Squirrelfriends...!

Join RuPaul’s Drag Race legends Raja, Jinkx Monsoon, Jaida Essence Hall, Monét X Change, Trinity The Tuck, Shea Couleé, Yvie Oddly, and The Vivienne in conversation with Tony, Grammy and Emmy winner Ben Platt on their dazzling, powerhouse new season of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars. Recorded May 9, 2022, at The 92nd Street Y, New York.

By now you may know that Ben Platt was indeed a guest judge in one of the RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars and that he was here talking to the girls after he had already met them (the backstage Untucked with him was a blast!). I was talking with a friend about the impact that a show like Drag Race would have on someone's career and how just a few hours of exposure at a national (and international) level could do for someone's career in entertainment. Apart from the obvious perks of taking part on a reality TV for a performer, there's the fact that they do earn actual money both by being in the program (they are salaried) and by winning challenges (thousands of dollars). They also gain something that in the XXI century people seem to value more than many things: exposure to the public at large. Whomever says being on Drag Race does nothing for their careers or that their success is not related to their being in the program is lying. 

But not all the contestants that have gone through the program are vacuous personalities like Violet or Pearl. Some, like the ones in this version of the program, are actually quite self-reflective, intelligent and observant individuals and can look back (and ahead) when talking about their careers in entertainment and see beyond the wigs and the costumes and the makeup.  They have also put out the most fantastic Drag runways and talent showcases I've seen anywhere. And have managed to show that they have had some of the most fun, most creative challenges in the history of RPDR. Just one ro two weeks back they did spoken word lip-sync, à la Lypsinka (more classic Drag, impossible) and the week before that The Vivienne ate up the scenery during the silly Santa's School for girls). I thought Raja was going to be on the top many more times (but I'm biased) and then -spoiler alert!- she's been blocked by Monét because apparently she was the only Queen that had never been blocked until now and that's reason enough.

Even though this is not a post about the show per se, I'll have to say that there's still one more episode to go and shit is getting real. At the end, the Queens on the top will have to do some kind of Rulapalooza Lip Sync Extravaganza (or something like that) but I have no idea who's going to win the two hundred thousand dollars prize. They are all EXCELLENT (my bet was Jinkx and Raja with Shea and The Vivienne but shit changes in a second in these contests, so now I have no idea of who's going to win) but they all deserve to win that money. And it's also a win for the viewer because we get to see a fantastic display of charisma, uniqueness, nerve and talent. Yes, hunny. It's like that.

Not everybody watches Drag Race, and not everybody should. It's like when I was watching NASCAR. It was fun for me at the moment but not everybody would have found it entertaining even though learning about some of the racers is fascinating. Going beyond the obvious is always a perk, though. So I think it’s worth a look at a panel like this, because their Drag personas are as interesting as the people behind the makeup.

XOXO

P.S. If you watch, you'll get a peek at a very 'real' moment, when one of the Drag artists is talking smack about somebody else and gets a surprise!