RuPaul's Drag Race UK Vs The World - Episode 1 Review
The time has finally arrived, the moment the (gay and fag hag) world has been waiting for… the Drag Race franchises are finally crossing over and Queens from nearly each spin off, are battling it out to be crowned the first, Drag Queen of the World! The UK (who I feel Ru has a soft spot for) is the host nation for the very first competition of its kind. Without further ado lets kick off our review of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK Vs the World episode 1!
The episode starts a little differently to normal and instead of the Queens walking into the workroom they take turns standing behind the All Stars Lip Sync Assassins style blind for their reveal! One by one the Queens enter and everyone seems to be getting along until Mo Heart (previously known as Monique Heart) walks in and the drama starts, shade gets thrown as the queen debate who they think is going to be the first Queen of the World! As entrance looks go, I think Blu, Lemon and Mo stood out the most as those that had made the most effort and spent the most coin, making them my top entrance looks of this series. Right from the get go fear hits the Queens when the Ru siren goes off as they stand on the main stage, frantically the Queens look around for Ru only for an awkward fake scene to take place where Ru has been hiding up on a cherry picker the whole time… yawn, I mean if this were the acting challenge Ru you would have been in the bottom two! I’m going to skip this interaction because Ru who you trying to fool that you have been up there the whole time!
Once back in the workroom the Queens all scramble to their stations and get out of drag. The two US representatives, JuJubee and Mo do what the Americans do best… b*tch! Right from the get go Mo starts to read the queens to filth and although she was probably doing it for drama, it actually came across poorly on her part. I felt and I preferred to see all the other queens getting along even when their stations partners were from their country or season. Already Baga and Jimbo begin messing about and start wrecking the werkroom with their antics. Before the day is done Baga treats a few of the international queens to a spot of British tea and gives a fews lessons in British slang. I’m not sure the Queens 100% got what Baga was on about but the scene was hilarious.
When the new day arrives you can tell the nerves of wanting to impress Ru and represent their home country are starting to kick in. As the Queens get ready we see a few cute moments between the Queens and we find out who are friends outside of the show. One moment that I was living for was the brutally honest Blu Hydrangea who calls out Mo on her behaviour when they met at a previous show. I don’t think Mo was ready for the attack from little Blu. From our personal bad experience with Mo ourselves (well more her management) we were finger clicking at our TV in support of Blu. But before anymore shade or antics can happen the Queens must put on a talent show for Ru and the fellow judges, this week it includes Graham Norton, Michelle Visage and Spice Girl Mel C!
The talent show… well it was like a school talent show, everything was a little random and could have been better to be honest.
First up was Lemon, her song was catchy in parts and I felt it did the job of the telling the judges who she was (all of whom hadn’t actually judged Lemon before). She put on a dancy number which for me did go on a little too long but the best was saved for last and Lemon fell from the heavens Aja style, off of some high steps but not this time into a death drop but into the splits! BAM!
Next up was Mo Heart, doing another song but sadly this brown cow was not stunning. The cow print had been swapped for some dead animal tails of some sort and the track… wasn’t great. The wig choice was awful for someone who wanted to fling their hair about in the performance so much and the whole thing had me cringing from start to finish. Ru’s gritted teeth said it all.
Next up was our only Holland Queen Janey Jacke, who chose to do an outfit reveal number. Janey gave lots of energy but I feel any performance like this never goes down well. The outfits never get any better and you can always see something is coming and as its revealed, it just doesn’t get anymore exciting as it goes on. I see why Janey probably did this (to stand out) but it wasn’t the best for me.
Next came Baga wearing her iconic Much Betta maid look and the song was, a mess, but a mess you wanted to watch. Baga had Ru in stitches and although it felt like a comedy Eurovision act that was memorable, but maybe not for the right reasons.
Next came Jimbo. Before Jimbo came on they almost stole the show anyway as you could see them bouncing along like the I.T clown in the corner asking Georgie if he wanted a balloon watching the other queens from the sidelines. Jimbo’s main performance was just as creepy and had him looking for his talent in this tin box. The performance ended with Jimbo giving birth to meat and slapping it on the outfit. Mamma Ru even got some meat thrown at her face! I was creeped out, laughing in hysterics but in all honesty, I really don’t know what I just watched.
Cheryl actually came out and was a star! I felt her lyrics were spot on and they made Ru laugh for sure. I think when you put say, Baga or Mo’s song up against each other, Cheryl hit the mark better showing how it should be done.
Next up was Jujubee and I wasn’t impressed. I LOVE her music outside of the show but this song just fell a little flat for me.
Next Pangina, who came out guns blazing and put on a high energy performance. It showcased her talent and it was good, don’t get me wrong but like Lemon’s performance it lost me a little after a while. It did however, end on a gasp like Lemon’s with Pangina hitting the floor with a split that made my privates feel funny!
This left Blu to end the show with a comedy style cheerleading performance which I thought was bloody brilliant! It had me (and Ru) in stitches and was pure British drag with the lyrics in true Blu style, filthy! I could barely believe it when Blu made a gesture of wanking a penis off into her mouth and saying ‘I’m on my knees Ru, what’s for dinner’. Honestly priceless!
With that the talent show was done (thank god) and we move to the runway which is a theme of ‘I’m a winner baby’. I was expecting final episode looks! For me this is actually a great first theme and one you should spend money on, even if you go home first you could still showcase something fantastic and make an impact. Sadly for me I felt let down by lots of the looks and felt the Queens missed the mark. Instead of reviewing them all I will talk about my favourites which were Mo Hearts, Pangina’s, Jimbo’s and Janey Jacke’s. All of the looks showed finale ready vibes and really stood out for me. The ones that didn’t, Cheryl, it looked like she grabbed some Poundland Christmas decorations and threw them onto a white gown she already had, as well as Baga’s and Jujubee’s.
It was then time for the judges’ comments and the new rules! I say new rules but Ru announces that it will basically be All Star rules, where a top two will be picked who lip sync for the win and whoever wins will have picked a lipstick of the bottom two to send home. Ru chooses Pangina and Jimbo as the tops of the week and Lemon and Janey as the bottoms (great two of my favourites in the bottom for the first week). I really disagreed and I felt Ru gave a free card to the US Queens due to their TV potential on the series. For me the bottom two based on performance and look would have been Mo for that shocking display and sadly Janey with my tops being Jimbo (even though I didn’t know what the hell was going on) and Blu.
In the werkroom as the Queens untuck and things begin to get juicy. Jimbo toys with the bottom queens like Scar does at the start of the Lion King with the mouse. Basically, giving nothing away where Pangina really does seem to care about what happens to the Queens. That said it’s time for the top two to lip sync it out for the win.
Jimbo and Pangina battle it out to a Spice Girls song and it was interesting that’s for sure! Jimbo just walked around the stage and let Pangina do all the dancing and several times walked right into sending both of the flying. It really wasn’t a drag queen of the world level performance from Jimbo and Pangina is awarded the win which I agreed with.
I honestly was going to be gutted no matter what way Pangina voted but sadly for Lemon her time is up early and she is the first queen to be sent home. I really feel for the Lemon and don’t think she deserved to be in the bottom at all, that said I’m still glad Janey is here to slay another day and show the girls what she can do. To read the exit interview with Lemon click here.
What did you all think of episode one of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK Vs the World? Let us know on our socials your thoughts.
The series airs on British screens exclusively on BBC Three and BBC iPlayer from at 9pm, with new episodes released weekly (on Tuesdays).
Imagery courtesy of the BBC / BBC Three