Has RuPaul’s Drag Race finally hit the big time? With great guest stars, a tripled cash prize for the winner (now $75,000) and some good twists, the Logo show appears to be transitioning from no-budget guilty pleasure to low-budget must-see TV.
We’re just happy to see the contestants finally vying for a decent cash prize. In seasons past, it was a paltry $25,000 after weeks of competitions, countless challenges and resulting humiliations, all helping Logo get a broader audience. Hell, the winner each week on Fear Factor walked away with 50 grand and the worst they had to endure was eating dead squirrels and jumping off tall buildings into shark-filled tanks of goat urine. That’s nothing compared to bouncing up and down on a trampoline in an evening gown expecting to get a good photograph out of it.
Guest stars this season include Bruce Villanch, Margaret Cho, Lily Tomlin, Sharon Osbourne, Susan Powter (OMG!!), Fantasia Barrino and Vanessa Williams, just to name a few of the ones we’re dying to see. Nothing spells success more than A-list celebrities (Powter not included, of course) willing to hang out and have fun on your show. Each season, the roster gets more and more star-studded. Who knows, Season 4 may find Oprah and Angelina sitting on the panel talking about camel toes, prosthetic breasts and penis tucking.
The best part about Drag Race, however, has less to do with the celebrities, little about the actual challenges, and everything to do with the contestants themselves. Few things are more volatile than throwing a group of drag queens together in a room and forcing them to compete in high heels for high stakes. There are breakdowns, catfights and even surprising moments of humanity.
The first episode features several great moments and one of the fiercest lip-sync-offs ever. We’re just lucky one of the queens didn’t transition right from RuPaul’s Drag Race on Logo to Snapped over on Oxygen. If Episode One is any indication, this season there will be blood. And a snatched weave or two.
Even with several great queens to watch this season, we’ve already picked our favorite, Mimi Imfurst (pictured). We heart her not just for her wonderful drag name, but also because she’s genuinely funny and deliciously, irreverently over-the-top. Just check out her outfit from the premiere party if you don’t believe us.
Now that’s a Golden Globe!
RuPaul’s Drag Race premieres tonight on Logo
10:00/9:00 Central
www.logotv.com
