Can the queens pull out their interview skills in front of the cameras? That was the big question on RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 15 Episode 10.
Drag Race has done “interview” Maxi Challenges in the past; it’s a great game to test the queens’ charisma and ability to think of their feet. Showing off their personality can be the trick to shining and wowing the judges.
But if a queen gets overwhelmed, they can’t turn away from the cameras. It’s a live challenge!
“50/50’s Most Gagworthy Stars” proved that many of the queens from RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 15 can have careers as interview hosts. Many of them did a great job!
The round was cheeky, fun, and completely unpredictable. The celebrity guests kept these queens on their toes; it was hilarious for us viewers and surprising for the queens, just like an actual interview.
Before getting into the Maxi Challenge, we must talk about the brewing battle between Mistress Isabelle Brooks and Loosey LaDuca.
Did anyone see this feud coming? Their playful shade kicked up a big notch; it wasn’t simply little jokes or cutting comments. You could feel Mistress and Loosey try to poke at each other with every dig.
It seemed like Loosey reached her limit about being ignored by her fellow queens, and Mistress was tired of hearing Loosey complain about not winning challenges.
Loosey, I’m happy for you because I feel like you’re finally entering your bitch era.
Mistress Isabelle Brooks
What was most surprising was the reaction of the other queens; everyone seemed to be on Mistress’s side. Is there more footage we aren’t seeing from the Werk Room?
Has Loosey been complaining a lot? Her delusion, like from RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 15 Episode 9, has been growing, so it’s a strong possibility why things finally boiled over.
Regarding the Maxi Challenge, the trick is to keep the conversation going and have a good time!
Even if a queen stumbles, their bubbly and bright personality can make up for it. And the judges want to see the queens interact with the guests and make it a great segment. They know things will get out of hand; it’s about how the queens control and react to it.
That’s where queens like Sasha Colby, Loosey LaDuca, Luxx Noir London, and Anetra did a great job.
Each of them flowed with the conversation and kept the energy up. They made the interview work regardless of what was thrown their way.
For example, Sasha and Luxx handled their segments with confidence and strength.
Great job to Luxx for not letting Love Connie’s driving skills throw her off! Being in a speeding golf cart could throw anyone off if Love Connie made just one wrong turn. And Sasha throwing her cards away and embracing Charo’s randomness made the interview more natural.
Anetra’s and Loosey’s interviews were tamer in comparison. It was a lot of talking and walking in most cases, but they had the strongest connections with their guests.
Loosey, by far, had the best interview voice and segment. Surprisingly, she didn’t win the Maxi Challenge (we’ll get to this in a bit).
On the other side, Mistress, Malaysia Babydoll Foxx, and Marcia Marcia Marcia had the most roadblocks. (I’ll get into Salina EsTitties and her placement soon too!)
All three fell flat in their energy levels and couldn’t keep up with their guests. Granted, they all suffered different problems, but each queen had the same momentum issue after they stumbled for the first time.
Marcia might not have understood Charo, but her face was her biggest giveaway.
Marcia Marcia Marcia: Can you unlace my handmade corset … that I was safe for?
Anetra: You never can complain about being safe, unless you’re Loosey.
Like, why didn’t she look more interested?! Seriously, fake it until you make it. That’s an easy rule anyone can follow.
And Mistress needed to keep it together. I love a queen who likes to laugh, but she lost focus here. Surprisingly, she didn’t land at the bottom due to that challenging performance.
“50/50’s Most Gagworthy Stars” had a case of strange judging decisions. The final choices weren’t entirely out there, but they left me scratching my head when there were better options.
This was both for the tops and bottoms of the round.
For the tops, I would’ve guessed Loosey as the winner. Even the episode edit had made it seem like she had the win in the bag.
Luxx Noir London: Tonight, Sasha, you literally like peed on the stage. Like you peed!
Sasha Colby: Y’all should soak some of that up so y’all can get a win too!
[All the queens laugh]
Loosey felt the most natural on camera and had a good rapport with Frankie Grande. She breezed through the interview segment. And her Beyoncé runway outfit was a nice callback to the pregnancy; it wasn’t my favorite look on the runway due to its fit, but the judges seemed to like it.
Don’t get me wrong, Sasha was also a good choice as the winner, but the edit was heavily in Loosey’s favor.
For the bottom, how did it not become a Mistress vs. Malaysia battle? Or Marcia vs. Malaysia?
Malaysia deserved to be at the bottom; that decision was pretty set and obvious.
Frankie Grande took on the interview role, and Malaysia lost control. Her charisma didn’t shine during the interview, so it sealed her fate. I agreed with the judges that the interview didn’t work and Malaysia couldn’t fix it.
However, how did the other bottom placement become Salina?
Salina did a decent job in the interview; she tried her hardest to interact with Love Connie.
When her guest talked for too long, she tried to find a natural way to engage and keep it going. It’s no different than some of the other challenges the queens faced, like Luxx in the fast-moving cart.
It seemed like the judges were overly critical of Salina when she should’ve been safe.
Two other queens weren’t giving it. Marcia and Mistress got a pass for their performance when it felt like their time to lip-sync.
I disagreed with the judges here.
For the lip-sync of “Single Ladies” by Beyoncé, Salina slayed the number from beginning to end.
She had the energy and the fire to match “Sasha Fierce” in all the lyrics. Plus, mimicking the dance moves from the music video gave her an extra edge.
It’s an iconic song and music video. Simply do the spinning queen wave and the pulling cart steps; most people will immediately recognize which song those moves come from.
Salina EsTitties: Even knowing I was lip-syncing against her, I was so happy and positive.
Malaysia Babydoll Foxx: Because she made it fun.
Salina EsTitties: No because I was gonna send her home, bitch.
[All the queens laugh]
On the other hand, Malaysia felt strangely subdued. Her energy seemed off, and she didn’t push herself more to keep up with the high-energy number. Did she internally throw in the towel?
I was expecting a battle, but it felt imbalanced from what you’d expect a Beyoncé song to bring on the main stage.
Last Thoughts From The Werk Room:
- Luxx Noir London and Sasha Colby had the Top 2 amazing looks on the “Night of 1000 Beyoncé’s” runway. Luxx’s firey red Tina Turner tribute dress looked stunning on her; the warm colors radiated beauty off her. And Sasha’s silvery mini-dress could easily become a new staple in her performance closet.
- Why did everyone ask Frankie Grande the same question? Group #2 should’ve planned their topic separation more thoroughly.
- Loosey looked so crushed that she didn’t win the Maxi Challenge. The edit emphasized the surprising loss; you know she will bring it up on the couches in the next round.
Now, over to you, Drag Race fans.
What did you think of “50/50’s Most Gagworthy Stars”?
Are you sad to see Malaysia Babydoll Foxx go? Which queen do you think had the best interview? Which runway look was your favorite?
Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Justin Carreiro is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.
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