Nothing you'll see, hear, taste, touch, or smell here on today's video is real!
Hi Ugly, it's me [ __ ] and welcome back to Hot or Rot! And today we'll be reviewing episode
5 of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK vs the World! It's the penultimate episode!
Our international superstars were challenged to write an original verse for and perform
original choreography to RuPaul's “Living my Life in London,” and the runway category was
“work of art,” and we'll be ranking each queen’s performance in the episode as a
whole from Rottest Rot to Hottest Hot, out of a total possible score of 10
Hot flames. Snd then at the end of today's video we'll be taking a look at last week's
Roscoe's viewing party tea spill session as spilled by Mo Heart herself and what may have
actually happened when Jimbo was eliminated. And you're going to want to grab your cup as
quick as possible because this samovar piping Hot! I can't wait to get started but first! …
The #1 question I’ve been getting recently is “where in the world are you watching RuPaul's
Drag Race?” On streaming platforms I already pay for with the help of award-winning VPN and
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And now as a quick refresher, let's pop into the work room and catch up on this week's lipstick
drama. And I think I speak for all of us when I say that I'm still reeling from the loss of
Pan-Pan, and life as it seems may never be the same … *gay micro-shriek* But as it turns out,
Baga had Pangina’s lipstick as well, and when Mo was asked who she would have eliminated,
turns out she might have also eliminated Pangina. So it seems like that elimination was inevitable,
based on the way she was playing the game. Better luck next time I suppose …
Now at the bottom of my list today is Janey Jacké. In the rehearsals
for the remix of RuPaul's “London”, we learned that Janey can't sing very well,
or can she? Because based on the way that final edit turned out, I would have thought she was
a professional singer. But let's go ahead and take a look at the lyrics of her verse:
“the OG from the town to be, Now let's celebrate diversity,
Below the seas and high on love, Now dance with me and just be free”
And Janey did make the choice to sing her verse, which didn't afford her quite as many lyrics as
some of the other queens like Blu and Mo tonight. I think this might have hurt her
just a tad because there wasn't a lot of room in there for her to talk about her hometown,
which was the point of the challenge, or even describe herself and why she's special. The
one little obvious nod to Amsterdam in this verse, being below the seas,
because Amsterdam is slightly below sea level, but other than that, it was pretty generic.
But even though the lyrics themselves weren't anything special, I thought her performance was.
She seemed passionate about what she was doing, and I did enjoy the final delivery of
what came out on the end of this track. See ya in the Red Light District, this was Hot.
And on the runway, Miss Janey's looking pretty in pink. So Janey's our reference here is an
Andy Warhol-ian Marilyn Monroe pop art fantasy. And first things first, give the girl some praise
for that pink makeup. It's not easy to blend colors like that and make them look natural on
your face … well, you know, as natural as pink it can look. I once spent like 5 hours blending that
purple elf makeup I did a few months ago, and girl it still didn't look that great … so pops art to
ya mama. But for as fun as this look is, I think Janey could have pushed it a little bit further.
A wig twice that size would have really dragged this look up, and perhaps she could have had
a little reveal beneath that cute little green jacket she was wearing. What was there was good,
but again, we're on the international stage and I'm looking for the great! Janey's art
pop could mean anything, but I am going to leave this look at a very soft, lightly rotting Rot.
Next up, turn on the frying pan because she's finally de-thawed and ready to cook,
it's Jujubee. We saw a lot of story arc development for miss Jujubee this episode,
with pretty much every single judge praising her for finally coming out of her shell and
de-thawing … and I'm not sure if I totally bought what was going on … but she did good
in the challenge. Like if there was a challenge she was going to excel at,
it was going to be this one. So let's take a look at what she wrote:
“I’m flying high, writing low, And I feel love everywhere,
I'm back again, back for more, Boston tea, without a fare,”
Which sounded a lot better when she sung it, to be fair. Really, she sounded excellent on the track.
A true muse-cees-cian, but girl I have one question … what in the World of Wonder was
that wig line doing on her head …? Miss girl…? Miss girl…? Miss girrrrrrlll …?
What was that? She said “this is my bald head, I don't wear wigs.” But whatever, back to her verse,
as I said the delivery was killer, but the lyrics she wrote I think were a little uninspired … that
whole thing about being back again, back for more was a big part of her episode 1 talent show,
and I just kind of felt like ‘oh we've heard this before.’ But all things considered, I still
enjoyed her in the song and in the performance and I'm gonna give this performance a Hot.
But over on the runway, is it art? Firstly I have to say this is the best look that Juju has served
the entire competition, hands down. She looks stunning, gorgeous, a literal goddess on the
runway. This is the Jujubee that we all know and love and have been waiting for all season. But
for how stunning she looks, I still have the question. Does this runway truly fit the category?
She says the gown is inspired by a gown made by Iris Van Harpen. And I do see the reference,
I see the inspiration, and after all fashion is art … and art can be fashion … but is this art
fashion? And did this fashion give us enough … art? I'm gonna say no here. I do think that
picking a type of art that was not represented by any other queen of the runway tonight was a
bold move, but ultimately all I really got from this was inspiration like she said. It
just kind of looks like a knockoff of what is an amazing piece of fashion. Well I think the actual
challenge for this runway was not to create a cheaper-looking version of a really nice garment,
but rather to take an original artist's classic work and apply it to your drag. What she served
us is not necessarily something that I'd linger at in a gallery, this was a Rot.
Next up, Baga Chipz. And if there was a challenge that was taylor made
to one of the queens on this stage, she was also one of them tonight. Writing lyrics,
being kooky and crazy, and just overall hamming it up is what Baga does best. And
in this challenge where the lyrics had to not only represent themselves but their hometown,
Baga knocked it out of the park. Let's look at what she wrote:
“It's the people's princess, Lady B, My method acting should win an Emmy,
That famous slapper from the British telly, With a sausage roll and a pint in my belly,
Pops pops pops pops pops pops pops! I’m in the Sunday papers, flashing my bops,
Rule Britannia, I'm the ho from Soho, Thank you Mama Ru, for helping me grow grow,”
So cute! So cute. And the thing is, with her verse in particular, if you covered up all
the bylines of the verses, this one I think is the most easily identifiable. And sure, while
the performance that she gave during her verse wasn't as like crazy, dancy, choreo, or whatever,
it was still really fun. I think she was a great way to open the little number that they did.
Like we've got all these little British references – people's princess, like Princess Diana,
British telly, pint, Rule Brittania, this performance was Baga to a T! It was Hot.
And on the runway she is doing Van Gogh's Sunflowers,
a painting I wasn't really familiar with, but according to Google,
still hangs at London's National Gallery. And I have to say I was really impressed with
her choosing a piece of art that was from her hometown. And the other thing is I think this
Sunflower painting was the perfect artistic choice for Baga on this runway. They don't necessarily
demand a high commitment to serve a severe look – they're a little whimsical, they're bright,
but also a little pale, ya know they're interesting, they're just kind of doing their
thing. Much like Baga does, *gay cackle* She just does her thing! And I think choosing a more simple
piece of art also allowed her to play up the camp factor and literally dress as a flower vase with
flowers adorning the top part of her body. She really brightened up the runway, this was Hot.
Next up it’s Blu almighty!
“Creator! Eliminator!, Belfast queen is a gender breaker,
Queer is for life, not without a fight, Gay's getting married, the future is bright,”
And that's just the first half of her verse – the entire thing was absolutely killer. She was one of
the queens tonight – I think the other one being Mo, where you could hear that passion burning
in her voice as she performed. I also loved the little performance gag that she did of having the
lipstick, for you know eliminating Pangina when she was doing really well in the competition.
Something I'm sure she knew even then while the competition was happening would be controversial
in the future. Side-note, can you imagine making a choice like that and then having to live with
it for like what, a year?! Before like the rest of the public gets to find out about it? *half
faints* But in her lyrics she found a way to talk about herself and hype up her hometown,
which she talked about was a little bit on the more conservative side, having only legalized
gay marriage in 2020. Blu’s future’s so bright, she might have to wear shades. This was Hot.
And on the runway, Blu had great ideas, but I think the overall execution was just a little
abstract. Her work of art, when she first walked out, I was like ‘oh, Mondrian, duh!’ :P Which is
like the 2D rectangle shapes with primary colors filled in in random spots type of art. But we
actually find out in her confessional voicing over the runway is that she's doing Picasso(?)
Which doesn't really make sense until you zoom all the way in on her face and see some of the little
shapes not quite lining up where they should be, and then she turns around, and the back of the
dress is absolutely I think Picasso. The garment, I have to say, I think is well constructed,
really pretty, and girl I'd spend some time looking at it in a museum. Maybe not with
that wig and those shoes … but I would look at the dress. So for just the craftsmanship of the
garment, absent the styling present with this runway, I'm gonna give this a very safe Hot.
Next up, I want MO … to win this season! #teammoheart And concerning what she did in
the challenge, I think undoubtedly she served the most passionate,
most fiery, and MO-st fun verse. Let's take a look:
“It's most stunning, And I'm back with another Hot track,
RuPaul put the doll on the map, Living my best life, growing up on TV,
Look Mom, international queen, Started out in KC,
Moved out to Hollywood, Where stars are made
and dreams come true, what's good? LAX, so you know I got the pre-check,
Headed to your city with the crown, On to the next,”
And sure, her lyrics didn't move mountains, but what she did was really fun, self-referential,
and definitely read as Mo. Gimme gimme Mo, this performance was Hot. And on the runway,
Mo Heart, Mo art. Just look at the material! She's doing Salvador Dali, Woman with a Head
of Roses. And I think she perfectly adapted what was happening in this painting to
her drag – the idea to open the cage of flowers as a headpiece and reveal not only her gorgeous mug,
but the little flower stems painted across her face so beautifully and intricately – a beautiful
touch there. And I love those soft lavender tones all throughout the outfit, I mean she just looked
absolutely stunning, AND let's also talk about how she had this like bedazzled bleeding heart … her
name is Mo Heart! Like she chose something that made sense for her drag character, and that she
knew would just be most stunning than anyone else! Time has stopped for you Mo. This look is Hot!
And out of our final 5, I really thought the judges were gonna pick Blu and Mo to lip sync,
but, gag of the season! They picked Jujubee and Mo … and again, I thought Juju did great,
I just heard a little more passion from Blu in the song … and what I saw on stage … and
on the runway … and in the rest of the season … so you know I thought they'd reward her there,
but they didn’t. That's okay. I think maybe too obviously, the production wanted everyone going
into the final 4 to have at least 1 win. Which is crazy to say that we are going into the finale,
the 6th episode, and each queen has only 1 win. Anyone with more got eliminated!
And concerning that lip sync, I did react to it over on my Patreon at patreon.com/bussyqueen.
That's my member’s-only website where my Patreon family gets exclusive member benefits like early
access to my YouTube videos, access to exclusive videos, and access to the Bussy Queen Discord
server. And you can join by clicking the link in the description of this video. See you there!
But again! I was gooped and gagged! The judges just were not making the decisions that I thought
they were going to make! They were LOVING and totally hyping up that Jujubee story arc
redemption arc thing … that they were building up for her I guess, all season? Whatever. But that's
not to say I didn't think she did really well in the lip sync. I think her and Mo were really
evenly matched here, with maybe a slight point going towards Juju for a little more comedy? But
on the other hand, I think Mo had a little more fire and passion in this lip sync, which maybe
I could see Ru arguing wasn't the true flavor of the song … like he kind of was looking for
those uh, campy silly laughing moments that Juju served very well here. And as I already said,
the queen with the most wins here gets eliminated and Juju pulls Janey's lipstick. And this choice
was I think both fair in terms of the episode because she did get the worst critiques from the
judges, and Juju playing the game as the game has indeed been played all season. However the
outcome of our final 4 honestly kind of left me disappointed … and not because of who's there,
but because the final 4 is just two UK queens and two US queens … like girl,
UK vs the world, where? Everybody else has been sent home. Anyways,
let me know what y'all are thinking about all that. How do you feel about the final
4? Who do you think should have won been in the top and been in the bottom this episode?
And now on to a little bit of tea and drama that was apparently cut from the final edit
of the season. And we never saw it or heard anything about it before Jimbo went home.
In a post-elimination interview she did with Papa’s, she said this about her elimination”
“So they edited out a lot of my outrage and sadness. I was a little bit worried, because
I looked absolutely unhinged and psychotic. I screamed from the bottom of my soul louder than
I have ever screamed. I was trying to make Pangina’s head explode 2 studios over …”
Which of course Mo does corroborate in this little Roscoe's tea spilling viewing party:
“Oh baby, she was pissed! Before we went back
out, *LA DADADADA UGH LADADADADA UGH* (scream crying reenactment)”
“She screamed so loud so that Pangina could hear her in a studio –”
“yes,”
“2 studios away,”
“We saw her exit interview, and baby she was going off in the work room
and they cut it all out. She blamed the producers – she can't do that.”
And just for fun, here's what Blu had to say about eliminating Pangina in a little excerpt:
“Do you take possible backlash into consideration on who you're gonna eliminate?”
“Yes. I think you can actually see it in my face. After I do it, my lip is quiv-quivering, because
I'm literally like oh [ __ ] what the [ __ ] did I just do … but at the same time like, you're only
there once, like I'm not gonna just like throw this opportunity away, I really wanted to be
part of this show, and make a name for myself. And hopefully it's not a bad one … *laughs*”
Let me know if y'all enjoyed me going through that little viewing party and pulling out some
tea for y'all. Maybe I can do more of that in future seasons if y'all are interested.
And as for my Hottest Hots for this penultimate episode,
my favorite runway and challenge performance goes to Mo. I also ask my Patrons to vote on
their Hottest Hots and they want Mo too. Anyways as always I want to say thanks so
much to you for watching today's video, and I want to say thanks to today's video sponsor:
Surfshark, who you can check out using the link in the description of this video. And I want to
give a special thanks to my generous patrons who make my channel possible.
I also want to give an extra special shout out to Laquanashanechia …
I did my best on that one. Debs Cane, Tina Lanier, luxxe, Ely, RJ Allen,
and Christopher Elmore have all just joined my Patreon at the Hot! and Hottest Hot! tiers.
Aaand Ally Al, Angel, Cyrus, Dicky, Felicia, Hector Simancas, JayBea,
Jeffrey, Josh, JPinDallas, Laura, Lissette, Matthew Burns, Matthew Bower, Maxxie LaWow!,
Ms. F. Nealy, Ryan Bince, ScoobySnacks, Sehler, Steven, Thom Jaco, Tom Young, Topher,
Triton, Wealie, and Yijit, who are all supporting me at my Bussy Queen Collector
tier over at patreon.com/bussyqueen. See y’all later, love ya, bye.