RuPaul's Next Batch of All Stars!

Chris here. Last night the lineup was revealed for the third season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars in a big casting extravaganza like Drag Race used to do in the old days. These casting specials really should be required for each season because we get to spend solo time with each queen that the workroom can't afford. And for an All Stars season it allows the newer viewers an opportunity to get to know queens from early seasons. But onto the queens - this year's lineup is also stocked full of "eliminated too soon" queens to go with the fan favorites:

• Aja (Season 9)
• BenDeLaDreme (Season 6)
• Chi Chi Devayne (Season 8)
• Kennedy Davenport (Season 7)
• Milk (Season 6)
• Morgan McMichaels (Season 2)
• Shangela (Season 2 and 3)
• Thorgy Thor (Season 8)
• Trixie Mattel (Season 7)

But wait, there's more! In typical teasing Ru fashion, one queen has yet to be revealed. Whether she will be announced later or saved for the show itself remains to be seen. However with such a build up, its safe to say it's a major competitor. Could it be a shocking game changer like Willam or a cult favorite like Stacy Layne Matthews?

We'll have to wait and see when the new season arrives sometime this winter. This set of queens is on the scrappier side, so we can expect a fight to the top. I'm not ready to name a personal favorite until we see what happens, but current top 3 would be Kennedy, DeLa, and Trixie. I'm already seeing lots of passion for Chi Chi on Twitter, but tell us in the comments: who are you rooting for? (And for the love of RuPaul: let's keep the spoilers out of the comments this go around, readers!)

Emmy Reactions: Our Favorite Nominations!

Since the Emmy nominations announced today, some celebration is in order! We polled our lively Team Experience for their thoughts on today's results, starting with their favorite nominees across any of Emmy's umpteen categories. Before we bemoan what got left out, let's pop a cork and spend some time on the many exciting nominees that made the cut:

What nomination made you the happiest?

JASON - LAURA DERN, OBVIOUSLY. I mean what am I, an animal?

LYNN - B.D. Wong as Guest Actor in a Drama Series (Mr. Robot). While Emmy voters cooled on Mr. Robot this year - a shame, since I maintain the second season was actually stronger than the first - I'm happy to see they did recognize one of its standout turns: B.D. Wong as the enigmatic White Rose.  Whether appearing as the female leader of the Dark Army or the male Chinese Minister of State Security, he was always absolutely mesmerizing to watch, offering glimmers of insight but never full access to the character's agenda and putting a slyly subversive spin on the old trope of the "inscrutable Oriental."

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The Emmy Nominations!!

The 69th Emmy nominations have been announced! HBO need not worry that Game of Thrones wasn't eligible this year, as they landed the most nominated drama anyway with Westworld. The early-in-the-season genre hit tied Saturday Night Live for 22 nominations each, followed by Stranger Things and Feud tying for second place at 18 each.

Most of the nominations follow Emmy's expected players despite the openings left by departed perennials like Thrones, though this year isn't without surprises or fresh faces. The major breakthroughs this year were Hulu (finally in the major races thanks to the success of The Handmaid's Tale) and our beloved RuPaul's Drag Race (scoring 7 nominations, plus one for Untucked).

The team will be sharing their favorite nominations and frustrations on what missed the cut later today, but our dream ballot should give you a hint of our thoughts. Here are the nominees in the top categories:

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The Winner of RuPaul's Drag Race Season 9 Is...

Chris here. The ninth season of RuPaul's Drag Race came to a close last night with the series's most dramatic conclusion ever. At last week's reunion, Mama Ru teased that a sudden death lipsync battle would crown America's Next Drag Superstar from our beloved top four. This curveball was another shakeup from the show's formula, and feels like how the winner should have been chosen all along. While past seasons' crownings have been dull slogs to awarding an obvious winner, this kept the competition alive until the very second - and gave us two all-time great lipsync performances from the ultimate champion.

Trinity Taylor was the randomly selected first queen and chose Peppermint as her opponent, pitting a potential frontrunner against underdog lipsync assassin. But that meant leaving besties Sasha Velour and Shea Couleé to duke it out...

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RuPaul's Drag Race - Season 9 Reunion

Chris here, with a quick RuPaul's Drag Race check-in! By now I'm sure you've seen our Mama Ru is on the cover of Entertainment Weekly! If you wanted some bonafide proof that the cult show is now firmly in the mainstream, look no further. And don't forget that this season was actually still produced by Logo before the move to VH1 - expect season ten and the inevitable All Stars 3 to be huge.

This was was the reunion before next week's finale crowning, and each of the queens were in peak gorgeousness. But honey did this rehash make up for every single complaint that contestants about a lack of shade over the entire season. While most Drag Race reunions have been forgettable in later seasons (remember the unfiltered days of Tammie Brown daring to shade Ru herself?), this one ended with a bang.

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