RuPaul's All Stars Drag Race: Divas Lip Sync Live

February 3, 2018 12:59 PM - Season 3, Episode 2

The queens go full diva in a lip-syncing dance number inspired by the classic TV specials VH1 Divas Live, with the chance for their rudemptions in their runwaylooks. With guest judge Vanessa Williams and choreographer Todrick Hall.

FASHION PHOTO RUVIEW: All Stars 3 Ep 2 "Divas Live" with Raven & Mariah

RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars Recap: Diva Behavior, by Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers for Vulture


‘RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 3’ Episode 2 Recap: Sour Milk -- Finally someone gets how to take advantage of the Lip Sync for Your Legacy format. By Kevin O’Keeffe for HuffPo

posted by filthy light thief (16 comments total)

Trixie's "confessionals" continue to be one of the best parts of the show. “I think that's a lot of emotion for safe.”

And yes, the Divas Live original/parody single by RuPaul is available on iTunes.
posted by filthy light thief at 1:02 PM on February 3, 2018 [3 favorites]

Help I'm falling in love with Shangela
posted by kwaller at 1:33 PM on February 3, 2018 [6 favorites]

I’m ah, new to the Drag Race thing so I am coming in with very little background knowledge of most of the queens. I know who many of them are (Trixie is a little ubiquitous), but I hadn’t watched their seasons. And yet I still have opinions after two whole episodes!

Mostly the opinions are that DeLa and Shangela are a delight, Thorgy is much too insecure and grudge-holdy for competing, and I wouldn’t be sad if Milk went home because YIKES, she may be hot shit outside of Drag Race but so far she’s just not bringing the hot game she thinks she’s playing.
posted by angeline at 1:45 PM on February 3, 2018

Sounds like you've caught the gist of the queens ;)

I'm intrigued by Ben - is she really that uncertain about who to cut? Or is it part of an act to be nice? Either way, I loved her lipsync for her legacy this time, but I wasn't sad that she didn't win for a second time in a row.

Milk was way less certain of her self on her original season, but clearly her head has inflated since then. Her rudemption look was uninspiring, to say the least. And what was with the peanut butter on a chain? OK, she was lipsyncing to a retooled version of RuPaul's song "Peanut Butter", but she then thought it was a good idea to give a very literal tribute to the song, on top of her otherwise decent match to Celine Dion's Met Gala look? That's not the Milk I liked in the past. Oh well, she won't last long unless she changes her strategy, if not her self assessment.
posted by filthy light thief at 3:21 PM on February 3, 2018

Also did anyone else clock Aja’s shirt during rehearsal? A++ LOL
posted by kwaller at 6:59 AM on February 4, 2018

First of all: I thought Ru's assignments were ON POINT for each of the queens. Brava, brava!

Wow, Thorgy went from "Stevie Nicks is the PERFECT choice for me" to "I am being sabotaged by this shitty diva assignment" in like 5 seconds (at least according to the edit, so, grain of salt). In the end, Thorgy's performance was embarrassing and her runway outfit weird as hell. Not sure what that headwear was all about. An upside-down shoe? A rejected Guinan hat covered in radioactive ooze?

I can see Kennedy in the bottom. I thought her dancing was good but totally out of sync with the other dancers. Okay but not great.

I was perplexed by Chi Chi's placement on the bottom 3. I mean, given the strong competition I accept that she shouldn't have been on the top (though I thought her Labelle was delightful), but safe, surely.

Celine Dion was kind of a crappy assignment, but then again, Milk is kind of a snore, so appropriate enough I guess. Trixie and Aja's reactions to Milk crying over her own spilled potential were spot-on. Anyway, her performance was lackluster and she should have been on the bottom. Frankly, I think it should have been Thorgy vs. Milk for the loss.

I remember nothing of Aja's performance but she looked like Clint motherfucking Howard up there with her stankfaces.

Trixie's Dolly was kind of fun but made very little impression. And girl. If you're gonna be Dolly you're gonna need more padding up north.

The top 3 (and top 2) I agree with completely. BeBe was a fuckin' phenomenon up there and she really got Diana Ross--you don't need to wear yourself out running all over the stage, just give amazing face (and hair) and sell the shit out of it.

BUT, Ben and Shangela worked for it more and they totally killed it out there. Shangela's Mariah method acting was so great, I care not whether it pissed the other queens off, I was living and dying for it. And her performance was amazing.

And I mean... Ben as rapping Julie Andrews? The material she was given probably offered greater potential and a bigger challenge than anyone else's, and boy howdy did she rise to the occasion. I haven't laughed that much at a performance since Bob the Drag Queen's many many delights.

As much as I love Ben, Shangela totally took that lipsync. Shangela looked like she was performing the song; Ben looked like she was singing along. Well done.

Thorgy's reaction ("Oh Jesus, gross.") was both irritating and fucking hilarious. Buh-bye.
posted by duffell at 12:52 PM on February 4, 2018 [4 favorites]

I think Shangela may be winning me over as well. What is happening to me? I loved her rudemption look.

Aja's rudemption look was also excellent. This could be a very confusing season for me.

Thorgy, the reason they gave you Stevie Nicks is because you have to do something convincing with your dreads, and Stevie often wears a hat. I mean, COME ON. There aren't too many other options for you in the "diva" department, so suck it up and own it.

Trixie's confessionals were great this episode. "Velcro isn't a talent!"
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 12:27 PM on February 5, 2018 [1 favorite]

Oh, and I thought Milk's acting was decent, but the look she chose was way more Cher than Celine.

That being said, get over yourself. You were safe.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 12:29 PM on February 5, 2018

Maybe it’s the edit, I don’t know, but somehow it feels like Milk expected being quirky and different to carry more high-fashion currency and therefore to easily sail her to the top week after week. Or she’s looking for some ego validation for her quirkiness and not getting it. Or both!
posted by angeline at 3:50 PM on February 5, 2018 [1 favorite]

I think Shangela may be winning me over as well. What is happening to me?

I was not a Shangela fan after her season(s). However, she was the MC for a local university drag show last year. We went, but not enthusiastically. She passed thru the lobby as we were waiting to be let in. She smiled at me, and I have never looked back. Girl has some fierce charisma, and she put on a polished, energetic show with so many costume changes and great numbers. Also extremely kind and sweet and lingered long after to take hundreds of photos with an endless line of fans, taking time to chat with all. I am Team Shangela 4eva.
posted by donnagirl at 4:27 PM on February 5, 2018 [5 favorites]

I stand by my favored top three of Trixie, BenDLC and Chi Chi, but Shangela is sneaking her way into my life and I am confused and intrigued.

What is going on with Milk? I liked him a lot in his season and followed him post Drag Race. The person he has presented himself as on All Stars is unrecognizable to me and I don't like what I am seeing at all.

Shangela's Mariah Carey performance was amazing. As a person who adores the hot mess that is Mariah, this hit the sweet spot. Trixie and Bebe gave really good performances as well.

I agree with Shangela and BenDLC getting the top two with Shangela winning, but Milk really should have been in the bottom with Thorgy. Kennedy didn't do a good job with Janet, but that Rudemption look should have saved her from the bottom two.
posted by Julnyes at 6:39 PM on February 5, 2018 [2 favorites]

That conspiracy theory is amazing. I also hope it's true. Shoot.

I have noticed during both episodes so far that we barely hear from Bebe, other than extremely occasional talking heads where she's cackling about something (I really like her! I didn't know I would and I've seen her original season) and then in the most recent challenge she was kind of in the background other than her very handed-to-her diva piece.

I think the problem for me is that I like everyone who is left this All Stars except for Milk and Kennedy. I'd be happy if any of the others won.
posted by urbanlenny at 11:30 AM on February 6, 2018 [1 favorite]

Ha! I finally figured out Thorgy's look, it's Madeline Kahn from Young Frankenstein! Her Stevie Nicks makeup, though, was pretty dreadful.

On one hand, I think Milk should go home. On the other hand, apparently Milk is going to provide the drama this season. Tasty! I can't even with her crying over being safe. That was certainly guaranteed to get her the attemtion she was craving. So, mission accomplished?!
posted by jojo and the benjamins at 11:19 PM on February 8, 2018

I finally figured out why Milk's performance was bothering me so much - it's not the drama (which has been eyerolling and I'm sure edited to make him look bad). But it's more that all the looks seem very ordinary to me. Instead of following Sharon Needles and most recently Sasha Velour in embracing the quirkiness, I feel as though Milk used it to get attention and as a way to feel included. But now with all the fan adulation and professional recognition (both as Milk and as Daniel), it feels like the quirkiness has been tossed aside in order to run with the mainstream crowd. That doesn't sit well with me.
posted by A hidden well at 8:35 AM on February 9, 2018 [1 favorite]

Milk seriously wanted a parade for that boring "glamour" look? Girl, bye.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 4:05 PM on February 11, 2018 [1 favorite]

I got to see Milk perform last night - it was a small show at a small venue here in Dallas, and it featured some local queens doing their thing as well.

She was entertaining, and her act was certainly different from the others - she did a hysterical (if...in questionable taste, but I know drag has its own boundaries) joke number dressed as a choirboy offering testimony against a priest (see my problem here) to the tune of “He Touched Me” which I will never hear with a straight face again. The second number, she was in her Denim Pinocchio, dancing and lip syncing.

It was different, but the thing is that second number wasn’t terribly memorable? Nothing about it has stuck in my head besides the costume, whereas I am definitely remembering the queen who came out in red vinyl and chains dancing to techno but ended her act by lip syncing Julia Sugarbaker’s “The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia” speech to cheers and applause, and the gorgeous Latinx queen who shimmied and lip synced to a cumbia sort of number and the audience loooooved her. Those were different AND memorable!

I just got the feeling that Milk is somehow still trying to figure out what her thing is. I’ve done some small-scale performing as a singing wench and I know the feeling of trying to figure out how to stand out in a sea of other singing wench acts, and I remember the point where I was throwing anything out to see what stuck. That’s what I remember feeling last night.

That said, her post show ensemble was gorgeous and I wish I hadn’t been too shy to snap a photo. It was - I can think of no other way to describe it - Garland Meets Gaga. Or really maybe more accurately, Minelli Meets Gaga, now that I think about it. She really is gorgeous in and out of drag, and she can be SO funny, so I hope she figures out exactly what she’s going for some day.
posted by angeline at 11:08 AM on February 18, 2018 [2 favorites]