RuPaul's All Stars Drag Race: All Star Variety Extravaganza

June 12, 2020 10:25 PM - Season 5, Episode 1

Ten All Stars open the library for a reading mini-challenge – with this week's surprise guest judge, Ricky Martin! Next, they hit the mainstage to headline the "Werq the World" Variety Extravaganza! Plus, RuPaul reveals new twists in the rules!

As has become customary in the first episode of Drag Race All Stars, the first episode is a talent competition where the queens show off their best skills.

The twist is that All Stars rules are suspended! And All Stars rules live on: Ru will choose one top contestant each week, and instead of lip syncing for her legacy against one of the other All Stars, she’ll have to do it against a mystery lip sync assassin. If the All Star wins, she will choose one of the bottom two queens to eliminate. But if the assassin wins, the bottom queens’ fate will be in the hands of the other All Stars, who will also get to vote each week.

Recaps:
TV Line
Gold Derby
Vulture
Tom & Lorenzo

posted by urbanlenny (2 comments total)

As usual with the post-3rd season of All Stars I'm finding it hard to see these competitors as worthy of the title. It seems to mostly be queens that they have worked to rehabilitate over the past several years and need a boost in their careers rather than the best of the best - like, we have not one but TWO people who have been on an All Stars season before? I like both of them a lot but come on. I also have no need to watch India Ferrah, Mariah Balenciaga (though I was pleasantly surprised by her talent show piece) or Derrick Barry again.

It's really hard to watch this season after such a spectacular regular season.
posted by urbanlenny at 9:41 AM on June 13, 2020

First episode impressions:

Fun to see Yvie again, but that wasn’t even close to a fair fight
Derrick performed really oddly for someone who wanted to be seen as branching out from Britney
I forgot how funny Jujubee is
Miz hasn’t had enough time but her talking heads are great as always
This season seems constructed to crown Shea
posted by supercres at 10:33 AM on June 13, 2020