RuPaul’s Drag Race 16 (2024)

[Aceon6]

Premiers tonight (Friday, 5 Jan) on MTV and it will be streamed on Paramount Plus. I’ve liked what I’ve seen of the queens in the previews, but I’m not a fan of the format for deciding who sashays. The producers decided to use the All Stars format which guarantees that a strong queen will leave well before her time. I hope they also allow for a come back for top 5/6.

 

[my little pony]

I agree about the format. the domestic franchise has been one of my least favorite for a while. tonight im going to a live premier with one of the contestants. hopefully it will rekindle my interest.

 

[my little pony]

well that left me feeling tired and old, I cant rely on viewing parties to watch this season and it wont be on paramount plus until the season is over. I have to find a way to watch it quietly under an electric blanket.

 

[Aceon6]

Some thoughts…
Morphine may go far if she survives Snatch Game. She certainly got air time.
Amanda’s paint issues! ‘Nuff said. Hope she’s a fast learner.
Dawn is very talented, but may be too Willow to get very far.
Q. How the heck wasn’t she voted as top? Oh yeah, the contestants voted.
Xunami gave me Luxx-on-sale vibes.
Sapphira‘s not strong enough for QotU, but plenty strong for this group.
Mirage left very little impression despite being a really great dancer.

 

[Aussie Willy]

I think they are all pretty good for the first episode. Or maybe there was no-one I absolutely hated. Although my main hope is for there to be a good Snatch Game. All stars winners spoilt us with Jinx's Judy.

 

[tony]

Morphine and I worked together on a friend’s film project a few years ago, and we were often working in the same circles before I retired from that career. She’s fantastic!

 

[just tuned in]

Morphine and I worked together on a friend’s film project a few years ago, and we were often working in the same circles before I retired from that career. She’s fantastic!

Can you give more details? Her out-of-drag look is very femme -- how is it possible her family does not know she does drag?

 

[Aceon6]

Ok, I finally squeezed in a proper viewing of the second group of queens.

Plane Jane: I’m from the Boston area. I know she’s just playing a game, but rest assured that her demeanor is atypical of the Boston drag scene or people from eastern Massachusetts in general. Gawd, I hope she’s embarrassed as heck after viewing the edited product. She’s very talented and needs to stfu.

Nymphia: Wow. Talented and a great painter. I hope she goes far.

Hershii: Love her and her self deprecating humor. She did a respectable job in both talent and runway, despite Michelle’s carping about the hemline. Yes, a few inches off the floor is weird, but church lady length is not.

Plasma: May be too old school to keep up with the rest of the cast. She’s got the chops, but she doesn’t come across as very quick. We’ll see.

Mhi’ya Iman: I don’t get it. She doesn’t seem to paint all that well and is pretty much a one trick pony. But she’s gonna be hard to beat in a lip synch, so I see her lasting all the way to top 6.

Geneva: Love her spirit. Her paint is to die for and she seems to know how to style herself for the best effect. I don’t foresee her getting many bad runway critiques.

Megami: She had me scratching my head. Yes, Drag Race is a wide reaching platform for social activism, but I’d prefer she mix in a little humor or camp. Does she really take herself that seriously, or are we going to be surprised?

Overall, I think group 1 is a bit stronger and has a better chance of pulling off the inevitable team challenges.

 

[my little pony]

I was baffled at how every one seemed in agreement that Jane was so funny (as it was edited). on pit stop Trixie said she didnt get it either. I think Nymphia is my favorite so far.

 

[Aussie Willy]

Plane Jane annoyed me.

Nymphia had the best talent. It was really beautiful.

I liked Plasma's and Hershii's banter before the others came in the room.

 

[Aceon6]

Ugh. I’m not happy with the first sashay. Yes, she prolly deserved it, but I really liked her. I have no idea why Mhi’ya was safe. To my eyes, she should have gone, but I’m seeing the beginning of a “come out of your shell” arc.

 

[Aussie Willy]

I thought Nymphia deserved the win. I wasn't sure what she was going to do with those ties but that was clever.

Q really impressed me too.

 

[Aceon6]

I hope to get caught up on Drag Race tomorrow, but i just fast forwarded through the sketch comedy episode and it seems that it was a disaster. Very few of these queens can act and having the Lindsay Graham based character just fall to the one who had no clue was cruel. The sashay was predictable and sad.

 

[my little pony]

I dont think they asked anyone who Lindsey graham was and im not sure they didnt think Lindsey was a woman. (insert your own joke here). they played Lindsey like they were drunk Kate Gosselin.

 

[Aussie Willy]

Well SNL these days only has a few bright moments so it was just as funny as a regular SNL sketch. The Babs sketch was probably the strongest in terms of performance. I am not surprised that the whole thing didn't work.

 

[Aceon6]

Is it me, or do the younger queens seem lacking in general political awareness? I know very few of my trans relatives friends, all under 18, but they all know which politicians are queer friendly/tolerant and which aren’t. I doubt any of them could do a detailed bio of Lindsay Graham, but they all know who he is. It shocked me that “do you know who Lindsay Graham is” didn’t inspire a mad dash around the room to find out why that might be important?

 

[Aceon6]

WTF? I just couldn’t with last night’s episode. Even TLo had almost more to say about the workroom than the performances. And what a setup for the sashay, although even I could see the foreshadowing. Why the heck did her group let her onstage that way? Oh, Plane!

 

[Aceon6]

For the hardy few who are sticking with this thread, what I thought about Mhi’ya from the group 2 intro came to fruition last night. She could have botched all the words and Ru would have let her stay, despite her most horrible of horrible runway looks. I thought the sashayed queen did a really good job selling the song, but it’s hard to compete when your opponent is flinging herself around the stage.

Plane seems to have absorbed some of what Mother Sapphira was trying to tell her during the girl group episode. I think the damage is done, though, as Plane now has to face indifferent to hostile audiences wherever she performs. She’s not funny enough to go the Bianca route and I wonder what the hit will be to her potential post drag race performance fee.

 

[Aceon6]

Looks like I’m still talking to myself here, but I found last night’s episode lacking in many ways. The producer manipulation of the workroom is becoming so obvious that someone who had never seen RPDR would notice it. I might have given the win to Sapphira, but I can’t argue. As for the sashay, this is another week where the losing queen gave a better performance to my eyes, but was brought down by a full runway belly slide. What a full runway belly slide has to do with Miley’s Flowers is up to interpretation.

Next week is Snatch Game. Time to see if Morphine, Xunami, and Mhi’ya have anything and whether Plane, Q, and Plasma avoid the pitfalls. I think Sapphira and Dawn will probably be ok.

 

[Jayar]

I am really enjoying Q, Plasma, and Saphira all for different reasons. Was so happy to see the queen who sashayed away finally go. She reminded me of the Lia Delaria character who was in the laundromat on Friends.

 

[my little pony]

I actually thought dawn was worse in the challenge than Megami but they use her a lot in confessionals and untucked. I also thought Mhia taking off her shoes and literally belly flopping was so messy and not right for this song. But I dont think Megami would have lasted much longer any how and I dont think Mhia is in danger of getting very far.

this season is ok but im enjoying Spanish all stars and UK vs the world a lot more. did anyone else watch drag duel on YouTube? at first I wasnt going to watch it but then I literally rearranged my schedule to watch it live.

 

[Aceon6]

And yet another bad snatch game. To me, no one was killer, although Sapphira and Plane came closest. Nymphia should be thanking her lucky stars that the Taiwanese drag community is so talented as it was her runway that saved her. I almost wish there was a double shantay as both bottom queens did really good lipsynchs, but I have no problem with the sashay. See post #4.

 

[my little pony]

I agree w all that except im glad someone left

 

[jamesy]

I hate the idea of imaginary people for snatch game and I'm kind of surprised Ru seemed so excited for it.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

Every year snatch gets worse and worse, these queens are too young… they’re not seasoned enough. In earlier seasons, the queens were a bit older and more seasoned.

She said she was doing a made-up character the golden tooth fairy or whatever so she had Carte blanch to do whatever she wanted, but then obviously did not do anything.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

I hate the idea of imaginary people for snatch game and I'm kind of surprised Ru seemed so excited for it.

You nailed it, it’s not like her to have been that way

 

[Aceon6]

I hate the idea of imaginary people for snatch game and I'm kind of surprised Ru seemed so excited for it.

Well, I was looking forward to it when she initially described it. I was expecting a character that was freaky, ditzy, and a little bit high armed with a bunch of jokes around visiting ‘hood kids vs. suburban kids. Where was the grille vs. tooth joke? The challenge of getting through window bars joke? Any joke about Ru’s perfect teeth?

 

[chantilly]

Yyvie Odley’s Boogeyman was fantastic

 

[Aussie Willy]

Yyvie Odley’s Boogeyman was fantastic

As was Trinity's Lucifer. In fact the Winner's series Snatch Game was the best ever.

I think on most series (not just the UK) the Snatch Games have been weak except for a few standouts. Maybe it is time to retire it or work on another format where the queens have an opportunity to do impersonations.

 

[chantilly]

Hmm
Snatch Game is my favourite and I’ve found that most seasons have a few good players 2-3, and a few ok’s.
And some duds
I’d hate to see it go.
Personally for me I think it’s similar to the queens arriving without any ability to sew.
I think they just get lazy, complacent or over confident.
It’s also a highly saturated market now for drag race.
You should have your Snatch picked. And have a back up when you apply to DR.