RPDR All Stars 3: E4 - Notes on a Shangela Scandal(a)

by Chris Feil

“Shady Thorgy is so shady, she causes drama even after she ______”. Sis, it’s the Snatch Game!

The lead up to this week’s episode was quite understated compared to the hype machine of previous Snatch Games, perhaps a sign that the fanbase has wisely lowered their expectations. But it’s not any celebrity impersonation that made this an episode to remember. What’s the best thing Drag Race could hope for when its fan favorite challenge continues to experience such diminishing returns each season? A mountain full of drama to distract from another underwhelming end result!

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RPDR All Stars 3: E3 - Eggplant Faceplant

by Chris Feil

Last week on RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars, we lost the delightful Thorgy Thor after her inner saboteur gave our fashion clown a major creative blockage. Thorgy had left the girls a little more than the usual lipstick love note, as Bebe called it “you know, a picture”, which instantly restirred the pot of that fraught elimination ceremony and kicked off an episode of bickering.

The fallout of Thorgy’s elimination added another layer to Shangela’s distrust of Dela, who would have also sent Thorgy home. Shangela continues to suggest that Ben is just saving face for the sake of manipulation, but there has yet to be sign of her using it against anyone. What is more likely (and concerning) is that Shangela already has let the competition go to her head - we should be terrified that it will exhaust her as it did in season three and unsettle her status as one of the frontrunners.

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RPDR All Stars 3: E2 - Divas Live!

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.

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Quick Links: Jordan Peele, Italy Dance Party, Nipplegate

• Collider why you should keep buying movies on DVD/Blu-Ray
• Vanity Fair wonderful account of Jordan Peele's visit to a UCLA class studying Get Out and how Whoopi Goldberg in Ghost inspired his career
• E! on the rise of RuPaul's Drag Race. Is it mainstream now despite RuPaul's protestations?
• select/all a terrific piece on "Nipplegate" at the Superbowl (since Justin Timberlake is headed there again) and on viral content before YouTube
• EW pandeomonium in Italy when Armie Hammer, Luca Guadagnino and Timothée Chalamet arrive. Dancing with fans, etcetera

RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars: S3E1 - Queens with Variety

by Chris Feil

RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars is back! Wheels are apparently in this season (thank you, Trixie Mattel and Aja), so I’m rolling into the workroom on my Rascal scooter to once again go deeper into Drag Race than Sasha Velour goes into a gay history lesson.

This season some of our All Stars have had mega success after their season, like Milk’s ad campaigns and Shangela and Trixie’s growing television careers. There’s also favorites who were denied a top 3 spot like Kennedy Davenport, Chi Chi DeVayne, and BenDeLaCreme. Throw in Brooklyn goofballs Thorgy Thor and Aja and respected S2 pro Morgan McMichaels. Oh yeah, and one more significant addition.

Since we got the queens’ first workroom looks out of the way, we’ll skip right onto the big news of the mysterious 10th queen in the competition...

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