‘Ru Paul’s Drag Race UK vs The World 1×02’ Review
I am beginning to get very frustrated by the talent shows that occur throughout the Drag Race franchise. What started out as a novel idea for the All-Star seasons has now become a staple during every series with the range of talents being shown becoming narrower and narrower with every show! While I totally understand the hard work and dedication it takes to deliver an effective lip-sync, I am tired of queens using this as their talent show act without providing anything unique that the audience hasn’t seen before. If lip-syncing is your only talent then really you should craft a performance that perfectly captures the essence of who you are with some sort of exciting twist that we have not seen before.
One queen that really cashed in on the element of surprise was none other than Drag Race Canada’s Jimbo! I am still at a loss of words when describing what this act actually was but at one point she gave birth to ham and then chucked it at Ru Paul all while dressed as a ghost. If you haven’t already watched this performance then I strongly recommend you do as I can honestly say I have never seen anything like this before in my life! On the runway, the majority of the queens on this season showcased how much they had developed since their original seasons with yet again Jimbo being a highlight with a wonderfully over-the-top black and white clown look that was an incredible spectacle! I personally would have chosen Jimbo to be the winner of this episode due to her excellent performance in both sections of the episode but the format of this season requires a top two lip-sync which Pagina Heals clearly won. Pagina did exactly what she needed to do as she entered this season having never actually competed on Drag Race but instead being a judge of Drag Race Thailand so she had a lot to prove which she did flawlessly! We were informed that Lemon would be leaving the competition which I know everyone was extremely disappointed about. If it was up to me I would have had Janey Jacke and Baga chips in the bottom as the latter’s runway was one of the worst outfits I have seen in a very long time!
There has been a lot of conversation online about the possibility that Jimbo intentionally did badly at the lip-sync so that the official decision of who goes home was not her responsibility. She conveniently managed to trip over twice thought out the relatively short lip-sync and by the end of the episode even she was describing the lip-sync as Hokey Cokey (which has become a phrase to mean a bit disappointing and suggests some sort of conspiracy.) I was incredibly excited when Blu Hydrangea directly asked if Jimbo had done poorly so that she didn’t have to send someone home and I know the latter was never going to confess but it did mean that the suspicions of everyone online were justified! I don’t know if the producers of this show are intentionally trying to give Mo Heart (also known as Monique Heart) a villain edit this season but as soon as she entered the race the queens commented on how the mood had changed and in this episode she verbally attacked Janey and her reveal talent show act calling it “worse than drag brunch” and saying it looked like a “first time in drag” outfit.
After these little dramas had been squashed it was revealed that this week maxi challenge was a Ru Paul ball that had three categories Kitty Girl, Butch Queen and You Wear It Well, the latter of which the queens had to create themselves in the werk room. Going into the episode I expected incredible things from Jimbo as I know in the real world she is a costume designer. On the other hand, Baga was known for creating that awful wire scourer dress on Ru Paul’s Drag Race UK season one (which Tayce then recreated on season two) and so I was hoping to see that she had been practising and developing her skill … but that was not the case. She spent the majority of the preparation time moaning about the fact that she has to do a design challenge when surely you know by now that creating an outfit is a reoccurring challenge every season. On top of this, she had managed to enlist Pagina Heals to ‘help’ create an outfit but I don’t think we saw Baga work on it once. Some of the time that she wasted however was not her fault as Ru Paul did one of her classic walkthroughs but the queens actually walked over to her to chat. The UK queens were first to be called over which meant they had to stop what they are doing to go over to Ru and tell her about their designs which to me is totally counterproductive. Next to talk to Ru was the American girls and finally everyone else. I was a little confused initially by the fact that the representatives from Thailand, Canada and Holland were all grouped together for this walkthrough but I quickly remembered that for those three this is their first time meeting Ru as she did not appear on their seasons.
In this first category “Kitty Girl” I really enjoyed Pagina’s high fashion Sphinx look that I thought looked better before the reveal. She walked the runway with a massive coat that revealed a nude Sphinx look complete with six breasts which did add a bit of whimsy to the look but I thought she should have stayed with the high fashion theme and kept the coat on throughout. I loved Baga’s cat look this week where she showcased and pink and white striped cat that was so wonderfully camp but still looked good. I think the campy but fashion sphere is where Baga is aiming for but a lot of the time she does miss the mark on the latter description. I was really disappointed by Mo Hearts look this week as during her run on All-stars four she did a much more elevated look whereas this seasons anime look did seem like a step backwards. I was also very disappointed by Jujubee as she has become known as the cat lady due to her confessionals on all-stars five where she talked about her love of cats. Her Kitty girl outfit was very basic and didn’t capture her obsession for cats that she has become known for.
In the second category titled “Butch Queen,” I thought that Janey Jackes bright orange outfit was very intense and the attitude she brought along with it really helped to sell the garment. This was a prisoner inspired look (complete with a mug shot sign) that looked beautiful on her. I thought that Cheryl Hole’s outfit in this category was absolutely stunning! She walked the runway in a bright red and yellow biker jumpsuit that had wonderful glitter orange accents which allowed for all the bright couloirs to work together. I did think that this outfit would function well as a reveal due to the size of it but for the purpose of the runway, it worked perfectly on its own! Blu is proving this season that she is an incredibly creative and innovative queen as she always seems to stand out in the line-up of queens. She decided to do a strong man inspired look with comedy weight which was very different to what everyone else had shown on the runway. While not the most elegant look on the runway the mere fact that no one else had used the same inspiration allowed her to stand out amongst her fellow competitors. However, the category was totally owed by Mo Heart who served us leather biker realness for her second look! Her look was incredible and totally played in the idea of ballroom culture (where balls originated) but also added some camp twists that made sense to the look. She had a lavender bandana in her back pocket that was the hanky code for a drag queen but also had glitter mesh undergarment which was revealed on the backside of her trousers. This was honestly one of the best looks I have seen from Mo and the fact it played in the historic aspect of balls and LGBT culture was genius!
Although the runway was comprised of three parts it was this final category that I believed held the most weight when considering the top and bottom of the runway. The purpose was that the queens had to create a look from scratch that Mama Ru herself would wear. Pagina had managed to create a very high-fashion and dramatic look which she tied together beautifully with her purple make-up. The fact that she was able to create this look while also giving a hand to Baga and her outfit was incredible! I thought that Jimbo’s impression of elegance was also giving Mama Ru on steroids with a high slit sequin gown and massive blonde hair which is quintessentially Ru Paul. Now I love Baga’s camp persona as much as the next person but I thought that this week she should have ended up in the bottom. Her runways were fun but the one she was supposed to have made was made by someone else and even then was one of the worst on the runway. The other queen I was extremely disappointed by was Jujubee who doesn’t seem to be being the same quality of drag that she has brought in previous seasons. She has had four other chances at the race so you would think that she should have the competition down to a tee but she seems to be obviously struggling in this season. It was announced that Janey and Jimbo are the top two this week (Jimbo has been in the top two for the first two episodes this season so clearly is the one to beat!) whereas the bottom two were Cheryl and Juju which I understand but probably would have swapped Cheryl for Baga. Janey won the lipsync this week and revealed that it was Cheryl that would be going home which I am very upset about! Juju has had many other opportunities to showcase her drag and she appears to have taken a step backwards during this competition so I personally would have chosen her to go home but it’s the winning queen’s decision that is final and so we have to say goodbye to Cheryl Hole!
Overall, this celebration of Ru Ball themed ball showcased some looks but two main queens really did not miss the mark (one of which did not end actually up the bottom.) so far this season, two of my personal favourites have gone home with neither of them actually been the worst performer that week!
