RuPaul’s Drag Race – Episode 10 – Desperate Dancing Drag Queens
Katya skips into the Werk Room like she just won the challenge, which she didn’t. But maybe she should have, just for her crocheted dress alone. Ginger does her usual pot-stirring by asking Pearl how she felt about Miss Fame calling her out on the runway. Pearl, of course, is over it. Pearl was born over it. Ginger throne throws a little confessional shade on Violet for escaping the bottom after her terrible Divine performance. For her part, Violet is determined to come out on top in the next challenge. Whatever that is.
The next day, the contestants discover that Fame left them all notes. All of the notes are sweet, and the producers didn’t even steal one in order to create drama. For all her faults, Miss Fame seemed to be a genuinely friendly, generous person.
The quote from Video RuPaul is about “looking at drag from both sides now.” So, it’s a Joni Mitchell tribute challenge? Probably not.
The mini-challenge seems kind of involved. The dolls have to create cosmetic surgery faces, and then portray one of the “Fake Housewives of RuPaul’s Drag Race.” I wonder if they have to write their own intros? If so, then these mini-challenges are letting us see more of the queens than the main challenges.
Speaking of which, it turns out to be another dance challenge. This one based on Dancing with the Stars.” Since Violet wins the mini-challenge, she gets to divide the teams. She chooses Katya for her partner, then pairs Ginger with Trixie and Kennedy with Pearl.
“Both sides now” refers to a twist in the challenge. The queens will need to do their dances in “half-drag.” Which means that they will be made up as boy on one side and a girl on the other side. It’s just as awkward as it sounds.
We get the usual Werk Room drama. Trixie is wary of Ginger, since she was overshadowed by her last week. Also, Ginger can’t dance. Katya initially gags on being chosen by Violet, but warms up to the partnership. Kennedy has dance in her soul, but Pearl can barely walk without falling over. RuPaul is unimpressed when Violet promises to “turn it out.”
There’s a rehearsal where Carson Kressley mentors the queens. Or rather, he sits and makes meaningless comments (“keep your core really tight!”) while his DWTS partner, Kym Johnson, does the actual coaching.
Next day they get ready to perform. Katya, unsurprisingly, is freaking out. Ginger tells Trixie that she didn’t sleep at all that night — she was trying to get the steps down. Katya praises Violet for her talent and confidence.
Suddenly, RuPaul appears on the runway in a gold gown — no, wait, it’s a tearaway! RuPaul has legs! Who knew?
The guest judges are Rachel Harris and Alyssa Milano. Alyssa is having a girl, that she promises to name “RuPaula.” Rachel is described as a super fan (“of the Snatch Game,” she clarifies), and I had to look up her credits. She’s a comedian and character actress, appearing in just about everything (for a few seconds). She seems very serious as a judge.
Weirdly — this whole episode seems weird — the queens walk the runway in their dance attire before the dance performances are shown. They outfits are half black suit/half dress. Their faces are half guy, and half girl, and it’s hard to even comment on the looks. But I will say that Trixie, Violet, and Katya are the most convincing portraying both the girl and boy sides. Kennedy and Ginger are good at the girl sides, but not really on the boy sides. Pearl is not convincing at either.
After the runway, we watch “Prancing with the Queens.” The video includes Michelle Visage playing Erin Andrews. Kennedy and Pearl are first up, performing a charleston/twerking combination dance. I don’t even know what to say about this, except that the camera angles don’t help the half and half concept, since we keep getting head-on shots of the dancers. Honestly, it’s just kind of a mess.
Trixie and Ginger are next, with a country two-step/robot combination. It’s cute, I guess, and they don’t seem to mess up, so good for them. The final dancers are Violet and Katya with a tango/vogue. I wonder if Violet got to distribute the dance styles along with picking partners, because this what I’d pick if I were Violet. She and Katya are by far the best. Violet shows excellent extension and character. Katya it pretty hot, too.
The judges think all the dances are excellent. Pearl was good looking as both a boy and a girl, but her dancing lacked technique. Kennedy made it look easy. Trixie stayed true to her character, and nailed the dancing.
Katya made a “hot, douchey guy.” Violet was a work of art. Ginger… tried. She becomes emotional on the runway and explains that she’s afraid to dance in public. The judges assure her that her nervousness did not show.
Although it’s super difficult, RuPaul awards the win to Violet and Katya. They each receive a custom gown, and a gift certificate from RuPaul’s tailor, Klein Epstein & Parker.
The bottom team is Trixie and Ginger. They both have energy, but I thought Trixie edged out Ginger in the lip-synch. RuPaul disagrees and sends Trixie packing for the second time. Trixie looks crushed. As she packs, she remarks that getting eliminated is “just as fun as the first time.” She warns the production crew that she won’t be up for thirds — just in case they were thinking of calling.
As a fun sidenote: There was a Las Vegas commercial during the show that used Bianca Del Rio, Courtney Act, and Ben Delacreme. Yay for Drag Queens getting work!
Episode:
Untucked
I can tell that we’re hitting the part of the competition where the queens are exhausted. They trudge off the mainstage and back to the lounge area. At least they don’t have to crowd onto the couches. Room for everyone!
Most of them are certain that they’ll be lip-syncing. Kennedy seems confident that she won’t. Also, ironically, Trixie. Trixie even thinks she might have won the challenge. But Pearl, Violet, Katya, and Ginger are all worried. Ginger starts off the conversation by saying good-bye to everyone.
Of course, they discuss their critiques, which doesn’t help them figure out where they are. All the judges found Pearl attractive, an opinion that Kennedy shares. “You look like James Dean,” someone says, and Ginger immediately quips, “And I look like Jimmy Dean!”
Pearl thanks Kennedy sweetly for complimenting her, and Trixie points out that they’re all horny and attractive to each other, because of the isolation. “It’s like being in prison.” Pearl stares at Trixie. “Gee, thanks.” “No, you’re cute,” Trixie amends.
“They called me Hot Douche!” Katya says, obsessing over her critique. The others agree, and go on to call Katya’s boy look “street porn” and “Alcatraz.” Violet remarks on how interesting it so look at the divided boy/girl faces. I think she’s right — now that I can look at those faces for more than a second or two. It’s hard to really see them when the queens are twirling and dancing.
There’s a special video from Alyssa Edwards, a little extra pep talk for fellow-Texan Kennedy. Kennedy is touched, because she and Alyssa started together in the same pageant. (Kennedy won, but crowned Alyssa the next year.) The others talk about how much they all love Alyssa Edwards, and Violet wonders if her Snatch Game impersonation annoyed Alyssa.
Here’s an extra bonus of Alyssa reacting to the Snatch Game:
It used to be that the producers would, at a certain point, split the queens into “gold” and “silver” lounge groups. Now that there’s only one lounge area, they split themselves into “smoking” and “non-smoking” groups. Katya and Pearl talk about lip-syncing as they smoke, while Ginger runs off to practice the lip-sync song. Pearl is positive that she’s leaving, since the song is the same one she auditioned with.
Back in the lounge-area, Kennedy calls Trixie “Brokeback Mountain.” Then they all talk about how hot Pearl is. (Outside, Katya and Pearl are embracing like romantic movie lovers, staring off into the distance. It’s really rather sweet.)
“See you back on the East Coast,” Pearl purrs to Katya, then slinks back to the lounge. Ginger joins Katya and says she really wants another drink. “Seriously, I would love to get right now,” post-alcoholic Katya replies. Ginger punches her gently on the shoulder. “Well… good for you,” she says. No jokes this time. I think Katya is really feeling the loss of Miss Fame’s AA support sessions.
At five minutes, Katya and Ginger are rehearsing like crazy. There’s a great shot with boy Katya singer, while we can see his girl side reflected in a mirror. When the stagemanager calls for places, Ginger is still getting dancing tips from Kennedy.
The song, which I didn’t catch last night, is “Show Me Love” by Robin S. In the slo-mo footage, I still think Trixie is edging Ginger. But it’s clear that RuPaul loves what Ginger is serving.
Trixie’s two faces show so many emotions as she walks to the Werk Room. She doesn’t have much to pack, because she didn’t bother unpacking when she returned. She says she has no regrets, but she wishes she could have done some tap dancing on the show. She puts on her taps and dances for the crew.
Bonus Video
Drag Center