...as far as I can tell, this incessant pairing of his name with Ahmadinejad's by the media, is rather crude. Opposition to Israel is not necessarily anti-Semitic (obviously the Iranian leader's Holocaust denial is). Am I wrong?------He's so glamorous.
I may have mispoken earlier when I said that Bebe Zahara Benet should win RuPaul's Drag Race. I was really just trying to say that she was a fierce competitor and stood a great chance at taking the whole competition. I didn't really think she was going to take it.
But as I tend to speak things into existence, last night, Bebe took the crown as the next great drag superstar, with Nina Flowers as runner-up. This upset me for a number of reasons. I think there was a certain amount of politicking (Bebe hailing from an AIDS ridden country in Africa, etc.) and perhaps a little bit of sexism (for lack of a better word) towards Nina's more androgynous, sometimes even masculine, interpretation of drag. Deep down, I really felt Nina was going to win. She deserved it, if only by a slight margin.
While both are fierce, and amazing performers, and brilliant always-on-point illusionists, Bebe maintained this (yawn) delusion that she had to do everything with "dig-ni-tee" and "ree-spekt," which is all well and good until you remember you're a 6 foot 3" man in a leopard body suit and a ginormous wig. Home girl got all Lucille Ball "waaah" when they dumped water on her, made her kick box, and even when she had to compete in a "vogue off." Christ woman, this isn't the search for the next drag amabassador to the UN.
Nina Flowers, however, worked every challenge they gave her. Dunk a bucket of water on the bitch, make her fight one-on-one with a Krav Maga expert, it don't matter, loca! Bend her, break her, anyway you need her, Nina handled everything with charisma and humor (which I guess I find more admirable than dignity and respect). At the end of the day, she would have been a much more fun MC for the Absolut "Real Fruit" Tour this summer (the main prize in the competition).
Ironically, I think RuPaul failed, as Tyra does (every. single. time.), but in the exact opposite way. While Tyra claims to be searching for high-fashion, she always chooses someone with (debatable) "personality" and approachability (read: the pretty girl from high school, never known for much else). RuPaul wanted an entertainer, approachable and personable, and instead chose a high-fashion Cameroooooon Barbie.
Below are two performances from the ladies in question. Both are flawless and entertaining, but ask yourself which one is more engaging and crowd-working at the end of the day.
If you haven't been watching RuPaul's Drag Race on LOGO, then...well, what the hell is wrong with you? Seriously, it's the best reality "game show" out there (although that one with Vivica A. Fox is pretty choice, I never know when it's on, which is my burden). This week was the most severe episode yet. I'll try to make the synopsis brief:
Everyone hates beautiful "fish-like" bitch, Rebecca Glasscock (note: "fish-like" is used to describe a drag queen that goes more realistic than artistic), but she won this week's challenge (making tough female competive fighters into their drag "daughters") and thus stays in the competition. Her archenemy Shanel (who says she's only 29, but she's really 89) is livid.
The problem is, despite winning this challenge and being the hottest bitch there, Rebecca is the weakest competitor at this point. RuPaul had no other option than to place bubbly man-girl Ongina and Grace Slick's long-lost sister Bebe Zaharra Benet in the bottom two. In my opinion, both should've at least been in the TOP 3 at the end of this thing, so seeing either of them (cue the lightning and thunder) LIP-SYNC FOR THEIR LIVES was devastating. So devastating, that RuPaul had to excuse herself from the stage to contemplate who would have to go. I assume this involved reviewing the girls' overall work in the competition, and a big ol' cigarillo packed with the good shit, but I digress...
In the end, sadly, Ongina was given the size 14 stiletto boot, only because Bebe is a madwoman on the stage. Seriously, she's a beast. Last week, Jenny Shimizu pointed out that she would be doing coke with Bebe if it were still the 90s. She's a brilliant throwback to that early/mid 90's 7-foot glamazon drag queen in a sea of club kids thing (...and who does that remind us of?).
Below is the final 7 minutes of the show. Takes about 2 minutes before the lip-sync, but OMG, it's worth it.
Fuck Fay-shun Week...it's Diplomacy Week!
