Snatch Game... OF LOVE???? Snatch Game is THE challenge people wait all season for... why mess with what works? There are 8 episodes in All Stars: Variety Show, imitating famous women in a dance, Snatch Game, final dance rap/song. Add in a ball, and a make-over, you still have two episodes to play with. WHY mess with one of the staples? The celebrity wall in All Star 1 was terrible (though Chad's Bette Davis was great). THAT SAID this wasn't awful, it still worked, and the format was basically the same (celebrities asking questions to queens impersonating famous women, having to improvise funny and relevant responses). I feel like it was an attempt to combine Snatch Game and AS3's hilarious "the Bitchelor."
SNATCH GAME OF LOVE
TEAM GUS.
- Monet, Monet, Monet... why? You did so well as Maya Angelou, WHY did you rely on props, and planned segments? She didn't sound like Whitney, didn't really look like her. I was very disappointed.
- Naomi's Wendy Williams... I was shocked. She didn't look like Naomi, it was an excellent impersonation; and funny to boot. Naomi had a lot to redeem after her season's Snatch Game put her in the bottom, and she delivered. She's a sneaky queen; her consistency this whole season is very impressive and if others underestimate her, it will be at their detriment.
- Valentina's Eartha Kitt. I didn't even clock it was her, FABULOUS look. The voice = nailed it. It just... wasn't funny. In her season Valentina shrewdly had planned ways of avoiding answering questions, and I feel in trying to replicate that she missed the point of Snatch Game. But as "bottom 2" Snatch Game performances go, this doesn't even scratch the Top 20 worst Snatch Game performances; so it's not a massive fumble in the grand scheme of things. A shame, it wasn't actually that bad, and Ru CLEARLY hasn't seen the Emperor's New Groove (2000).
TEAM KEIYNAN
- Manilla's Barbra Streisand. I didn't even realize it was her at first, just fantastic. It was a delightful caricature, that just gets better each time you watch it. It's so out-there, but one of the best tongue-in-cheek performances we've seen in a long time. She didn't embody Barbra, she sent her up, and I was loving every moment.
- Monique Heart as Tiffany Haddish. It was good, it redeemed her last Snatch Game, that is certain. But I didn't get much Tiffany; except when she was talking about her superpower, that was very funny.
- Latrice was Della Reese. I don't know who that is, and after this episode I still have no idea. Which is how you know it's a bad performance.
- Gia's Jenny Bui. Dayum. It's up there. It's up there with Kenya Michaels as one of the biggest train wrecks in Snatch Game history. I felt so bad for Latrice; she deserved better. BUT at-least the next day Gia didn't try and defend it, she knew it was appauling and she owned it. I respected the lack of delusion (RE: unlike Vixen's thoughts on her Snatch Game)
SNATCH TROPHY: Trinity. It was excellent, no-one can deny that. The voice, the stance, the responses; she bulldozed everyone out the way and it was magnificent. I'm not sure it should be called "one of the greatest" Snatch Games PURELY because I have seen the videos of Sharon Needles playing Caitlyn Jenner on the touring Snatch Game, and... it's very similar. Except Sharon's walk was funnier, and she does this one eyelid shut thing that's hilarious. I gave the same criticism to Alexis Michelle season 9 as Jinx does an AMAZING Liza on the same tour.
CATEGORY IS... Boots, the House Down
This very much reminded me of Season 10's "Hats on the Runway"; and in that comparison I was left severely wanting. Lots of cool looks, just very few of them screamed "BOOTS" to me. A runway category is always a challenge, you have to obey the category, but not get lost in it; but also not lose the concept (which is what happened to a lot of them). Valentina's concept was excellent, even though it didn't work. Monique's wolf boots were so awesome, if she had elevated that Little Red Riddinghood idea further, she'd have won the runway (I mean HOW were those star-spangle'd shorts anything to do with the fairytale?) And I felt Manila hopping down the runway was at-least fabulous, if more bondage than boots to me.
BOOTS TROPHY: Got booted. No-one stole it. It was a poor runway day, and no-one deserves this trophy.
SIDE NOTE: I am no drag queen, never done it... but... part of my degree involved costume design at university and if I had that concept, I'd have done an all black glitter body, devil face, black horns, nails, tail; and the ONLY colour would be flame red thigh high boots up to the crotch, with flames on them. THAT makes it about the boots.
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For me, this is where the real drama began: the deliberation. Now I could be wrong, but I feel this season's true fight is about one thing: Trinity vs Manila. Even when the promo came out, I just had a gut feeling it will come down to a final battle between these two FIERCE queens; and based on Snatch Game stats, I might be right. It's a genuine war built on a desire to win (unlike the fake drama of Gia vs Farrah). I feel this is an attempt to replicated the building final showdown between Ben and Shangela on AS3 (which sadly all went tits up). And this episode was the first time that very real battle lines were drawn. Trinity was full on lioness, determined to save her Valentina cub; whether it was pulling Manila aside to see if she could be persuaded, or preparing Valentina for the worst, Trinity came off so well in this episode. And as a side note, I am surprisingly touched by the blossoming friendship between Trinity and Valentina. It was unexpected and I loved that. And then we have Manila. If Trinity is a fierce lioness, Manila is more a serene queen, like a Greek goddess of old, she is almost above it all. AND YET she brought such tender support and understanding to Gia, for the first time ever, Gia actually seemed human and vulnerable. Manila gave us a genuine moment with Gia and only a great queen can bring out someone's true heart (I'm reminded of Asia trying to bring the Vixen away from her 'angry' persona). Manila's conversation with Valentina... hmmmm... I'm very happy Valentina stood her ground, and I get where Manila was coming from, and was surprised how much the idea of an alliance was looked down upon, considering every season has done it. But as we went to the lipsync, I had no idea how this would play out...
LIPSYNC
(Whitney Houston's "How Will I Know") Both are fierce lipsyncers, but from the first moment Manila had this in the bag, she embodied that carefree romance of an 80s girl in love. It's was the perfect synching of performance to song (think Latrice bringing it to church, or Jinx delivering schtick). I wasn't a massive fan of blocking Trinity TWICE, but I'll let it pass. Both delivered, it was another impressive showing for Trinity. For whatever reason Manila has decided it's fair to send Gia home, and it was the right choice. BUT I was on the edge of my sofa waiting for her to reveal that lipstick. It was GREAT TV. Manilla totally Shangela'd Valentina with her speech. As the words "I've wanted this longer... " left her lips, I was GAGGED! And if we thought the battle had ended (for now) with a justified elimination, you'd be wrong. Manila goes to hug Valentina (praise for her mercy), and Trinity DIVES in first and not only hugs Valentina but holds her in the hug, completely c*ck-blocking Manila. Manila may have won the lipsync, but Trinity won this episode's battle. It was sooooo good to watch, it had to be fattening.
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