“Sisters until the end. Love is beautiful.” is how we begin this week’s episode with Afrodite Amour mirror message after being eliminated. The girls gather around and send their love, but onto the next day, where they’re greeted with the mini-challenge, and they’re throwing it back to the awkward teenage years of bad make-up, outfits, and being anxiety ridden. Nicky Doll is here to host a teenage party as the DJ, it’s essentially a musical statues game where instead of freezing, they must land on an object. A fun little game to get the energy going for the episode. What it reveals is that Misty Phoenix was a bird in a former life, easily flying onto surfaces fast and safely, which ultimately gives her an edge and wins the game. Although there is no prize, just an awkward final dance with Nicky, was it random yes, but was it fun? indeed.
The maxi challenge is always something that is a wonderful watch – it’s the talent show! As viewers, this is the best way to gauge just what their talent is, what they exceed in, and why they’re on the show.
Before the show and while getting ready, the queens discuss gender and raising a family with non-conforming families. What’s noticeable about this cast is that they’re not afraid to hold in their emotions. The first episode saw tears about growing up gay, and this is another important chat. A really touching story is revealed by Edeha Noire talking about raising their 2-year-old daughter. Revealing that all three made the baby and highlighting how hard it is to have a baby in France, as surrogacy is illegal. For the sake of social norms, it’ll be easier for his little girl to be referred to as dad even though they identify as a trans, non-binary drag queen. But the beautiful words that were taken away as said by Lula Strega, “The next generation will be more aware and more compassionate with issues that generations have trouble understanding.” It brings a very open discussion on families, including adoptions and the coming-out process.
To kickstart the talent show, we are introduced to the guest judges, Guillaume Diop, the lead dancer from the iconic opera of Paris, and actress Virginie Efira. But that’s not all; the cast of season two will be judging the show. Of which, they all look so chic and fashion-forward with Piche walking out as glam Voldermort, which, although unexpected but I was so here for it.
To say the talent show started what can be described for lack of the better word jaw dropping would be an understatement. Perseo brought the Canary Islands to the mainstage. Being able to death-drop on and literally OFF the stage in those huge death-defying boots is a skill on its own. Just wow. The poor soul that has to go after her is Edeha Noire with a comedy skit; as we’ve seen on all seasons across the world, it can either go down as iconic or painful to watch, it was more in the middle for me.
This cast are a talented bunch, and Leona Winters casually comes out to show her operatic skills. Looking so beautiful and glamorous, she made it look so easy and is definitely in my top three. The lower end of the show was poor Ruby On The Nail, whose nerves got the better of her; her shaky fingers hindered her; which is a shame as she was playing the piano.
Misty Phoenix earlier expressed her fears about doing a ballet number in front of Guillaume. What started delicate and serene went into a full blow drag number, which shows just how versatile she is. The only thing I wasn’t a fan of was the wig, but hey, it’s a high-calibre season. On the flip side, Le Filip comes out and shows us what a comedy routine is. It’s well structured, and she has a way of delivering it so deadpan and cold. It added to the appeal of her nonchalant routine.
Overall, the talent show was a resounding success, and the runway category is Living Couture. Honestly, I’m not really sure what that is or is supposed to be. Going from clocks to women in the 20’s living in an attic as moths, it’s hard to grasp concept-wise or maybe I’m being a blonde. Le Filip comes out as a mechanical living robot, so one is to assume there must be a working mechanical part of the outfit somehow. Ruby On the Nail’s outfit is a blooming flower, which is stunning. But the winner for me is Perseo. Her outfit was, as the others said, DRAG in capslock. Magnetica is a hynotising wheel of monochrome; the concept is fantastic and something not seen on the show.
It’s crunch time, and a few more tears arrive in the untucked lounge as Magnetica feels disappointed with herself. The winner of this week, and rightly so, is Perseo, leaving Ruby On The Nail, and Magnetic in the bottom two. I was surprised that Misty Phoenix was in the bottom three, but the show gets that much harder each season. Battling it out to Gigi L’amoros by Dalida, Ruby camped it out, and even though I wasn’t familiar with the artist or song, I enjoyed it. I felt like it was a theatrical experience you get at immersive theme parks. The advantage of the international season is that although some of us outside France perhaps have no familiarity with the songs, no expectation is placed on how it should be performed or how we’ve seen them performed before. It’s a new slate to just enjoy a good drag lip-sync. Unfortunately, the queen we say Au Revoir to is Magnetica. I’m surprised as I don’t think she was worthy of being in the bottom. But alas that’s the name of the game.
What did we think of this week’s episode?
Tune-In: Drag Race France S3 will premiere Friday, May 31st on WOWPresents Plus in the US and select territories worldwide, day-and-date with its local airing on France TV’s SLASH.
