After the campest exit, we said goodbye to our Nyongbella, who left us with an iconic mirror message: “kk bye…. Duh.” This week, we’re heading back onboard the SS tickety-boo for a talent show. I’m so happy to see the return of this, as last season was such a fun watch, and watching each girl shine with some more so than others.
We get a glimpse into everyone’s plans for their acts, and since this after all is a cruise-themed show, we get the cruising diva herself sailing into the werk room to mentor: La Voix. Looking every inch of glamour, she gives everyone sound and sharp critique. As the cruise director, she’s there to guide them gently, with a mix of playful shade to Bones. Who describes how she’s known as the queen of Soho and is inspiration for her original track. La Voix remarks how she recalls the glory days of Soho long before Bones was even born.
Everyone’s talent this week seems interesting, and we have no real bubbling story arcs of who’s set to win. Although Paige is now itching to finally get their hands on a Rupeter badge. Joining the judges panel this week is Derry Girls’ Jamie Lee O’Donnell. And as usual, Ru is looking every bit like the ultimate supermodel with her legs going on for days.
Opening the show is Elle with her parody “original track”. It’s so genius, making fun of the typical cliches we’ve come to expect to see. With lyrics including snatching the crown, mention name, Ru give me that crown, and insert ‘death drop’ and ‘dip here’. It’s the perfect opener but also the shadiest. Especially since Bones, who is ready doubting their track and full of self doubt it straight after her… performing her own original track. Producers are Evil. Evil.
The issue with Bones, is that she doesn’t do bad. The problem lies in the audio it was jarring and not crisp so muffled it was hard to hear what she was trying to lip-sync to. But she did look fantastic and stomped the stage. Sally is up next and goes on an unhinged direction with her inner monologue and while painting a portrait of RuPaul. She’s so weird and I love her creative brain. Sillexa gives us an alien burlesque number, complete with boob reveals everywhere – legs, sides, and head. You know Ru loves the weird and wonderful and it lands with her earning cackles galore throughout.
Bonnie Ann Clyde takes a different route also, parodying past talent show acts and their tropes and hyping up herself without ever showing that talent. Which was all done so well it worked wonderfully. Paige three gives a us a jazz intro before cutting the track to sing out “pop my puss…” that’s really the track name. Then there’s Chai T, who serves a food-themed burlesque dressed as dumplings. And it’s just strange. She doesn’t take anything off. But she did go out of her box in doing something different while continues to showcasing her culture. Moving swiftly on to Catrin’s talent act who provides us with a magic act, and I personally felt it was a bit hit and miss. There were moments of fun moments with her assistant working well with the jokes it just didn’t stand out to me.
But they definitely saved the spiciest and best for last. Tayris. Closing out with a Notting Hill-inspired Caribbean flavour of a song, and it ends up with her crushing a watermelon with her thighs. Top tier, no notes. This week’s runway category is “Having it large.” Now, to me, this was a popular phrase in the 90s for basically partying living it up large and going big. Yet everyone else has a different idea, and all the outfits are, in fact, oversized, chic, large garments. So, the queens understood the assignment, all strutting in some really high-end looks. Although Catrin does remind me of EastEnders’ Pat Butcher and Mrs Doubtfire’s long-lost daughter. I do, however, love seeing everyone’s interpretations with Paige Three delivering a life-sized Polly Pocket while Elle brings her Celtic heritage to life as a traditional Celtic doll. The others are a bit more avant-garde.
It’s a tricky one this week to decide who places where. Alll three Soho queens find themselves placing in the bottom, and it’s hard to see. But the one thing we are guaranteed is it’s going to be one hell of a lip-sync.
The winner of this week is Sillexa – no surprise as we know Ru loves the weird talent show acts. I do think it should of been Elle or Tayris’s win they went above and beyond to stand out. That leaves Chai T and Bones in the bottom, battling it out to “Spectrum” by Florence and The Machine and Calvin Harris. What a song to have for a battle this week. It’s a tough call with the performance as both do good, we do see more screen time from Bones so technically can’t comment on who did best. Ultimately we have to say goodbye to Chai.T I would have loved to have seen her stay, as I really think she had a lot more to show! But alas, stay tuned for next week, as it’s Rusical time.
Tune in: New episodes of “RuPaul’s Drag Race UK will premiere every Thursday at 3pm ET / 12pm PT in the US and in select territories exclusively on WOW Presents Plus, day-and-date with its local airing on BBC3 in the UK.
