‘Ru Paul’s Drag Race UK 4×02’ Review
From a very young age, I was always told that first impressions are the fundamental step in showcasing yourself as a person. Whether you are at a job interview or meeting new colleagues etc then making sure you portray yourself in a positive light is vital and the ideas formed from this first meeting are very difficult to change after the fact! This is why I believe that many of the queens on Ru Paul’s Drag Race become obsessed with making sure that their entrance look and line are the perfect embodiment of who they are as this might be the first time the audience have seen them (it is also an opportunity to advertise yourself to potential customers in the future!) Nobody embodied this idea more in last week’s premiere episode of Ru Paul’s Drag Race UK than Black Peppa, who pulled out a challenge winning splits during the photo shoot mini-challenge and then walked the runway in an incredible purple gown with a fabulous chocolate headpiece (which did sadly fall off during the runway presentation.) I also need to take some time to appreciate that iconic Antiques Roadshow outfit that comprised of the most over-the-top lamp shade headpiece and wonderfully ornate tea-cup style lingerie showcased by Sminty Drop! On the other end of the competition, however, were Dakota Schiffer and Just May, with the former really surprising everyone in the lip-sync as she had been quite reserved and quiet throughout the episode. It was very clear that Dakota won this lip-sync which meant that, in the episode that contained a Spice Girl-inspired mini-challenge, the supposed world’s premier Geri Halliwell impersonator was told to sashay away!
Now if there is something the queens from the UK are known for is their ability to create and perform iconic Drag Race songs! Over the years we have had the incredible “Break Up Bye-Bye” (which still makes frequent appearances in my Spotify playlists), the vibrant “UK Hun” (which is still be performed at events by the likes of Awhora) and “BDE.” This week the queens had to create a girl group performance at ‘yas-tonbury’ of the brand new song “Come Alive.” As the winner of the entire episode and the bottom two lip-sync respectively, Black Peppa and Dakota are given the role of team captains where they get to select who they want on their teams. Each queen took time selecting the members of their team and once all was said and done I was instantly concerned about the incredibly beautiful Starlet who is in a team of queens who perform for a living. In last week’s episode, we learnt that Starlet has only ever performed once before appearing on the show and so this lack of experience was very clear throughout the whole episode! On the other end of the spectrum, we have Baby who spent the majority of the episode reminding everyone that she did in fact hold a degree in songwriting and Pixie Polite who is in a real-life band alongside her season three sister Tia Kofi (who I once bought jäger bombs for on a night out!) Before the queens could grace the stage however they were treated to a masterclass with Cathy Dennis who is accredited with writing the lyrics of hits such as “I Kissed a Girl” by Katy Perry, “Toxic” by Brittney and “Can’t Get You Out of My Head” by Kylie Minogue. I have to say this was probably one of the most helpful werk room scenes I have seen as Cathy listened to the queen’s lyrics and gave beneficial advice to each of them. We were able to hear a small snippet of each of the queen’s original verses including a hilarious moment where Jonbers Blonde was adamant in talking about potatoes in her rock-inspired musical number! I did however find it awfully convenient that baby talked about FKAtwigs being her musical inspiration and she just so happened to be the special guest judge in this week’s episode!
As previously discussed the queens were split into two teams (namely queens of the bone-age and the triple threats) but the two songs were very similar so there was no advantage in terms of materials to work with. The first group’s performance was opened by Baby who got the number off to an excellent start! She opted for an almost rap-style verse where she not only showcase her lyric writing ability but also how well she can dance. I have to say that she did steal focus for the majority of the number and was by far one of the bests in this group. However, it was her attitude backstage when people have fumbled during their performances (more on that later), that showed a rather bitter side to the queen that I know I did not expect! The other highlight in this group was Black Peppa, who used her opportunity on the stage to pull out every possible trick in her arsenal including a death drop, splits and flips! The only issue with her performance was the fact that due to all the stunts she showcased, her hair began to cover her face meaning we could not see the actual lip-syncing at times. As expected, however, Starlet seemed to really struggle with the performance part of the episode and could be seen getting frustrated when the choreography went wrong. This would usually be okay but even with my limited dance experience, I know that you don’t want be front and centre of a performance unless you are absolutely confident with the routine! I was very surprised when Sminty Drop also messed up during her performance, as she made a point of explaining that she wanted to prove to everyone she was so much more than just a fashion queen. Sadly, there were a few moments when her actual lip-sync did not match up with the backing track which made for a very distracting and disappointing verse. The queens of the bone-age (made up of Pixie Polite, Danny Beard, Dakota Schiffer and Cheddar Gorgeous) then graced the stage to deliver their interpretation of “Come Alive” and I have to say that both Pixie and Danny stole my focus throughout. I really enjoyed Pixie’s verse and she did an amazing job – looking comfortable and emoting throughout the entire song. She was constantly in character even when she was not the focus, which is the sign of a very gifted performer! Not only did Danny look amazing with her unique stark white make-up and fabulous glitter beard combo but she also used this opportunity to showcase her incredible vocals. Those who have been following Danny’s career for a while will know that she is a very gifted performer (even making it to the semi-final of Britain’s Got Talent a few years ago) and her verse managed to perfectly show off her talents which were great!
The runway theme this week was “neon night” which got me thinking about what I would want to showcase had I been in this season. I think I would have taken inspiration from Dracula from the Monster High dolls with a black and neon pink colour scheme with UV hair and lace-up boots! I thoroughly enjoyed Starlet’s pink and yellow neon demon outfit with the most wonderfully exaggerated shoulders/hips and even fantastically fun horns to complete the look! This outfit was not only crammed full of whimsy and fun but also looked great on her, which for me is the key idea of any runway presentation. I was a big fan of the skirt and wig combo that Sminty decided to showcase this week but I thought the middle section of the outfit was a bit lackluster. She decided to simply wear sparkly nipple pasties which I thought didn’t particularly fit with the rest of the outfit in all honesty. It is becoming clearer and clearer every week that Black Peppa is a force to be reckoned with and has been a highlight for every runway and every challenge (mini and max) so far this season! The beautifully sculpted yellow outfit complemented her body perfectly and the massive Dianna Ross style wig/even big hat was a treat for the eyes! By far my favourite look this week was the mushroom-inspired combination that Cheddar Gorgeous decided to wear. Every element of this outfit was a spectacle with the fungi headpiece, glitter spores and rainbow bodysuit all working flawlessly together to create a unique yet spectacular interpretation of the category!
As has become expected in the girl group challenges in the UK version of Drag Race, there is a winning and a losing team with the latter having two queens who would lip-sync to see who will go home. Everyone on the queens of the bone-age team were announced as safe meaning that they can relax backstage while the other queens are critiqued by the judges. I was personally very upset when it was announced that both Starlet and Jonbers would be in the bottom this week (with Sminty also being very close to the bottom) as these were two queens I was quickly growing to love. Starlet is so incredibly pretty and decided to channel this during her performance and pull out a surprising death drop but unfortunately, it was not enough to overcome the northern Irish queen, so Starlet was sadly told to sashay away. I would recommend however if you haven’t already, go drop Starlet a follow on Instagram as she posts some incredible content on there! However, it was the closing moments of the show that really surprised me as Starlet rather bluntly said to the judges “thank you for making my dream come true, now I must find a new one” and then proceeded to walk off the stage without an expected exit line! This protest and anger shown during these moments was the complete opposite of what I have come to expect from this queen but I guess you can never truly judge a book by its cover!
Overall, I highly doubt that “Come Alive” will make its way into my coveted Drag Race playlist but there were a few queens that showed their performance abilities but sadly more showed that they struggled than those who excelled! I know that the first episode is intended to be exciting and fresh but I felt that this week the standard took quite a drop! I hope that in next week’s design challenge the queens can rise back up to the incredibly high standard they set in episode one!
