This premiere has beaten all my expectations and has proven this is the season of Drag Race we have all been waiting for.
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RuPaul’s Drag Race has almost become the epitome of gay culture, it has given drag queens and queer artists a safe place to perform and be who they are. It is one of the leading TV shows at the moment and is never off our screen (literally there is a new season nearly every month), there was a fear Drag Race was getting too much. Especially after the lacklustre seasons of All Stars 4 and season 11, but the opening episode of season 11 proved Drag Race is a show you will never truly get sick of.
Before the episode began, I was quite reluctant to watch it as I feared it was going to be a lacklustre beginning full of queens we had all seen before. But they sure proved me wrong, season 12’s opening was one the strongest and most entertaining Drag Race premiere episodes to date. The show mixed up the format, instead of all queens starting at once they split them into two groups, so there are technically two premieres. This was done in season 6 and though for season 6 it proved a failure; the newly branded version of this format proved an ultimate success. We were able to truly get to know all the queens, the mix up allowed us to see more than just the loud characters which made for a lovely surprise compared to last season.
The first season 12 mini-challenge was inspired by London fashion week as the queens wore this Spring and Autumn’s looks. It was similar to the season 7 first mini-challenge and made us gag at the drag eleganza extravaganza. Queens that stood out in this challenge were Widow, who served Missy Elliot high fashion whilst Gigi Goode showed us, she has good… helmet. Other highlights of the episode were seeing Heidi N Closet’s amazing personality shine with one of the funniest quotes to come from her so far is of her description of North Carolina “where the chicken outnumber the people”. Not to mention her mating call entrance which has still left me confused and gagged at the same time. Crystal Methyd came in dressed as a fashionista clown and rocked a Freddie Kruger inspired runway look which again left us gagging for the Gods.
The main challenge was a sure-fire way to let us get to know the queens, as it was a rap challenge where they were to introduce themselves in a rap whilst rocking choreography. The two standouts were Widow and Gigi Goode, who at the moment have been fans bets for who will reach the top three this season. Nicki Minaj was the main star, however as she graced the Drag Race stage and made us wish she was a permanent judge on the show.
In a shocking twist, RuPaul announced that no queen will be going home in the first episode and instead we will see the two top queens – Gigi and Widow – lip-sync for the winning prize. Gigi showed us she wasn’t all looks as she pranced around the stage whilst Widow had us screaming as she did a spinning split. Widow showed us that even 12 seasons in, we still haven’t seen it all.
RuPaul’s Drag Race Series 12 is available now on Netflix, with new episodes weekly.
