Ru Paul’s Drag Race 14×02′ Review
Everyone online has been absolutely raving about last weeks episode and first partial premiere of season fourteen and it’s not hard to see why! We got to meet seven brand new queens, which allowed the audience to get to know each of the performers much more than if we were introduced to all the queens on this season. We saw the queens showcase their fashion skills as they had to pose while tied to a spinning wheel and then everyone had to perform in the first-ever CNT talent show. There were some incredible incredible acts including Keri Colbi and her amazing jump rope skills, Willow Pill’s very unusual self-care In quarantine routine and Kornbread’s hilarious lip-sync number! I always enjoy the talent shows on Drag Race but I have begun to notice that acts that require years of practise and work tend to not do as well (for example the controversial Gia Gunns geisha performance or Latrice Royal’s flag twirling) whereas flawless lip-sync usually end up at the top. Kornbread “The Snack” Jette played this to her advantage while also managing to easily mark herself out as a fan favourite/forerunner by claiming the first-ever winner of the season and on the other end of the competition we saw Orion Story leave the race which is a great shame as we didn’t get to see much from this queen before she left! On top of the queens themselves, the guest judge on this episode was none other than the iconic Lizzo who was so wonderful that there is a petition to make her a permanent judge on the show!
Going into this episode I really hoped that the second batch of queens would get a similar opportunity to showcase themselves to the audience as the earlier queens did and luckily it was mostly an equal playing field for all the queens in this season. Despite not having the Lizzo this episode, we did have the incredible Alicia Keys as a very special guest judge. The first of the second batch of queens was Jorgeous, who looked flawless in her red feathery outfit with two high black ponytails. She informed everyone that she is from Latin heritage and is a very talented dancer which she showcased during her talent show act! Going into this episode I instantly felt a connection to Deja Skye as her campy and classical drag influences makes her a queen that I would love to see live in a local pub. However, I didn’t quite understand her pink and white outfit that she decided to wear for her entrance, as I didn’t totally get what she was trying to portray. Deja also explained to o the audience that she is a choreographer for cheerleaders. Thirdly was yet another dancing queen called “Jasmine Kennedy” who wore a wonderfully stoned, sparkly, asymmetric out with a gorgeous pink/purple wig with all the elements working very well together. The next queen to enter the werk room was quite possibly one of the most controversial casting choices in all of Ru Paul’s Drag Race herstory! Maddy Morphosis is the first-ever cis-gendered straight man to ever compete on the show and I really wanted their entrance line to be something along the lines of “let the queens know that I am heading STRAIGHT to the top!” Thousands of people have been outraged by the fact that a straight man has been allowed to compete on the show. I think we have to keep in mind that a little while ago everyone was talking about how all forms of drag are valid and that drag is for everyone. My concern however is that many of the jokes on Drag Race tend to be about gay sex or typical LGBT+ topics which Maddy may not be able to relate to. After entering the werk room in a Guy Fieri inspired outfit (which was a unique reference point for this show) I did notice that Maddy was a lot more withdrawn compared to the other queens, which could have been due to her feeling out of place and not totally in on the joke which I hope she can get past this soon as she is a very talented queen!
I thought that Angeria Paris VanMicheals’ black and white outfit was absolutely incredible to look at. It is clear that Angeria had thought about every detail in this look as she had red earrings that matched the accents on the dress, with matching gloves and umbrella all in a similar design to her dress. I believe that her pageant-inspired background has made Angeria aware of the small details and created flawless looks! Next was Lady Camden (who originally grew up in London) who wore a very colourful, pastel rainbow outfit that looked incredibly fun. She wore a wonderfully fluffy cropper jacket onto of what looked like an edible bra made of sweets which just looked very energetic and whimsical. Finally was Daya Betty who is the drag daughter/sister of fan favourite queen from season twelve Crystal Method. I thought that Daya looked amazing in her electric yellow and black tiger-inspired outfit, with a very edgy blonde mullet which demonstrated her drag background and the type of queen she is! Just like in last weeks episode, the queens were given a photoshoot mini-challenge. However this time the queens were not tied to a spinning wheel but instead had to pose with, initially, a small bowl of Tic Tacs! Daya Skye was the first to attempt this challenge and so was greeted with a bowl on a very small table. After a while, Ru Paul began to demonstrate her best angry acting demanding that she needed more Tic Tacs for the queens to pose with which began the reveal of a massive bathtub of the mints surrounded by two of the pit crew. At first, I thought that a spinning whirl was so much more exciting than a bowl of Tic Tac but at the end, it was miles better and in fact, is one of the only photoshoot challenges that I would actually wanted to have a go at!
Additionally, just like last week we also had the CNT (Creativity, Nerve and Talent where the only thing missing is you!) I have to say that I am very happy that they did a very similar structure for the two premiers as this made it fair for both sets of queens. Jorgeous was tasked with opening the talent, which I personally would find extremely intimidating, but she didn’t seemed dazed on the slightest. She looked incredibly sexy during her lip-sync act which was wonderfully high-energy and managed to get everyone hyped up for the other performers! Following on from this dance performance we had Jasmin who was able to do kicks, flips and splits all why wearing ridiculously high heels which were amazing to watch! Daya then delivered the third lip-sync based act where she performed Pink’s “Let’s Get the Party Started.” I have seen sexualised performances of this song being performed to many, many queens and so it did feel somewhat repetitive but Daya did manage to add some confetti cannons and balloons which added a bit of excitement. I personally really enjoyed Daya’s hat reveal which went from a massive top hat to a much smaller top hat which I found hilarious. The fact that this talent show had three lip-sync performances right after another was a very poor choice of structure and I am surprised they didn’t change this during filming. I knew it was going to be a very risky act when it was announced that Maddy would be playing live guitar in their talent show act. Not only did she play a live instrument but also decided to play a very soulful, blues song that had no lyrics. While being able to play like Maddy would take years of learning and showcased tremendous amounts of talent, I did find the act quite boring until the closing moments when she began playing with her tongue. Angeria delivered a very entertaining lip-sync to an original song with her performance being very energetic and animated which was great to watch! Clearly, Ru and the judges also loved this activity as she was declared as the winner of this weeks episode which meant that both talent shows were won by lip-syncing performances, where there were talents that queens had been working on since a very young age (such as Jump rope last week and guitar playing this week), did not do too well.
The runway theme for this week was “signature Drag” again which encourages the queens to wear something that showcase their type of drag. Jorgeous continued to look absolutely flawless in a beautiful jewelled gown with purple accents. I have to admit though, I did prefer the outfit as a whole before the jacket was removed but it still looked pretty nice without the purple bits. The Jewelled sections were absolutely insane and her make-up was absolutely flawless! If this episode is anything to go by, Jorgeous is a queen who is going to bring some incredible looks so I look forward to seeing them! Jasmin Kennedy wore a wonderfully gold outfit that showcased her incredible body! This had to be one of my favourite looks this season as it was absolutely beautiful! Maddy must have felt so much pressure as not only is it her first exposure to an international audience but she needs to prove that she deserves her place in the competition which in my opinion she did and more! Maddy walked the runway in a wonderful royal inspired outfit after their head had been cut off. She walked the entire runway with her head in her hands which were so wonderfully camp and surprise which I and the judges really loved! I also found the heckle “Guillotina Turner” from the judges was one of the funniest things I have heard in a very long time! Algeria again showcased her pageant talent in a beautiful red wine outfit that looked absolutely stunning. She has managed to turn two insane looks in one episode which is the perfect way to introduce yourself to everyone watching. Like I said earlier she was declared as the winner of the episode but for me, it was between her or Jasmin so either one deserved it! However, Deja and Daya were in the bottom which the former being told to leave after the lip sync.
Overall, this was another exciting episode that helped the audience get to know the queens very well. We saw a very fun photoshoot with an exciting talent show with some unique skills being shown. However, there was way too many lip-sync acts on this episode as we saw many in the talent show but also the regular one at the end of the episode. I cannot wait for next week as the two groups of queens will unite which usually means the drama will soon begin!
