RuPaul’s Drag Race UK: Week 2 Rucap by Kirsty Bright
We royally wave hello to week two of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, the opening episode was greeted by rapturous reviews and love from home audiences and across the pond. Whilst the language/slang barrier may have a slight hindrance on the American audience then never fear, we at WERRRK.com are here to give you the slang 101!
A slight critique of the show was the lacklustre challenge prizes and the grand prize (A WOW presents TV series), fans blamed the double crowning of AS4 draining the prize money, however this of course is not the case. After conspiracies floated Twitter, it turns out the BBC are not allowed to use sponsors for prizes nor is a cash win allowed. Brits pay a BBC TV licence for the BBC to be broadcast on our TV so if the taxpayer were to see a huge chunk of cash handed out, the politeness would be out the window. However the queens have all tweeted that they aren’t in it for the money, it’s about the chance of a lifetime on one of the most prestigious TV shows in there industry.
So with that cleared and settled, let’s start the engines on episode two! We said goodbye to the roarsome Gothy Ken Doll who let her nerves get the better of her, the lip sync was of a better term ‘lacklustre.’ But in a recent interview with Gay Times Gothy explained “That was my first time ever lip syncing as well, so I was really nervous to watch it. I thought, ‘Oh god, I’m gonna be a trainwreck.’ I’m actually really happy with the outcome. I think I showed my personality and my vulnerability as naturally as I possibly could.”
Starting afresh in the werkroom the queen’s gathered and reflected on the past episode, the eliminated queen and of course jealousy over the Ru-Peter badge. Notable mention to Baga Chipz who’s cutway interviews are deserving of narrating the rest of the season alone, she could be reading anything, she makes it entertaining.
Photo by BBC Three/ World of Wonder
Which led to the mini challenge, our tradition of queuing is famous, if you come to the UK queue patiently and in silence. You may add a loud tut as to why we were waiting but never cut in, we will queue even if we don’t know what the queue is for! The Vivenne won last week’s challenge allowing her to rank top to bottom who she thinks is her biggest and least competition. It wouldn’t be Drag Race without a developing narrative of most annoying queen and a budding feud on the horizon.
Vinegar Strokes ranked top with Scaredy Cat coming in bottom, good ole British slang was thrown about once again. Ru showing his confusing at the expression of Tuppence*, having to ask ‘What in the world is a tuppence’ seeing him interact and laughing with the queens reverts back to older seasons to the Rupaul I admired.
*Tuppence is cockney for two pence, also references the vagina*
As usual the mini challenge had a twist with Scaredy Cat and The Vivenne becoming team captains. The shade of course came from The Vivienne declaring the top five were in her team, and Scaredy Cat declaring her team fresh and young. This week’s main challenge is to star in the UK’s fave period drama Downton Abbey however the queens are to act in the comedy spoof ‘Downton Draggey.’ For those unfamiliar with the Downton family, BenDeLaCreme famously did Dame Maggie Smith in full Downton character on season six’s Snatch Game.
Whenever queens say they’re going to smash it, the producers like to run, jump and hype it up, to then slam their dream to the ground. Acting challenges tend to showcase the stand out queens and who to watch. Each team had their weaknesses and the editing gave little away to who did the best, as both teams had issues. Baga was the standout and absolutely outshone with her cockney banter with Michelle Visage who was directing. The challenge itself was chock full of British pop culture references, Downton Abbey-isms it barely made any sense to me, so god knows how it made sense to overseas fans!
Back to the Werkroom for the runway, queens talked about their performance worries leading to storytelling. Why do they choose to have emotional heart to hearts whilst doing their makeup? It’s so great to see them confide in each other about their journey, home life and how drag has helped them. As a viewer I’m shedding a tear never mind applying layers of liquid eyeliner and shadow!
We’re joined by guest judge Maisie Williams a very popular choice for Game Of Thrones fans, alongside chat show host Graham Norton. This weeks runway was Bond Girls, the requirement of a Bond girl is seductive, evil and the love interest of James Bond. The outfits were a mix and match, for me the top outfits were Crystal, Baga Chipz, Cheryl Hole, Blu Hydrangea and Scaredy Cat all showcasing an array of different concepts.
Time for the airing of ‘Downton Draggey’ and as the script makes no sense as per usual. The acting challenges can always be a 50/50 take away from the show, most of the queens have either never been in front of a camera or are complete pro’s. This can sometimes work in favour of the queen who needs more direction the past has brought us some iconic lines who can forget ‘Get those nuts away from my face.’ This season will be without doubt ‘Much Better’ leading Team Vivenne to be the winner and Baga winning her very own ‘Ru-peter’ badge.
The pressure seems to set in this week with most queens feeling they aren’t fully here yet, and overwhelmed by the expectancy on themselves. The UK has been anticipating it’s own version for so long and now it’s here the queens must feel comparisons for the show to be a success. Not to mention the fan pressure have been waiting for their favourite queen to be cast on the show, wanting them to exceed to their full potential like the stars we know they all are.
SPOILERS
With Scaredy Cat and Blu in the bottom it seems like a fair bottom two. We once again saw a lip-sync that was interesting… Scaredy Cat pulled her best dad dancing at a wedding, nobody’s first lip sync is polished which led her to sashaying away. Having a first performance on Drag Race led her parting words to be iconic… “Not bad for my first gig” I mean she’s right what better first gig then Drag Race? How many can say that?
So we said goodbye to Scaredy Cat and week two is done and dusted. Once again we’d love to hear your thoughts and comments! Who did you love? What slang words need clarifying? What’s a Downton Abbey? Leave your comments below.
