This was started before my Personal Great Depression of 2018 Part 1 began, when All Stars 3 was airing, and I'm glad I waited because the end of that season gave us one of the best musical moments in the show's history. But first, the official girl group challenge.
Inspired by the Spice Girls, to be performed in front of the one the only Baby Spice herself, the top 5 of the season competed against the eliminated contestants as girl groups. All 10 girls have an individual stage name and image persona. Watching this show since teenhood has finally paid off.
First "Sitting on a Secret" by the eliminated queens; Chi Chi DeVayne (Cajun Kitty), Morgan McMichaels (Bimbo Kitty), Aja (Lil' Banjee), Thorgy Thor (Cardio Kitty), and Milk (Milky Kitty). The song sucks and just centers around the one joke but this group is my favorite. They seem to be much more of a group, all wearing similar white/silver and/or pink color schemes, we would stan. Chi Chi, my angel, and Milk, my sweet little devil, stand out the most for me. They've got the charisma. Aja has some great stuff she's come out with since and Thorgy is a very talented classical musician but for me, Chi Chi and Milk are gonna get the votes in the next P101 season.
The top 5 queens' song "Drag Up Your Life" sucks more to me, honestly in all ways. But they won because the whole season was written for Dela to win, but that's a whole mess of it's own. But here, Trixie Mattel (I.Q. Kitty), Kennedy Davenport (Diva Kitty), BenDeLaCreme (Goth Kitty), Shangela Laquifa Wadley (Glitter Kitty), and BeBe Zahara Benet (Jungle Kitty), perform a song that encourages people to do drag to improve their lives. Another one-note throwaway song this show churns out but again, who cares. This group totally lacks consistency and though I, not unlike the rest of Trixie's legion of lesbian fans, am in LOVE with IQ Kitty's look, it stands out too much. She and Dela have hyper cartoonish characters that are totally cute but clash with Shangela and Kennedy who have more of an actual pop star concept. Bebe is somewhere in the middle; her outfit, thigh high boots and a (literal) catsuit, would easily fit in more on a stage with Britney than a teen archetype costume party but her character is not that of an average pop diva. No one stands out in this group like with the first either, for me Bebe steals the show but I don't know if it's because of her idol power or because her part is French and nonsense and just yelling. She's fantastic. I think Shangela and Trixie did very well too but they are both extremely charismatic performers and I kind of expect more from them. Or the editing.
Despite me not liking the songs and wanting more, except for Milk honestly she was the star here, I am overjoyed they did this challenge as I, obviously, love girl groups above all else. But it has inspired me to reflect (NOT RuFlect) on some more musical moments from the show. Drag Race alumni or "Ru girls" have put out a lot of good, not good, and just entertaining, music on their own but that's for another post. On the show they've also been forced to perform lipsyncs to these things nobody in the world except RuPaul likes, "Rusicals," but they're all awful and nobody likes them, so I will just be ignoring them completely. We're just going to focus on the challenges where the contestants sing, something we're still unsure what has to do with being a drag superstar as post show albums are not required, but it's whatevs.
In season 8, there was a band challenge, where the contestants broke into groups of three, each focusing on a specific genre of new wave music. In front of Chris Stein and Debbie Harry. Yes, that's right, from Blondie. Kim Chi, Robbie Turner, and Naomi Smalls, aka "Les Chicken Wings" scream a punk song themed around their namesake, making us all hungry.
Acid Betty, Bob the Drag Queen (WINNER!!!), and Thorgy Thor, all hailing from New York, sing or are possibly called "Street Meatz". I realize now I don't know if they're the band or the song titles. It's funny either way. But the colorful costumes and B-52's inspired song is CUTE!
A quick Street Meatz behind the scenes video.
In the tradition of the show, the top 4 perform a remix of a RuPaul song, usually in the form of a music video, but All Stars has no rules. For AS2, Alaska Thunderfuck 5000, Detox Icunt, Katya Zamolodchikova, and Roxxxy Andrews, each do a rap in the song Read U Wrote U. It is now Extremely Iconic and Incredible. Detox is the only one who's done a lot of rap before this, but they all do so well. Especially Roxxxy. It's illegal to disagree. As John Waters famously said, if you take someone home and say "I'm Roxxxy Andrews and I'm hear to make it clear, I know you love me, baby, that's why you brought me here. Was a bitch on season 5, I'm gonna make it right, give me a sewing challenge and I'll give you what you like. I'm full of tricks baby, just like on Halloween, a room full of monsters and it makes me want to scream. I have to get this right, so you don't waste your time, not like my comedy I'm killing on this rhyme," and they don't say "I'm gonna show you what I can do, you're going crazy and seeing two, it's not my fault you can't blame my game, all these other hoes but they're all the same," don't fuck 'em.
Same Parts by Tatianna, again from All Stars 2, is also incredibly powerful. The season 2 villain blessed us with this spoken word performance that tells the extremely sexual story of a guy not knowing she has a dick stole the hearts and minds of the entire audience and for that, I gaze upon Same Parts with reverence.
This is previously mentioned best moment. The All Stars 3 top 4 remix of RuPaul's "Kitty Girl," my favorite song of his featured on the show in a while. All Stars has no rules but now they have a precedent and I have no idea what's going to top this. For the decision to choose the almighty top 3, instead of a music video or a stage performance, we get both. And it's fucking amazing.
Kennedy Davenport opens the song with a singing verse as opposed to a rap like the other girls, and looks amazing. She's a classic pageant queen with an amazing sense of humor and looks like an old Hollywood superstar in a leotard from the feather boa, to the glitter tights, to the gold shoes, she is a STAR.
Shangela has been a huge part of the Drag Race franchise and family when she was a contestant fucking season 2, went home first, appeared again when she literally popped out of a box on season 3, and has been around ever since. She's basically everyone's choice for winner, despite not being chosen to win, thanks to some very poor choices, but she is honestly the truest star from the show. She shows it here, like she does everywhere else, referencing her song Werqin' Girl and catchphrase "Halleloo!" She's a professional dancer and has been on like every TV show ever. Shangie is one of the most charismatic, charming, lovely, everything, performers out there and this video is no exception.
Bebe, winner of the very first season, and the first winner to appear on All Stars, since the very point of the show is to give runner ups another chance to shine, does her thing. Nobody's ever seen season 1 so anyone who has an issue with this needs to find more issues. Another reference to a previous release, she gives face face beauty face, and continues to give off her very weird very glamorous queenlike aura. Bebe is unintentionally hilarious and regal and beautiful and I encourage all to stan talent.
Trixie's running gag was that she lost the show Twice as she was brought back in her season (7) by Ru only to be booted again, a fate of many other Ru girls. But now she's won. Now what Trixie? Now what? She is the love of my life so I am biased and I will absolutely use this blog to boast about her accomplishments breaking out of the usual Ru girl path to have her own TV show with Katya (LIKE, ON TV! REAL TV!), but she's good even if I didn't spend all my time thinking about how pretty she is. Usually her color scheme is Pink Pink sometimes yellow Pink and Pink with blonde hair but her purple look here is adorable anyway. She's a singer but she raps here, and keeps up with the rest despite not rapping at all in her own music. Her comedy queen shines through when she shoves a pie in the face of Jason, the most popular pit crew member. (The pit crew is a bunch of dudes in their underwear that are like assistants for mini challenges in the Werkroom and often props in main challenges.)
A single shot dance video featuring eliminated queens, judges, staff, backup dancers and very involved solo parts, moving to a performance on the main stage? With that unintentional hilarious moment of the decreasing skill of the leg kick? And finishing the song with them singing? What did I do to deserve this?
But the best girl group performance of all is Michelle Visage just being there. She's been a permanent judge on the show since season 3, RuPaul's BFF since 1842, but from 1988 to 1991 she was in a girl group called Seduction. Her past is something powerful and wonderful that a lot of Drag Race fans don't know about, but they need to.
She was also in S.O.U.L. S.Y.S.T.E.M. and I refuse to describe or comment on this video because you have to watch it. It's everything.
I don't know Jack Shit about Seduction and that's a problem but they seem to be the average late 80s girl group that gets compared to Madonna in youtube comments, so, the best thing in the world. This is an internet hole I will never return from.
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