IMHO "RuPaul's Drag Race" (1.08): Grand Finale

The reunion special is where the dirt was!  And I know for a fact you have opinions on it.  Dish!

My friends and I loved the drama that came from the reunion. And those questions that were asked like Shannel staging her piece falling off. Make the monkey talk!

I swear, honestly, that the reunion special was some of the most gripping and entertaining television I've seen in a long, long time. The catfighting and sniping--contrasted with the much-deserved congeniality prize to Nina--was fantastic, but best off all--I literally had my eyes wide open and my jaw on the floor--was Ru's absolutely fierce empowerment speech/talkdown at the end. WOW!!!

Can't wait for season 2, and this show TOTALLY deserves Emmy consideration for Best Reality Program and Ru for Best Reality Host.

This show is one of the best reality shows in a long while. They managed to turn something that could have been a horrific traffic accident and made it into a promotion of a performance art. RuPaul and the producers seem to keep the show on an even keel and made sure the "respect" quotient was included in terms of the contestants. The entire series was riveting and the last 15 minutes were high camp but done in a way that it always had you smiling and not shaking your head in anger... except the episode of course when Ongina was sashayed away of course. 

The finale was, like the show, a bordering on being that traffic accident with all the RuPaul plugging of her song but the realness of Bebe and Nina seemed to keep it on track. They were true professionals throughout the series and also had personalities that made it hard to choose between them. I was a huge Nina fan but Bebe was deserving. If Nina couldn't have won, I was glad Bebe did. As for Rebecca... who is she again?  Our laugh out loud moment though was when Mike Ruiz had them do the work for the video. When he had Bebe smile and told her not to do the scary smile we were in stiches! We had to rewind that moment! Can we make Ruiz a permanant judge replacing Santino next season? Man, he has a hot body and a great personality!  

The reunion special was the best such special ever I think. They allowed moments for each of the girls and really allowed them to be real. Now granted the piling on of Rebecca with both RuPaul's and the others comments and questions was a little much. But otherwise each of the contestants were allowed to shine at points and also sink themselves at others. It was pretty much civil. However, Tammy and RuPaul's discussion was a little over the top but the way RuPaul talked about it it made sense. I for one just really enjoyed how the whole hour went and really pushed for a recognition of this type of performance as art. Sure there were a few reality show touches but it was again respectful and I think everyone got to say what they wanted.

In the end, if I had to say who would or could receive a career boost out of this I would say Nina, Ongina, and Shanell. Shannel was a bitch on the show but because of her location in Vegas I bet her traffic as a live performer goes up. We all like that bitchy drag queen hostess with the smart ass comments. The same is true of Nina. I think Nina lost because of producer language concerns but otherwise I see her as a true backstage winner who will gain a ton of respect around the nation. Ongina is the breakout star because she is articulate and real. They really helped her by kicking her off midway and allowing her shocking removal to propel through the industry. How long does her fame last? Who knows! But if she manages it right she could go far. As for our winner Bebe, the career will come only if she steps up and learns to be more revealing and approachable when she performs. The one thing these girls lacked was the singing aspect of RuPaul, that lack of roundedness might hurt Bebe especially since she is deemed the successor.

I loved the show, but have to give a slight critique. I grew up in drag during the heyday - Ru, Bunny, Diandra etc. It was a plethora of riches. I'm just a little annoyed that the show focuses so much on realness. And by that I mean make-up, and hair and clothes. There was less focus on performance, on the performance art of drag. Nina encapsulized it I think. She was fabulous. But we never really saw her perform, did we? Great drag is great performance. Anyone that saw Princess Diandra in her prime knows that. I would love to see next season focus a bit more on the performance of drag. A bit more Joey Arias. It's a serious art form after all.

RuPaul did something amazing with her "Drag Race," and it's something "American Idol" does too.  They've tapped into our deep-seated human need for ritual, and for the passing of the torch from one generation to the next.

We don't have that kind of individualized ritual in our culture anymore, so we experience it virtually, via reality TV...

I go into this more on my blog, showing how RuPaul did this so beautifully and with such grace!

http://www.leewind.org/2009/03/rupaul-crowns-winner-of-her-drag-race.html

Namaste,

Lee

Two weeks ago Nina was treating Rebecca like the maid in the green room (under the hood, episodes), this week Nina's like, "what ever happens we should work together in the future." and Rebecca is like, "meh." If I was treated the way Rebecca was, with the jealousy and constant put downs, I wouldn't look forward to being with the other queens again, either. How is Rebecca suppose to respond, "oh yeah, lets get together again real soon!!! I can't get enough of the cold sholder and snarky remarks."?

In the last Under the Hood, both Nina and Bebe wait until one hour before the finale of the show to apologize to Rebecca for the way they've treated her all along (Nina talks about it in her first weeks "True Confessions" but obviously waited till the last minute to say anything to Rebecca.) Too little too late. Later, Bebe waxes poetic about creating opportunities and being a role model for young drag queens. What? She and the others had an excellent opportunity to be a role model for Rebecca, who admitted time and again that she had much to learn from these more experienced queens. Dare I state the obvious, that these queens are willing to be a role model only if you aren't sharing the same spotlight?

In her exit interview Rebecca shows that she can be fierce, if she had been able to put that energy forward she might have won. But she admits that the title might have been too much for her to shoulder. She was afraid of success.

Shannel says she isn't jealous of Rebecca and says it again and then is quick to repeat it. Her jealousy is palpable.

They had said that the logo site (rupaulsdragrace.com redirects to rupaul at logo) would be hosting information on when and where the girls would be perfoming. I didn't see the page for that at logo, anyone know where that info is?.