Your Makeup Is Terrible...

So, shameless plug, for Pride! Portland...March 2nd RuPaul's Drag Race: Battle of the Seasons is coming to Portland, Maine.  If you haven't already bought your tickets, what are you waiting for?  Do it now, by clicking here!

Earlier in the week, it was posted that Yahoo was going to be doing a livestream of the Battle of the Seasons, from Chicago's House of Blues, on February 19th.  As soon as I saw the information, I knew that I had to watch.  Because, well, I wanted to know what I was going to be getting into in two weeks.

I went into it with minimal expectations, because, well, you know how it is. You go to a bunch of shows that have famous people in them, and because you're practically in Canada, they dumb the show down to the barebones basics, and don't really bring what you saw on the show.  So you go into things with low expectations, so as to not be let down.

Michelle Visage Hosts

Yahoo, at one time, was my source for everything, and now, is solely my source for email, kinda let me down tonight.  Then again, so did my laptop and the work WiFi...  I probably missed about a quarter of the show, due to "technical difficulties".  However, I can't complain too much, because what I did see hyped me up for whats going to be coming to me, in two weeks.

Alaska 5000, I Have Nothing

Since I had to watch this at work, I made sure that I got everything set up early.  And, became very frustrated with a co-worker who wouldn't leave, and decided to start talking about stuff I didn't care about before he left.  Fortunately, Michelle Visage started her monologue as he walked out the door.

Alaska 5000 started off the night with a Whitney Houston song,  I Have Nothing.  And, showed off her vocal talents...both with her actual singing voice, and her comedic Louis Armstrong voice.  She was great as an introduction for the night.

Ivy Winters, in one of many
tear away outfits

Ivy Winters came out, and performed My Strongest Suit, from Aida.  I loved it, because it's totally a Shaunna Rai, kind of song, and Ivy pulled out all the tear aways possible.  (It also made me homesick for Seacoast Rep, because when we were there with Joslyn Fox, she did the same song.)

Gotta Have a Gimmick

Michelle Visage, BenDeLaCreme and Jinkx Monsoon were up next, with Gotta Have a Gimmick, from Gypsy.  Although, I knew that Michelle actually was part of an 80's girl group, I had forgotten.  And, so when the number started, and she started singing, I kinda fangirled out.  Partly, because I knew the song, and partly because it was Michelle Visage singing!

Manila Luzon

Manila Luzon was up next.  And, I again was reminded how much I missed the Seacoast Rep shows, that we did last summer.  She was so nice, and I loved her.  She did a couple of songs, one of which, was Buy My T-Shirt.  And, she brought someone out on the stage, with a rack of t-shirts, and literally sold them from the stage.  I loved it.  (The whole time, Dan and I were talking through my facebook page, about the show, and it was determined that we will be bringing money to the show.)

Sharon Needles 

Sharon Needles I knew of, mostly because she won Season 4, and because she and Alaska were a couple, once upon a time...and, well, she does the Salem, Massachusetts thing at Halloween.  But, I hadn't really seen her perform before.  When she started off her number, inside a coffin, and worked her way through the alphabet, with the audience shouting OUIJA Board, I decided that I need to really start watching her on Youtube.  My only complaint about Sharon was that the cameras were going in way too close on close ups, and apparently, when you're in HD, with close-ups, you can see wiglines, very well.  And, it distracted me from the actual talent...but that was my own issue.

Here, was where my frustration with the night started.  Michelle brought out three audience members, and three of the queens to make outfits from trash.  I just about died, because this morning we went to see Benni and he was making Shaunna Rai an outfit of Ivy's, which Ivy wore out for this.  And, then, my laptop overheated and shut down.  And, wouldn't start back up.  And, the work laptop wouldn't load it.  So, I missed the end of it.  (I'm currently re-watching it...)  The trash couture wasn't what I expected...but then again, it's hard to get something amazing in 3 minutes.  And, I was very much reminded of Vanila Honey-Bush, when Adriana came out...

BenDeLaCreme

BenDeLa was up next.  Her intro showed her song, Devil Made Me Do It, and I had no idea that she had a song...She did a burlesque number.  Not like, Christina Aguillera and Cher Burlesque, but actual burlesque.  The nude body suit, glitter in the crotch, and the stacked bras with tassles, and I was dying.  I was reminded again, of why I enjoyed her so much last season.

Jinkx Monsoon

Jinkx Monsoon, I really didn't like during Season 5.  So, when I saw that she was going to be in the cast, for both the Chicago and Portland shows, I was frustrated by it.  My friend Wendy has been talking for as long as I've known her, about how amazing Jinkx is.  And, I hadn't ever seen it.  And, then, she took the stage...with a dead mic.  Decked out in a Fairy Godmother looking outfit, and singing Radiohead's Creep, she, changed my mind.

Raja

Raja was up next.  I don't really know Raja.  So, I really didn't know what to expect from the performance.  I was a little disappointed by it.  The look reminded me of Jessica Wild (from when she did the Seacoast Rep show) only there was a lot less dancing.  The lip sync was on point though.

Sharon Needles as Dead Joan Rivers

Snatch Game was up next.  Well, sort of.  Snatch Game was kind of the turning point of my love/hate relationship with Jinkx, on Season 5.  And, I used to love Match Game, which its based on.  So, Sharon as Joan Rivers, Alaska as LaGanja Estranga, Jinkx as Alaska, BenDeLa as a Drag Race Superfan, and Manila as Madonna.  I was actually a little disappointed by this Snatch Game.  It wasn't really as funny as I'd hoped for...with the exception of Manila/Madonna's "Ugly Edna is so ugly that when she goes to the Makeup counter, they beat her face with......Photoshop."

Michelle stayed on stage as the queens all shuffled off, and did a tribute to Amy Winehouse, by singing You Know I'm No Good.  (I could totally listen to it all day long.)

Ivy came back out, in a jacket, with fringe made from old VHS tape, to a song by Little Mix, called Wings.  She didn't disappoint, with her butterfly wings (reminiscent of her appearance on Drag Race) and stilts.  And, I was reminded of how much respect that I have for some of these perormances.

Sharon Needles's Dragula

Sharon was back up next with Dragula.  The look screamed Marilyn Manson, to me.  Possibly just because that's the only thing that I had to compare the sound to... I loved it.  Actually, I was impressed with how often, during the show, the queens actually were singing live.  Given that on the show, they pretty much only lip sync, I didn't realize how many of them actually do have singing voices.

If I hadn't already been reminded of why BenDeLa was one of my favorites, her Ariel would've reminded me.  (My only complaint was that Ariel's a red-head...and she wore her trademark black hair...)  I can honestly say, that I probably won't be able to look at The Little Mermaid the same again, now that I've seen what's really in Ariel's treasure trove...And, the mixing in of ZZ Top's Legs was amazing.  (Although, with the "Finale" of the song, I'm not sure that I want to have my parents see it, if this is, in fact part of the Portland show...)

Alaska 5000

Alaska took the stage again, with This Is My Hair.  A number that I thoroughly enjoyed, especially, when the Hair Monster came out for battle.  (I know the battle well, because there are mini hair monsters all over the apartment.  I actually kind of want one of my own...)  She then moved into Your Makeup is Terrible.  And, the only thing that could've made it any better, would've been if Mathu Anderson had come out of the wings, and made an appearance for the end of the song, like he does in the video.

Jinkx's Meryl Streep witch from
Into the Woods

 Jinkx came out in full on hag drag.  And, a badly hidden under-wig.  And, started the witch's rap from Into the Woods.  And, then with a shout out to Roxxxy Andrews and her infamous wig change during a number, transformed into Meryl Streep...well, Meryl Streep's version of the beautified witch...for The Last Midnight.  And, this was the number, that solidified me as a new fan of Jinkx.

Manila and Raja did an anime themed song.  I won't even try to figure out what it is, because it's not really important.  I enjoyed Raja in this number, much more than I did in her first one.  And I love Manila.  Watching them "battle it out" on stage was fun.  Especially, with the projection screen in the back showing the "battle moves".  It was like watching a candy colored version of a Pokemon game...only without the Pokemon...so I guess more like Mortal Combat in drag.

 One last number, The Battle of the Seasons, and then Michelle came out to Dude Looks Like a Lady, for the finale.  The show itself was amazing, and I'm so looking forward to it coming to Portland in a couple of weeks.  It will be a different show, though, as there will be some different cast members.

Portland's cast will include: Michelle Visage, Jinkx Monsoon, Ivy Winters, Jiggly Caliente, Darienne Lake, Alaska 5000, BenDeLaCreme and Pandora Boxx.  So, while I have developed a new love for a couple of the girls who I was on the fence about before this show, I have a few others, that I'll have to do my homework before the 2nd of March, to make sure I know who I'm going to see.  I need to Youtube Darienne, Jiggly and Pandora, so I at least have something to compare them to.