READING IS FUNDAMENTAL: both Latrice and Valentina have won the Reading challenge before, so they are competition; and we never got to see Jasmine or Gia read; so that could throw out some surprises. Ultimately... it was far less funny than either All Star 2 or 3, no-one slayed it (the house down). I watched the Extra Reads on LogoTV and actually my favourite one was Manilla's to Valentina "Have you tried eating your make-up? So you'll be pretty on the inside too." Farrah was unsurprisingly bad, as usual. She's just not an All Star. Monet telling Trinity she's so plastic when she dies they'll bury her in a recycling bin was HILARIOUS. And I was disappointed in Valentina's to be honest, maybe she needs to know the queens better to read them more? Latrice won, and she had some good moments "Jasmine Masters: welcome to a season that someone will give a sh*t about". But I think both Alaska and Ben would have won over her for their seasons.
READING TROPHY: I would have actually given it to Naomi Smalls. She was surprisingly hilarious; and that surprise element I think should have trumped Latrice (who we expected to be good). "You're so dumb you thought Valentina was your friend", "Too bad you couldn't soak up a win" and on the EXTRA reading she tells Trinity "since you got beat by a Peppermint why does your breath still smell of sh*t". HA!
TALENT SHOW
I will prefix this by saying: I'm not a massive fan of queens lipsyncing for the talent show. This is an oppountity to show us something new, a talent we didn't know you had, not give us something we've seen (and will see) you do. It's just very unoriginal. I think Valentina was smart to use (potentially this only) opportunity to show she can lipsync, BUT she should have done it to Alaska's "Valentina" song and give us full on uber comedy. It would have been very surprising and could have won her the challenge. Latrice SERVED it with her flag routine, she moved and bucked and split, I was living (though her outfit needed some blue lip). The previous talent show winners both did burlesque so Farrah was both smart (and foolish) to give us that. It was smart to use a winning formula but foolish to so instantly compare herself to Roxxy and Ben if she wasn't going to deliver a new twist the contrast would hurt her more. It was "just" burlesque and wasn't massively entertaining even before she slipped on her dress (*insert crickets*). Gia Gunn... I wrote her off as talentless but actually her Kabuki performance was beautiful. It was smart to pick a high art, like Thorgy's violin performance, Ru was never going to put a high art in the bottom (if done well) EVEN if it wasn't that thrilling. It was a good call, and the glitter and fan twirling, the surprises; I loved it. I would have put her in the Top 3. Naomi had a great concept, but I think she should have shown us that wig reveal earlier. Had she done a song about fashion and modelling and beauty while looking busted through-out, it would have been even funnier. Instead it was just funny at the very end. She could have revealed saggy breasts too, really go for it. And Trinity, while enjoyable, wasn't a scene stealer. That screen needed to be used more, maybe pull up her dress to really imply she was tucking live. It was good, but (for me) needed to up the comedy even more. It could have gone further (Carson even said that). Killer concept, that didn't push the envelope hard enough BUT she gets major props for originality.
TALENT TROPHY: Manilla Luzon. It was so unexpected and original. I loved the gag that it was upsidedown, she gave us comedy and the reveal of her "two-in-one" look was great, but I don't think she needed to hide it, show us that epic reveal. It was refreshing, and I love Greig's "In the Hall of the Mountain King" as a piece of music, she slayed.
LIPSYNC
(Mariah Carey's "Emotions"). I said earlier All Stars is about improvement and showing growth as well as redemption. Monique Heart redeemed the fact she didn't know her words BUT that wig. In the history of All Stars Ru has never dragged a winner like that, having to tell her how to tape down her wig... that was embarrassing (though the wig hanging from the ceiling was hilarious). Trinity though... she didn't do a Trinity lipsync, she stood her ground, she was funny, which mattered a lot and shows another feather in her bow. She is demonstrating growth, where as Monique was giving us redemption. Trinity wins, which I agree with (and it was unsurprising considering Ru HATES wigs coming off) and she saves her season 9 sister. Which I agreed with. Farrah is still showing us zero talent but she did prepare stuff, Jasmine not even preparing... she deserved to go home just for that. This is All Stars, do the work. |