RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 9 - Premieres May 17th

[totes4totes]

31 minutes ago, *Chris said:

Guest judges will include Keke Palmer, Anitta, Connie Britton, and Stephanie Hsu! 

i can't believe they are WASTING these judges on a season with no eliminations that is going to have Jorgeous and Nina West on it all season long. Keke Palmer is going to have look at Nina West and make some kind of critique that can't be mean because every contestant is on it forever. One of her greatest acting challenges yet!!!!!!!

[totes4totes]

Just now, totes4totes said:

i can't believe they are WASTING these judges on a season with no eliminations that is going to have Jorgeous and Nina West on it all season long. Keke Palmer is going to have look at Nina West and make some kind of critique that can't be mean because every contestant is on it forever. One of her greatest acting challenges yet!!!!!!!

ON THE FLIP SIDE. They all get to see ROXXXY ANDREWS. So you win some and you lose some.

[Solaris]

Connie Britton? I stan.

[*Wallace]

Shannel, Roxxy, Angeria and Jorgeous were all on Sherri today. They had a really fun and good interview on there + as well as a fun drag dance off!

 

 

 

 

[Zoey]

Great first episode but I don’t know what was going on with that top two of the week. Lord above.

 

01. Vanjie - The star of the episode and her verse was EVERYTHING. One of the greatest performances in the herstory of the group challenges.

02. Plastique - Her verse was fantastic. The way she moves is so beautiful and that runway was insane. The hair fan was everything.

03. Nina - I really enjoyed Nina throughout this episode. She had a strong verse and killed the choreo.

04. Jorgeous - Fine performance but she’s dead behind the eyes. She’s a dancing robot when she’s on the stage.

05. Gottmik - Very awkward throughout the challenge but she’s improved her dancing from what I saw. Hated the runway though.

06. Shannel - Her runway was fantastic but she fumbled in the challenge.

07. Angeria - Why was she anywhere near the top? She punched the air throughout her verse and didn’t stand out anywhere.
08. Roxxxy - A plain black bodysuit and a forgettable verse made her invisible throughout the challenge but that runway.. yikes.

 

Overall

01. Vanjie

02. Plastique

03. Shannel

04. Nina

05. Gottmik

06. Jorgeous

07. Roxxxy

08. Angeria

[Zoey]

The second episode was decent but I hope we don’t see that challenge ever again.

 

01. Plastique - Head and shoulders above everyone else this week. Her garment was one of the best in Drag Race history. Absolutely phenomenal.

02. Vanjie - Solely this high for the Michelle and Van Gogh looks. 
03. Gottmik - I loved her Munch look but I wasn’t interested in any of the others. Her first look was pretty average to me considering it was off a runway.

04. Shannel - She did well this week. I’m hoping we get to see more of her as the weeks go on and she starts to step out of the shadows.

05. Roxxxy - Why did Nina say that Roxxxy does amazing in every challenge? Has she watched All Stars 2? Anyway, none of her looks were great.

06. Nina - Pretty terrible painted garment but her first runway was stunning.

07. Angeria - Didn’t like any of her runways.

08. Jorgeous - Pretty terrible week.

[Solaris]

I watched the first episode.  It was a joy, and everyone was so happy to be there!  This episode sort of felt like 2 episodes in 1 with the perfume runway.  Could have been a whole branding challenge.  The lipsync was great with 2 different styles of performance.

 

 

1. Plastique Tiara - I do not understand how she wasn't in the Top 2.  Her verse was great, dancing was fire and oh my god that runway was incredible.  Those WINGS were everything. She said mechanical wings, I will double it up. She's a completely new drag queen, and I am so happy to see her there and confident.

2. Angeria Paris VanMichael - While her verse alone, I wouldn't put her in the Top for.  I was living for her embodiment of Whitney in that lipsync.  Not to mention the end was ridiculous in the best way.  Runway was cute!

3. Vanessa Vanjie Mateo - She was in my Top for verses, so I would have had her lipsync. Her energy is really elevating the season.

4. Jorgeous - She's a fierce dancer. I feel like she was only put in the Top due to her choreographing the piece and for the season 14 storyline.  I did love her in the lipsync though.  I did not expect Jorgeous to be in first place after night 1.

5. Gottmik - We've gone along way from her original verse in season 13.  She's improved as a performer.  Wasn't the strongest dancer of the night, but I love what she brings to this group of queens.  Her perfume ad was very Gottmik and I always appreciate that about her runways.

6. Roxxxy Andrews - I agree with Keke, I loved the "Pop Out".  She also had my favorite voice over for the runway.  She's taken notes from Jinkx and was referencial to her past.  The callbacks to Tatiana, Alyssa Edwards and the rhinestone tanktop sent me.  That said, her verse was only good.

7. Nina West - the combination of everything wasn't a hit for me.  I feel like some of that is her new campy drag aesthetic.

8. Shannel - I loved her runway and her perfume.  I didn't care for her verse, which is where I put the most weight on the ranking this week.

[Solaris]

I had an opportunity to watch the second episode and the ball was great!  

 

1. Gottmik - Her looks were everything.  All 3 of them slays.  Gottmik wins a lipsync?  Who would have saw that coming.  Maybe that editted to look like she did better then Plastique, but I am glad she got it.

2. Plastique Tiara - Her first two looks were good, but that third look was the best of the night and up there with Gottmiks second look.  Happy she is on the board with a badge.  Shes doing very well this season so far.

3. Roxxxy Andrews - Werk Roxxxy.  She's coming for the non-existant Miss Congeniality this season.  I don't know what happened to Roxxxy between All-Stars 2 and now but it's like she's had a personality transplant.  She's turned into someone I actually want to root for.  Incredible!

4. Angeria Paris Vanmichael - solid in all three categories. Just no incredible moments like the other 3 had this episode.

5. Shannel - the last look was a little crafty looking.  I think she mostly did well.

6. Vaness Vanjie Mateo - I thought this was a pretty weak week for her too.  The only one I liked was her Michelle green look. I did find it quite funny.

7. Jorgeous - this whole episode was pretty meh.

8. Nina West - it goes without saying.  Last look was the worst of the night and she pretty much finished last in all 3 categories.

[Elliott]

Plastique should’ve been in the top for episode one, wtf 

[totes4totes]

These two episodes didn't do much to convince me that this won't be a boring season without the stakes and this group of queens. But it did convince me that Roxxxy, Angeria, and Vanjie have enough personality between the three of them to carry a season's worth of commentary.

[*Lily]

Good vibes about this season actually! I was a little nervous, but I feel like the cast really bounce off each other well and it'll be fun to watch.

Overall rankings after episode 2:
 

1. Angeria - I feel like the one thing which has held Angie back previously has been her lip-syncing. So to see her emboding Whitney in that first lip-sync.. I was so pleased!

2. Roxxxy - Already reminding me why I've enjoyed Roxxxy so much previously. I think she's going to shine here.

3. Plastique - Great showing for her both episodes, she's definitely evolved. One of the best ball packages in a long time IMO

4. Jorgeous - I'm rooting for her! I feel like she's an underdog in this cast, she's still so young and I don't think she's hit her peak yet. But she was great in that first challenge.

5. Vanjie - Definitely my favorite in the first challenge. Ball wasn't quite polished enough but she's still just so entertaining.

6. Gottmik - Absolutely killed it in the ball, but also the reading challenge, I'm enjoying her so far.

7. Shannel - Excited for more of her!
8. Nina - She'll come alive in the comedy/improv challenges but omg she felt so out of place in that ball.

[*Wallace]

I thought it was a pretty strong and solid premiere. I only watched the first episode so far. All of the Queens did really welll with the main performance and their original looks/perfume runways.

Yayyy Angeria being one of the two winners! She SLAYED this episode andI was hoping she would win it. I was a little surprised with Jorgeous winning - well not because of her performance, she slayed and crushed that. Her runway was good but not as major of a standout compared to some other queens. But I have no issue about that. And I do think it's cute how the Season 14 sisters won it together. I actually have no idea who I would have wanted and put in the Top 2. I probably would have had Plastique up there instead of Jorgeous as I loved everything Plastique brought to the episode. Wouldn't have minded Vanjie up there as I loved her performance as well. 

I was a little nervous about Angeria having to do a lip sync against Jorgeous, since she is such a dynamic little firecracker of a performer. Though I know Angeria can hold her own. But this was a fun and entertaining lip sync. I feel it could be a toss up depending on the performing style you prefer. Yayyy Angeria winning this!  Can't complain about that.

Ooh wow, Angeria giving Roxxxy the cut off/snip scissors for the (upcoming) week. I know she said was wanting to make a big move to prevent a threat from winning next time, which I do get here. I am not mad about the decision but just hope this doesn't come back to hurt Angeria next episode.

Hoping to watch the second episode sometime tomorrow. 

[Solaris]

did Vanjie drop her last name?  Watching Pit Stop and they dont use Mateo at all.

[Elliott]

3 hours ago, Solaris said:

did Vanjie drop her last name?  Watching Pit Stop and they dont use Mateo at all.

Yeah, she just goes by Vanessa Vanjie now. She dropped Mateo around the AS5/S13 time span iirc.

[Solaris]

1 minute ago, Elliott said:

Yeah, she just goes by Vanessa Vanjie now. She dropped Mateo around the AS5/S13 time span iirc.

Did she have a falling out with Alexis? 

[*Wallace]

Just finished watching the Ball episode. Some thoughts:

 

- Gottmik and Roxxxy seem like the frontrunners for this Ball challenge, so I wonder if they can bring it with their hype.
- Ooh I forgot that Plastique won her design challenge and nearly won the ball on her season, so I am also really looking forward to her here.
- LOL at Jorgeous' design challenge "win" being brought up. If she wins this challenge over more experienced Queens streamess, I will lose it.
- Oooh dearrrr @ Nina West's last outfit. That was..... a look.
- Yayy for Plastique & Gottmik being the Top 2 this week! This is a great and fitting Top 2 as both of them slayed all 3 of their looks. I'm especially happy for Plastique to have this moment for herself!
- A little surprised Roxxxy wasn't in the Top 2 but I'm okay about it as I found the other two more impressive. But she would be a close 3rd.
 - The "Jump in the Line" lip sync was fun. I felt that Gottmik had a more complete performance and was fun throughout. I felt like Plastique had bigger and memorable moments when she did some showy moments but the performance as a whole was a little lacking? I was left wanting more from her at the start and some other parts.
- Ughh dangg, I had a feeling Gottmik would give the snip/scissors to Angeria. Gameplay-wise, it was an understandable decision. Angeria has shown she's a big threat and could be that next week.
- Oooh "Snatch Game of Love" next week. This should be fun!
 

[Solaris]

The episode was good, but I don't think it was as good as the first two.

 

 

1. Gottmik - Brilliant.  The dog portrayal as a hollywood starlett. She was so funny, and her physical comedy was not to be overlooked. Her runway was a take  I didn't expect and highlighted her transition.  Two time snatch game winner, I know thats right.  Its 2024 and Gottmik has 2 lipsync wins.  

2. Angeria - I thought Angie should have been in the Top 2 with Gottmik.  She was my favorite from her group.

3. Shannel - I really enjoyed Shannel this week.  She had great mannerisms and made me laugh.

4. Jorgeous - sort of here by default and the overly sexual noises she was making made me chuckle.

5. Roxxxy - I think there was so much more she could have done.  When Shannel was complimenting her earrings, she could have said they were organic.  Or she could have talked about getting her salad smothered in ranch.  There were so many places it could have gone but she didn't crash and burn.

6. Nina - maybe unpopular opinion but I really disliked this.  Her physical comedy irked me and she didn't let the room breath. Seriously she sucked all the air out of the room.  She also spent 3 weeks in the same lipsync costume, only to perform.....like that.  Yea, can't say I have much good to say about Nina.

7. Vanjie - I loved the idea and the look, the execution wasn't there.  She really said that she wanted to pack a second monochromatic runway look for this season.

8. Plastique - well that happened.  

[Zoey]

I didn’t love this episode and thought the previous two were stronger. It felt a bit all over the place.

 

01. Nina - Incredible week for Nina. She delivered one of the best performances in Snatch Game ever but also displayed her strongest runway ever. Her Liberace was insanely good.

02. Shannel - I liked how she had a completely different take than Nina. I thought she should’ve been in the top.

03. Angeria - She did well at the Snatch Game. Probably the only time I’ve been impressed with something she’s delivered.

04. Gottmik - I don’t think Gottmik should’ve been in the top two considering Shannel and Angeria were stronger than her. I don’t think she did as amazing as the other three I’ve ranked above but her runway was gorgeous.

05. Vanjie - You could tell she was so over the challenge halfway through. She started off strong but then just couldn’t be bothered which had me laughing.
06. Jorgeous - I thought she was going to be terrible but I kinda lived for her Snatch Game. She was so stupid with it.

07. Roxxxy - Pretty terrible Snatch Game and her make-up was not good on the runway. She’s fading in to the background like she did on AS2.

08. Plastique - Really struggled with the challenge but her runways continue to be amazing.

 

Overall

01. Plastique

02. Vanjie

03. Nina

04. Shannel

05. Gottmik
06. Jorgeous

07. Angeria

08. Roxxxy

Edited May 24 by Zoey

[*Lily]

Just gonna donate to the Trevor Project myself because Nina’s not winning them money anytime soon

[Elliott]

Gotmik not doing Nicole Ritchie for snatch game seems like such a missed opportunity tbh

[Solaris]

 

Gorge.

[Elliott]

2 minutes ago, Solaris said:

 

Gorge.

okay but the fact that she actually looked like a dog

️

[*Wallace]

Snatch Game of Love was fun. Though wow I did not recognize Raven (in his male self) for quite a moment.  

As I expected, Nina crushed this challenge. Snatch Game was a challenge really made for her. She finally had a good runway look, so I would say this was a great week for Nina.  

Gottmik worried me with her character but once again, they exceeded my expectations. I always forget how funny Gottmik can be. Angeria was hilarious in such a natural way and had such a gorgeous runway look. I'm sad she couldn't be in the Top 2 as I thought she deserved that but oh well. While Plastique kinda crashed & burned in Snatch Game of Love, which I did expect to happen sadly. At least she had a gorgeous runway look to fall back on. 

Not surprised with the Nina and Gottmik Top 2. It was deserved. LOL Nina with that "My Lip Sync Dress" dress had me cracking up. I definitely agree with Gottmik winning the lip sync. Her performance was more convincing and stood out to me. Nina's strip act was kind fun/funny at first but then it got old and stale fast to me. :ph3rwave: Ooh okay, I'm fine with Gottmik giving the scissors cut to Jorgeous. 
 

[totes4totes]

rankings overall:

1. Roxxxy Andrews - I am sorry I love her and I won't be removing her from this top spot! Should she have done Tasha Salad for the THIRD time? ABSOLUTELY NOT. It's easy to see Roxxxy though, somebody who knows that she doesn't really do improv and has already bombed the Snatch Game one time to go back to her original season and find when she was most well-liked for being funny. And since she probably cannot do Tamar Braxton again, Tasha Salad becomes her first choice. A character she created and thus cannot do bad at. And maybe if this was a more fully-fledged character or Roxxxy Andrews were good at improv Tasha Salad would be funnier! But if Roxxxy were good at those things she would not be relying on a one joke character! TBH, I bet like half these queens only came back after being promised they couldn't be in danger after Snatch Game.

 

2. Angeria - I've always been very charmed by Angeria who is just one of those queens who is very naturally funny when she can essentially just be herself. So choosing a character this time that allows her to do that was a very smart idea. A lot of queens who are not skilled at celebrity impression have gotten away with that plenty of times on this show and this game. Was she really Marla Gibbs? Probably not. But she was good enough as Angeria playing an older version of Angeria that she got away with that. She was able to riff with Ru and the other contestants as much as this dumb format allows. And she didn't bomb. I liked her runway but where Angeria will fall behind is her runway compared to queens like Plastique. But I'll take the full package of Angeria any day.

 

3. Gottmik - Now that Gottmik isn't competing with my faves Kandy Muse and Symone, I appreciate her much more. I think Gottmik has always been like 90% there in terms of being like a Top Drag Race competitor, but she just wasn't quite there when she had to compete with Symone. But her makeup skills have always been excellent (Something to note: she often will paint her entire face white but she isn't just putting a mask on, everything is contoured perfectly for her face - compare that to Q's makeover last season) as have her costuming skills. And she knows how to lean in to a Snatch Game performance that works for her. She's very funny and I wish she had applied that to some other old Hollywood Dame from the 40s and not Lassie the Dog. It was a fully formed character but I think she could have applied that to anybody else. But that's just me and my hatred of fake characters for Snatch Game (see my Roxxxy Andrews critique above).

 

4. Shannel - I am #TeamShannelLiberace. I think her performance was a little more fully fleshed because she didn't hide behind a prop. So she had the mannerisms, she had a cape, she had everything. And because Shannel has never done a Snatch Game it was a little bit more refreshing to see her do it. But I'm not surprised, there's something about Shannel and her old school drag that really leans towards doing celebrity impersonation like this. You could tell that she didn't just go "piano, candelabra, gay sex joke" she really thought about it...even if her face was a little "Bradley Cooper doing Liberace in 10 years after he comes out."

 

5. Vanjie - Vanjie when she's not doing the Snatch Game is so naturally funny. But after her pre-planned bit and intro that was all she had. Vanjie is somebody like Angeria who should just be able to coast on her incredibly naturally funny and charming personality. She did not do that. But the one good thing about this non-elimination format is that we get to see Vanjie all season.

 

6. Plastique - If it weren't for her runways consistently being mind-blowing I would have her below Jorgeous. That was maybe the worst Snatch Game I've ever seen. Not just because it was terrible, but it was clear from the second it started that Plastique gave up. If I'm Plastique I am sliding in to Ali Wong's DMs and apologizing and if I'm Ali Wong I'm just blocking. The thing is that if this were a regular show with stakes, Plastique may have heard Ru go "this is the worst idea that you could possible come up with" and Plastique could have changed to LITERALLY any other thin Asian woman. Honestly, Snatch Game can work when you play in to stereotypes. And you are telling me that Plastique doesn't have like a Tiger Mom stereotype in her? She can do it because she's Asian. IDK. It was terrible, from the performance to the costume to the makeup. Flat out should have brought back eliminations just for how lazy and unprepared Plastique was.

 

7. Jorgeous - Practically invisible this week. Actually, I do want to praise that she wasn't entirely awful. She gave a full 25% in that Snatch Game.

 

8. Nina West - I just don't really like Nina. I don't think that's ever going to change. I thought her Liberace was fine. Her lip sync is maybe the worst lip sync I've ever seen over the course of this show. Maybe only up there with her original terrible lip sync with Silky to "No Scrubs." It's funny that after that Silky really redeemed herself and Nina seemed to see what Silky had done and thought "Props! Reveals!" but the thing is, those props and reveals have to go with the song. There was no rhyme or reason to what Nina was doing and that was evident that she was going to do the same thing no matter the song. That's a bad lip sync.

[#jeah]

This season so far