Serving up the tea on episode two of season 14

The second premiere for Season 14 of RuPaul’s Drag Race aired on VH1 last Friday. This episode introduces us to the remaining seven queens for this season. This episode follows the same format of the first premier, with the seven queens competing in the Charisma, Nerve and Talent Show. This article contains numerous spoilers for episode 2 of season 14. So, if you haven’t seen the episode yet, proceed with caution.

Meet the Queens

The first queen to enter the werkroom this episode was Jorgeous. I really liked Jorgeous’s entrance look. The red looked beautiful on her skin tone. The red feathers were a great addition and helped take the outfit from a simple red leotard to something more elevated. The leotard accentuated her figure and showed off her legs. I thought not wearing any jewelry with the outfit (besides those big, sparkly hoop earrings) was a smart choice. I think adding any other jewelry would have made the outfit look busy. Overall, I think the outfit was cute and did a good job representing her and her drag style.

The second queen to enter the werkroom was DeJa Skye. I personally did not like DeJa’s entrance look. I could tell from the get that DeJa is a campy queen. While the outfit silhouette wasn’t bad, the color combinations just didn’t work for me. The pink polka dot dress with the bright neon green hair was not a combination that I would have chosen. I also had questions about the lace-like top under the dress. I wasn’t sure if it was supposed to be that color or if it was supposed to be a nude-illusion. If it was meant to be a nude illusion it was about four or more shades too light.

The third queen to enter the workroom was Jasmine Kennedie. Jasmine is definitely a showgirl, and her outfit screams it. Jasmine wore a highly embellished leotard with a cape that went over her left arm. The outfit was covered in pink, gold, and white rhinestones with pink feather accents. The light pink used to make the actual leotard was a really pretty shade and I thought was a good color choice for her. My biggest critique of this outfit was the choice of purple hair. With the light pink leotard, the purple hair seemed like an after-thought. Personally, I think if she would have gone with a blonde wig the look would have been more cohesive.

The fourth queen to enter the werkroom was Maddy Morphosis. Maddy is making Drag Race herstory as the first cis-gender, straight man to compete on the competition. I can tell from Maddy’s entrance look that she is also a campy queen. She said her outfit was inspired by Guy Fieri and I got it right away. She wore the classic Fieri hair, short, blonde and spikey. The top of her dress was the same short sleeve button-up cut we are all accustomed to seeing Fieri wear with the bottom of the dress covered in his classic flames. She styled the outfit with a cheeseburger clutch and Fieri classic gas station sunglass. Overall, the outfit wasn’t my favorite, but I thought it did a great job telling us what kind of drag to expect from Maddy.

The fifth queen to enter the werkroom was Angeria Paris VanMicheals. Angeria is serving classic southern bell. Her drag looks both glamourous and fun. Her silhouette is 60’s inspired and fits here body like a glove. So far polka dots are very in this season of Drag Race. The base fabric of her outfit was black and white polka dots with red embellishments throughout. The colors work great together, with the polka dots really extenuating the red details that were covered in rhinestones. She even paired the outfit with a matching polka dot umbrella for some added flair. After seeing her entrance look, I’m looking forward to seeing what she brings to the table.

The sixth queen to enter the werkroom was Lady Camden. Lady Camden describing herself as the sixth member of the Spice Girl is the perfect description of her drag. Her entrance look gives me 90’s popstar vibes. With big, bright pink hair in pigtails, pastel tie-dyed jacket and shirt, candy bra and sparkly knee-high boots. I think the look is fun but compared to some of the other girls it looks slightly lack-luster. But I can appreciate the comedy that she brings to her drag persona. She said that her outfits always have “something a little tacky, but just tacky enough.” Is it a read to say that I completely agree with that? Personally, I think she could have just done more with the concept of the outfit. I don’t hate the look, but I think she could have elevated it.

The final queen to enter the werkroom this season was Daya Betty. I liked the punk-rock feel of Daya’s entrance look. Her blonde mullet was styled well but gave me more party in the front and party in the back. The front was styled in the classic punk rock style with a short chop that was spiked. I didn’t love the yellow ruffles on the shoulders of the dress. I didn’t think they added anything to the outfit, but everything else I liked. The dress had an asymmetrical zipper on the front that reminded me of big, heavy leather jackets. The black lightning bolt accents were also a great touch. But for me what really made the look punk-rock was the hair and fishnets.

To see the queens’ entrance looks follow this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PMODU5dylE, or visit the RuPaul’s Drag Race YouTube page.

Main Challenge

For this week’s episode, the queens will compete in the Charisma, Nerve and Talent Show, or the CNT’s. The queens were tasked with showing the judges a talent that tells them who they are.

The first queen to perform is Jorgeous doing a lipsync and dance number. Jorgeous’s lipsync was great but the real talent was her dancing. She showed the judges and those of us at home why she is a dancing queen. Her routine was filled with all of the great kicks, flips and death drops that I have come to expect from someone who says they are a dancing queen. If I were to see her doing this routine in the club, I would definitely be living for it.

The second queen to perform was Jasmine Kennedie, also doing a lipsync and dance routine. I thought Jasmine’s routine was good, but it seemed less impressive compared to Jorgeous. I think had she not gone right after Jorgeous I would have enjoyed her performance more. Jasmine’s routine has backflips, kicks and splits but seemed slightly subdued. For someone that says she is a dancing queen, I was expecting more.

The third queen to perform was Daya Betty doing a lipsync number. I think RuPaul might be trying to set these girls up. Daya’s lipsync wasn’t bad but compared to the two girls before her, it was boring. Daya accompanied her lipsync with some magic. I think she should have just done magic for her act because those were the best parts of the performance. Much like Jasmine, I think I would have enjoyed Daya’s performance more if she hadn’t gone after two queens with actual dance routines.  

Lady Camden was the fourth queen to perform doing a drag ballet number. Lady Camden made a smart choice because her dance routine was so different from the girls before her. Instead of just giving us classic drag dancing, she gave us something we didn’t expect. She was able to perfectly mix classic ballet with more modern dancing. The routine really let her personality shine through and separated herself from the other queens who danced in their act.

The next queen to perform was DeJa Skye with a cheerleading comedy routine. So, in the werkroom DeJa said that she does choreography for cheer and dance teams, so I was expecting big things from a campy queen that also happens to do cheerleading. I was unpleasantly surprised. I thought her character was funny, but the actual execution of the routine needed work. While there were funny moments, if you want to do a comedy routine on Drag Race there has to be constant jokes and DeJa’s routine was lacking that.

The next queen to perform was Maddy Morphosis playing the electric guitar. Maddy played the guitar really well, much better than Alyssa Hunter’s guitar playing last week. But the choice to go with a slow, more bluesy type song I think was a mistake. From what I can tell she has the technical ability to play a more upbeat, face-paced song. However, at the end of her performance she actually played the guitar with her tongue. The tongue-playing was really impressive, but I still would have preferred a more up-beat song choice.

The final queen to perform was Angeria Paris VanMicheals, performing an original song. Angeria’s performance was my favorite of the night. First, the outfit she wore was to die for. Angeria’s song was the perfect choice for this challenge. The song had the perfect mix of some comedy and the lyrics told us who she was. Also, she didn’t get have an outfit reveal, she also had a hair reveal. Her performance gave me great drag and was really entertaining. It was a great way to end the show.

To see the queens’ CNTs performance follow this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1-13iy5kDQ, or visit the RuPaul’s Drag Race YouTube page.

Runway Looks

            This week’s runway category is… Sickening Signature Drag.

            The first queen down the runway was Jorgeous. I loved, loved, loved Jorgeous’s runway look. The purple dress looked amazing and really highlighted her gorgeous skin-tone. Under the dress, she wore a catsuit covered from top to bottom with rhinestones and crystals. The entire outfit was highly detailed with jewel accents throughout. Her hair and makeup were also on-point, tying in with her purple gown. Jorgeous’s runway was hands down my favorite thing to see on the runway this episode, everything about it was perfect

            The second queen down the runway was DeJa Skye. I loved the black rose lace of the gown. The black lace looked amazing paired with the patterned blue cerulean ruffled sleeves and the matching headpiece. Her makeup looked great, I thought the choice of a darker, more dramatic eye and lip paired with the outfit well. The only thing I didn’t like was the lace dress stopped at her knees and was replaced with the cerulean blue fabric. I would have either completely cut the blue or moved the hem closer to her calf.

            The next queen down the runway was Jasmine Kennedie. I personally wasn’t in love with this outfit, but it was well done. Her outfit definitely said showgirl. The gold fabric of the dress was completely sequined and sparkled from every angle. The dress had a plunging neckline that went to basically her bellybutton. The top of the dress was basically just covering her breasts, leaving both sides open. She paired the outfit with big drop earrings and necklace. The outfit was well executed but looks like something I’ve seen on the show before.

            The fourth queen down the runway was Maddy Morphosis. I think Maddy’s runway look did a great job showing who she is. The Marie Antoinette-inspired look, you know decapitated, brought comedy to Maddy’s runway while also looking pretty good. I’ve seen better Marie Antoinette-inspired looks on the show before, but no one has been clever enough to bring the element of comedy to the look like Maddy did. Maddy’s runway was one of my favorites of the night. She was able to tell us how she was in this look, acing the category of Sickening Signature Drag.

            The fifth queen down the runway was Angeria Paris VanMicheals. Okay I’m convinced, Angeria looks great is red. Her runway gave my classic southern pageant drag, and I am just fine with that. Her gown hugged her every curve beautifully. The gold and crimson sequin accents on the gown drew your eye from every angle. The gown’s train flowed beautifully, her accessories were just right, makeup was on-point. Knowing she is a “pageant girl” I’m going to continue expecting this level when it comes to her runway looks.

            The next queen down the runway was Lady Camden. After first seeing Lady Camden’s runway look my eyes hurt, but in a good way? Her runway look definitely gave me 90’s pop princess. The peacock-inspired look featured reflective material from her shoes to her headpiece. Her runway featured working faux-peacock feathers that went up and down. I thought it brought a fun, campy element to the outfit. While this outfit wasn’t my favorite, I think it did a good job telling the audience who Lady Camden is. So, in that regard, the outfit was a success.

            The final queen down the runway this episode was Daya Betty. I think Daya’s look tonight was my least favorite. Compared to the other girls on stage, her outfit just seemed too simple. The outfit was flannel material that was stitched together with various colored ribbon. I know that deconstructed looks are very in right now in the fashion world, but to me this just looked homemade. The outfit didn’t really give her any shape, so she just looked like a tube. There were also places where it was starting to rip apart.  

Winner and Loser

            After the judges’ critiques, with the final decision being RuPaul’s, the winner of this week’s challenge was Angeria, winning herself $5,000. I think this win is completely deserved. Angeria’s performance was extremely entertaining, and her runway look was great. Let’s see if she can keep that momentum going into the next challenge.

            Our two unlucky ladies this week lipsyncing for their lives are DeJa Skya and Daya Betty. I also agree with this bottom placement. Both DeJa’s and Daya’s talent show performances lacked polish and compared to the other girls were the clear bottom two, at least for me.

            This week’s lipsync song was Fallin’ by this week’s guest judge Alicia Keys. These types of songs are always the hardest to judge. DeJa Skye ends up winning the lipsync, ending Daya Betty’s run on the season. From the beginning of the lipsync I saw emotion if DeJa’s performance that I just didn’t see from Daya. For these slow, ballad songs what you emote in your performance is what decides who wins.

            While I am sad to see Daya go home, I think DeJa lipsync win was deserving. To watch the lipsync follow this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ibCy449Y0k, or visit the RuPaul’s Drag Race YouTube page.