If you’ve
caught the recent ads for Bubly Bounce featuring Drag
Race alums Vanjie, Latrice and Manila, the idea of a drag queen soda
doesn’t seem that far off. The good news is that there is probably some
14-year-old on TikTok right now who would be the brains behind the brand.
Because, clearly, not everyone is up to the challenge.
The branding
challenge looks different each season, but the core conceit calls for the
queens to self-produce a commercial for a product through their very specific
brand lens. If you don’t overthink the relevance, the brilliance of the
challenge is really the sum of its parts. Being able to self-produce —
including concept, storyboard, making a shot list, starring and SINGING THE
JINGLE — is a helluva showcase for a slew of skills. Especially in today’s DIY
social media dominated landscape, being able to scrap together a short, funny
video is a huge advantage.
On top of the
creative and production work, the queens also need to be hyper-aware of their
“brand.” Turns out, last week’s makeover challenge was just the tip of the
branding iceberg. Nearly half the remaining gals crashed and burned on either
the creative, the branding or both.
So who popped
off and who left us thirsty AF? Let’s dig in.
Fresh off last
week’s “Who should go home?” runway pop quiz, Olivia quickly defuses any drama
surrounding the gals calling her out. Kandy muses about how much money $2,500
really is and Rosé and Tina snipe at each other about whose going to outlast
whom.
It’s a breezy
opening leading right into a fun mini-challenge. I love when a mini-challenge
has some real competition, and this week it’s a trivia game featuring the
always welcome sight of the Pit Crew. The queens prove their mettle with
questions about Drag Race quotes and reference, plus Kandy
gets to redeem herself (and claim the win) with a sausage-themed math problem.
Ru lays out
the challenge: Create a soda, its flavor, its jingle, write the commercial and
star. It’s a lot! Even an impromptu Zoom call from season 12 winner Jaida
Essence Hall isn’t enough to save the stragglers. (She looked great, but her
advice had nothing on Anne Hathaway.) The resulting commercials are all over
the map.
Utica, for
starters … well, Utica, you see … It’s … You know, having seen her explain it
in the workroom, film it, watched the finished product and heard her explain it
to the judges, I still don’t get it? It’s an anti-depressant made of sunshine,
and you drink it out of a cow’s udder? And you lick the can? Again, Utica gets
so caught up making sure she purposefully expresses her weirdness, she loses
all its charm and delight.
Kandy, she of
“alone in the VIP” meme fame,” has a strong concept for her drink, The K
Special. (Get it? It’s Ketamine.) It works, because it’s simple. She looks
beautiful in head-to-toe animal print, and the bar scene allows Kandy to be
Kandy, which you know the judges love. Is it the most cerebral piece of art
I’ve seen? No, of course not, but it satisfies the assignment with its clarity.
The judges love watching Kandy, and she delivers. (It’s also a strong episode
for Kandy as she opens up about being gay bashed as a youth and how that made
her the fighter she is today.)
Tina has a
complex concept in mind, which she manages to execute relatively well. It’s the
classic infomercial set up (you know, the ones that start “Is this you?”), and
the gag is her soda, Burnin’ Up, will take you from stuffy housewife to slutty
hellion. Ok! The story comes through, but she struggles to highlight the
product. It’s neither creative nor particularly funny, and the unamused judges
also claim to tire of the played out retro housewife aesthetic. There are other
ways to do camp!
As usual,
there’s everyone else, and then there’s Symone. Carson and Ross can’t even
contain their adoration while filming. They start whispering to each other
about how great Symone is while she’s still on set! It’s that obvious. Symone’s
Sweet Toof is so precisely executed, you could actually pitch this to Pepsi,
jingle and all. The judges love the big, bold logo, the catchy jingle and, of
course, Symone’s casual, confident delivery. Every joke lands.
After several
strong weeks, Gottmik gets tripped up a bit here. Even when storyboarding, it’s
clear this is going to be a struggle. The concept is a soda that won’t
necessarily make you sexier, but it will make you feel sexy regardless of how
you look to others. (Imagine a drink whose primary ingredients are poppers and
molly.) It’s not a bad concept, but the devil here is in the details, and Mik
fails to make the connections clear. The judges don’t get it, and even the name
(Gottmik’s Got SeXXX Sex Juice) is a choking hazard.
Olivia got a
lot of flack for not knowing her brand last week, so she feels the pressure
this week. Unfortunately, being “smiley” isn’t cutting it. At its heart, the
concept is similar to Utica: Drink this, be happy. She struggles to keep her
smile at bay for an adequate “before” performance. There’s not much more there,
and the judges are non-plussed.
It’s not
surprising that Rosé knocks this one out of the park. Already known as a
perfectionist, this kind of self-producing is second nature to her. She already
has an advantage with her signature color palette, but she wisely uses this
opportunity to poke fun at herself, including some of the judges’ ongoing
criticism of her. The judges eat it up. It’s the most ambitious of all the
commercials, and it’s certainly one of the most successful.
In addition to
commercials, the dolls are being judged this week on a BEAST Couture runway.
It’s a lot of fun, but Kandy Muse wears one of the absolute worst outfits
in Drag Race herstory, and the judges don’t even care. It’s so
bad, it’s circled back to good, did another lap until it leapt right up to
iconic levels. We’re talking Ornacia 2.0. If we get Halloween this year, I hope
everyone dresses as either sexy Scarlet Witch or Kandy Muse in a green latex suit
wearing a blowup doll. And the judges are just like, LOL, Kandy, you crazy.
Michelle doesn’t even blink at the ALL-GREEN latex suit with inexplicable furry
green bra! It feels like Kandy is DARING Michelle to actually hit her. And yet?
She’s declared safe. Wild.
Symone and
Rosé both rock the runway, and Ru has no choice but to award them both the win.
Gottmik’s campy cartoon monster couture and Olivia’s Sully Sullivan-inspired
outfit help them secure safety, leaving Utica and Tina to duke it out in the
bottom.
The lip sync
is the poetic masterpiece, “My Humps,” by the Black Eyed Peas. Utica just kind
of does some spooky vamping; it’s not bad, per se, but nothing really memorable.
Tina at least peppers in some moments and unique movements that make her
performance more compelling. Ultimately, Ru disagrees, opting not to send Utica
to reunite with Clara in the big dairy farm in the sky. (Or back to
upstate New York Minnesota.) Instead, it’s Tina Burner’s torch that’s
extinguished.
And with that,
we have only just now eliminated half our queens. Can you believe it? It feels
like this season started in 2018. Where does that leave the gals? Check out our
rankings below, and leave yours in the comments!
1.
That’s the Symone we know
and love. On the runway, on the soundstage, it doesn’t matter. The judges can’t
help fangirling out over Symone. Yes, her commercial was great, and I enjoyed
her foxy runway. But, is it just me, or were the judges almost too gagged? If
you’ve been to a Comic-Con or spent enough time on Tumblr or have otherwise
been exposed to the word “fursona,” you no doubt were a little less impressed.
She looked great, it was a total slamdunk in terms of brand, but, uh, sexy,
anthropomorphic animal mascot suits are … definitely already a thing. I still
think you can see Symone wearing the crown in the judges’ eyes (and mine, too).
2.
Even though this was a rough week, Gottmik has
what it takes to make it to the finale. I loved the monster dress on the
runway. I thought it was cute and clever, but still fashion (in a similar way
Symone got almost too much credit for!). As long as this visit to the bottom
doesn’t shake Mik’s confidence too much, it should be easy enough to bounce
back after a Snatch Game win and consistent killer runways.
3.
Rosé and Tina may be nipping at each other’s heels so much, because
they’re both fighting for this number three spot. Clearly, Rosé broke out ahead
this week, leaving Tina to continue spinning out a bit. It’s an arc that
started back in the Rusical challenge, with Rosé seizing the moment and Tina
struggling in what should be signature performances. Even though it was jarring
to watch Rosé get into this makeup, the final presentation on the runway was my
favorite thing she’s worn so far. I did find her runway walk … indulgent … but
that’s our Rosé!
4.
I cannot believe Kandy got
away with that runway. It was a latex suit, no wig, GREEN, barely on theme, and
she was wearing. a. blowup. doll. It felt like there was a gas leak on the
mainstage. It is both unacceptable for this stage of the competition and
simultaneously it should immediately be put in the Smithsonian. I guess one of
the selling points was that she and the blowup doll had the same makeup, and
there was a moment when she very seriously grabbed the blowup doll’s little
blowup head and completely serious, unironically, mean-mugged at the camera. I
want it cross-stitched and hanging in my home. Iconique. The commercial was
solid, and the judges clearly have a soft spot for her. If she can just stay safe
while others stumble, she may make it all the way to the finale.
5.
I think we’ve seen all there is to see
from Olivia at this point. The youth and inexperience really
started to show this week and last when the judges were looking for a clearly
articulated answer to the core question, “Who are you?” She’s beautiful, she’s
talented, but she lacks the vision of Symone, Gottmik and Rosé. The Monsters,
Inc. runway was cute, but to me it felt a little cheaper than the
others. (Except for Kandy. Kandy looked the worst.)
6.
When it comes to Tina‘s naughty
housewife routine, Michelle certainly has a point. (She was also right about
Tina’s makeup being a letdown.) I’m not sure I agreed that her runway was the
camp version of Symone’s. I liked the Velveteen Rabbit meets Frankenstein’s
monster vibe, and Ross nailed it when he said the scale is what sold it. The
proportions of the suit and props felt fantastical. It just needed to be more
elevated. It was a bit of a shock to see Tina go home at this point, especially
considering there are queens with worse track records AND worse performances in
this week’s challenge. None of the criticism was wrong, but my money was on Utica
packing her bags.
7.
This isn’t the first time Utica‘s
comedy didn’t translate, so I won’t belabor this precise point. Instead, I will
praise her physical comedy here, which I thought went under-recognized. The can
licking — while not a great idea — was well done, in so much as the sight of
her tongue flicking the can reminded me of those super bizarre (and oddly
sexual) ’90s Nickelodeon cartoons like Ren & Stimpy and Rocko’s
Modern Life. Was it enough to save the commercial? No. The judges were
right to find little fault in the runway, but there wasn’t much to be excited
about either.
How would you
rank the queens?
SOURCE: TOWLEROAD
Still cheering for Utica, although it sounds as if the judges already made up their mind about this whole season. Meh.
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