LevelInfo – GB – RuPaul’s Drag Race UK: Queens of season two after episode 1

RuPaul’s Drag Race UK rules Britannia with the first episode in which our girls can do more than just keep up with their US counterparts

As the 13th Season is over in the US, the Brits brought the glamor, glitz and a lot of camp to impress RuPaul, Michelle Visage, Graham Norton and this week’s special guest judge Liz Hurley

And they absolutely smashed it, giving it one of the strongest opening episodes in the entire franchise

The 12 new queens were thrown into the depths with a Wimbled Hun photo challenge with flying balls and stepped onto the runway with two looks – celebrating UK gay icons and then paying homage to their hometown

As you can imagine, some have been more successful than others The judges’ shock decisions and fiery egos promised a damn good series

So who did excel for us and who didn’t leave a trace after the first episode? Here are our thoughts – top to bottom

From the first episode, Asttina Mandella seems to be the one to beat – and she’s already making some enemies about it

Even if Asttina stomps on a runway in a jacket straight from Asos (which is not a dismissed offense, work with what you can get), she knows and trusts herself

She seems like a great role model for young and emerging queens, and she also seems to want to be that role model, especially for queens of color

In our notes on Tayce from this episode, we simply wrote, « Yessss Naomi Campbell Reality »

She was really ready to fight for that crown and we were addicted to it

Fashion from the moment she walked in, this Welsh queen had a sassy confessional, gorgeous looks and some great jokes

Ginny Lemon is a queen who knows her brand – but « Fancy a piece? » was used at least three times when entering the work room So we hope we never hear it again

It’s hard not to love someone who calls themselves a « hybrid of Grace Jones and Su Pollard » – and even more so when that’s a fairly accurate representation of what they look like

We didn’t see too much interaction between her and the others, although we had to cheer her on when she defended Asttina as « sheer talent » for A’Whorea in the midst of « Jackentor »

Your Kate Bush was an icon, and this orange Worcester sauce-like outfit that represents her heritage in the West Midlands made us laugh

Every season of Drag Race, a cheeky confessional commentator tends to rise above the pack – and we have our money that it will be Tia this year

Quirky and a little weird, Tia had us on « I was almost called Tamera Boutros Boutros-Ghali, but it didn’t sound the same »

Confident and stylish, Tia seems to enjoy the fun of the experience of not taking herself too seriously and taking us all with her

While she looked fab, we didn’t quite see the Alan Turing in her cipher-inspired outfit, but she gave legs in her Robin Hood stand up for days, we like her a lot

Cherry Valentine had a pretty blatant appearance – and stole our hearts a bit when she bumped her headgear against the door frame and was hit sideways in the process

At 26, she may have the most addicting laugh you’ve ever heard at a human and seems like an interesting figure both in and out of drag

(I mean a mental health nurse with a botox side business and a drag queen night job? We live for it)

While her « I want to break free » homage to Freddie Mercury was cute, it was her steampunk counter to celebrate Darlington that really proved she had an eye for detail

We’re just tossing it out – Joe Black didn’t deserve to be in the bottom two positions and didn’t deserve criticism from the judges

She may be so established that she is of a higher standard, but her looks were fabulous and Joe deserved more than her two lower places

Giving David Bowie a spin on the iconic look might not have read to Michelle, but it read to us – and it certainly worked more clearly than, say, Tia’s Turing outfit (which was great, but more by Turing than by Turing was inspired) to be Turing)

And yes, OK, we understand that the Brighton Pavilion could be done better or done in white instead of gold.But here too there were other queens who didn’t represent their city half as clearly, Veronica by her own account So it’s a bit confusing that Joe was the one who got knocked down for this

In the confessionals, Joe had an incredibly infectious energy that we were obsessed with, and we wanted to see more of it

Lawrence Chaney had been on the roller coaster for the entire episode, and as a result, it took up a good chunk of the airtime

As the first queen to walk into the workroom, she lost us a little with her seedy comments that didn’t quite land in the « fun » zone, and her bolshy personality seemed a bit very similar – like Eureka in that ninth US season before she calmed down a bit for season 10

But then she had those vulnerable moments from being afraid to take off her makeup, some comedy moments like this meme-worthy shot when she discovered there was another Scottish queen and killed her on the catwalk

Do we think she’s worth getting so much hype from the judges so quickly? No, but we don’t doubt that if she keeps her head in the game she will be a great competitor

Ellie Diamond is so talented at getting her outfits done and hitting her mug that it should be illegal – she got off to a great start at Drag Race

When we walked in and instantly cracked Lawrence’s face just because we dared to be a Scottish queen too, we weren’t exactly sure what to expect from her as she is so new and possibly not in her character was established enough to be a threat

We were so wrong, and Dennis The Menace’s fabulous PVC dress certainly proved it

We wish we had seen her talk more to the other queens, but she is definitely one to watch out for

A’Whorea’s background in fashion design made sure she has the wardrobe to beat in this contest

When she walks in like a slutty Dorothy from Wizard of Oz, there is something about her style that Adore Delano really polishes

Her reputation precedes her, however, and that’s not a good thing as her downside is already coming out

We felt like she was targeting Asttina and Tia, which was totally inappropriate, especially since they appeared to be two of the stronger contenders in the first episode, and it made them a little jealous

Credit where it is due, at least she told them in the face when asked

As for the runway, her Robin Hood look was meh compared to Tias, but her Vivienne Westwood was pretty fabulous – we can’t wait to see what she has in store next

We have to admit that Veronica Green, who seems just too pure for this competition, has a great weakness in our hearts

She’s her own take on Little Shop Of Horrors, giving us a super cute Seymour with glasses and braces in the confessionals before turning into a sexy and naughty version of Audrey after applying makeup.

Unfortunately, Veronica seems a little overwhelmed with the other queens as well, and is surprised to suddenly be surrounded by all of the cast she follows on Insta – which isn’t ideal when you need to rise above her

She’s a hell of a lot of fun so let’s hope she gets over it, with « ooooh, you’re trying to catch me with naughty things » that live rent free in our heads

Her homage to the Boy George icon was pretty impressive, and we loved the switch from the Karma Chameleon singer to that massive red ball gown – but even by her own account it wasn’t a Lancashire look and she knew it

We’re pretty sure that even Bimini would be willing to acknowledge the fact that she dropped the ball on a couple of things on her first foray on the main stage of the drag race

The main problem was the visible tape, which just didn’t go down well with the judges and made people a little too aware of the illusion

She has a killer character, but her Norwich Football Kit outfit didn’t quite work and she didn’t look confident – especially when compared to her amazing Princess Julia icon look

We have to do her the honor of using Princess Julia as her icon rather than someone a little more obvious, but sadly she bit the bum that also bit the judges who didn’t calculate the reference

Unfortunately she was destined for the bottom two places in such a strong group of girls, but she has such a bubbly personality that you couldn’t help but get involved

Also, she walked into the work room and looked like Barbie had a C ** k Destroyer makeover, so we kind of loved it

Sister Sister was someone whose opposition we consider a breeder, not a shower, because something about her just didn’t click that well

LOVED that she walked into the work room with an obscure Titanic reference that no one seemed to understand, and her weird blue mouth that Ginny said made her look like she’d fallen on a Smurf, but otherwise was not up to

She told us she was crazy but didn’t do much to really show us off other than the entryway makeup choices

As for her runways, her Dusty Springfield lacked the wow factor for us even though he was handsome, and her hometown runway seemed a little missing despite the comedy element

She missed the bottom two on the skin of her teeth, so now she has to step up

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