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‘Canada’s Drag Race’ honours the Rainbow but loses a bright light

August 21, 2020 /
Judge Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman with Elton, Rebal, Dennis, Eka and Rainer, all refugees brought to Canada via the Rainbow Railroad, on “Canada’s Drag Race” Episode 8. ALL PHOTOS: Bell Media

SPOILER ALERT: NOT READY TO KNOW WHO WON AND LOST “CANADA’S DRAG RACE” EPISODE 8? THEN SAVE THIS TO READ LATER.

Safety: that’s what “Canada’s Drag Race” made me think of this week — on a couple of levels.

First and most important is safety from harassment, violence and even murder for LGBTQ people, something Canada’s Rainbow Railroad helps provide. Five gay men who fled dangerous discrimination in their home countries with the aid of the Railroad took part in the makeover maxi-challenge.

Second, there’s the idea of safety in the “Drag Race” competition: we learned this week that no one is really safe. That’s how two frontrunners, Lemon and Rita Baga, ended up lip-syncing for their lives and Lemon got sent home.

It was a shocker — for me anyway. But that’s how things roll when you’re down to top five.

Lemon and Rita Baga in possibly the most epic lip sync of the season.

I mean, Lemon had won two maxi-challenges; Rita had won three. Priyanka has now also won two, counting this week’s; Jimbo has one. And Scarlett BoBo, who finally won a mini-challenge, has been safe week after week so it’s not like she had a target on her back either.

At this point I’m sad to see anybody go, but I had a soft spot for Lemon.

Judge Brooke Lynn Hytes said Lemon’s “bright light, quick wit and open heart give us all life.” Lemon sashayed away with gratitude, saying she started with the least amount of experience of any of the 12 queens in the competition. “To have made it this far makes me feel so accomplished and so powerful and so ready for the rest of my future,” she said.

Lemon, as far as I’m concerned, your JoJo Siwa will live on in Snatch Game herstory.

So let’s review how we got to this dramatic state of affairs.

Things got rolling with a “Drag Race” favourite, Everybody Loves Puppets; you know, where the queens take puppets of their fellow queens, drag them up and, in judge Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman’s words, “read them to filth.”

Scarlett BoBo won the mini-challenge reading a puppet of Rita Baga.

Some bull’s eyes were scored. Lemon read Priyanka for her dismal Snatch Game performance and Rita outed Jimbo for her bitching about Jeffrey’s runway critique. But it was Scarlett who won – finally! – for her takedown of Rita and her “non-existent personality.”

Things turned from jeers to tears when Jeffrey introduced the five makeover subjects: Elton from Jamaica, Rebal from Syria, Dennis from Uganda, and married couple Eka and Rainer from Indonesia, all of whom had been brought here by the Rainbow Railroad.

In Jamaica and Uganda, there are laws against same-sex relationships. But even in countries without such legislation, anti-LGBTQ attitudes endanger the lives of queer people. 

Rainer talked about how he and Eka had to move four times back home, fleeing out the emergency exit with the police at the front door. They received death threats and texts from people telling them to kill themselves. Dennis knew four queer people who were killed in his home country.

“I had to hide it, just like everybody else who lives in there,” Rebal said of Syria.

“The amount of love and appreciation that was shown to me by the Canadian people, by the community, by Rainbow Railroad and all the people who supported me, it was immense and overwhelming. It’s just amazing,” he added.

“I am proud as fuck to be Canadian. I love this country and what it stands for,” said Lemon, who was paired with Rebal for the makeover.

What she said.

Priyanka and Elton, a.k.a. Elektra, on the runway.

Elton was paired with Priyanka, his favourite Toronto drag queen. Scarlett chose Dennis as her partner; Rainer became Rita’s newest drag child and Jimbo brought out Eka’s inner “slut.”

So how did they do on the runway?

Priyanka deservedly won the challenge for turning Elton into Elektra. I loved the lime green and hot pink outfits and I especially loved the energy between the two of them. Elektra might not have her runway strut down just yet, but she’s got presence and potential. And the best part of Priyanka’s win was her prize: a $10,000 donation to the Rainbow Railroad in her name, enough to bring one LGBTQI person to safety, said Brooke.

Rainer, a.k.a. Tari Baga, and Rita didn’t leave the judges laughing with their clown costumes.

My least favourite look was Rita and Tari Baga’s mother-and-daughter “dollar-store” clown couture (to borrow a jibe from Jimbo). I also didn’t dig the colour-blocked bodysuits and fringed jackets on Scarlett and Violett BoBo, but Violett sure looked like she was having a blast up there.

Jimbo and, ahem, Bimbo both looked hot in their red latex bustiers and capes, but the judges were a bit uncomfortable with the way they played with each other’s fake boobs. Jeffrey said it was a little too “freaky-deaky sisterly kai-kai action.”

Lemon and Lime, a.k.a. Rebal, in their colour-co-ordinated 1920s looks.

But the judges saved most of their scorn for Lemon and Lime, who at least gave guest host Amanda Brugel of “The Handmaid’s Tale” a chance to say “Blessed be the fruit.” I liked the 1920s style dresses and faux fur stoles, the neon gloves and wigs. Brooke and Stacey McKenzie claimed to love all that too, but Stacey also said the runway presentation was underwhelming. And Jeffrey said Lime looked more like Lemon’s drag mother than her drag sister. (Priyanka claimed Lemon painted Lime to look older on purpose so she could be “the pretty one in the room.” I don’t know about that.)

When the bitchiness settled, it was Rita and Lemon facing off with a lip sync to Alanis Morissette’s “You Oughta Know.”

Lemon pulled out every trick in her book, including a spin-splits combo and the first handstand of the season, but Rita just emoted the shit out of it. Plus, I feel like that “Little Miss Sunshine” crawl down the runway might have sealed the deal for Rita.

The good news: we now have a top four! Next week, the queens have to create three looks each for a “Snow Ball” and Michelle Visage is the guest host, so that sounds like fun. Until then …

You can catch “Canada’s Drag Race” Thursdays at 9 p.m. on Crave.


No wind beneath one queen’s wings on ‘Canada’s Drag Race’

August 7, 2020 /
Lemon, right, tells “RuPaul’s Drag Race U.K.” alum Crystal her fortune on “Canada’s Drag Race.”
PHOTO CREDIT: Bell Media

SPOILER ALERT: IF YOU KEEP READING THIS YOU’LL FIND OUT WHO LOST AND WHO WON ON EPISODE 6 OF “CANADA’S DRAG RACE.”

I don’t need a crystal ball — or a drag queen called Crystal — to tell you this much: the competition is getting more serious on “Canada’s Drag Race.”

“This is not RuPaul’s Best Friend Race, I am not here to make friends anymore,” declared Lemon — understandable considering that four of seven queens had just voted her most deserving of sashaying away.

Luckily for Lemon, the judges didn’t pay them heed. It was BOA who got the boot after losing the lip sync to Ilona Verley — coincidentally, the queen the other three contestants deemed deserving of an exit.

It was also BOA who inspired Lemon’s unfriendly sentiments after telling Lemon she was not genuine and too quick to vocalize her love of herself. 

Sour lemons, er, grapes?

Rita Baga does “denim on denim on denim” on the “Canada’s Drag Race” runway.
PHOTO CREDIT: Bell Media

If I were the remaining queens I’d be looking out for Rita Baga. The Quebec queen has now won three maxi-challenges and could run away with — or is that “s’enfuir avec”? — the competition.

I’m not gonna lie: this episode was a bit of a come-down after the high of last week’s Snatch Game. Also, it didn’t have enough Brooke Lynn Hytes in it. It began with an improv mini-challenge. The queens had to play psychic hotline operators and give tips to a mystery caller: Crystal, the Newfoundland-born queen who was the first Canadian to compete on “RuPaul’s Drag Race U.K.”

And if you’re thinking, “Oh shit, Priyanka playing a fortune teller? After last week’s Miss Cleo disaster in Snatch Game?” I have good news: she didn’t suck. She also didn’t win. That would be Lemon. I found Jimbo and BOA funnier, not to mention ruder, but I am here for Lemon’s leopard print ensemble.

Anyhoo, the not especially Canadian maxi-challenge involved the queens splitting into teams and making law firm infomercials.

Lemon and Priyanka paired up as a variation on personal injury lawyers; in their case, “pussy protectors.”

Scarlett BoBo and Ilona, who are nicknamed the “sissies,” were sort of like divorce lawyers, but for sissies who wanted to split up. Hey, no one said these commercials had to make sense.

Rita Baga, BOA and Jimbo shoot their infomercial with the help of a couple of of pit crew members.
PHOTO CREDIT: Bell Media

Rita, Jimbo and BOA were the B.E.L.L.E.S (Bitches for Enthusiastic Lady Lawyers Entertainment Services), helping litigate against rude bachelorettes who invade drag shows. They were inspired by real-life experience. Rita said she once got a finger up the anus from a bride-to-be. First off, who does that? Second, ewwww.

As the girls were putting on their drag and sharing drag bar spectator horror stories, BOA revealed that she was once beaten unconscious, sexually assaulted and robbed by someone she brought home. “There’s violence in the queer community and it needs to stop,” she said. The other queens gave BOA shoulder squeezes and sympathy. Priyanka commended her for speaking out and educating other drag queens.

And then it was time for the runway, “Canadian Tux-She-Do,” i.e. lots and lots of denim, and the competition was back on.

Jimbo, a.k.a. Creature from the patch lagoon, on the runway.
PHOTO CREDIT: Bell Media

Jimbo once again outdid herself with a patchwork jumpsuit that covered her from the top of her head to her soles, which the judges loved. (“Creature from the patch lagoon,” quipped Brooke Lynn Hytes.) But it was Rita who took the win with a punk-inspired skirt and jacket ensemble whose pieces unzipped down to a bra and girdle.

Rita’s edge seemed to come from how much the judges loved her bilingual performance in the commercial, but — while I really liked Rita’s look — Jimbo got robbed on her outfit alone, plus she was also a standout in her commercial.

Scarlett BoBo goes big and doesn’t go home on the “Drag Race” runway.
PHOTO CREDIT: Bell Media

Compliments must also be paid to Scarlett BoBo. Loved the jacket; loved the little touches like the denim choker and denim heels; loved the neon yellow nails.

Now for the not so good looks. Ilona’s jumpsuit was boring, despite the cutout ass. Lemon’s outfit was too much and not enough at the same time: too many elements, not enough finishing. Brooke rightly called it a mess.

As for BOA, I didn’t mind the raggedy wings as much as the judges did. Brooke said they looked “half-assed and cheap.” Guest host Tom Green said BOA’s outfit looked exactly like the one he wore as “the wind” as a kid in a church play and proved it by calling his mom and having her send a photo.

(As an aside, I love how the queens gasp and cheer whenever a Canadian celeb they’ve probably never heard of is announced as guest host. Tom Green was a good sport, but could he have bedazzled his jeans or something?)

And Priyanka? I didn’t love the look, but the jacket seemed just as well tailored as BoBo’s and the thigh-high denim boots were kind of fun.

She, Scarlett and Jimbo were all declared safe, while Lemon escaped the bottom thanks to her commercial, which was my favourite out of the three.

BOA’s denim wings were not a hit with the judges on “Canada’s Drag Race.”
PHOTO CREDIT: Bell Media

That left Ilona and BOA to lip-sync to Alessia Cara’s “Scars to Your Beautiful,” and you know the rest.

“This has been an amazing experience,” BOA told the judges. “You guys have been so good to me. I’ve learned so much about myself, and I’ve made so many amazing sisters and friends, and I can’t even explain how grateful I am for this opportunity.”

And then she left them the way she came in: laughing. “I didn’t come here to make friends, I came here to make lasagne,” she said.

Next week, the top six are part of a pageant, the first in “Drag Race” her-story, Brooke says, and the runway looks particularly glam — except for one queen, who really disappoints the judges. Until then …

The queens make her-story on ‘Canada’s Drag Race’

July 10, 2020 /
Lemon was the clear standout on the runway in the second episode of “Canada’s Drag Race.”
PHOTO CREDIT: Bell Media

SPOILER ALERT: DON’T READ THIS IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN EPISODE 2 OF ‘CANADA’S DRAG RACE.’

Jimbo wore the zombie outfit, but it was Lemon who came back from the dead on “Canada’s Drag Race.”

After lip-syncing for her life last week, the New York-by-way-of-Toronto queen slayed on the runway and was tops in the maxi-challenge: videos based on Canada’s iconic Heritage Minutes. Condragulations, indeed.

My compliments to whoever came up with the “Her-itage Moments” idea; it was truly inspired to take something so quintessentially, earnestly Canadian and give it a drag makeover. More on that below.

But as much fun as it was to make light of a Canadian tradition, we were reminded that there’s more to Canadian values than TV infomercials when Anastarzia revealed why she immigrated here from the Bahamas. She told a harrowing story about being shot by two men back home for being gay. She still carries a bullet in her right kidney.

Anastarzia Anaquway does “Black Swan” in the mini-challenge on Episode 2 of “Canada’s Drag Race.”
PHOTO CREDIT: Bell Media

“The minute the doctor gave me the clearance I said, ‘You know what? Peace out.’ Got my drag and I came straight to Canada, claimed asylum and I’ve been here ever since … I am so grateful to Canada,” she said.

The other queens surrounded and comforted Anastarzia as she broke into tears.

“As Canadians we live in a lot of privilege that we’re born with,” said Jimbo. “So I think this is a great reminder to all of us that what we have is lucky and that it should be celebrated.”

Agreed, Jimbo. We’re far from perfect, but I’ll sure as hell wave the flag for that.

Back to the competition.

The mini-challenge was inspired by the resident ballet star on “Canada’s Drag Race,” the divine Brooke Lynn Hytes.

The queens had 20 minutes to transform themselves into ballerinas and perform “The Nut Smacker,” about a “demure ingenue who at the stroke of midnight transforms from a bashful ballerina into a nut-smacking bitch,” in Brooke’s words.

(Apropos of nothing, was Brooke’s outfit during that challenge an homage to David from “Schitt’s Creek”? Just asking)

Anastarzia won for doing her best “Black Swan” with a bitch-smacking chaser. BOA also won for … well, I don’t really know what BOA was doing, but it was funny.

Honourable mention goes to Priyanka, who finished her dance by miming undoing a fly and getting smacked by, ahem, nuts.

As for those “Her-itage Moments,” they weren’t as hilarious as I hoped they would be, but they certainly separated the actors from the queens.

Kyne, Jimbo and Priyanka in the “Her-itage Moment” called “Muffragettes.”
PHOTO CREDIT: Bell Media

Team BOA performed “Muffragettes,” a takeoff on the 1991 “Nellie McClung” Heritage Minute, except it was drag queens instead of suffragettes getting the vote; for Team Anastarzia, it was “Burnt Tuck.” The inspiration was the “Wilder Penfield” Minute from 1993, in which a patient having a seizure smells burnt toast. (You can check out all the Minutes if you visit historicacanada.ca.)

A couple of stars were born: Kiara, playing a drag queen with a disease that kept her from doing death drops, and Lemon, as a queen with “contouritis.” Rita “Teabag” Baga (that will make sense if you watched the Moment), Priyanka and Jimbo were standouts too. But a couple of duds were also born. BOA, blaming her ADHD, couldn’t remember her lines. Neither could Tynomi Banks and when she did, her delivery was flat and stilted.

Tynomi also had bad luck on the runway, where the queens displayed reinterpretations of their first time in drag. The judges didn’t like her cinched silver dress with sequinned hood. Brooke said she looked like a Knight of the Round Table. The only good news was that they liked Kyne’s outfit less: a pleather take on Ursula the Sea Witch.

Brooke Lynn Hytes said Tynomi Banks looked like a “Knight of the Round Table” on the runway.
PHOTO CREDIT: Bell Media

As for the winners, Lemon ran away with the runway, pun intended. I’m a sucker for old Hollywood-style glamour and her long-trained gown, platinum wig, faux diamonds and long, sheer gloves were to die for, not to mention the regal way she swished all that fabric around.

I also enjoyed Priyanka’s slinky latex dress and Jimbo’s zombie cheerleader outfit, complete with detachable ponytails. As guest host Jade Hassoune said, “Jimbo is the reason I watch ‘Drag Race.’ I want to be freaked out.” Me too, Jade, me too.

Jimbo serves “zombie cheerleader” on the runway in Episode 2.
PHOTO CREDIT: Bell Media

And while I didn’t love her outfit, tribute must be paid to the fact that Scarlett BoBo ate fire on the runway.

And what of Kyne, you might be wondering (or maybe not). After distinguishing herself with brattiness last week, did the Kitchener queen see the error of her arrogant ways?

Yes, she was much more humble and downright collaborative — although she did “forgive” Brooke Lynn for last week’s runway critique. Insert eye roll here. But the new ‘tude could only go so far.

Kyne and Tynomi had to lip sync for their lives to “If You Could Read My Mind,” the Ultra Nate, Amber and Jocelyn Enriquez version (yes, OK, I’ll admit there was a split second where I wondered how they’d lip sync to Gordon Lightfoot).

Tynomi’s years of experience saw her through. Although Kyne was very emotive, her moves were far less dynamic and varied. Still, Tynomi was convinced she’d be sashaying away and broke down in tears while Kyne comforted her.

Kyne’s Ursula the Sea Witch look helped sink her on “Canada’s Drag Race.”
PHOTO CREDIT: Bell Media

Kyne left with “a group of some great new friends and a big slice of humble pie.”

Next week, we get to see some singing and dancing and maybe a little reading too. Until then …

Potatoes and cheese curds hit the spot on ‘Canada’s Drag Race’

July 3, 2020 /
From left, Anastarzia Anaquway, Kiara, Lemon, Ilona Verley, Kyne and Scarlett BoBo wait to be judged in the maxi-challenge on Night 1 of “Canada’s Drag Race.” PHOTO CREDIT: Bell Media

SPOILER ALERT: DON’T READ THIS IF YOU HAVEN’T WATCHED EPISODE 1 OF “CANADA’S DRAG RACE.”

Hey RuPaul, we didn’t fuck it up.

“Canada’s Drag Race” is finally here and the debut was fun, bitchy, naughty, sparkly, snarky and sometimes weird.

It had everything you’d want from a “Drag Race” episode: fabulous, witty judges; an interesting, varied group of queens; eye-popping costumes and entertaining challenges — plus a sequinned maple leaf entrance to the werk room and gold moose antlers.

We even have a villain after just one episode. Say hello to Kyne, more on her below.

“RuPaul’s Drag Race” namesake RuPaul Charles was there in spirit and on video, welcoming the Canadian queens to the family. “It’s aboot time, eh?” Ru joked, which is kind of cute but, honestly, I’ve never pronounced “about” as “aboot” in my life. I will cop to saying “eh” occasionally.

Anyhow, I didn’t miss RuPaul thanks to Brooke Lynn Hytes. Brooke, who has a great rapport with her fellow judges, Stacey McKenzie and Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman, truly is the Queen of the North. She’s also the Queen of the Quip.

She had some gems during the mini-challenge, which had the queens climbing a fake-snow-covered ramp (ahem, the Rocky Mountains) while carrying a checkered flag, then posing for celebrity photographer Matt Barnes as a high-powered fan nearly blew their false eyelashes off. 

“I do love a built-in glory hole,” said Brooke as Ilona Verley put her flag pole through the giant ring in her nose. “I think I’ve seen this porn: Sid Vicious, ‘White Christmas,’” Brooke quipped as Scarlett BoBo writhed and squealed atop the ramp. And, of French-Canadian queen Rita Baga: “Her tuck is separatiste.” 

Kyne was judged to have the best photo and won the challenge. The 21-year-old is from Kitchener, Ont., not exactly known as a drag hot spot, but if you thought she’d be a bit humble around veterans like Toronto’s Tynomi Banks and Montreal’s Rita Baga, think again.

“I’ve taught 100,000 people how to do drag in my videos and I’m here to teach 11 more,” boasted Kyne, the self-declared “queen of social media.”

A little trash talking is a good thing; if you’re not bragging about yourself, why are you on “Drag Race”? But confidence started to look more like arrogance after Kyne’s victory, as she boasted that she was also going to win the maxi-challenge: a runway show in which the queens had to create costumes out of fabric and props with Canadian themes.

BOA made good use of the potatoes in her “Anne of Green Gables”-themed box
on Night 1 of “Canada’s Drag Race.” PHOTO CREDIT: Bell Media

Kyne talked back to the judges when they didn’t gag over her disco “Yukon gold digger” outfit.

When guest host Elisha Cuthbert said it wasn’t her favourite, Kyne snarked, “Well, it’s my favourite look tonight.” She also rolled her eyes hard while the judges praised Toronto queen BOA (which stands for Bitch on Arrival), who made it into the top three with her “Man of Green Gay-bles” outfit. Back in the work room, Kyne loudly complained, “We are living in a world where BOA beat me!”

Well, yeah, duh. BOA put potatoes on her tits and Kyne thought sewing gold balls to her bell bottoms was the height of creativity? Puhleeze.

Kyne’s brattiness did not go unnoticed by the judges. “There’s a fine line between confidence and arrogance,” Brooke told Kyne when she declared her safe. “We all suggest you find it.”

What are the chances? We’ll find out next week, although the promo of her telling Brooke Lynn she “forgives” her doesn’t look promising.

My personal favourite outfit was Victoria queen Jimbo’s “Rain-blow It Up” dress of many colours. Honourable mention goes to BOA’s potatoes, Tynomi Banks’ sock accessories and the crab legs on Priyanka’s shoes. But Rita Baga won with her “Quebec-Froid” snow queen outfit, complete with real cheese curds. There’s no doubt it was the most coherently themed look. Brooke affectionately described Rita as a “campy Quebecois queen.”

Forced to lip-sync for their lives were Lemon and Juice Boxx, who are both from Toronto although Lemon lives in New York.

No way I saw that coming for Lemon, given her level of experience as a New York queen, but she got stuck with a box of sports paraphernalia for her costume – thanks to Kyne – for which she had no affinity. She tried hard, but the look didn’t gel.

Juice Boxx got tripped up by her lack of sewing skills. Her Flintstone-esque top and skirt with bits of broken CDs glued to them looked basic and unfinished.

Lemon put her Alvin Ailey dance school training to use during the lip sync, to Carly Rae Jepsen’s “I Really Like You.” I thought Juice Boxx had a lot of heart, but it’s hard to compete with two splits. Juice Boxx sashayed away with a smile on her face and the C-word on her lips, but she said it with love.

Until next week …

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