'RuPaul's Drag Race' Season 7 Premiere: Who's Your Front-Runner?
On the premiere of RuPaul's Drag Race, we met our 14 new queens, and, frankly, they had a lot to live up to. Last season gave us some of the most beloved contestants the series has ever produced — Bianca Del Rio (ALL HAIL) and Adore Delano. We didn't get too many instant love affairs like we have in the past — no Adore or Willam walking in and winning us over immediately, but we did get a nice idea of who some of these queens are and what they can do.
Before the hellos, let's discuss a welcome goodbye: Santino Rice is no more. I am FINE with this. Especially because this gives us Carson Kressley and Ross Matthews, pure delight in human forms!
So, the queens themselves. They will of course set themselves apart over the course of the season, but in this initial introduction, I counted at least two Pandora Boxxes, an Ivy Winters/Milk situation and a couple Ravens who think they're the most beautiful belles of their balls.
So far, the queens who are achieving early domination in getting us to love them and actively root for their eternal stay are Jasmine Masters, Ginger Minj, and, my early favorite, Katya.
[caption id="attachment_461451" align="aligncenter" width="540"] [Photo Credit: Tumblr][/caption]Katya is already hilariously wonderful in and out of drag. In talking heads, Katya is self-effacing and likeable and can give us great runway looks. Katya could be around a while.
On the main stage, Kandy Ho, who had already committed a cardinal sin of humanity by asking Tempest DuJour how old she is, doubled down on her ageism, saying that she was not feeling Tempest's look so asked how old she was to find out where she was coming from. This would be your standard shade if not for the fact that three-quarters of the judging panel is over 45 years old and RuPaul, the grand dame of it all, is 54. So maybe knocking a queen for being old isn't the best way to endear yourself to these judges. And she didn't — because she was placed in the bottom two with Tempest. Given the conversations that took place, I'm sure I wasn't alone in hoping Tempest would turn out an outstanding performance and show this young queen how it's done. That did not happen. Tempest's lipsync was reminiscent of those air dancer things in front of car dealerships, while Kandy was this twerking wonder. She may hate old people, but you can't hate her moves.
Best runway looks:
The best looks of both challenges were owned by Violet Chachki, our winner of the night, who in her nude main challenge look (Violet was actually nude whereas most of the other contestants went with body suits) ensured I would never eat again.
[caption id="attachment_461450" align="aligncenter" width="500"] [Photo Credit: Tumblr][/caption]As for the main challenge itself, sure, there was some rough work with some cheap flesh-colored spandex, but there were some great looks and a whole lot of hot bodies. But I was personally a big fan of the butterfly-inspired queens, Kennedy Davenport and Jasmine Masters.
— RuPaul's Drag Race (@RuPaulsDragRace) March 3, 2015
— RuPaul's Drag Race (@RuPaulsDragRace) March 3, 2015
COCOON REALNESS!
Quotes of the night:
"No tea, no shade, no pink lemonade." - Jasmine Masters
"We have to be naked and I have the body of a 55-year-old Irish rock climber." - Katya
[Photo Credit: Logo TV]