Slaysian Royale: Episode 3 Recap, Drama & Designs!

Welcome to Slayshun Persuasion!

My name is Virginia Please, and I am Calypso, and we are on the third episode. My God, it's so fast!

I know, it really flew by, and it's like, okay, but also this cast is like a pretty— it's like a good number, like having this many queens. Like, I think they said this is 12 queens, right?

So have you been monitoring what's been happening in the Philippines? There are so many events of viewings and screenings Yes.

And I noticed specifically Siam and Ivory have been in a lot of them. I know they've been like adopted by the Filipinas.

They are working it, working it. Yes.

Beautiful.

I'm proud of Siam.

Oh my gosh, me too. Every time I see her, I'm like, oh my gosh, beautiful.

And speaking of Siam, she's coming to runway to judge.

Yes, we just found out and we're so excited. So Siam Pusri of Drag Race Thailand Season 3 and Slay Asian Royale will be joining us at Gappa Runway 2025. So she's going to be one of our extra special judges. Yes, yes, yes.

Oh my gosh.

She will be honoring this organization that has been existing for around 37 years and one that she represented so proudly. I know, on the global stage.

Thank you so much, Sayang. Thank you so much.

And we're excited to see you there.

Yeah, what else? What are the updates before we get into the—

Yeah, what else is going on? I mean, like you said, ever since you said last week, everybody's making such great photo shoots and videos, especially Vinyas for all of her outfits and everything.

Um, these girls are not here, you know, to just do sit around.

Yeah, no, not at all. And I also love how there's so many reaction videos and there's so many viewing parties and there's so much content out there because the whole world is reacting to Slaysian Royale.

The episode of Slaysian Royale is officially now the most watched premiere. Yes, the whole franchise.

I just read that it was on WOW Presents Plus. They said that that was the first, like, the biggest premiere that they ever had.

And girl, not only that, WOW also came up with the Filipina girl group Reina.

Oh my God, I was just talking to Precious Paula Nicole about it because here in San Francisco she just attended one of our viewing parties for Season Royale, and when she got on the mic to say hello to everybody, I asked her, I was like, tell us about Reyna. So it's a girl group, superstar girl group with all 3 winners of Drag Race Philippines and Marina Summers, who was an honorary winner for us. Honorary winner.

What do you think about that grouping though?

I think it's great. I mean, I think they've done other girl groups. I think like in the UK they've done the Frock Destroyers. Yeah, so they have— they— so WOW does know how to, you know, they've experimented with like a girl group, but this feels very much like an announcement, like a global. It feels like when they announce like Cats Eye or something, like it's something like very global.

Oh my God, powerhouse.

No, and all of— that's the thing, all of them can sing. All of them have this vocal background.

Oh, they're Filipinos.

They had to take classes in girl groups. They had to take classes. No, no, like I said, like when you're in the— like in high school, I'm sure everybody took a girl group class, everybody took a singing class.

They trained all their lives.

That's true.

So yeah, we're so excited. Filipinas represent!

I'm so excited. I can't wait to hear that first single.

Is there going to be an Indian Drag Race soon?

You know what, if there is, if there is, I will apply. Christian girl, you'd probably be the first winner. Oh, well, we'll put that out there. We'll see, we'll see. But I know that there are, there are South Asian drag queens all over the world, so maybe one day, maybe one day we'll see it. But I'd love to see it.

Yes. And in case you're wondering, by the way, this statue right here is my sculpture.

Yes, this is— tell us about this. So you made this all yourself, like head to toe?

I did. Yeah, yeah. I used used jewelry because for me, jewelry that has been used has already been inhabited by the feminine spirit as opposed to something that's not have been worn yet. And this is inspired by pre-colonial queer identities in the Philippines and as well as, you know, my mom who was part of this militant women's group Gabriela in the Philippines.

Wow.

Yeah, the Babaylan were primarily women, but they welcomed the queer-presenting and trans-presenting individuals into the ranks. So yeah, that's the inspiration.

Beautiful. And like, so all of this is like not reclaimed, but like jewelry that has like vintage and antique jewelry, right?

These are my drag jewelry.

Yeah, based on the size of the stones, I can tell. I'm like, some of these I think have only been in a drag perspective. I live, I live.

I call this Gabriela Racing.

Yes, really lovely. I'm so glad. What a great backdrop. Every episode we've had such a great backdrop. We just have like such interesting backgrounds. I think that's one of the things. And that's why we're standing, by the way. So the people who are asking why we're not sitting, it's because we can showcase this beautiful artwork. That's why we're standing and that's why we're not sitting. Yes, yes, yes, yes.

Well, here we are.

Here we are, episode 3. Yeah, let's get into it. Yeah, let's get into it. So we walk back into the workroom, everybody's just reeling from the elimination of Something Wong. Venus decided to send her home, so they're all coming back in. Ivory is feeling a sense of like, okay, I got this, I escaped the bottom, now I can really apply myself for the next episode. Arizona reveals that her lipstick, she also picked Something Wong to go home. Yeah, so both of them were on the same page so far. The first episode, you know, they picked different people, but this time the Filipino queens were on the same level of who they wanted to send out.

Yep. What did Something say in the mirror?

Something said— oh, she said, "Love you long time." I think that was kind of like her catchphrase from UK season 1. So she said that, and then yeah, I think, you know, she showed what she did. She showed an elevated version of Something Wong. Yeah, and like Vinya said, The competition was not the best place for her to showcase her art in the best.

I noticed she's been posting those thirst trap pictures.

Oh well, why not? Why not? See, that's what I was asking at the viewing party. We're like, there are so many like really attractive out of drag people doing this. I think that's just because we can show our fellow Asians some love. Like, get it, something. Well, there we go. Yes, so, uh, they're de-dragging. Arizona's like, I'm in the top, let's keep this momentum going. Ivory's like, I've escaped the bottom, let's keep this momentum going.

We need I noticed in the editing of RuPaul's Drag Race, when a character is gonna be— is gonna finish or win towards the end, yeah, I noticed that there's a lot of sound bites coming from them in the beginning.

I agree.

They're like doing a back-end editing kind of, um, style, or, you know.

I think if you— if you work backwards, it's very clear who's gonna win the episode, who's gonna go home, who— like, it's very clear who the main characters are each episode, because like we heard so little from some of the other queens this episode.

And I think it coming— I'm going home that day, it also makes sense that they really expose you in that episode.

Exactly. Especially when Ivory started talking about her background, everything. Like, when we get there, we're gonna know, like, oh, this might be your time to step off because we're getting all your story out.

Yeah.

Um, but yeah, so they start— they start a new day in the workroom. Uh, Venus presents her batch. Actually, I noticed this: Yuhua had a really big flag when she walked in. Did you notice this? Because she— remember she said that her runway outfit would have been different. So I think she was like, this is my actual runway outfit, but we barely saw it. We just saw her holding a really big flag in Interesting. So she proved it. She was like, yes, I did have another look, but we didn't at least see it.

Yeah.

So now Kiana and Minyas both have badges, and then they go right into the mini challenge, which is a version of a game I've played this game here before too. Hep hep hooray.

Is it necessarily Filipino?

Well, I've— well, there are so many Filipino drag queens out here in the Bay Area that this is like the game that you play in the middle of the show. There were two— Manang and Tori Tia have definitely played this game in the South Bay before, specifically those two, because I've seen them play it.

Yeah.

Do you have a history of playing this game?

There are so many games and it's familiar.

Yeah, it's familiar. You're familiar with this one?

Very much so.

Got it. So the classic sense, it's— what is it? So it's hip hip hooray.

Yeah.

Like what? Okay. They did it a little bit more like tongue in cheek, like wink wink. But what is the traditional way of playing it?

I can't remember.

Okay. I think it's like mouth covering or something, right? I don't even know.

I'm 38 years old.

Girl, well, we'll figure it out. We'll figure it out. Well, in their version, they're doing kep kep bube.

Keb keb means coochie.

Oh, really? Okay. I didn't—

I—

that makes sense.

The word keb, which was shortened from the word kepias, which means coochie. Literally vagina. And boobay, boobs, of course.

Yeah, perfect. This is what Duolingo won't teach you. See, this is how we learn. Yeah, perfect. So they're playing this game. Everybody's in their quick drag, swimsuit quick drag. I've never done my makeup in 15 minutes. I don't know. I don't want to think what that would look like, but they all come out looking beautiful in their own special ways. And then they all have bras, like bikinis, like very swimsuits. And then Mama Pal is going through playing this game. He's explaining the rules.

I really enjoy that segment, by the way.

Yeah, because he kind of— he's so charismatic. He's so charismatic when he's on the screen. You just want to like see what he does.

Yes, yes, yes.

It emanates through. And I think that's from the history of him being a talk show host.

Of course, yeah, he's done it all his life.

Yeah, it really shows.

It really shows.

What I thought was really funny was when Kiana was like locked in and focused this whole time, and then Mama Po was like, girl, you're being too serious, because she was like, I want to wait for the competition, girl. Right, right. And like, I thought it was funny how like even there were moments where he was getting in on it, he was playing too.

Yeah.

Um, and then the final round where it's the top 4, they're swapping it. So yeah, swap from So this is kept going.

That was a trick.

I think that's how you play it too. Like once you're starting to not lose people, you're like, let's make it harder.

Yeah.

So they made it harder and then the winner ultimately is Brigitting.

Yes.

So beautiful. So she— and it was Kitty Space and her. So at the very end it was getting between the two of them and Kitty was really holding her own.

Which is like, it's like foreshadowing of who's going to be the top two.

That's true. Listen, it's all— if you watch the episode backwards, it's like it all makes sense. It's like decoding. You have to decode. Yeah, um, but yes, so, uh, they go through and then the challenge is revealed. Yeah, um, I kind of knew this, but the Philippines is a culture of chocolate, right? Because it's one of the few tropical regions of the world where cocoa plants can grow and cocoa trees can grow. Yeah, have you tried Oreo chocolate before?

No, I have not, but I grew up, um, grew up drinking sikwati.

What is that?

And that, that is, um, cacao.

Oh, like a cacao beverage?

Yeah, we mix it with— it's sweet, by the way, and we mix it with sticky rice. So good.

Wow, okay.

And we also sometimes we add dried fish, so it's sweet and salty.

Dried fish, cacao, and rice?

Yes, and sticky rice. You know the Thai sticky rice? Yeah, that exactly.

Interesting.

And you pour it in.

So it's like sweet, salty, savory all together. Interesting, interesting. That's really cool. Okay, okay. So maybe they should come up with the flavor that has fish in it. Orochocolate, if you're listening.

Yeah, there are different versions in different regions.

Yeah, right. But the key point of this design challenge is to use these fossilized cacao leaves.

Yeah.

And I thought that was really interesting. They showed the process. So they take these leaves, they dip them in some kind of mineral solution, and it kind of strips away everything, but it keeps the structure.

Yeah.

And then they dyed them in different colors and they presented that to the queens.

Yeah.

So everybody gets to pick a color. Which color would you have picked? Maybe orange. Was that orange? Yeah, yeah, there was orange. Arizona's was orange. There was orange, red, pink, all of them.

Why the hell you say that? Because, you know, I've gravitated towards green, um, and I thought— but I, but I've been discovering orange now.

Really?

What about you?

I love blue. I love blue. It's like one of my favorite colors. It looks good on you. Thank you, thank you. I would have picked blue or teal. Yeah, but you're right, I think like those are like my safe colors, so I always think about blue. But if I wanted to give myself a challenge, maybe red or pink.

Honestly, I would have chosen white, off-white as well. The one that, uh, because she's so— she's so— she's so really wise. Yeah, intelligent. Because the only way for you to stand out in those colorful colors— that's true— off-white.

That's true. That's a really good point. Yeah. Um, I think— okay, I think the— I— because it was interesting, so they picked the colors based off of the elimination order in the, the maxi— the mini challenge.

Yeah.

And, uh, Brigadine gave Suki Doll the disadvantage, and she said you get to pick last. Yeah, and that's because Suki is one of the most accomplished designers in the Drag Race world.

Everybody knows it.

Everybody knows that she was a mentor on Canada's Drag Race. She's made designs for Brooke Lynn Hytes, the host of Canada's Drag Race. So she has a very strong fashion-oriented mind. Yep. So that was— do you think that was the right call to make?

It was, but it didn't matter. We all know that. Well, she knows. She said it herself.

She was like, honestly, whatever color you get, you can turn it into a design. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Okay. So you would have picked off-white because that's a— you get more interesting.

You can stand out.

Got it.

That's exactly what happened to V.S., which we will talk about later.

Yes.

Yes.

Beautiful. So they all split up, they all get these materials, and they're walking through with different designs. And I think, have you ever sewn or made an outfit before? Besides like your pieces, which require a lot of work. Have you ever made like—

I made this one.

This outfit?

Yeah.

Word!

From scratch. It's from scratch except for the corset.

Mama, this is, this is— oh my God, this is gonna be the background of the next video. But this is fierce. Oh my gosh, because you have the— because it's like similar, like if you have a visual arts background.

Yeah, so I'm not a seamstress and I'm not a fashion designer, but I, I can create things, um, out of my imagination and I will just find out how to do it, right? Yeah, right.

Honestly, when there's a will, there's a way. And what better— like, drag is kind of emblematic of that. Like, you have to figure it out. If you don't know what it is, you have to figure it out.

Drag is proof that art is for everybody.

Yes, yes. And drag is truly, like, for me, the ultimate multidisciplinary art. Yes, you need to have knowledge of everything.

That's— you know what, do you remember me interviewing you at O-Class?

Yes, years ago. I think that was before I knew— oh my gosh, that like unlocked a memory because it was before I knew who you were.

That was the first time I heard someone say art is the highest form— I mean, drag is the highest form of art because you have to create your background, create your music, create your costume, create your makeup. And I appreciate you for saying that because I have been saying that to everybody.

Yes, I agree. I mean, like, even I'm not going to say I'm like the best in anything, but you have to know everything to do drag. You have to know it even if you don't apply it in every single way. Whether you're getting outfits made, you still need to have a visual cue or something like that triggers that. And I agree. I say that you're right. I say this all the time, even if I said it all those years or 2 years ago. Now, like, drag is the ultimate multidisciplinary art.

Yes. Yes, I agree. Yeah.

That really unlocked a memory. Like, I feel like I just went—

It has been happening here now. A lot of artists and drag artists have been advocating to add drag as an option when you apply for grants. Because anywhere else, it's not like that. Drag is not yet considered officially an art. But here in the Bay Area, it already is. You can already see it in the application forms.

Beautiful.

Right. Yeah. Kudos to Oaklash for doing that.

Yes, honestly. And I performed last year at Oaklash. It's one of the best drag festivals, I think, in the world. Like, it's incredible. Definitely. And you're on the board for Oaklash.

Yes, I am on the board. I do so many things.

I am jack of all trades. Yes, exactly. Mm. But yes, so beautiful. So we get to experience these drag queens' creativity because, you know, it's one thing to have a sickening runway package or to have really cool hair, makeup, but it's one thing to create that yourself.

Yes, exactly.

You're very in tune with creating works of art.

Yeah. Yeah. I may not— I still need to study patterns, you know, but I literally created this without patterns.

Can you imagine? No, I think there's a way to do it, right? Like you can just— I adjusted it. You can figure it out.

As I went. Yes.

I think the key thing here is that you can't sew with these leaves.

Yeah.

You can only like do so much. Yes. So I think that's another challenge.

It's probably very delicate as well. Can you imagine?

Yes.

Yeah.

It's probably like paper thin, very light. Kind of reminded me of feathers, really.

Yeah. Yeah. And I like Binnies' imagination. Yes.

Immediately off the bat, by the time Mama Pao even walks back in, she's like, here's the space that I'm going to add.

She saw the visual and she just followed it.

It was very angelic, very heavenly, like heavenly bodies. Very like, yeah. Um, but yeah, so they're all kind of brainstorming, they're thinking about what they want to do. Um, Siam is like, one of the— I'm gonna wear these really large breastplates.

Yeah.

And I want that to be the focus of the outfit.

Yeah, I'm kind of— I'm sorry, girl, I love you and thanks for coming to runway, but I was kind of disappointed.

We'll tell her that to her face in 2 weeks. She'll be like, girl, that was a little—

no, because we know her to be that bitch. Yes, great.

And like, like we said in the past, it was very indicative of her style.

Yeah.

But it was just like I think the other thing Ivory said this too, she knows how to make outfits, she knows how to make them good, but she needs time. You only have like less than— you have less than a full day to do all this. Yeah, you have half a day and then like the other few hours before the runway. Yeah, so it's like a time constraint, so you have to really lock in and do that. So I think maybe Siam with unlimited time can turn it out, you know.

I mean, I was just like, oh my— she could have used her body, statuesque body, to actually accentuate, you know, using the leaves, something like, I don't know. Like I said, I'm judging and I'm not there experiencing it.

It's hard. But I thought it was interesting she talked about how she's unlocking a new character, Pussy. That's the character that she wants to unlock with these really big breastplates. So it's like even within drag being kind of an alter ego, there's an alter ego within the alter ego.

Yes.

Yeah.

Yeah. Anything is possible.

Anything is possible. You're showing the different sides of your art.

Yeah, right. Yeah. Who came first? Who came on the runway first?

Oh, did they go in color order? I'm like, in my mind they just went Roy G. Biv. Oh, I think maybe in my mind they did. Oh, red. Was it probably Brigiding and then orange? But we can go down the— Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, so we'll do Roy G. Biv. That's easier for us to— Okay, so the first one, red. So the color red, we have Brigiding.

I loved it.

It was great. It reminded me of her Phoenix look.

She should have been top 2.

I agree with you. I think it was a really good look. She had such distinctive shape. It was constructed so beautifully.

I really love this right here.

I love that here they got to really play with the idea of proportions and sculpting because it really allowed them to— because you could just build a base and then use this to feather it, fan out.

Yeah, exactly.

So beautiful outfit. Kind of reminded me of the Phoenix outfit, actually. Kind of like rising from the ashes.

Yeah, I was glad that they were provided with, um, those Wire? Wire. Yeah, because I thought like you had to provide that yourself. I wonder what they provide, to what extent they provide in terms of materials.

Because the thing is, you can't sew this, so they had to have— I'm pretty sure they must have been given fabric, corsets, hot glue, lots of hot glue, because I definitely feel like some of them used— it wasn't just— because we get this critique in other seasons, like it's not just fat stuff glued to a corset. Yeah, all of them did more than that, I feel like. Maybe not all of them, but we'll get there. So, uh, so first up, Brigitting, great outfit. Next, we have Arizona Brandy in orange. Yeah, this is— she said that she took classes before that she came, sewing classes, which is— you came really prepared to work with fabric and surprise, no fabric.

Yeah. You know, I would say that each drag queen has their own strength and weakness. And even though you go take sewing classes, that creativity is very specific and you can't really get that from sewing classes. It's hard to have the vision and the imagination and the know-how to execute. So even if she did, it wasn't her ticket to winning a design challenge, I must say. And in fact, that's what happened. That's true.

I mean, but the thing is, she showed her technicality because if you notice, there was pleating done right by the one side. It was asymmetrical. So there were definitely elements. They just lacked a little bit of the refinement that the judges were looking for.

Yeah.

So that was Arizona's outfit in orange.

Yeah, it was a little bit all over the place for me.

Yes.

She had to cut the leaves and I was like, no.

Yeah, Mama Pao said that too. She was like, don't cut the leaves, girl.

She kept saying, I hope that I will honor and not disrespect them. But in my mind, you are.

Oh, oops. She took some artistic liberty.

It did not look like leaves anymore. It looked like pom-poms in a way.

Oh, I see what you mean. So it's like you need to embrace the material. Yes, that's the idea. So tell us, show us that it's leaves.

Yeah. And you don't have to explain it. Like, they have to see it visually.

Yeah. Yeah. But yes, so that was orange. Now we go into yellow. So yellow was Kiana, Ray of Sunshine. Actually, I kind of noticed she had a kind of a similar silhouette to Arizona.

Yeah.

But the execution, I think the key thing is I really liked how there was a trend of overlaying the leaves and making like a cape or like an open skirt, a train.

Yeah.

Because that shows the leaves and the shingling effect.

Yeah, and everybody wanted to show their legs. I would have, I would have done it differently. I would have done like a full-on gown and the leaves were like layering, going down straight here. And at the same time, full-on leaves with a cape like that, and maybe just a simple white with off-white, and everything in the center is going like that.

I see, like fanning it out. I think I would have been really inspired by, um, RuPaul's Season 9 promo. Where it was kind of like a paper dress where it was like going out like this and out like this. I think, I think I would have glued stuff on a corset, but I think I would have made it— I don't know, we'll see. Like something similar to what Naomi Smalls did for the Paper Ball or what RuPaul did for season 9's promo look.

I think it's so easy to say it here, right? A different situation.

What I would have done. Yeah.

Hello.

Uh, but yeah, so Kiana comes out in that look and then so red, orange, yellow— who's there? Green? Was there a green? No, no, there wasn't, because, right, the leaves are green.

Yeah, right.

So by the time they remove the color, there is no green. So red, orange, yellow, green, blue. So blue, we have Kitty Space.

Oh my God, that was incredible. Yeah, it was amazing. Amazing. And her vision is amazing. But the color, it was almost like that blue.

Yeah, exactly. It was like a true, like, blue blue, like a deep royal blue kind of color. And, um, what I liked about it is, like, it wasn't— it was incredibly constructed because the top was connected to the like the headpiece was connected to the hair, connected to the outfit, connected to the— like, incredible. Like, it was all one piece. And she also had that— I love when there's a corset that goes up like that. She had a very dramatic corset.

Um, notice how— well, outside of drag, all these designers, it's like you could— you can pick influences from each designer. And at times I'm like already confused because everything is all sort of like mishmashing from one designer to the next. And I think that's what I'm seeing in, in this runway as well. Just a thought.

Yeah, I think, I think it's very reciprocal, like it's a reciprocal, it's a mutual exchange. Because sometimes I think drag artistry is on the mood board or the inspiration for these looks and vice versa. So drag artists are continually moving it forward while fashion houses are also kind of pushing on that as well.

I totally forgot, we are the origination of all fashion, queer people, trans people.

I think the first time that really sunk in my head was the exposed corset trend. Yeah, I think this was like maybe like 8 or 9 years ago. I remember being in high school and I was like, I was like looking around and I was like, all of a sudden I saw mannequins on the storefronts with exposed corsets. Yeah, I'm like, that's drag. So yeah, it's very— it's a mutual understanding.

Sorry for cutting you off. Oh no, no, no. And by the way, sorry for letting you run us into all the segments. I'm like, I'm old, I can't remember.

No, not at all, not at all. We're here to glean that insight from you, so we're— whatever it takes to keep it moving. Mama, this is the outline.

Yeah, yeah.

Okay, of course. So we just finished Kitty Space, blue, beautiful look. So blue, and let's go to teal next. Teal is, uh, Suki Doll. Suki Doll in teal.

I honestly was a little bit underwhelmed.

I think it was— so Mama Pao gave, um, Kitty, the critique that the outfit was similar to a silhouette that we'd already seen. I think if you go back and look at her promo look, Suki Doll, I think, is wearing similar hair, and this outfit silhouette is similar to what we saw in the promo look. So I think maybe that's what— that— I think it was well executed, but I think it wasn't new enough.

It wasn't. That's the word I was looking for.

I—

we've already seen that somewhere else, and I expected more from her because her reputation says so. Yeah, right. So I'm like, okay, I think it was very on brand though.

I think out of a lineup you could pick exactly— if you took all their heads off, you know exactly who Suki Doll's look was.

Yes, well, yeah, but I'll give that.

Yes, but at the same time, yeah.

And the, the gold, um, addition is also very spark.

Oh, beautiful. And we saw two kind of— we saw two queens who took inspiration to do gold. Yeah, but we'll talk about the other one momentarily. But, um, yeah, so it was, uh, it was— I think it was well done. Looks really great, looked really cool, ethereal goddess, like all of that, all of those vibes. Um, but yeah, so that was that look. But I think it was just a little too similar to maybe her promo look for them, for the judges too.

It was still very up there, but I just expected more. You will expect more from Suki Doll.

Exactly, exactly. And it was really well done though, so it was at her standard. So red, orange, yellow, green. So we went through that one. Violet. So the next one is Violet. Yuha Hamasaki had purple. Yuha had purple.

Already forgot What did she pull?

So Yuhua's was— she came out, she had red and blonde hair, and she had those Mickey Mouse Lady Gaga glasses. Oh, honestly, that's what I remember more than the actual outfit itself. But I think, I think if anything, she did something similar to what I think I would have tried to do, which is do that layering effect but concentrated on the, the body of the outfit. Yeah, but yeah, it was a good look. It's a good look. I mean, it was safe.

So, Ken, I forgot about it. Oh, well, sorry, Yuhua. Sorry, I love you.

Yeah, but I just remember when she took the glasses off and she looked in the camera and she's like Y'all can't take this.

And we're like, mm-hmm.

I think the judges— oh my gosh, we have to talk about the judges. So this week we have Pangina Heels and we have Jervie Wrightson-Khaladkaris.

Now we know her last name.

Yes, now we know her last name. And then of course we have Mama Pow. Mama Pow is in this beautiful green look. Very Emerald City, Oz vibes, or Wizard of Oz.

Yeah, I really love the color combination. I would say she's been trying to achieve this in the past season. I'm such— I'm so shady, bitch. I could see her because she's done this before, you know, the butterfly sleeve, combining like really odd colors with each other. This is the first one which where I thought, wow, it works.

I agree. I really like the way that it looked. I think the hair looked right. It kind of goes for that kind of like that's— I think she goes a little understated in the hair sometimes. Like the outfit can be very, very done and ornate, but then the hair is just like, I want that wig. And I think, I think in her mind, that's a drag queen mind of like, no girl, I'm going to turn it out in this hair. Please?

Who's gonna tell her?

Somebody on her team, somebody on her team. But I think this time it really worked. Everything kind of made sense. And then we have Pangina Heels out of drag in a very stunning boy look. I like how when they announced that Pangina was the judge, they cut to Siam immediately. She's just like, "Worried?" Yeah, she's a little worried because she was like, she remembered how Pangina critiqued her on her season. And she's happy, but she's like a little like, "Oh no." It's like mom's coming home. We're at summer camp and mom's coming.

Yeah. I would be worried too. Yes. Pangeina is very, very honest, very direct. She doesn't mince her words.

Not at all. And then at the other end, we have Kali Kared, who's so sweet, so gracious, so eloquent.

And I love her eye makeup. Oh my God.

Oh yeah, yeah. The squiggles. Very cool. Very avant-garde. Yeah. But yes. So we took a little pause to talk about the judges and then so we went through all the main colors.

Pink.

Pink is next. Bernie is in pink. Yeah.

Cute.

I thought it was cute. Body, showing off her body.

Oh yeah.

With the hip slit.

Yeah, it tends to pull up. Bank on the hip so a lot.

I mean, if you've got it, flaunt it. I mean, she doesn't need padding, she doesn't need anything. She just toss it on and go out there. Beautiful.

Yeah, but she could have surprised us.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think it was right. It was safe. It was safe. It was a good look, but it was safe. And then next, so now it's the odd color. So now that we've gone through the rainbow, we have brown, black, and white left. I think that's everybody. I would feel so bad if we forgot someone. But okay, next one, let's do Brown. So Brown is our girl Siam Pusri. So she decided to do something very like top-heavy, like huge breastplate, brown, brown, brown. And what was so disappointing is when she turned around, because I thought it was really, really good until she turned around and we saw the sagging underwear, we saw the exposed corset, we saw a lot of things that could have been refined. Yeah.

Girl, you cannot do that on that stage.

Yes. Yeah. And we know the kind of looks that she's turning out. She has that drag All Stars upgrade, but like, we need that to be reflected in the looks that you make as well.

Yeah.

And we know that she has the talent to do so. She was probably excited to hot glue everything because, yeah, mama, give her hot glue and unlimited appliqués and it will be sickening.

I just realized something that we just did. You know how I always complain that the RuPaul's Drag Race franchise has professionalized drag to a point that there is a certain polish, professional look that is required. And I think I just— I'm guilty. I just did that right now with Siam. Now, should I be—

I mean, well, you're clocking it. You're clocking it. You're being very metacognitive. You're thinking about the way that you critiqued. I think the thing is like, yes, there is a high level of drag that's expected, but I think the sewing challenges are the equalizers.

Yeah.

Because when you take away designers, when you take away Google, when you take away references, What can you show us as a drag queen or drag artist?

Yeah, right. Yeah. Yeah.

So I think this is— I think that's why it's so important to have these challenges because they can showcase how their mind thinks. Like, how do you think as a drag queen? How do you conceptualize a look? How does that go?

And on the flip side also, if it's competition, what will you base your judgment off of? I guess, you know, execution is part of that. And that's why we're trained— our eyes are trained to look at these small details. From the words of Vanjaina herself, you know?

Yes. And Vanjaina, my goodness. When they went in. Um, so yeah, so we have brown, Samboosery. Black is Ivory Glaze. She's in black. So she actually also did something similar to what Yuhua— I'm sorry, not Yuhua, but, uh, she did something similar to what Tsuki Doll did, which was use gold accents. Yes, yes, she used black and gold, which I think is a good color combination. And I actually didn't— I didn't dislike the look. I just think it's that same thing of like, we are expecting a lot.

Yeah.

And this is well done. Maybe if she had one more day with it, I would have liked to see what could have happened.

Yeah, I also did not think it was that bad, but it was lacking. Yeah, it was like, it was like just one-third of what I would expect.

Yeah, exactly. It just feel like I just need more time, and I think she said that too, like if she had more time, maybe.

Yeah, because if you compare her with Vinnies, Vinnies had a sculpture, and we'll save her for last.

We'll save her for last. But yeah, I think it was, uh, she picked a bold color choice, black and gold, but, um, yes. So then we go into, of course, last but not least, I mean, last but amazing, Viñas in this gorgeous angelic off-white outfit. And she showcased— she did both. She didn't— it didn't feel like, where are the leaves? It's like, here are the leaves. But then here's what we can do with the leaves. And that's where she had that face. Beautiful. My God.

And that cascading thing going down is just so skillful.

She made herself an accessory.

She had a fan. Yes.

She was like, outfit, sculpture, accessory, hair.

Yeah, she really thought about it.

No, really incredible. That was, I mean, my favorite look.

And by the way, this hair was made by Vinyas.

Well, there we go. To talk about sculpture, talk about sculpture.

Thank you, Vinyas. I love you.

Perfect. That's why we're being so nice to her. Yeah, no, but no, the talent speaks for itself.

I bought this over the pandemic.

I live. I mean, look at— I mean, it's hold up beautifully too. Look at that. She does hair though, like one of her favorite things is hair. Her hair has been— oh my gosh, I love it. So beautiful.

Yeah, congratulations, Venus. Everyone in the world is raving about it.

Yes, yes, yes. And it was interesting, she had a redemption. She won the first challenge on her season, which was a design challenge, which was leaves, but at the same time she went home for design challenge as well. So she was able to prove that that wasn't a mistake. She has the ability to execute a flawless look.

Yeah, she came with a vengeance. And her Vengeance is the one that pulled through, and unfortunately Ivory Glaces did not.

Yes, exactly. So we've gone through everybody who were in the judging panel, and not a lot to say about the judges, everybody was pretty nice. But one of my favorite moments was when Pangina looked right at CM and was like, "Don't you dare embarrass us again!" It felt very much like a mom scolding a kid. Because she was giving good critiques to everybody, but as soon as she got to CM, she was just like, this is better than what you showed me there, but don't you dare embarrass Thailand on this stage. It was very tough love. It was very like, it felt like a mom scolding her child.

Yeah, yeah.

But that was probably one of my favorite moments of the judging.

Yeah, yeah. And Diana, I noticed she's very— she really commands the attention, and sometimes it felt like she was overpowering Mama Pao because she was like, but you know, that's, that's her job. That's her job.

So especially on Drag Race Thailand. She's like, she really is like, this is me as a judge. I'm going to be very cutthroat because I want the best for me. I expect the best. Well, Mama Pow, I think, is a little bit more kind. It's like, it's like, it's like, uh, your friend's parents versus your parents. Yeah, like it's a mix of that, right? Yeah. So it's like, yeah.

And I wanted to talk about, um, Ivory Place's experience, which was, I don't know, like it must have been really hard. Yeah. And it's just so sad that she had to go home on the same episode as well, you know. I wonder what I mean, I don't want to pry, but I wonder what her experience was. They gave us clues like they had a falling out and they reconciled. And finally, you know, at the point of reconciliation, she lost her mom at the same time. Yeah.

She said that while the cast for her season was announced, she was at her mother's funeral. She said that her phone was blowing up while she was giving a stalking. So that's quite an experience. Like the highest of the highs and lowest of the lows. Because as a drag artist, that's like the best day ever. Yeah, but as a child of a mother who's just passed, yeah, how horrible.

And I know a lot of us can relate to this because a lot of Asian AAPI folks, they have, they have these special relationships with their moms as they're growing up, and then when the moms find out they're queer, it switches into something else. And I know, I know a couple of friends have experienced that, and that's part of, um, unique— I don't think it's unique.

I think it's quite an Asian experience. Actually, the thing I related to the most was when she was saying that when she was growing up, she was perfect in school, perfect in sports, perfect in extracurriculars, and she had a lot of pressure on herself. I think that's the Asian experience that I think a lot of us can relate to because our parents, um, expect the most and they want the best for us.

Exactly right.

A lot of it comes out of a place of love, but perhaps the execution of that might, um, translate in different ways, especially if you're an immigrant.

Exactly.

Yeah, the tiger mom mentality.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. There is that immigrant fear for, um, uh, first-generation immigrants to really survive and provide for their family. And thus it affects the relationships with, with their children. A lot of Asian cultures perceive queerness and transness as something to be ashamed of, as something that, you know, detrimental to your health, to your body, to your mind, and also detrimental to the family. Absolutely.

Yeah, absolutely.

Yeah, I'm not saying this is what she experienced, but, um, I think we were talking about Asian mom and, you know, yeah, yeah, we—

I mean, we don't know what the relationship was like, but we can only infer based on what she said about how her upbringing was very focused on academics and sports and everything. I mean, I can say the same for myself and all my peers when I'm growing up here in the Bay Area. Like, all of our parents were like, okay, what extracurriculars are you going to do? What are you going to do when you apply for college? Like, that's the kind of mindset. I think it's a very common Asian experience.

This is one— for me, this is one of the reasons why we're doing this in the play. Yes, in the first place, we are here as drag queens to really question the status quo, question the binary, question and suggest to people that there are, um, identities out there that are still a human experience. And yeah, um, it only is to our benefit to understand each other, especially if we are blood-related, right? Yeah. Oh well, where are we?

Yeah, I mean, yeah, so that was beautiful. She shared that experience, but I think it's like this show showcases the beauty that this art form is. Yeah. And I think Ivory shouldn't feel disappointed. She shouldn't feel bad about herself because she's an inspiration to many people out there, uh, especially on a season like this where you represent different parts of the world. Every Asian child can see a part of themselves in her story. Like when she shared it, both of us explained how we relate to that. Yeah. So that same thing I'm sure there's lots of kids in Australia, New Zealand, her part of the world, and all over the world now who can relate to her experience.

Exactly.

And she should be proud that she showcased her story, her art, and onwards to the next, right?

Yeah, yeah. Thank you for representing not only Australia, but also yourself, a unique experience. And just know that people will be inspired by just you being there and going through that experience.

It felt hard when she got down on herself for that. It's like, girl, don't worry. This is— it's drag. Drag is like the most unserious thing. I think that's something to remember too, especially when Drag Race makes it so important and special. It's like, this is the silliest thing that I do. I think in my mind, if you really think about it, I'm like, me dressing up like this is like the funniest, silliest thing I can do. So I always remind myself that it's not that serious.

Yeah, I don't take it seriously.

Yes. Uh, but yeah, so we go through the judging. The bottom 2 are announced as Arizona and Ivory. The top 2 are announced as, um, Vinyas, and surprisingly it was Kitty Space. And the thing is, people backstage, the queens who were untucking, they were like, "Hmm, I don't think she's in the top." And then when they came back and they're guessing, they're like, "We thought Suki Doll and Vinyas would have been in the top. We thought Arizona would have been in the top." And Kitty's kind of feeling in her feels. She's just like, "Well, that doesn't make me feel good." And Suki Doll, being the Miss Congeniality that she is, is like, "Sisters, we need to make sure that she feels valued because this is her moment. She won. We need to celebrate that." And then we get another really intense moment. Arizona breaks down, cries. Yeah, because she feels bad.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Like she said, she did so bad in her season with the design challenge and she studied sewing, studied fashion. I don't know about fashion, but—

Well, yeah, so she studied garment making, perhaps, or making— What I'd say is like, even when I was watching her season, seeing it from her lens kind of gave me some more insight on how she felt about it because I loved her on her season.

Yes.

She was so funny and like, you're right, I was looking forward to watching her lip sync because she's such a good entertainer and she was the runner-up. Yeah. But from her perspective, she was saying that she did so bad, that's why she was always lip syncing. Yeah. And she knew that however bad she did, she'd be able to redeem herself in the lip sync.

Yeah.

Which I was like, I didn't even think about it from that perspective. I was just like, yay, Arizona's lip syncing.

I saw it from a trauma response point of view because she broke down like, oh yeah, very— she was so traumatized by that first experience.

Yeah, and she also noticed that she was— in 3 episodes, this is the first time a Filipino queen was in the bottom. Yeah, so she also felt that pressure too, of like, all of us have been doing so well. Yeah, I was just on the top last week and now I'm in the bottom. So I think all of that hit her at once.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And Biniaz, you know, when she had to choose between the 2 of them, she was like— I— if any— if anything, the validation came from Biniaz by saying, should I eliminate The, uh, biggest competition. My biggest competition or my biggest crush.

I thought that was so funny.

I was like, oh, and I agree with Vinyas. Yeah, I think Arizona Brandi is that strong that she can absolutely—

yeah, she was— it's interesting, she was just lip-syncing against her last week, and this week she's pulling— she could pull her lipstick.

Yeah, yeah.

Um, so what they didn't show us— they didn't show us this week of each of the top queens talking to the bottom queens. Mm, yeah, we didn't see them talking one-on-one, so I'm curious. Yeah, no negotiation, no pleading. I think everybody said what they needed to say, or maybe they did, we didn't see it. Yeah, but I noticed that. I was like, oh, interesting, we didn't get to see that. Yeah, uh, the lip sync song— we go into the lip sync. Kitty, it's Kitty versus Vinas, and it's a song by Pangeana Heels. Yeah, this is my first time hearing the song. I mean, work! Winner winner, I love it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I thought it was so funny. At one point it felt like neither of the girls knew the words But Pangina was lip-syncing every single line.

Did you notice Venus's routine? It felt like it was so choreographed. Is she that good? I think, I think on her own, on the spot, it was very much—

I know it's that style of lip-syncing where you're acting out everything that she's saying. She's like, when she's whacking, she's like doing that, she's whacking. When she's walking, she's walking. And then my favorite part was when she pulled the tips from the audience. Exactly, the imaginary tips. And at the very end, she pulled out real money.

Yeah.

That was beautiful.

That was— it was such a perfect, perfectly choreographed performance, I must say. But who knows, it might have been on the spot, but you know, they have a couple of hours to study the song.

Yeah, because I also noticed this in the back, Bernie was lip-syncing the song. So I think they all knew the song, they all knew the song. So maybe she was thinking about what she would do, but it was very much like a—

yeah, because of her experience, she could just pull that out of her.

Yeah, I, I would, I would, I, I would lean towards that. I think she's just such an experienced, perfect performer that she's just able to do that. Yeah, um, I mean, I felt for Kitty because it's like you're competing in, in a language that you don't speak perhaps as comfortably as your native language, which in her case is French. Yeah, so she flubbed a little bit of the words, but I also noticed Venus didn't know all the words either.

So some of it, but I would say that was one of the most— the best, um, lip sync battle by one person that I've seen in all of Drag Race. Yeah, yeah, um, franchise so far. Okay, you know, wow, that looks really High praise, high praise.

And not just because you're wearing her hair.

No, that's why I question, like, did she choreograph that performance? Or— because everything was on to the beat. Yeah, to the beat. Yeah, very well what she was saying. And, you know, the whacking thing, you know.

Yeah, yeah, she, she, like, everything she was acting it out, she was doing it on the point. Yeah, very, very good job.

And the split by Gahyeon.

Oh yeah, both of them, they're pulling out the stunts.

Yes, yes.

Oh, lovely to see it. Um, ultimately Víñez has decided to be the winner.

Yeah.

Congratulations to Víñez. And then she says, while she's deciding, she's like, who's going to get the karate chop? It's either going to be my biggest crush or my biggest competition.

Yeah.

And she sends Ivory Glaze home.

Yes.

So, uh, goodbye to Ivory. But like we said, don't be sad, girl. You showed such amazing side of yourself. You represent, um, hope for so many people who are in your shoes, who represent, you know, your part of the world. And Arizona gets to slay another day. Yes. At the very end, Ivory is like, if I faint, can I see another episode? And then she faints and someone yells out airtime.

That was funny. Yeah, I thought a good sport.

Yes, very good sport. But yeah, so that was this week's episode. Yeah. So what would you say was your biggest— what did you take away the most from this episode?

Like, if you imagine yourself to be there, The, the design challenge for me was a revelation that you really need to strategize what to do, especially when you're presented with materials that can be predictable in a way. That's my takeaway. Um, yeah, what was yours?

I think my takeaway is, uh, don't cut up the— don't cut up the leaves. Don't cut up the leaves. Um, and I think the key take— I think what stuck with me the most was the conversation about the pressure of growing up in that kind of household. I think that's what really stuck with me, hearing Ivory's story.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

But I think my favorite look, of course— I mean, I will not stop thinking about Vignes' look. Angelic, like an angel floating down. Yeah, beautiful.

Yeah, 2 Ru badges.

2 Ru badges, and it's only episode 3. She has 2. So next week is a Rusical. Actually, this is— do you have a prediction of who might do well, who might not do well in a Rusical?

It's so hard. Brigeding is a theater actor.

Really?

Okay, trained theater actor.

Well, okay, then my money's on Brigitting.

Yeah, there you go.

Okay, my money's on Brigitting. Okay, let me pick who I think is going to be good from the international girls. Hmm, honestly, I think Suki Doll. Suki Doll might rise to the challenge.

We'll see. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

That's just my guess. Suki Doll and Brigitting are our top 2 for next week. We'll see if we're right or not. We have no idea, but we'll see for sure.

Yeah, this was a really cute episode, I thought.

Yeah, I was really— I really liked it. I mean, it's always— I always feel really inspired when I see other queens making stuff. So like if I'm stoning something or if I'm styling hair or something, I put on these episodes of Drag Race because when they're working in the workroom, it feels like I'm there with them.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So whenever I'm working on something, I like to play an episode like this.

Excuse me, I'm just a human being. Sorry.

Yeah, yeah.

That also, that also, that really made me think like, what would I do if I was there? You know, it really challenges your mind. And I had a lot of imagination and creativity that was going on in my head as well. Yeah.

That's the way to do it.

Yeah, well, thank you so much for watching, and this has been Slazian Persuasion. I always say Slazian Royale.

Slazian Royale. Well, yeah, this is the Slazian Persuasion watching Slazian Royale. Yes, and I am Virgígia Please, and I am Calypso, and we'll see you next week for episode 4. Bye!