Submitted by Lee:
“Five G’s, please: Good God, Get a Grip, Girl.”
– Latrice Royale, explaining the behavior of Dida Ritz on RuPaul’s Drag Race
Check out the rest of your quote submissions from Monday, March 12, and make sure to send us your favorite sound bite from tonight’s TV!
Image Credit: Mathu Andersen/Logo
They say the third time’s a charm. But that certainly wasn’t the case for Milan on last night’s new episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race, which — SPOILER ALERT — saw the Broadway- and oddly dude-tinged queen from NYC get the ol’ “sashay away” after her third week of lip-synching for her life in a row. Not charming!
And it should just be put out there: Gurl is a bad, bad, bad lip-syncher, and last night’s performance to Lady Gaga’s pride anthem “Born This Way” showed exactly why. And that was mostly because she ripped off both her top, exposing a bare man’s chest, and her wig. (She sure can do the splits, though.) Stripping down is nothing new for the main stage’s lip-synching-for-your-life showdowns, but there is sort of a feel of “been there, done that” when the wig-throwing starts now. And with all the disparaging comments Milan got from the judges about her drag being too “mannish,” it didn’t help her cause at all.
Or am I just not understanding Milan’s style of performing? Was it actually genius in some secret way?
The hilarious thing about the lip-synching last night was that Milan’s competitor in the bottom, Jiggly Caliente, was also God awful, but clearly, not as bad as Milan. (And don’t even get me started on what Jiggly did on the runway — that cape, really?!?) Honestly, it was a toss-up about who should have been sent packing. No doubt that Jiggly’s time is nearly up, too.
The Snatch Game
The fact that Chad Michaels took home the crown for the evening was basically a foregone conclusion — girl has been shilling her Cher impersonation since she walked through the door in the season premiere. I don’t think any of the queens thought they had a chance at beating her. Despite that, though, I thought there were several other stellar celeb impersonations, namely from Sharon Needles as Michelle Visage; Willam as Jessica Simpson; and Dida Ritz as Wendy Williams. (And several bad. Notably, Beyoncé by Kenya Michaels, who was mercifully shown the door at the end of the episode.)
Sharon proved shrewd by doing Drag Race judge Michelle — but it was risky, too, since it could have easily blown up in her face. Willam committed to playing Simpson as super stupid and scored. And Dida showed smarts for choosing someone — talk show host Williams — with such an iconic speaking voice and catchphrase in, “How you doin’?”
So, I’m asking you to choose between Chad and those other three ladies — Sharon, Willam, and Dida. Whose impersonation was best? Vote in our poll below:
Image Credit: Mathu Andersen
Sharon Needles has been dominating RuPaul’s Drag Race in its first three episodes this season, and of course, there are other strong contestants, like Willam and Phi Phi O’Hara and some of the other sundry queens. But last night on the show’s new episode, “Women Behind Bars,” saw a star who was burning somewhat quietly really brighten up: Latrice Royale.
I’ve loved the big gal since the show opened — and I’ve been rooting for her — but she really turned it on last night in the main challenge, which found the ladies acting out a scene from the fake sitcom Hot in Tuckahoe. As Ru described at the top of the challenge, Tuckahoe was about “four best squirrel friends who keep getting arrested and sent to jail.” (The show looked cray-cray, but also like something I would watch… and enjoy.) Considering her prison past, Latrice was sure she was a perfect fit for the sitcom. “As soon as I saw that there was a prison guard,” Latrice said, “I knew that was the role for me.” And Latrice delivered, giving the camera such a load of facial expressions that the editors cut various shots of her lip-pursing into her group’s comedy scene. “Honey, you could do that for half an hour,” Will & Grace creator Max Mutchnick told Latrice, of her perfect pursing, “and they would laugh.” She was successful largely because she just went for it and performed over the top, which is what works in television sitcoms. (To be fair, Dida, Willam, and Phi Phi did well, too — they all employed a similar balls-to-the-wall approach.)
Just let the above screengrab wash over you for a second: It’s simply sickening Sharon Needles realness from last night’s new episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race, titled “Glamazons vs. Champions.”
Be honest: Have you ever laid your eyes on such magnificence in your life? Yes, you definitely are seeing quadruple images of the self-described “spooky, beautiful, and stupid” queen serving demented versions of Cruella de Vil and Marilyn Manson. And it’s amazing.
Sharon is pictured here because the biggest outcome from last night’s episode was, indeed, that Needles has solidified her place as a force to be reckoned with on the show — despite drawing the ire of other contestants (we’re looking at you, Phi Phi). SPOILER ALERT: The dark-and-twisty queen took home the crown in the infomercial-themed challenge, a mere two weeks after she pulled off the same feat in the show’s season 4 premiere.
Over three seasons, we’ve seen boatloads of lunacy on RuPaul’s Drag Race: Everything from dresses made from dollar bills and egregious shoulder flair to huge, raging queens that throw other contestants around and futuristic get-ups that look like they were ripped from the 2050 version of Cats. Last night’s episode, “WTF!: Wrestling’s Trashiest Fighters,” was centered around a ridiculous WWF-inspired challenge, which was pretty nuts and begs the question: Was this one of the series’ most outrageous challenges ever?
For sure. I think last night’s new episode will majestically go down in Drag Race history with those memorable hours mentioned above, as the 12 remaining queens found themselves putting together drag wrestling looks and then putting on an outlandish, drama-filled show for the judges — something they’ve never done before. “Tonight,” RuPaul told the gals before the main challenge, “you’ll be transforming yourself into wrestling’s trashiest fighters.” Yes: WTF. (Ru, your cleverness is always appreciated.)
All the evidence you need of last night’s challenge brilliance is in this post: Just look at the capture of Latrice Royale and Kenya Michaels — excuse me, Latrice the Beast and Killer Kenya. It…is…beyond! These ladies really killed it the crazy department, putting on a show that kept me cackling all night. “Yesterday,” Ru dramatically told all the ladies after the challenge, “you changed the face of professional wrestling forever. I smell a spin-off!” WTF, indeed! It just seems devastating that such a spectacular pair — Latrice Royale and Kenya Michaels — didn’t win the challenge.
Image Credit: Mathu Andersen
Logo’s reality indulgence RuPaul’s Drag Race has enjoyed its fair share of intriguing contestants in previous seasons: Glittery gals from BeBe Zahara Benet to Pandora Boxx to Shangela — who reappeared on screen last night, albeit briefly, as a semi-annoying gag — are memorable queens who’ve been of high interest in the past. But apparently the best queen was to come, and she appeared last night in the show’s season 4 premiere: Sharon Needles.
Yes, you read that right: Sharon Needles. Read that name again. And again. Linger over it. And now say it out loud… a little bit faster. Let it wash over you. It’s genius, right?
And just look at Needles here: Have you ever seen a drag queen like her before? She was — in a word — simply divine. For the way she described herself: “Beautiful, spooky, and stupid,” she said in her first interview. For how she whirled onto the show: “I look spooky, but I’m really nice… at least for now,” she promised the other queens while arriving in the workroom wearing a hat fit for the Wicked Witch of the West. For how she reacted when the guest judge was announced: Sharon Needles went into near-hysterics when told that fellow spook-master Elvira would appear on the judging panel alongside RuPaul, Santino Rice, and Michelle Visage.
Now, I wish that the photo here — this is just her standard gallery shot, unfortunately — reflected the gal’s ghastly runway look last night, but never before have I seen a drag queen look so dead. Deliciously dead? Dumpily dead? Disgustingly dead? Honestly, all of the above — pleaseandthankyou. I’m clearly not the only one who felt this way, considering that — SPOILER ALERT — the macabre-focused queen took home the glory last night by winning the RuPocalypse-themed challenge on the main stage.
Image Credit: Mathu Andersen/LOGO
Drag Racers, start your engines: Tonight’s the night! I warned you yesterday that I’d be the EW representative hosting Logo’s livestream from the pink — yes, pink! — carpet of tonight’s premiere party for season 4 of RuPaul’s Drag Race at Eleven Nightclub in West Hollywood. All the pink carpet madness begins at 7 p.m. PT — or the late-late hour of 10 p.m. ET for those of you on the east coast. You can catch it all here, below, in this blog post once the livestream goes, well, live.
In the meantime, if you have questions you’d like me to ask RuPaul, permanent judges Santino Rice and Michelle Visage, or other confirmed talent walking the carpet — including all the season 4 queens, various guest judges, and other sundry folks like possibly Jenna Jameson and Jai Rodriguez — feel free to leave questions in the comments section below or Tweet them liberally to #DragRaceEWParty. We’ll pick them up and be sure to ask them. (Check out the season 4 trailer and the contestant bios for question fodder.) May the best question…win!
Check back here at 7 p.m. PT for the livestream below:
Image Credit: Mathu Andersen/LOGO
Like any and all good RuPaul’s Drag Race fans know, season 4 of the reality indulgence launches in just one week — next Monday, Jan. 30, at 9 p.m. on Logo. Praise the sequin gods that it’s back!
But do you think Ru and Co. were really going to let the season start without a little bit of — okay, a lot of — razzle and dazzle? Oh, hell to the no! Which is why Logo is hosting a season 4 premiere party for Drag Race tomorrow evening, Jan. 24, from 7 to 8 p.m. PT at West Hollywood’s Eleven Nightclub. The best part? In conjunction with Logo, your trusty Drag Race reporter and recapper — that’d be me! — will be on hand on the pink carpet outside the venue, interviewing talent as they arrive for the big night. Everyone from host extraordinaire RuPaul to all the season 4 queens to other talent who may show up, possibly including the likes of Jenna Jameson and Jai Rodriguez, will be walking the pink carpet. Let’s just say: It’ll be a fun night. Interesting, at the very least!
The even better part? You’ll be able to follow along live from 7 to 8 p.m. PT via a livestream from Logo. Just check back here on PopWatch for all the details tomorrow evening.
In the meantime, leave any questions you’ve got for Ru, the season 4 queens, or — yes — Jenna Jameson in the comments, and I’ll be sure to ask them while working the pink carpet. Questions or comments during the live pink carpet? Just Tweet them and include #DragRaceEWParty, and we’ll definitely include them in the broadcast.
