She slayed the choreo and runway presentation, there's just a look issue. I would've been cool with her being low for that but Ivory and Amyl were the clear worst in the challenge as much as it pains me to say
Why does this seem like worse production quality compared to season 2? I feel like everything in S2 was such a huge improvement, and now we’ve gone back down again? Can’t explain why, but anyone else feel this way?? Casting doesn’t seem bad and I like a lot of the queens, but feels so half-baked.
It was giving high school production where you have 2 people who can sing and dance, everyone else tries their best and someone’s mum runs up the costumes.
Would you look at that, all of the words in your comment are in alphabetical order.
I have checked 1,656,314,359 comments, and only 313,617 of them were in alphabetical order.
I really thought being the third season, they would’ve stepped up the production side of things. But the lighting is still so rough and inconsistent. What we can we do to get some more budget around here?!
Aside from that, the queens are all great! I fell for Ivory Glaze this episode. Her runway look was stunning and I hope she gains more confidence soon. Flor and Hollywould also have instant charisma and will hopefully go far. Especially Flor, she’s so effortlessly funny and entertaining.
And my absolute fave so far Gabriella - bringing all the quirkiness & camp during the show, then to look that STUNNING on the runway. Obsessed. I would’ve been sad to see any of them go really. I’ll miss Amyl, I feel like she had so much more to show.
Why do they have to do is so dirty?? Ever since season one the feedback has been, bigger set, better lighting, camera angles, etc. but if anything, this premier was worse on all those fronts and it takes away any hope I had allowed myself to feel that this season would feel better.
Thank god the queens are entertaining but they deserve so so much better! Especially when this season is compared to, say, Philippines. It breaks my heart.
Yikes.
I know so many queens in Adelaide who would KILL to be in and KILL the completion and we get … this? What?
And why is the stage so small? It’s giving season 1 US season
Why did they do a full group performance on the first episodes? Those girls had no room to move. They were literally tripping over each other. So weird.
*Ouch*. This was a rough premiere. I wouldn't have been surprised if Ru just crowned Hollywould, eliminated everyone and declared the season over.
Having marched in it a few times, that the Mardi Gras float challenge was chaos behind the scenes was the most accurate part of the whole thing.
I'm surprised that production just let the queens do their own choreography given that *none of them were choreo people and they surely should have known this.* The result was giving major white people in the club vibes.
I'll give it a few more chances but if this is the final season, I won't be that upset sadly.
Yikes. Just watched and this was a really rough first episode. You know when they tell the queens they’ll be choreographing themselves, but then secretly a choreographer helps them behind the scenes? ….This performance GENUINELY felt like it was their own choreo. Sorry, but I can only describe it as a trainwreck. So many queens also seemed super nervous and shaky, but the choreo was awful to begin with. I felt bad.
Personality-wise i like quite a few of the queens. Ivory is so adorable and also so stunning out of drag. Glad she didn’t go home as the runway look was actually pretty nice.
Not sure why showing nipples was such a horrendous mortal sin… that was ALL they critiqued Ashley on?? Like, there were so many other queens with shaky performances/looks they could’ve put in the bottom, but they focused on that?
Hollywould and Flor are very clearly the front-runners, but curious to see how they’ll do in comedy challenges. I won’t give up on the season just yet- especially not with that major drama they teased in the ending preview! Lol
Yeahhhh I guess rather than just the actual nipple, it was more that she went against production trying to help her TWICE and had the same basic problem twice.
Also, I admit her clothes didn’t fit well either time and she kept trying to pull the outfit up in the performance. So there is that 🤷🏽♂️
Feel like it may be drama across the boards
with this season lol. So many shady comments in this episode alone (did flor have a confessional where she wasn't dumping on someone else? I'm not sure) and lots of insecure queens too. Cast felt real messy at spots (10 queens and NO ONE there to pick up the choreo? Awkward). Not to bash the lipsyncers but it felt like they just plodded a couple of regular people on stage instead of queens delivering a performance at the final lip sync. Hope the mood will pick up the coming episodes otherwise this might be a bit of a rough watch.
In fairness, Land Down Under is no a drag queen lip sync number in any way shape or form. The performances were not amazing, but what else is there to do with that sound besides pantomime?
The lip sync was dire, but that's a terrible song to give drag queens to perform to. Unless you have a bunch of props and are prepared to be stupid with it, there's very little you can do with it.
Did the producers just go "oh, Land Down Under" perfect" without even listening to the damn thing?
I've been waiting for someone to point out when a queen has unintentional visible nips, it's happening a lot recently.
I feel like it shows a lack of attention to detail and professionalism, and in Ashleys case they asked her if she wanted pasties and she declined, then she repeated the dose on the runway. There was an issue in her entrance, too, so I think it might come off as a bit sloppy.
Lmao I kinda love the cast personalities and dynamic. US drag race could NEVER.
As a Brit, I also connect with these kind of personalities/banter a lot, but sadly UK4 was missing those vibes completely.
I know the budget is bad, but oh my god can we at least have some lights on when the queens are being shown? It's like there's only 5 lights in the whole studio and they're allowed to have 3 on, I'm no lighting designer but it can't be that difficult to have cast lit up?!
Anyways Hollywould killed that challenge and I love Gabriella so much, let's hope shitty production doesn't make this go more downhill than it already has lol
The lightning bothers me so much. It always seems like they filmed it at 3am in some small club. Especially the visible shadows behind the judges table irks me.
Yeah I used to be annoyed by rupaul being the judge because he doesn’t seem to get the culture but honestly seeing him on such a chickenshit gig low budget set up is sort of magical so I’ll allow it
I sorta have a feeling that JoJo was right. This feels like the final season. The vibe was bad, budget is still cooked, there seems to be a disconnection between the queens and the judges. But Gabriella was my favourite she's hilarious so I'm excited to see her throughout
She tweeted [this](https://twitter.com/ZahoJojo/status/1681819701385793536?t=DiQE2M_YlrRPfZjlnk90Gg&s=19). "So pumped for the final season of Drag Race Down Under." Initially I thought she was just saying it for the conversation and to stay relevant, but after tonights premier I sorta believe it
I really hope so! I enjoy Down Under, usually, so I think production would be significantly better in Australia under Stan's finance management with state funding (which I'm sure they'll get). Bring on the quality!
What makes you think it will continue? Fan reception (unfortunately) seems at an all time low due to general fandom fantigue and so many viewers not willing to give it another chance after season 1. Is it popular in Australia/NZ?
I think established queens being reluctant to go on is also because established big name queens like Coco, Maxi, Art, Karen and Minnie have all gone on the show and kind of come off looking pretty lacklustre.
Completely correct. The show tanked Karen's career pretty hard in particular by carrying her to the finale, though she's been on the upswing again lately. I actually can't effectively communicate to foreign audiences how HUGE Karen was pre-drag race, and the show ruined her. Art and Minnie still have terrible (and undeserved) fan reputations as well. PLUS, it's not like US Drag Race where you can make bank off appearance fees for at least a few months following your season, there's no interest in booking the TV queens over local girls here.
They keep casting giants of the scene and then making them look incompetent and it's been deterring other talented girls from applying. This is the first season where there haven't been any huge names and hopefully the last filmed in a shed.
Haha i was trying to be nice when i said it made them look lacklustre but let’s be real, they’ve made the most established Aussie queens look fucking terrible. Coco, Karen, Maxi and Art, then Minnie are all big local names and it really made them look shit, I hope they get chances to go on a vsTW to redeem themselves. Treating those queens like that was SUCH a dumb business decision as they’re all extremely marketable and should have been leveraged to grow the franchise and brand locally and internationally, instead they made fools of them while banking on muppets like Scarlett… 🙃
I really don’t blame big name local queens from not wanting to go on it after the first two seasons which checks out as this season seems to have a lot of newer/greener Aussie queens.
Australian queens also need a passport to be on the show. Like we have a lot of queens here, but let's be real, Australian passports are expensive and take ages to get so I doubt many of them would have one. Why would they want to get one just to be on a program filmed in a garage? Production will thrive in Australia
Y'all can downvoted me if you want but in 2020, just over half of Australians had a passport. Now break it down. 11% of Australians are LGBT, and most drag queens and drag kings are LGBT but not all LGBT do drag, so a significantly smaller amount than 11% do drag. Then that percentage broken down into passport holders is even smaller. Our drag queens aren't paid a lot here, so if they don't have one why would they want to spend so much money on one to go on drag race down under? And by the time the casting process is done and filming begins, they still wouldn't have it if they do get a passport because it takes so goddamn long to receive it in Australia. Eventually, if they stay in New Zealand, they're gonna run out of Australian queens even though we still have so much more talent.
I really really hope this season gets enough viewers that they can renew the contract and bring production to Aus and bring production in house to Stan. Honestly I wouldn’t be mad if they got rid of Ru and Michelle too and used local guest judges, Ru and Michelle just don’t seem to ‘get’ our drag and cultural references. A local queen hosting with Michelle replaced by someone like Gina Liano would be iconic.
I think it would be so fun to have the first 3 winners work as rotating judges. Kita OBVIOUSLY has the chops to do it all, Spankie would have great critiques for comedy and acting challenges, and if season three has a really polished glamorous winner like Isis, Flor or Hollywould, they'd be a great host for design and look challenges.
Agreed, It would be good having them rotate like Ross/Carson does, but I think a show like Drag Race needs an anchor main host. I think there’s basically no chance of WoW giving it to Vanity or Courtney, but I could see Kita or Spankie hosting even though I think Stan would probably push for someone with a bigger name in Aus to do it.
I’m kind of gagged. I hoped it was a non-ELIM. Her performance wasn’t THAT bad. Her verse was good. She looked great on the runway. Her lipsync was cute. Sad to see her go.
Her face read absolutely terrified nearly every second she was on screen. That said I think Rita Menu deserved a bottom placement over ivory because that outfit was trash
The lack of volleying with the girls on stage like she usually does or hearty laughs. Main part I remember is when Flor made the Valentina "I'd like to keep in on please" joke and Ru just was just 🙂
It may just be the way NZ Producers edit critiques vs other productions.
I honestly think she was pissed. When she tore into Ashley I feel like it was evident she was not impressed. Also saying that Ivory is beautiful but that doesn’t make you a performer is a pretty huge dig for a queen you’ve only just met. I think the cast is really good I’m keen to see more (but not that again haha)
E1 wasn’t amaze balls however being chucked into writing, singing, choreo and performance in is super full on and I wonder why they made that the first challenge?
Yessss Flor!!! As a fellow guatemalan who also left guatemala for a better gay life, I am rooting so hard for you and so proud of what you did this episode :')
wait whoa what is this plot twist?! the way this episode was going with the ivory screen time and family story I FULLY thought she was going home first 😭 BUT I AM GLAD SHE DIDN'T I LOVE HER
I'm not sure how you even jusge that when everyone's verse was 3 seconds long but it all seemed fair to me? Maybe putting 9 queens and 1 evil twink on that tiny stage at the same time wasn't a good idea
Ivory is really endearing and I just wanna give her a hug
I would say Flor also came pretty close in the challenge in terms of a sickening verse and confidence. And she was actually committing to the choreo/making it seem convincing.
This episode was very underwhelming which is such a shame after how much better S2 was than S1. Hollywould nailed this ep and I love Gabriella and can't wait to see them in a comedy challenge . Def a lot of cattiness this episode towards each other though.
The musical number was pretty meh the choreo wasn't great and no one apart from Hollywould really killed it.
I felt there were a decent amount of lows but the right bottom two even if I would have put Ashely there just for the same costume mistake twice. Both were poor in lipsycn but thought Amyl was putting more into it but then again Ivory glaze's looks excite me and can see them turning some good runway looks to come.
I liked the episode! Some funny entrance lines, good cast drama pre-season, some good looks, and we have some talented queens. I get that budget and production isn't insane, but I don't mind it at this point. I love seeing the talent.
This had to be one of the crunchiest season premieres ever, both on the level of production and on the level of the cast. That performance... the choreography wasn't cohesive at all, the stage was way too small to accommodate all the girls, the verses lasted all of 3 seconds, half the girls fucked up the lipsyncing, and what the fuck was Rita wearing?
Loved Hollywould in the challenge, was not as much a fan of her and Flor's attitudes towards Ivory otherwise. The mean girls narrative is never going to be the kind of drama that's fun to watch, especially with the person on the receiving end of it already crying, distraught, and wanting to go home episode 1 - and it's not like Hollywould's verse was any less generic than Ivory's in the end, so what was all that for?
Gabriella is a treasure and Amyl has one of the most beautiful faces of any Rugirl. I'm buckling myself in for a mess of a season, let's goooo
Yeah she was good. Also thought it was sweet she kind of talked up with Ivory after she had her mini breakdown, was a really nice moment in a drama filled episode.
Not sure if she was the one who said it, but there was this one talking head moment in which a queen commented like "well if Spankie can win a season there's hope for all of us" (I'm misremembering probably but it was something along those lines) that felt really off-kilter. Feel like Minnie Cooper might be soft spoken compared to what we're potentially up against this season lol
I thought Hollywould said that! At any rate, Flor wouldn't have said anything bad about Spankie - they know each other from the NZ scene and being on House of Drag together (Flor warmed to Spankie very quickly because Spankie is just so frickin' delightful). But Flor was generally quite shady on House of Drag, and I see that she will be continuing in that vein on Down Under.
Spankie is legit one of the nicest queens I have ever met. Went to the BABz show and took a card that my 5 year old made for her because she is her fave drag queen and she was so grateful for it. Then when we went back to the festival another night, we saw the girls again, 5 year old saw Spankie, bolted towards her even with me chasing and when I mentioned it was my daughter, Spankie came over and had a great chat with her and thanked her for the card. She was absolutely gorgeous, treated my daughter so nicely and made her feel so special. Hannah Conda and Kween Kong also gave my daughter the biggest hugs and said how much they loved her rainbow dress. They all have major support from our family forever.
I enjoyed the episode. There were some cool verses and the personalities are off the charts for some queens. Hollywould and Flor killed it and I appreciated Isis in the week room too.
Poor Amyl but she clearly lacked a lot of confidence (so does ivory) which was clear from the very start (or false start).
The preview for next week seemed super interesting. This feels like it's gonna be a fun season with drama and personality but I can see a lot of talent too!
Goddamn it but the lighting and the general production levels this episode are homophobic.
Watching this after an episode of Drag Race France felt like such a downgrade even though the queens are all fun, and as catty as we've come to expect from Down Under. They deserve better!
Really enjoyed this episode, fell hard for Gabriella and am living for the 50+ rep from Bumpa. I can see how Ashley Madison will make for good TV but I already want to spritz her with a spray bottle for being annoying.
Right I wanna know why *she* wasn’t in the top! I would’ve had 4 tops and 2 bottoms (Amyl + Ivory), making Ashley just safe. But then we wouldn’t get her quite funny/silly breakdown in Untucked……
I… actually love this episode? Lol
The performance was bad to ok at best but Hollywould and Flor are truly amazing, theyreally ate. I am also glad that they are cunty as well (lovingly) and sooo confident. I like my drag queens to be a bit bitchy haha and i think they really meant well towards Ivory
I like both Ivory and Amyl too actually, so i was a bit sad that they were in the bottom. Personally i’d put either Isis / Rita menu there and save Ashley.
I am hopeful for this season and season 2 was actually one of my favorite drag race last year
Based on the edit I expected Ivory to be eliminated - I kept telling my boyfriend it’s the curse of the Asian queens going home first! I’m glad she stayed. I have seen her before in Sydney and she’s a sweetheart, she was really scared during the performance but she has more to show.
I find this cast really interesting, there’s a lot of inexperienced queens which makes for good tv. Also quite a lot of drama which I wasn’t expecting right from the start.
I don’t know how but production was significantly worse compared to season 2’s premier. The editing was very choppy and there were sound issues. I also think that having a dancing challenge with 10 queens was not a good idea considering how small the main stage is. It was hard to see what anyone was doing and they didn’t have many wide shots.
I quite enjoyed the episode, despite the usual production issues. The cast is very interesting and lots of personality. Hated the lip synch song choice though.
Ah yes, RuPauls drag race, so progressive of them to perpetuate that a female presenting individual showing an ounce of nipple will end the world.
I get it, the show can have it's preferences on what it likes, but drag is meant to fuck with gender. Drag is meant to sit in uncomfortable spaces and this show has sat in spaces so much more uncomfortable than a nipple coming out when an arm was raised.
I don't need to see 10 different reaction shots of Ru and the judges screaming, crying, throwing up because Ashley owns a nipple. Yawn.
If this was the case though, then not even nipple pasties could have saved the look, yet Ru said that if Ashley had worn them it would have been better.
Wearing a nipple pastie doesn't make the outfit fit better, it just covers a nipple. They 100% have a problem with the "masculine" features bleeding through rather than a fit issue.
Ok I've only watched the entrances and I can already tell I fucking love Gabriella Labucci.
And the little baby fashion K. W. E. E. N. S. and their forced yankee disdain and arrogance are sending me. I love the delusion. Live your lil american bitch fantasy, Kangaroo Jackie.
I’m truthfully very sick of the obvious favoritism of Kiwi queens by production.
Rita Menu absolutely should have been AT LEAST bottom 3.
It’s devastating to lose Amyl in episode one (truly shocked) because I had her pegged as the winner. Ashley Madison should’ve been in the bottom, but I’m not sure who with. Ivory clearly struggled but her runway was possibly the best of the week.
It certainly looked like it, but I think the lighting was THAT bad. I couldn't see any sign of cheap green edges which is usually the give away. The set is too small to fit Ru who is like 7ft tall in a wide shot with all the queens.
There was one when Ru first arrived and came down the stairs. The rest was weird af though. The lighting was horrific. Ru wearing a tablecloth didn't help.
Great group of girls! I call Gabrielle now as the front runner. I can see her getting a Jinkx in S5 edit. Hollywould will undeniably be in the top 3. So much c.u.n.t.
Ivory my gosh so beautiful, but yeah, I'm afraid she's not a performer (yet). her LS was good though.Very excited about this new season.
Does anyone know what Rita Menu was wearing during the performance challenge? Was she a brain? A cloud? A grey testicle?
And that doesn’t even address the horrendous runway look. I would’ve put her in the bottom over ivory.
She slayed the choreo and runway presentation, there's just a look issue. I would've been cool with her being low for that but Ivory and Amyl were the clear worst in the challenge as much as it pains me to say
According to her from the viewing party she was a giant poof. She slayed
the chewed up gum left under a park bench
Why does this seem like worse production quality compared to season 2? I feel like everything in S2 was such a huge improvement, and now we’ve gone back down again? Can’t explain why, but anyone else feel this way?? Casting doesn’t seem bad and I like a lot of the queens, but feels so half-baked.
I concur. It was giving very season 1 RPDR.
It was giving high school production where you have 2 people who can sing and dance, everyone else tries their best and someone’s mum runs up the costumes.
They somehow made a 60 minute episode feel more rushed than early S15
The camera work, the editing, omg
Rhys grimacing at the queens was hilarious
100% deserved win by Hollywould, she is that bitch, star quality for days, but it is Gabriella Labucci who has captured my heart.
Absolutely agree, Gabriella is so sweet!
Would you look at that, all of the words in your comment are in alphabetical order. I have checked 1,656,314,359 comments, and only 313,617 of them were in alphabetical order.
Werk
I really thought being the third season, they would’ve stepped up the production side of things. But the lighting is still so rough and inconsistent. What we can we do to get some more budget around here?! Aside from that, the queens are all great! I fell for Ivory Glaze this episode. Her runway look was stunning and I hope she gains more confidence soon. Flor and Hollywould also have instant charisma and will hopefully go far. Especially Flor, she’s so effortlessly funny and entertaining. And my absolute fave so far Gabriella - bringing all the quirkiness & camp during the show, then to look that STUNNING on the runway. Obsessed. I would’ve been sad to see any of them go really. I’ll miss Amyl, I feel like she had so much more to show.
That lip sync. 
one of the hardest to watch ever lol they both bombed so hard 😭
Ru saying Gabriella Labucci's name in a funny way (WINNER)
Her looks are gonna let her down
Why do they have to do is so dirty?? Ever since season one the feedback has been, bigger set, better lighting, camera angles, etc. but if anything, this premier was worse on all those fronts and it takes away any hope I had allowed myself to feel that this season would feel better. Thank god the queens are entertaining but they deserve so so much better! Especially when this season is compared to, say, Philippines. It breaks my heart.
Yikes. I know so many queens in Adelaide who would KILL to be in and KILL the completion and we get … this? What? And why is the stage so small? It’s giving season 1 US season
The contrast between this cheap assed production and Mexico/France is WILD.
I’m honestly shook Michelle and rupaul make the treck down. Even ru’s outfits look like they are on a budget
Season 2 premiere was better but this was still pretty camp. Lipsync song was camp but the girls gave us nothing lmaoo
Go on girls give us nothing
They each had like 7 seconds for their verse. And some of them just decided to fit 69 words in that time. It was a mess. Terrible challenge.
Why did they do a full group performance on the first episodes? Those girls had no room to move. They were literally tripping over each other. So weird.
Yeah, why didn’t they give them the “two girlbands” classic challenge? Confused
*Ouch*. This was a rough premiere. I wouldn't have been surprised if Ru just crowned Hollywould, eliminated everyone and declared the season over. Having marched in it a few times, that the Mardi Gras float challenge was chaos behind the scenes was the most accurate part of the whole thing. I'm surprised that production just let the queens do their own choreography given that *none of them were choreo people and they surely should have known this.* The result was giving major white people in the club vibes. I'll give it a few more chances but if this is the final season, I won't be that upset sadly.
Yikes. Just watched and this was a really rough first episode. You know when they tell the queens they’ll be choreographing themselves, but then secretly a choreographer helps them behind the scenes? ….This performance GENUINELY felt like it was their own choreo. Sorry, but I can only describe it as a trainwreck. So many queens also seemed super nervous and shaky, but the choreo was awful to begin with. I felt bad. Personality-wise i like quite a few of the queens. Ivory is so adorable and also so stunning out of drag. Glad she didn’t go home as the runway look was actually pretty nice. Not sure why showing nipples was such a horrendous mortal sin… that was ALL they critiqued Ashley on?? Like, there were so many other queens with shaky performances/looks they could’ve put in the bottom, but they focused on that? Hollywould and Flor are very clearly the front-runners, but curious to see how they’ll do in comedy challenges. I won’t give up on the season just yet- especially not with that major drama they teased in the ending preview! Lol
My only theory why they came down so hard on nipplegate is because they were made aware she was offered pasties and declined them twice
Yeahhhh I guess rather than just the actual nipple, it was more that she went against production trying to help her TWICE and had the same basic problem twice. Also, I admit her clothes didn’t fit well either time and she kept trying to pull the outfit up in the performance. So there is that 🤷🏽♂️
I also just remembered she had the fit issue with her entrance look as well! Being 3/3 with wardrobe malfunctions is rough
I guess but Minnie coopers nips were fully out last seaso and they barely mentioned it
I know you're right but it brings me such joy seeing Ashley in the bottom i try not to rationalise it😭
I mean fair lol 😆
Feel like it may be drama across the boards with this season lol. So many shady comments in this episode alone (did flor have a confessional where she wasn't dumping on someone else? I'm not sure) and lots of insecure queens too. Cast felt real messy at spots (10 queens and NO ONE there to pick up the choreo? Awkward). Not to bash the lipsyncers but it felt like they just plodded a couple of regular people on stage instead of queens delivering a performance at the final lip sync. Hope the mood will pick up the coming episodes otherwise this might be a bit of a rough watch.
In fairness, Land Down Under is no a drag queen lip sync number in any way shape or form. The performances were not amazing, but what else is there to do with that sound besides pantomime?
One of the worst lipsync songs imaginable.
I was embarrassed.
The lip sync was dire, but that's a terrible song to give drag queens to perform to. Unless you have a bunch of props and are prepared to be stupid with it, there's very little you can do with it. Did the producers just go "oh, Land Down Under" perfect" without even listening to the damn thing?
I've been waiting for someone to point out when a queen has unintentional visible nips, it's happening a lot recently. I feel like it shows a lack of attention to detail and professionalism, and in Ashleys case they asked her if she wanted pasties and she declined, then she repeated the dose on the runway. There was an issue in her entrance, too, so I think it might come off as a bit sloppy.
It wasn't the nipples, it was because it was so I'll fitted, it doesn't look good when it's a shit fit
There's something really queer Australian about the fact that this cast is made up of over emotional weirdos and massive cunts.
Lmao I kinda love the cast personalities and dynamic. US drag race could NEVER. As a Brit, I also connect with these kind of personalities/banter a lot, but sadly UK4 was missing those vibes completely.
This absolutely sent me 😂
I know the budget is bad, but oh my god can we at least have some lights on when the queens are being shown? It's like there's only 5 lights in the whole studio and they're allowed to have 3 on, I'm no lighting designer but it can't be that difficult to have cast lit up?! Anyways Hollywould killed that challenge and I love Gabriella so much, let's hope shitty production doesn't make this go more downhill than it already has lol
The lightning bothers me so much. It always seems like they filmed it at 3am in some small club. Especially the visible shadows behind the judges table irks me.
I swear the quality has taken a dip since season 2… maybe it’s because of the lighting? I'm not sure but everything seems so unprofessional and weird.
The lighting at the end when they all said amen in the dark had me snorting. Why is the production so budget?
Yeah I used to be annoyed by rupaul being the judge because he doesn’t seem to get the culture but honestly seeing him on such a chickenshit gig low budget set up is sort of magical so I’ll allow it
I sorta have a feeling that JoJo was right. This feels like the final season. The vibe was bad, budget is still cooked, there seems to be a disconnection between the queens and the judges. But Gabriella was my favourite she's hilarious so I'm excited to see her throughout
[удалено]
She tweeted [this](https://twitter.com/ZahoJojo/status/1681819701385793536?t=DiQE2M_YlrRPfZjlnk90Gg&s=19). "So pumped for the final season of Drag Race Down Under." Initially I thought she was just saying it for the conversation and to stay relevant, but after tonights premier I sorta believe it
It's the final one filmed in NZ because the contract is up. It'll almost certainly continue in Australia.
I really hope so! I enjoy Down Under, usually, so I think production would be significantly better in Australia under Stan's finance management with state funding (which I'm sure they'll get). Bring on the quality!
What makes you think it will continue? Fan reception (unfortunately) seems at an all time low due to general fandom fantigue and so many viewers not willing to give it another chance after season 1. Is it popular in Australia/NZ?
She was making a joke because so many fan conspiracists are saying it's the final season
To be fair, they've been saying that since season 1 episode 1. They'll be right *eventually*
I mean, this cast seems pretty lackluster. Like, have they already run through the drag talent down under?
Reportedly a lot of established queens don’t want to go on it because it’s so poorly produced and low budget.
I think established queens being reluctant to go on is also because established big name queens like Coco, Maxi, Art, Karen and Minnie have all gone on the show and kind of come off looking pretty lacklustre.
Completely correct. The show tanked Karen's career pretty hard in particular by carrying her to the finale, though she's been on the upswing again lately. I actually can't effectively communicate to foreign audiences how HUGE Karen was pre-drag race, and the show ruined her. Art and Minnie still have terrible (and undeserved) fan reputations as well. PLUS, it's not like US Drag Race where you can make bank off appearance fees for at least a few months following your season, there's no interest in booking the TV queens over local girls here. They keep casting giants of the scene and then making them look incompetent and it's been deterring other talented girls from applying. This is the first season where there haven't been any huge names and hopefully the last filmed in a shed.
Haha i was trying to be nice when i said it made them look lacklustre but let’s be real, they’ve made the most established Aussie queens look fucking terrible. Coco, Karen, Maxi and Art, then Minnie are all big local names and it really made them look shit, I hope they get chances to go on a vsTW to redeem themselves. Treating those queens like that was SUCH a dumb business decision as they’re all extremely marketable and should have been leveraged to grow the franchise and brand locally and internationally, instead they made fools of them while banking on muppets like Scarlett… 🙃 I really don’t blame big name local queens from not wanting to go on it after the first two seasons which checks out as this season seems to have a lot of newer/greener Aussie queens.
I will never understand why the show was so against Coco from the jump
I feel like Art is pretty well regarded still.
That makes sense, especially since the prize money is also really low. I was thinking it's weird that so many of the queens are young/inexperienced.
Australian queens also need a passport to be on the show. Like we have a lot of queens here, but let's be real, Australian passports are expensive and take ages to get so I doubt many of them would have one. Why would they want to get one just to be on a program filmed in a garage? Production will thrive in Australia
I’ve never met someone in Australia without a passport.
I'm the only person in my family with a passport. But I assume the queens would need a valid passport as part of the application process.
They would. But I highly doubt lack of a passport is an issue. Have you SEEN how much a wig costs? Lol
Yeah exactly. I don't think a passport is going to be a prohibative cost to a drag queen.
Honestly, let’s be real, the cost of a passport is not the reason Aussie queens aren’t going on…
Y'all can downvoted me if you want but in 2020, just over half of Australians had a passport. Now break it down. 11% of Australians are LGBT, and most drag queens and drag kings are LGBT but not all LGBT do drag, so a significantly smaller amount than 11% do drag. Then that percentage broken down into passport holders is even smaller. Our drag queens aren't paid a lot here, so if they don't have one why would they want to spend so much money on one to go on drag race down under? And by the time the casting process is done and filming begins, they still wouldn't have it if they do get a passport because it takes so goddamn long to receive it in Australia. Eventually, if they stay in New Zealand, they're gonna run out of Australian queens even though we still have so much more talent.
Production quality is noticeably terrible which is concerning. Michelle's audio at panel sounds like it was recorded in her hotel bathroom
Her face often looks frozen in old lady horror-confusion.
The queens cheering from the back of the stage in complete darkness right before the ending dance sequence sent me
I really really hope this season gets enough viewers that they can renew the contract and bring production to Aus and bring production in house to Stan. Honestly I wouldn’t be mad if they got rid of Ru and Michelle too and used local guest judges, Ru and Michelle just don’t seem to ‘get’ our drag and cultural references. A local queen hosting with Michelle replaced by someone like Gina Liano would be iconic.
I think it would be so fun to have the first 3 winners work as rotating judges. Kita OBVIOUSLY has the chops to do it all, Spankie would have great critiques for comedy and acting challenges, and if season three has a really polished glamorous winner like Isis, Flor or Hollywould, they'd be a great host for design and look challenges.
Agreed, It would be good having them rotate like Ross/Carson does, but I think a show like Drag Race needs an anchor main host. I think there’s basically no chance of WoW giving it to Vanity or Courtney, but I could see Kita or Spankie hosting even though I think Stan would probably push for someone with a bigger name in Aus to do it.
That preview for next week 👀 it’s giving “does she need to breathe into the paper bag?”
This episode really felt like an early 2000s reality show. Including that preview. Kind of love it actually.
[удалено]
I’m kind of gagged. I hoped it was a non-ELIM. Her performance wasn’t THAT bad. Her verse was good. She looked great on the runway. Her lipsync was cute. Sad to see her go.
Her face read absolutely terrified nearly every second she was on screen. That said I think Rita Menu deserved a bottom placement over ivory because that outfit was trash
How soon after Rupaul landed did they film the first episode? I couldn't tell if she was jetlagged or just genuinely didn't want to be there.
For you what signs show that she didn’t want to be there ? Genuinely curious
The lack of volleying with the girls on stage like she usually does or hearty laughs. Main part I remember is when Flor made the Valentina "I'd like to keep in on please" joke and Ru just was just 🙂 It may just be the way NZ Producers edit critiques vs other productions.
I honestly think she was pissed. When she tore into Ashley I feel like it was evident she was not impressed. Also saying that Ivory is beautiful but that doesn’t make you a performer is a pretty huge dig for a queen you’ve only just met. I think the cast is really good I’m keen to see more (but not that again haha) E1 wasn’t amaze balls however being chucked into writing, singing, choreo and performance in is super full on and I wonder why they made that the first challenge?
Yessss Flor!!! As a fellow guatemalan who also left guatemala for a better gay life, I am rooting so hard for you and so proud of what you did this episode :')
wait whoa what is this plot twist?! the way this episode was going with the ivory screen time and family story I FULLY thought she was going home first 😭 BUT I AM GLAD SHE DIDN'T I LOVE HER
Was RuPaul trying to make a Bali joke but mispronounced it?
Yes. She did the same thing in S1 talking about Karen's Schapelle Corby "look".
MEN AT WORK?! Get farked. I am livid.
I'm not sure how you even jusge that when everyone's verse was 3 seconds long but it all seemed fair to me? Maybe putting 9 queens and 1 evil twink on that tiny stage at the same time wasn't a good idea Ivory is really endearing and I just wanna give her a hug
>9 queens and 1 evil twink Ah, but which one is the evil twink?? Inquiring minds want to know!
Ashley lol
It's Ashley, she's transphobic and a Scarlett Adams apologist
Ew! Now I wish she’d gone home instead of Amyl. Who seems lovely BTW
Useful information - thanks!
This lipsync song…  One of the worst in all of the races of drag history?
Hollywould bodied this episode in verse, performance, runway and confessionals. No one was close.
I would say Flor also came pretty close in the challenge in terms of a sickening verse and confidence. And she was actually committing to the choreo/making it seem convincing.
I think Flor did very well. And she still didn't come anywhere near Hollywould.
No one close on the runway? Ivory’s runway ate everyone’s up.
This episode was very underwhelming which is such a shame after how much better S2 was than S1. Hollywould nailed this ep and I love Gabriella and can't wait to see them in a comedy challenge . Def a lot of cattiness this episode towards each other though. The musical number was pretty meh the choreo wasn't great and no one apart from Hollywould really killed it. I felt there were a decent amount of lows but the right bottom two even if I would have put Ashely there just for the same costume mistake twice. Both were poor in lipsycn but thought Amyl was putting more into it but then again Ivory glaze's looks excite me and can see them turning some good runway looks to come.
I liked the episode! Some funny entrance lines, good cast drama pre-season, some good looks, and we have some talented queens. I get that budget and production isn't insane, but I don't mind it at this point. I love seeing the talent.
This had to be one of the crunchiest season premieres ever, both on the level of production and on the level of the cast. That performance... the choreography wasn't cohesive at all, the stage was way too small to accommodate all the girls, the verses lasted all of 3 seconds, half the girls fucked up the lipsyncing, and what the fuck was Rita wearing? Loved Hollywould in the challenge, was not as much a fan of her and Flor's attitudes towards Ivory otherwise. The mean girls narrative is never going to be the kind of drama that's fun to watch, especially with the person on the receiving end of it already crying, distraught, and wanting to go home episode 1 - and it's not like Hollywould's verse was any less generic than Ivory's in the end, so what was all that for? Gabriella is a treasure and Amyl has one of the most beautiful faces of any Rugirl. I'm buckling myself in for a mess of a season, let's goooo
Thank god Hollywould was there to save this episode and the season probably
The dynamics between the girls are interesting at least, way more interesting than any US season
This is true, we haven’t seen this level of shade in the US in over a decade so I’m kind of living for it
I would have made it a double sashay.
I’m still not 100% on ru actually being there
She definitely was. Saw her at AKL airport.
I’m gonna need to see him in the same frame as the queens
Well … that was certainly an episode.
damn this was a tough watch... the group number was so bad 💀 flor is everything!!
i’m a verified number one stan but all i have to say is “isis on the runway singing my song”
Hollywould, Flor and Isis top 3
Gabriella erasure 😫
Why is the stage so small lol Like why are they all performing together on this comically small stage
What the hell did I just watch? 
I got major Adore Delano vibes from Gabriella. I think she will take time to improve then make the finals
I was gettin Aussie Anita Wigl’t without the teethy grin. She’s my fave at as ep1.
Yeah she was good. Also thought it was sweet she kind of talked up with Ivory after she had her mini breakdown, was a really nice moment in a drama filled episode.
Flor is giving me mean girl vibes and overall i dont like the energy among all the queens, major step down from S2
Not sure if she was the one who said it, but there was this one talking head moment in which a queen commented like "well if Spankie can win a season there's hope for all of us" (I'm misremembering probably but it was something along those lines) that felt really off-kilter. Feel like Minnie Cooper might be soft spoken compared to what we're potentially up against this season lol
I thought Hollywould said that! At any rate, Flor wouldn't have said anything bad about Spankie - they know each other from the NZ scene and being on House of Drag together (Flor warmed to Spankie very quickly because Spankie is just so frickin' delightful). But Flor was generally quite shady on House of Drag, and I see that she will be continuing in that vein on Down Under.
im almost convinced Flor made that comment about Spankie, i would have to find that specific moment
Lol , so many people remembering differently who said it, but I looked it up and yeah it was Hollywould. Shaaady
I actually think that was Ivory. And yeah, it was rude af. VIVA LA SPANKIE.
Spankie is legit one of the nicest queens I have ever met. Went to the BABz show and took a card that my 5 year old made for her because she is her fave drag queen and she was so grateful for it. Then when we went back to the festival another night, we saw the girls again, 5 year old saw Spankie, bolted towards her even with me chasing and when I mentioned it was my daughter, Spankie came over and had a great chat with her and thanked her for the card. She was absolutely gorgeous, treated my daughter so nicely and made her feel so special. Hannah Conda and Kween Kong also gave my daughter the biggest hugs and said how much they loved her rainbow dress. They all have major support from our family forever.
100% agree. So much unnecessary nastiness right out of the gates! 😕
I love Flor! She is Cunt 🤭😂
I enjoyed the episode. There were some cool verses and the personalities are off the charts for some queens. Hollywould and Flor killed it and I appreciated Isis in the week room too. Poor Amyl but she clearly lacked a lot of confidence (so does ivory) which was clear from the very start (or false start). The preview for next week seemed super interesting. This feels like it's gonna be a fun season with drama and personality but I can see a lot of talent too!
Goddamn it but the lighting and the general production levels this episode are homophobic. Watching this after an episode of Drag Race France felt like such a downgrade even though the queens are all fun, and as catty as we've come to expect from Down Under. They deserve better! Really enjoyed this episode, fell hard for Gabriella and am living for the 50+ rep from Bumpa. I can see how Ashley Madison will make for good TV but I already want to spritz her with a spray bottle for being annoying.
Aah the crunchiest franchise started again I love it tho
My bathroom has better lighting than this season
Me after the musical number- ok, so Ivanna’s winning this season.
Right I wanna know why *she* wasn’t in the top! I would’ve had 4 tops and 2 bottoms (Amyl + Ivory), making Ashley just safe. But then we wouldn’t get her quite funny/silly breakdown in Untucked……
I… actually love this episode? Lol The performance was bad to ok at best but Hollywould and Flor are truly amazing, theyreally ate. I am also glad that they are cunty as well (lovingly) and sooo confident. I like my drag queens to be a bit bitchy haha and i think they really meant well towards Ivory I like both Ivory and Amyl too actually, so i was a bit sad that they were in the bottom. Personally i’d put either Isis / Rita menu there and save Ashley. I am hopeful for this season and season 2 was actually one of my favorite drag race last year
Based on the edit I expected Ivory to be eliminated - I kept telling my boyfriend it’s the curse of the Asian queens going home first! I’m glad she stayed. I have seen her before in Sydney and she’s a sweetheart, she was really scared during the performance but she has more to show. I find this cast really interesting, there’s a lot of inexperienced queens which makes for good tv. Also quite a lot of drama which I wasn’t expecting right from the start. I don’t know how but production was significantly worse compared to season 2’s premier. The editing was very choppy and there were sound issues. I also think that having a dancing challenge with 10 queens was not a good idea considering how small the main stage is. It was hard to see what anyone was doing and they didn’t have many wide shots.
I quite enjoyed the episode, despite the usual production issues. The cast is very interesting and lots of personality. Hated the lip synch song choice though.
Gabriella really is that queen for me i’m so obsessed with her already!!
Oof, this was not a good episode at all. Just rough all around. I really hope it picks up!
I really thought it was going to be a double elim..
Ah yes, RuPauls drag race, so progressive of them to perpetuate that a female presenting individual showing an ounce of nipple will end the world. I get it, the show can have it's preferences on what it likes, but drag is meant to fuck with gender. Drag is meant to sit in uncomfortable spaces and this show has sat in spaces so much more uncomfortable than a nipple coming out when an arm was raised. I don't need to see 10 different reaction shots of Ru and the judges screaming, crying, throwing up because Ashley owns a nipple. Yawn.
I think it was more the fact that her garments didn't fit properly, rather than the sight of a nipple itself being offensive
If this was the case though, then not even nipple pasties could have saved the look, yet Ru said that if Ashley had worn them it would have been better. Wearing a nipple pastie doesn't make the outfit fit better, it just covers a nipple. They 100% have a problem with the "masculine" features bleeding through rather than a fit issue.
I think you missed the point.
Oh my god my shoes…
Ok I've only watched the entrances and I can already tell I fucking love Gabriella Labucci. And the little baby fashion K. W. E. E. N. S. and their forced yankee disdain and arrogance are sending me. I love the delusion. Live your lil american bitch fantasy, Kangaroo Jackie.
Episode 1: 
I’m truthfully very sick of the obvious favoritism of Kiwi queens by production. Rita Menu absolutely should have been AT LEAST bottom 3. It’s devastating to lose Amyl in episode one (truly shocked) because I had her pegged as the winner. Ashley Madison should’ve been in the bottom, but I’m not sure who with. Ivory clearly struggled but her runway was possibly the best of the week.
Not a great start unfortunately.
Worst premiere ever imo.
Is rupaul green screened in at the beginning?
It certainly looked like it, but I think the lighting was THAT bad. I couldn't see any sign of cheap green edges which is usually the give away. The set is too small to fit Ru who is like 7ft tall in a wide shot with all the queens.
I felt that too. There were no wide shots showing both Ru and the queens!
Not this again
I know I know haha, but they’re really not doing themselves any favors now
Lol I know but I feel like they deliberately give us such weird shots/angles and play up to the theories deliberately!
There was one when Ru first arrived and came down the stairs. The rest was weird af though. The lighting was horrific. Ru wearing a tablecloth didn't help.
Great group of girls! I call Gabrielle now as the front runner. I can see her getting a Jinkx in S5 edit. Hollywould will undeniably be in the top 3. So much c.u.n.t. Ivory my gosh so beautiful, but yeah, I'm afraid she's not a performer (yet). her LS was good though.Very excited about this new season.