RPDR UK S1 Final (spoilers)

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Ag said:
Just to say again I really have come to hate Bianca del Rio. Awful person.
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i’d like to know the reason behind this because I have been harbouring the same feelings lately. (At the same time I want her to be hateful and mean towards the other queens for the sake of drama)
 
The Guardian

Fierce competition: how a Brit makeover saved RuPaul's Drag Race
After umpteen series, the glamorous reality show felt more stale than subversive. Then along came Graham Norton, Scouse impressions, Corrie jokes – and a whole new lease of life.


To misquote Samuel Johnson, when you’re tired of drag queens in nine-inch heels pirouetting to Dua Lipa, you’re tired of life. And yet, when the
long-awaited UK version of RuPaul’s Drag Race was finally announced in December last year, fans’ anticipation had all but disappeared.

Eleven seasons and four increasingly tired All Stars spin-offs in, the once gloriously irreverent programme now felt like a victim of its success. Phrases that had originated in the LGBT+ community and which the show helped popularise (“Yas queen!”, “Werk!”) had been appropriated by the mainstream and savvy corporations. Could a show whose main appeal had been its subversive boundary-breaking survive being subsumed into the mainstream? Some poorly worded comments by RuPaul to the Guardian, which suggested that openly trans women would not be allowed to take part, didn’t help. (He later apologised, and a trans contestant appeared in All Stars season four).

Enter into this fraught arena the British contestants. Could they change the course of Drag Race herstory? The first queen strutted into the glittery pink workroom – faithfully recreated in the mould of the US original – raised an eyebrow, and announced: “Baga Chipz here: queen of the battered sausage, and I love to be covered in daddy’s sauce.” Further quips soon followed about gin, “slags” and Coronation Street.


At first, there was something disconcerting about this homegrown version of the Drag Race format, but, once this feeling abated, it felt like the perfect combination. The US Drag Race had long taken itself slightly too seriously, but the UK series had queens with names such as Vinegar Strokes and Cheryl Hole, and enthusiastic, occasionally horny guest judges, including Michaela Coel, Andrew Garfield and Maisie Williams. Yorkshire lass Divina De Campo – with her endearing cackle and four-octave range – was a classic plucky British underdog. Alan Carr and Graham Norton were on hand to dish out hysterically hyper-local insults, such as when Carr told Gothy Kendoll that her makeup looked like “an estate agent that’s gone to Regent’s Park Zoo and said: ‘Can you face paint my face for 50p?’” And who could forget Sum Ting Wong making the fatal error of dressing as David Attenborough instead of innuendo queen Nigella Lawson for her Snatch Game celebrity impersonation.

All of this went down a storm with UK viewers – 6.5 million of whom had watched it at the mid-point of the series – and confused those across the Atlantic (as well as the US judges). The Frock Destroyers – a group made up of Baga, Divina and Blu Hydrangea – even scored a Top 40 hit.

But, as with all the best Drag Race seasons, this wasn’t just a show about contouring and choreography but an an emotional tour-de-force. Belfast-born Blu – whose turn as Mary Berry took cake-based double entendres to unspeakably depraved extremes – spoke with heartbreaking openness about the ban on same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland at the time of filming. Liverpool queen The Vivienne’s confident, polished sheen had barely cracked all season, when in the final weeks she revealed that it had taken the death of three friends for her to confront her drug addiction. There were also less edifying moments, such as when Baga Chipz threw her mum under the bus in a challenge, leading to accusations of sexism, but on the whole it was a competition full of heart.

As such, The Vivienne was the perfect winner. Once her bravado and occasional harshness turned out to be a mask for something more vulnerable, there could have been no other winner (although her claims to “humbleness, relatability and likability” in the final episode were perhaps pushing it). From her elaborate runway looks to her faultless, hilarious Donald Trump impersonation, The Vivienne is a truly accomplished drag queen: a consistent all-rounder who is both funny and glamorous, and whose success is all the more remarkable coming as it does after serious hardship.

Overall, Drag Race UK has been an unexpectedly emotional, entertaining ride, and one that has brought the format back from the brink. With a second season recently confirmed, hopefully it will go from strength to strength and maybe represent even more of the UK’s varied drag scene. But, for now, the pure comedy gold of RuPaul trying to say “Hiya girl, you alright” in a Scouse accent is worth the price of the licence fee alone.
 
Yeah, I like it. I'd be interested to see an article from outside the UK for balance, though.
 
I also think one thing it misses is how, yes, there's a bit of fatigue amongst the fan base, but the US version is still ever more encroaching on the mainstream and new viewers are coming along and loving every minute.

Addressing that fatigue, though, the over saturation is the obvious problem, but I do think All Stars 3 and 4 have gone a long way to rubbishing the brand, what with the silly outcomes. I wonder if that is going to be addressed with season 5.
 
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lolly said:
Yeah, I like it. I'd be interested to see an article from outside the UK for balance, though.
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Hmm, I don’t disagree with content but I don’t see what they mean by ”saving” Drag race. It did bring a local flavour, but apart from that it gave us nothing new. It was exactly the same format with the same popular challenges. But then again I don’t think the show needs saving, it only needs a pause. The All Stars format really need to change though.
 
RaspberrySwirl said:
i’d like to know the reason behind this because I have been harbouring the same feelings lately. (At the same time I want her to be hateful and mean towards the other queens for the sake of drama)
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He doesn't make me laugh and just comes across as an unimpressive entitled nasty cunt. In a world of some legit creative, offbeat and hilarious queens his style seems dated in the vein of Kathy Griffin and Pam Ann.
 
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Back to this season though, have any of the top 3 popped up in any other media yet since Thursday? Absolute minimum Lorraine. I anticipate a Graham Norton booking tres soon.
 
The Vivienne was playing Plymouth of all places last night. To think they could have had her on Graham Norton as the sole guest alongside Kylie instead.

But then I assume she was committed to the live finale show on Thursday. GN is filmed then, isn't it?
 
She looked her best... until she stepped down from the runway. :D
 
Loved this finale. Really wanted Divina to win, but she's gonna make a VICIOUS opponent on All Stars.

Glad Baga didn't get Top 2. I like my queens polished. Sorry about it.

Also lol @ "British are very self deprecating".
 
The right outcome based on the finale performances and looks.

I liked the concept of Divina’s dress but the flesh material on the arms was very ill fitting. The Vivienne’s finale dress was absolute stunning head to toe.
 
I kind of agreed with Raven on the podcast - The Viv's dress needed something at the waist. But easily the best lewk of the final three, regardless.
 
Instagram follower update

268k Baga Chipz (+39k)
251k The Vivienne (+55k)
236k Blu Hydrangea (+18k)
223k Divina de Campo (+38k)
170k Cheryl Hole (+23k)
142k Crystal (+7k)
127k Scaredy Kat (+4k)
126k Sum Ting Wong (+7k)
107k Gothy Kendoll (+1k)
71.7k Vinegar Strokes (+3.3k)
 
And how many followers they have gained since I first started recording them, which was a few days after the broadcast of the first episode

204.6k Baga Chipz
178.2k The Vivienne
175.2k Divina de Campo
132k Blu Hydrangea
109.5k Cheryl Hole
84.9k Crystal
71.9k Sum Ting Wong
56.4k Scaredy Kat
30.5k Vinegar Strokes
22.4k Gothy Kendoll
 
I thought initially I read there wasn't, but now there is being dropped this week?
 
There's definitely one more episode. But without Baga it's just not the same.
 
Also is Cheryl Hole basically a shoe-in for Miss Congeniality? (They ARE doing that right?)

Better not be Vinegar Flops.
 
That's a horrible thought. The other queens did refer to Vinegar Strokes being the heart of the show more than once.
 
Baga has posted today on instagram, seemingly at Radio One teen awards.
 
wurst said:
lolllll no you misunderstood - Baga cancelled all press engagements the day after the finale because she was clearly VERY VERY hungover, not because she sadly died :D
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I didn't say that lol SorB did. So I was just clarifying it.
 
wurst said:
Poor Baga Chipz, taken from us far too soon xx
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Reunited with her neck at long last.

I would like another season of those London queens. Vivienne is grubby enough to join and I'm sure countless unsuccessful Drag Race applicants would love to feature.
 
I had a pretty certain idea who won this a few weeks ago as several of them have been booked to a gig here in December and the local entry was sidelined on the poster while still in the show and the winner was front and centre.
 
A Glasgow queen, who was not at all bitter about not getting on, was only too happy to leak who won before the first episode was even aired. They could have been wrong, but I was definitely "pure dead raging ya hound" etc about it. Then again, I think even Mystic Meg would have hit the snooze button on that one.
 
Isn’t that the point of filming two endings though? It was about leaks, wouldn’t it be a bit of a waste of time if the cast knew the winner already?
Maybe it just seemed like a foregone conclusion, that’s all?
 
Did anyone think the Vivienne wasn't going to win at every single point during the entire process?
 
Diddy said:
Isn’t that the point of filming two endings though? It was about leaks, wouldn’t it be a bit of a waste of time if the cast knew the winner already?
Maybe it just seemed like a foregone conclusion, that’s all?
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Oh I never thought of that. Oops, maybe I shouldn't have unfriended them. Not like me to make such as rash decision like that as well :)
 
straightorbroken said:
A Glasgow queen, who was not at all bitter about not getting on, was only too happy to leak who won before the first episode was even aired. They could have been wrong, but I was definitely "pure dead raging ya hound" etc about it. Then again, I think even Mystic Meg would have hit the snooze button on that one.
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Which Queen? :o
 
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