Spilling the tea on season 14, episode seven
*Warning* The following article contains spoilers for RuPaul’s Drag Race season 14, episode seven.
As the queens reenter the werkroom after Jasmine Kennedie won her lipsync against Maddy Morphosis, I’m a little ticked off about how Jasmine is acting. Her first words after coming back from the main stage was “Well, that was easy.”
It really rubbed me the wrong way. I understand that this is competition, but I hate when queens start acting nasty towards each other. I know that Jasmine and Maddy’s fight wasn’t anything personal. This competition is a pressure cooker, and it can cause some not so great behavior from the queens. This definitely isn’t anything new, the competition is almost half-way through and all of these queens are still itching to win.
I also understand in life you are not going to like everyone you meet, but I was told that if you don’t have anything nice to say it’s better to keep your mouth shut. There are going to be riffs between the girls, but there isn’t any reason to try to bring another queen down with you.
We had some more “friendly” shade coming from Daya Betty as well. Like last week Daya is frustrated with the fact that she isn’t able to break from her safe streak. But, along with being upset about not breaking into the top she also let the girls know that she was frustrated with the “lack of work” some of the other girls had in their outfits. After being told to name names, Jorgeous, the winner of the design challenge, was singled out by Daya.
This is another classic example of a time that a queen should have just kept her mouth shut and let sleeping dogs lie. There just wasn’t really any reason for Daya to start this drama with Jorgeous. Understandably, Jorgeous is upset that Daya basically said she didn’t deserve to win this week. Daya should be solely focusing on her performance because when queens start comparing themselves to others is about the time they go home.
For this week’s Maxi Challenge, the girls will be starring in the drag soap opera, “The Daytona Wind”. The soap opera follows three rival drag families; the Davenports, O’Haras and the Michaels; in a dynasty-inspired performance. As the winner of last week’s challenge, Jorgeous is in charge of casting the roles.
Maxi Challenge
Going into filming of “The Daytona Wind” there are four queens that I’m watching very closely, Angeria Paris VanMichaels, Bosco, Lady Camden and Jorgeous. I’m watching out for Angeria and Bosco this week because they won the last two acting challenges. They both impressed during these challenges so I’m looking forward to seeing what they bring.
I think this might be Lady Camden’s week so I’m watching her very closely. She has been on a top streak and has been upping her performance each week. Finally, I’m really nervous about Jorgeous this week. The last two acting challenges have been a real struggle for her and just coming off a win it would be tragic to see her perform badly and go home.
As I watch the queens film “The Daytona Wind”, I’m actually really excited to see the final product. I usually hate the acting challenges on Drag Race for two reasons. First, the scripts are usually pretty poorly written. I think this is mostly due to the final product only being a maximum of 10 minutes. It’s hard to get quality material into less then 10 minutes while also trying to give classic drag humor. Second, very few drag race queens have any real acting ability. Most of the time the queens’ characters are caricatures of a caricature of a character.
However, every bit of that worked for this challenge. I know that Drag Race has done soap opera challenges before, but I don’t know why it hasn’t become a staple every season. Acting in real soap operas are so often bad, so all of the queens fit right in. This challenge is the perfect opportunity for the queens who are trained actors and for the queens who are acting novices to do well in.
The final product did not disappoint. This was my favorite acting challenge in the herstory of the Drag Race franchise. It was the perfect combination of classic soap opera drama and Drag Race humor. All of the queens played into the classic soap opera themes we come to expect when we’re at sick at home on a weekday. If you are a serious soap opera lover and believe there is some quality acting being done, I don’t suggest watching it. However, if you think they are as funny as I do you are going to love this.
There is one final surprise that director RuPaul added after filming concluded, but I just can’t quite put my nose on in. To see the final director’s cut of “The Daytona Wind”, follow this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3pSwv-jDQ0, or sashay over to the RuPaul’s Drag Race YouTube page.
Category is…
On the runway this week category is… Chaps on the Runway! I’m super excited for this runway. I love chaps on a normal day, but a whole runway dedicated to them! As said in the werkroom by the queens, chaps are a drag essential. This has definitely been my favorite runway category of the season.
The first queen to hit the runway is Willow Pill. I don’t really understand the entire concept of this outfit, but I love it anyway. Her chaps look extenuated her tiny silhouette; the black latex looks like it was vacuum sealed to her body. I have loved Willow’s runway look but this was my favorite so far. Her look showed her personality and her amazingly weird brain but also was sexy AF.
The second queen on the runway is Bosco. I love love love Bosco’s chaps look. Bosco’s chaps look gave me the drag version of what I think of when I think of chaps. She served full pink leather-mamma fantasy. Her look gave me bondage mixed with motorcycle couture. Complete with studs and fringe this look paid homage to the leather community while also be quintessential drag.
Third to hit the runway was DeJa Skye. DeJa served body-ody-ody-ody in this chaps look. DeJa consistently gives an amazing body silhouette each week. My biggest critique for DeJa every week is that I want to see some looks on this runway. This week I think she finally brought something worth her seamstress reputation. The blue sequin bodysuit under the blue leopard chaps and sleeves looked great. The orange hair, while very fluorescent, worked with all the blue tones. Keep bringing this quality to the runway DeJa.
The fourth queen to hit the stage is Kerri Colby. I think Kerri’s chaps looks is one of my favorites. Hair outfits have been done before quite a few times, but this interpretation keeps it fresh. The hair flows great and provides an almost sheer coverage of her beautiful body. The floor-length blonde box braids were the perfect actual hair choice, playing off the brown shades used to make the outfit. Kerri looked incredibly sexy in this chaps look.
The fifth queen of the night is Jorgeous. I like everything about Jorgeous’s chaps look, except the cut of the actual chaps. Like she said, it looks like she didn’t pull her pants up all the way. Everything else, I’m in love with. The black lace with the crystal detailing is gorgeous. The purple jewel accents on the bra and panty look incredible. Even with the bottom looking like she was trying to fit into pants four sizes too small I give this look a 10. Jorgeous looked absolutely stunning in this chaps look.
The sixth queen to hit the runway tonight in Angeria Paris VanMicheals. I like Angeria’s look but this has become a silhouette I’ve come to expect from Angeria, a beautifully tailored garment with some huge sleeve accent. I would like to see an outfit that doesn’t have the shoulder detail. However, the garment fit her beautifully. She looked like she just stepped out of Studio 54. Her chaps look gave me the complete disco fantasy from head to toe. Overall, it was a good chaps look but was probably my least favorite of the night.
The seventh queen of the night was Jasmine Kennedie. Jasmine’s chaps look was not something that I was expecting from her. The cerulean blue with the neon yellow looked great together. Her look was graduation inspired but I didn’t understand the connection, but she looked great anyway. For me what made the outfit was the details. The neon yellow chaps were completely sequined, one of her earrings was a graduation tassel and the graduation cap was so oversized it was ridiculous. I thought the outfit was really fun and showed a campier side of Jasmine.
The eighth queen down the runway was Lady Camden. I have one word for Lady Camden’s runway look, showstopper. Lady Camden runway look was an entire performance. I don’t want to give too much away because watching the reveal is something I don’t want to take from anyone, so please, please watch the runway recap. Lady Camden’s chaps look was a perfect example of taking a pop culture icon and bringing them to Drag Race. I lived for her runway look this week. Her runway was definitely my favorite of the night, both look and runway performance.
The final queen down the runway was Daya Betty. This is Daya’s week, she has definitely broken her safe streak. Her chaps runway is the perfect combination of mob boss and working girl. The beautiful baby blue suit jacket looks great on her. Often when queens wear a more masculine look, the overall fit can take you out of the fantasy. But Daya was able to mix both masculine and feminine so beautifully. The whole look gives me girl mob boss who means business but isn’t afraid to get wild after the work is done.
To see all of the amazing chaps looks, follow this link https://twitter.com/RuPaulsDragRace/status/1495080749799657473?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw or sashay over to the RuPaul’s Drag Race Twitter account. (Sorry they didn’t put it on YouTube, but you need to see this runway.)
Tops and… tops
After sending safe queens Kerri Colby, DeJa Skye and Angeria Paris VanMicheals to the Untucked Lounge, RuPaul lets the reaming six queens know they are all the tops of the week. The queens performed so well in the challenge this week that no one is going home. What I believe is a Drag Race first, at least in the middle of the season, there are no bottoms.
The tops of the week are Jorgeous, Jasmine Kennedie, Lady Camden, Daya Betty, Willow Pill and Bosco. I 100% agree that all of these ladies were in the top this week. When RuPaul sent the safe queens to the Untucked Lounge I was shocked. I was grasping for straws for who would be in the bottom out of the remaining queens. These six did an incredible job and gave Drag Race the best acting challenge it’s seen in its 14-season run.
Because there are no bottoms this week, the top two queens of the night will lipsync for the win. After deliberating with the judges, RuPaul decides that Lady Camden and Daya Betty are the top two of the week. Again, I think this is 100% deserved. Both of these queens did an amazing job this week and were so fun to watch.
This week’s lipsync song is “One Way Or Another” by Blondie. I always think lipsyncs for the win are so much better than lipsyncs for your life. Not only does no one go home, but the fire is different. Rather than trying to prove they are good enough to stay, these queens are proving why they are top b*tch.
Both Daya and Lady Camden gave great lipsync performances. Daya gave a sexy and sultry performance of the song. While Lady Camden gave a comedic performance complete with kicks, flips and splits. Both of the girls proved that they are top material. However, there can be only one winner and that winner was Lady Camden. Along with officially being the top queen of the week, she also won a cash tip of $5,000.
To see Daya and Lady Camden’s lipsync, follow this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fP_IlXeh9ds&list=PLGwZKkKxJCieNe1VrW3Og4uf_kmEQyRJn&index=2 or sashay over to the RuPaul’s Drag Race YouTube page.