The fifty-fifth TV show: #823 RuPaul's Drag Race
My LGBT colleagues have been into Drag Race a lot recently and their obsession made me want to watch it. Of course, with it being on the list, it might not have come up a lot... so I spent half an hour trying to find the strip so we could watch it.
Peter wasn't sure - not being into drag - and so this was almost trying to win him over. He loved it and that suited me, as I have been gettin ginto the show a lot more than I expected.
For full disclosure - we watched the fifth season (described by my local experts as the best) and the first (so we could continue watching everything else). The distinction is clear, with more entertainment challenges in the later scenes and loads more polish. But what it shows most of all is that this is a type of performance that requires a lot of different skills - both make up, styling and couture, as well as performance through dancing, lip syncs and comedy. I think personally I go slightly more for performance over looks, but the best ones are those who develop a style in both - one with enough flexibility to vary both, but enough to stand out.
Beyond that, it's just incredibly entertaining. Especially when there's just enough drama, just enough style, just enough everything. There are times when it feels incredibly edited, but it also has moments where it feels real (and where they later confirmed the moments were). On the whole, it's entertaining - both because we see accomplished, experienced entertainers at work who have to show a wide variety of skills and because there is so much going on that's set up to create fun and drama, while the circumstances allows them to have more of this happen as well.
I'm looking forward to our next season.