RuPaul recording promos was one of the most entertaining parts of the night
The “live” recording took six hours and beyond the familiar interviews and the lip syncs Ru had some promotional business to take care of. About halfway through she started recording some promo lines and it simply delighted the audience. It began with “This Week” and continued with “Friday,” “Tomorrow,” “Today “ and by the time she got to “Next” the audience was almost roaring in laughter. And Ru knew exactly what she was doing.
Mimi Imfurst needed a drink before she recreated her infamous moment with India Ferrah
There was a moment during the beginning of the show which was strangely not included where Ru “kicked” season three contestant Indiah Ferrah out of her seat so that the legendary Porkchop (the first queen ever eliminated on the show) could sit in the audience. To get her out Ru had Mimi Imfurst play “security” and pick her up on her shoulders walking her out of the theater. This recreated one of the most controversial lip syncs in the show’s history and was as obvious sight gag as you can imagine. India and Mimi (who has become a force producing national touring shows for the queens) made up a long time ago, but it’s always been something that has haunted Mimi in particular. Before this occurred I had walked into a pretty empty lobby to see Mimi at the bar by herself having a drink. It seemed strange at the time, but made perfect sense when the stunt occurred. Sometimes you just gotta take one for the team (although in hindsight it did nothing for either queen as it wasn’t included).
After each lip sync RuPaul went backstage
It’s worth noting, as obvious as the winners were in the first two lip syncs, after Ru watched them she was brought on stage and immediately went into the wings to consult with the other producers. Many fans have speculated that Ru always has an earpiece with the producers giving her instructions and that may be true during the regular season, but she wasn’t wearing one during the finale. She wasn’t backstage long, however, and quickly returned to ask Trinity and Shea to “sashay away.”
Ru’s reactions were shot after the lip syncs occurred
There is a significant production budget for the finale, but because they are not fully taping live there is a limit on the number of cameras they use (it should be noted some of your favorite sporting events have less cameras on hand than you think too). Because of this and the unique nature of the stage’s set, there were no cameras that had a direct shot of Ru during the lip syncs themselves (something that is not a problem when they shoot the season on a regular soundstage). That meant that afterward Ru and the audience had to “recreate” their reactions. In order to help with this two members of the show’s regular crew dressed up in drag and performed in front of us. If the audience reactions seemed subdued behind Ru it’s because it simply wasn’t the same.
Ru argued with the other producers and stage manager over direction at times and was right
There has been scuttlebutt in the past that Ru will argue with the production at these live tapings right in front of the audience. That absolutely happened this night and, frankly, she was justified. We could hear the direction the producers and stage manager were trying to give and it was just as confusing to us as it was to Ru. Sometimes you just need to whip your crew in line to get things done and Ru had no problem doing that.
After two of the top four queens were eliminated there was enough time for them to go sit in the audience
You might not be able to catch it, but because there was so much downtime both Trinity and Shea were able to do a quick change and join their season nine sisters in the audience. Trinity sat next to her good friend Valentina.
Where did all the audience questions go?
Limiting this episode to an hour really cut down to what they could include. Each interview with the top four was much, much longer and featured audience questions from former queens such as Tyra Sanchez, Porkchop, Morgan McMichaels, Jiggly Caliente and more. It was a lot of content to cut out.
You may not like Tyra Sanchez, but Ru certainly does
In between set ups Ru had some time in her viewing box which was right next to a row of former Drag Race contestants. Season two winner Tyra Sanchez is perhaps the most controversial champion due to her actions on social media, but Ru didn’t care. She joked with her more than any other queen while they were waiting.
Cynthia Lee Fontaine could barely walk
We’ll be honest, we’re somewhat concerned about how skinny cancer survivor Cynthia Lee Fontaine was at the reunion, but we’re hoping that was partially because of the long and tight dress she was wearing. The gold frock was so tight through her legs she could barely move her legs forward walking to and from her seat in the audience.
Each eliminated queen had a lot of time to stand on that stage clearly aware she’d lost the lip sync
After the first two lip syncs there was significant downtime as Ru needed to leave her “viewing box” in the audience and be helped up on to the stage (that dress was huge). During the set up time for the cameras that meant all four queens stood their anxiously waiting to find out what the results were. Trinity and Peppermint were almost stoic, but Shea, clearly realizing she lost, faced and held hands with her good friend Sasha who seemed incredibly apologetic and sorry for beating her.
Valentina knew exactly who won the final lip sync
As with most live taping crownings, Ru crowns all the finalists (in this case just the final two lip sync participants) so that there is true suspense when the program is broadcast weeks later. Ru first crowned Peppermint who gave a wonderful acceptance speech and got a lot of love from the audience. After the crowning all the season 9 queens came on stage from behind and went up to congratulate her. And, as with any Drag Race episode, Ru then ends the show with a “If you cant love yourself, how the hell you gonna love anybody else? Can I get an Amen?” When this occurred Valentina came on stage with her fellow contestants and went to the far side away from center stage. When Sasha Velour was crowned it was a much different story. The second the queens came on stage Valentina did a B-line to position herself right in the middle of Ru and last year’s winner, Bob the Drag Queen which put her in the middle of the shot overall near Sasha. It was at first subtle, obvious and ingenious all at once. That Valentina knows what she’s doing.
