parts of her breakdown that come from a place of simply wanting feedback (particularly for this runway), but the more petulant parts remain unjustified. If she was going to pander to the judges requests for unconceptual glamour, this look was pretty boring. We want an All Star that confidently showcases their creativity, not gives us what they think we want.
Thorgy and Kennedy took the bottom two, and Thorgy and Shangela openly discussed creating an alliance. Has it really taken this long for contestants to openly go there? While we want a fair game, we kind of want a war between alliances again, right? And who better to recall the battle of Heathers and Boogers than the Queen Booger herself? At this point in the competition though, the notion of Thorgy saving Shangela from an elimination was a bit of a stretch.
The Lipsync for Your Legacy belonged to Dela and Shangie. Dela threw in the towel early after Shangela brought out a jump rope for the Pointer Sisters’ “Jump (For My Love)”, but Dela’s mimicry of Shangela’s moves was an uproarious way to defer the win.
And with that, those alliance talks were just that and Thorgy was sent home like a neon Amneris - every story was not a love story, and we wanted to love her more. The shame is that Thorgy had all of the uniqueness and tools (the Stevie portion of the medley was one of the best pieces, girl!) to win, but this isn’t a friendly competition to those stuck in their heads. But maybe she’ll still give us something delicious if her bitterness comes to play with this impending Handmaid twist.
Lots of movement on the ranks this week, but the top remains the same:
- BenDeLaCreme
- Aja
- 🔺Shangela
- Trixie Mattel (time to step it up...)
- Bebe Zahara Benet
- Kennedy Davenport
- 🔺Chi Chi DeVayne
- Morgan McMichaels OUT
- 🔻Thorgy Thor OUT
- 🔻Milk
Gif as Episode Grade:
Reader Comments (24)
Chi Chi was off in her lip sync though. And in a lip sync challenge...
Thorgy should have been switched with Milk in placement, then she mercifully would be sent home. I guess the producers want her around for some reason, a la Pearl.
Here’s the thing about the lip sync challenge. They are fair because if Shangela didn’t nail her Mariah diva that bit would have fallen flat on its face. It’s all about the performance and inhabiting the celebrity, very similar to the secret of successful Snatch Game contestants.
The gif grade should have been Thorgy saying “Oh Jesus. Gross.”
Last week MILK was buttom three, mayve buttom two. This week also. We were shocked, that Chi Chi und Kennedy were in the Buttom three. Thorgy was okay, but she could go all the way. For me Milk has to go.
Hopefully there is a Twist soon a la "The Revenge" from All Stars 2. That was great, but Ralaskatox destroyed that great opportunity for Tati and Alyssa.
I like Bebe, but this is winner Circle-Season-Material NOT All Stars for me. Valentina vs. Aja Round 2 would be a much better choice. Ben vs. Shangela would be great in the End. Trixxi Mattel is great, but a little bit overrated. She is not THAT great in challanges.
Yeah this episode was nuts in terms of placement. I love Kennedy as an interviewee... but scripted, choreographed or character work are not her strong suit, although I did love the runway reveal.
The first half of the lip syncs were hard to get through. Chi chi, Kennedy and milk struggled to connect. Milk should have definitely been in the bottom and gone home.
I think Thorgy was closest to Trixie in terms of lip sync performance. Both pulled off the costume but didn’t seem connected to the performance as a whole. Comparing their runways though Thorgy’s was far superior. I agree that she shouldn’t have been in the bottom at all. Bebe should have been safe. Aja could have been 3rd for a great performance and awesome runway.
Chi Chi should’ve been safe, and Milk should’ve been in the bottom. Thorgy didn’t deserve to be in the bottom either, but she’s insufferable and dare I say antiblack. Glad she’s gone.
I rarely disagree with the top/bottom sorting on Drag Race but this week's episode was a mess.
Shangela (A+), Ben (A+) and Aja (A) were top-worthy.
I loved Bebe's Diana (A-), though. ChiChi was very good, a solid (B+). I liked Kennedy's Janet more than anyone else seemed to, so I'd make her safe (B-). I can overlook the lyric flubbing because such bigger dancing demands were placed on her.
Thorgy deserved to be in the bottom three—that was a C+ Stevie helped by a very strong runway. I have no idea what Trixie was doing as Dolly Parton (C-) and Milk was a disaster (D+).
I think Bendela threw the lip sync in order not to have to do another elimination.
Ken s i thought the same thing too
I am die-hard Mariah fan, so Shangela, complete with butterflies, was PERFECT to me (Mariah is obsessed with butterflies).
Don’t get me wrong, Thorgy was a complete cow, BUT how was she not wrong about the challenge being lopsided? How was she actually meant to make an impression when she got given her diva, told to perform to somebody else’s recording (so no chance to improv or at their own comical adlibs), and then was told by Todrick to “collaborate” on choreography even though it was Todrick’s job to come up with something for Thorgy. And everyone else was clearly told to play it straight in terms of looks. She could have come out with cocaine on her face and a broomstick it would’ve been unlike the rest. Meanwhile, Shangela got given an acfual skit. One she slayed, but a skit nonetheless.
I don't think Dela would throw a lipsynch just for not eliminating a queen. It comes with a cash prize of 10k, after all. Maybe she felt Shangela was outdoing her and decided to amp up the mockery to pull it to a more comedic tone (especially since Shangela had so much more stamina)? Plus, Dela was never a strong lipsyncher.
Chi Chi was not bottom 3, her Patti was reminiscent of the real Patti but properly amped up for the sake of hilarity. She was better than Trixie, Aja and Milk, at least. This became evident when the critiques came out and hers were mostly glowing.
And as much as I dislike Thorgy's whiny nature and her ridiculous obsession with Bob, this time around she had a point. Stevie Nicks was indeed a set-up to fail, especially in that context, when people are getting SO much better divas, lines and sets. They could have given her Kate Bush or Bjork, both of which would still fit Thorgy's off-kilter persona, but given her more room to perform. Plus, I am 100% sure if she had taken the Aja route and come with a cape and a broom and a wand, the judges would have critiqued her and said that Stevie Nicks doesn't do any of that. She undid herself by throwing a fit at the time of judging, though.
Milk should just quit drag and be a hot dude full time. He sucks at drag, basically. His Celine was awful. His glamour look was weak and that ugly ginger wig was not even properly coiffed! Add to that the crying and entitled attitude... We got Shanel 2.0, without the benefit of being right (at least Shanel's complaint's were somewhat legit: Rebecca Glascock was a trashy basic queen and repeatedly won challenges and had better placements than Shanel, all undeservedly, because Ru was "mesmerized by her beauty"). Milk was just delusional.
Overall not as strong as last week's episode, but still fun.
Glenn but the lyrics to the Stevie portion had lots of room for jokes, Thorgy just chose not to grab them. It’s on her.
James from Ames - lol but that would be a bad review and I thought this was a decent episode
Glenn - agreed re: Todrick (who grates), but I'd still argue Thorgy could have made *any* character choice rather than making basically no choice. A good comparison for me would be Aja's Amy Winehouse - the number had a lot of room for personality and she came across well without disrespecting her diva
Oof Milk, that is not a good look. Were we spared his obnoxiousness in season 6 because the editors had so much material from Laganja to draw focus? Or has he gotten worse since he’s been fortunate enough to be a hot guy with exposure to a very large audience? I suspect it’s the former but either way I hope he doesn’t stick around for much longer.
It’s not the Trixie cakewalk I was worried it would be, so far anyway - although I think eventually we’ll see either her or Shangela crowned (as much as I’m rooting for Dela!).
I love Chi Chi - Eraser baby, Eraser. The highlight of the episode! I like Thorgy a lot, I don’t find her grating at all and genuinely disappointed for her in this episode & her season.
Anyway onwards & upwards #teambendelacreme
Oof, a lot is going to have to go right elimination-wise for this season to deserve the “All Stars” name. Two of the more solid queens gone already and the top performers are pretty much nobodies. I hope Bebe steps her pussy up.
BD - see, I just don't understand this argument. Shangela has had a separate acting career on primetime TV shows, Trixie is among the most beloved in the fandom, Chi Chi and Dela were major fan favorites/controversial eliminations, etc. And even so: there are less widely known/adored queens that deserve a second chance and would make great competition - Mariah, Laganja, Jessica Wild, The Princess, I could go on...
In a true All Stars, Aja, Kennedy, Milk, Chi Chi would be filler queens. I wouldn’t call any of them beloved, and they’re clearly not winner material (though Aja is really bringing it so far). Shangela and Trixie have devoted followings despite being kind of basic queens. By comparison, you could see most AS2 contestants going all the way. I’m so on board with bringing back some “deep cut” queens like Mariah, Jessica Wild, DiDa Ritz, Delta Work, Laganja & Gia because I think they could surprise the fandom with what else they have to show. Do we really think Kennedy, for example, is going to give us more than we’ve seen already?
BD are Morgan and Thorgy really solid queens ? I never pictured them as coming anywhere to winning this season :-)
BD - don't forget Kennedy did best on her season with comedy/acting challenges. Once we have those, I'm guessing she and Trixie will finally step up
Rami - gurl yas! Morgan is iconic (Fix your mug!) and Thorgy was famously—tragically—eliminated too soon! The filler queens were shook!
I really want to see more from Bebe. Her runway looks are spectacular, and she is intriguing in her workroom and confessional - I would like to see her really compete with the queens who have more of a following, e.g. Ben DelaCreme, who said that her competing is as formidable as RuPaul competing.
Why is there another BD?
Not the best of episodes.
Milk keeps hanging around. I think they just want the hot boy around.
Thorgy still sucks more than Milk, but she should've been in the bottom too.
I think what's happened with Milk is that he's let the modeling career get to his head. He's always the first one to laugh at his (usually not very good) jokes. It's kind of sad, really, because he was so fun on his season.