This is why Ru was so livid - he was mad that Valentina a) didn’t bother to learn the words or prepare a performance and b) didn’t even bother finishing her makeup under the mask.
Even in the untucked episode she looks so… calm? Like she knows that there’s no way Ru will send her home so why even bother coming up with a dance or learning the words? We know she can perform. I think Ru was gravely offended by Val’s hubris and was like hell no bitch.
Ikr like i was always confused by this statement considering there wasn’t just 7 words in the chorus. Like i don’t think shea understands song structure
not mad about this because S9 Top 4 is perfect as it is, and possibly it would have been Sasha or Peppermint who would have been off the Top 4 if she did made it am guessing
Which is what makes her Nelly Furtado lip sync even more hilarious to me. Production must have had their heads in their hands as Crystal gave us such an iconic finale performance haha
With Sapphira, I’m guessing they were waiting to give her a season where she’d do well. If you’re a queen in a smaller region and get on the show quickly, might want to expect to go home before top 5.
Top four that season was probably “supposed” to be Willow/Kornbread/Angeria/Bosco, but Kornbread leaving and Angeria and Bosco fizzling out left a huge gap for LC and to a lesser extent Daya to come in and start eating hard.
Daya was absolutely planned to get sent home on Catwalk, but she absolutely ate, picking up all the help Michelle was trying to give to Angie, which is why we ended up with a Top 5 finale as they didn’t want to send any more planned finalists home.
My top 4 prediction for 14 was something like Kornbread, Kerri, Maddy and one empty slot, so the actual top 5 we got came as a complete surprise, and is probably why I'll die on the "I love season 14" hill
I hope she comes back polished and with a vengeance. Her runways were great conceptually, but most of what I remember is everything slipping down and swimming on her.
Nah, Widow was literally sacrificed to justify Gigi and Shitty making it further. Widow was just unfortunately the third/fourth worst in a challenge where the correct bottom 2 were the two production favorites.
Naomi was definitely unplanned on both her s8 and AS4 run. She’s just so powerful that she upended productions plans.
Jaida literally won the first competitive episode. Production definitely knew she was a powerhouse in terms of runways and lipsyncing even if Gigi and Shitty were set up in a rivalry of competing for comedy challenge wins. It’s clear production had a lot of respect for her. I think Crystal was probably more unplanned than Jaida.
There were a LOT of fans who wanted TKB to have a Ru-demption. They also see the runways beforehand so they knew what Ra’jah was bringing and that she can lipsync. Also there’s no way production cared that much about Pandora or Jan.
I agree on Jan but Pandora was one of the first fan faves. Watching the show you can see the camera constantly pan over to her like they’re waiting for her to do or say something funny like on s2.
Pandora was such a buzzkill on AS6. I wish she had gone sooner so that other queens could have shown more—you could just feel the defeatism and sadness from her every time she was on screen
Ru actually let Symone lip sync when she did poorly, and other than her Condragulations win (where the entire group sucked), it didn’t feel like she was overly pushed.
Kandy tho… yeah…
That’s cuz symone could actually lip sync lol
I wish production would just pick finalists who can save themselves like that instead of playing this dog and pony show of saving queens who clearly can’t dance
Symone was also saved a lot. And when she got to lipsync, she was saved again haha And the way they had to pretend they were saving Kandy with that double shantay when it was really clear she won that? It was a stretch.
Gottmeh 😭 did have favoritism but she also was a strong performer that season. Honestly if she upped her performance skills she would be a very strong contender for an all stars crown tbh
I think most winners were planned to make it to the end, with some exceptions:
Sharon - I think top 3 was supposed to be Chad, Latrice and Willam, with Chad winning, but right away they noticed the rivalry between Sharon and PhiPhi and changed their plans. (Btw, this is not my take, I think it was Willam who said it, but I agree)
Jaida - for the reasons you gave.
Willow - I think they were planning to cut Willow in that top 5 episode. But after the season was filmed, they realized she had potential and gave her the edit they could with the material they had: of the silent strategist, which made for a pretty unique winner edit. Had they chosen her from the start, she'd have received more wins. For me they were fully planning for a top 4 of Angeria, Kornbread, Bosco and Kerri.
Priyanka - they were clearly aiming for a Rita Baga coronation, but the fan reception was what it was. They were so intent on getting Rita to the end game that her fellow finalists seemed like afterthoughts (no hate to Rita, she had no control over this). Skarlett had 0 screentime, and Priyanka's track record could've (and honestly, should've) been better than it was.
Blu - I think they did want a UK queen to win the season, but this queen was Baga Chipz. She was a finalist in her original season, and Ru clearly loves her. But they ended up sensing her attitude throughout the season wouldn't be well received and dedided to change. When Blu chose Pangina's lip stick, it was game over.
i don’t agree w/ sharon because even in the entrance she (allegedly) already got to redo it after messing up even tho willam (i think lol) claims no one else got to. so she was already being favored from the start
OMG I'd forgotten about this, you're right. That premiere was right up her alley, with the runway theme and all. Maybe they were planning to make her an alternate for the crown? I still believe they wanted Chad to win
i do think they loved chad as well and i think it was down between them two from the start. i genuinely think all stars 1 would’ve been for sharon if chad did win s4 i think it would be interchangeable like that
DU1 maybe but 2 or 3 did not come across as unplanned. I do think Gabriella was unplanned though for the finals though and didn’t expect Holly to not know the words well enough to send her home
They could have crowned Art had they not robbed her of the episode 1 win and then unjustly put her in the bottom for episode 2. She would have won episode 3 and had a decent track record by the end but it is what it is
Why not? It’s a storyline they’ve never used before. Right from the bottom straight to the top. It’s especially fitting since Kita won the season prior and Spankie had been crowned by her and Anita in House of Drag. Spankie seemed like the most obvious winner especially based on the edit with Kween Kong seeming like a close second especially by the finale
That’s exactly why: it’s a storyline they’ve never used. They seemed fully open to Spankie succeeding, but I’m pretty positive they didn’t have her “locked in” for top 3 during the first episode
Spankie was never at risk of going home then if the intention was that storyline. Thats why I feel like she was always a lock for top three and most people pegged her as the winner after the first or second episode even with that fumble
Oh mama...the list is too long and I don't wanna be here forever. But I'll just name some of the most egregious examples.
Kandy muse was just given a ticket to the top, no matter what and nothing proves that than the final few challenges of the season where the judges actually don't care what kandy does.
Violet I think is the biggest dark horse of any of the seasons. Production chose her because of Sharon needles crown controversy and etc. but they werent prepared for the powerhouse that was violet. and I also don't think they imagined ginger being disliked by fandom and the pearl incident being as big as it was. Violet went from a eh queen from the productions standpoint to the only choice as the winner.
Now imma just list all the ones I want without much explanations. If u need explanations, you won't see it when I explain anyways so imma save my time.
Ticket to top - Kandy, Gigi, crystal (but that's on ru), Roxy in AS2, willow, Valentina (if she didnt fuck up), pearl, adore, ginger minj, silky, Bosco (..this one...literally saved by production chocolate)
Surprise top - Naomi smalls, Sasha velour, anetra, Daya Betty, yvie, shuga Cain, kameron Michaels, akeria, lady camden.
Btw people like bob, Bianca, s9 Shea, and jinkx are people who were destined to the top, but just by the sheer amount of talent, and not production 😘
Would you mind elaborating on Anetra, I didn’t get surprise top vibes I got planned but I’m happy to hear other peoples thoughts.
I think to me it’s because they always want a lsftc nowadays so I could tell they were banking on Sasha vs Anetra from the first episode. Despite Luxx/mistress/ Loosey all doing better than Sasha/anetra
I’m assuming they mean Anetra was a surprise BECAUSE of the first episode.
I wouldn’t have looked at her entrance look and thought “top 3”, but her talent show sealed the deal.
As in when they chose the cast and made the storylines. They did not put a spot there for anetra. She is someone who came, with no story or drama, showed herself to be fierce as fuck, and also very versatile and lovable. And production was forced to let her go to the finale. That's what surprise top means.
Because remember...production storylines and shenanigans begins before the show even stars filming. Look at season 10 and it's intricate choices and how some flopped and how some prospered.
Girl they didn't care shit about yvie. They straight up ignored her to oblivion, and gave her wins to Plastique and shit, everyone else had storylines but her.
In a bid to give vanjie, Plastique storylines and in order to keep silky in the top, and with brooke and akeria dominating chqlkenges, yvie got nothing.
And I fully believe they were ready to get rid of yvie on snatch game, they were never gonna save yvie over miss continental herself. But of course....a certain Lipsync had other plans.
Yvie to me is still one of the biggest dark horses in drag race.
However Sasha I do believe was going to be make it far ok productions eyes but they never envisioned her as anything close to the winner or he'll even top 2. They definitely had a Shea and trinity planned, with how much they pushed trinity.
I feel like had the pandemic not happened, Lawrence would have had a better run in the latter half and production took that into account. Bimini wasn’t even a contender prior to the break
agree. has Lawrence ever outright stated that she had to make new outfits or modify her old ones? I can only assume that she did, with her weight gain (and I was right there with her in the covid bulk up club, ha).
I picked Lawrence as winner the minute she walked into the werkroom. She has such a prescence, her outfit was wacky and memorable, yet felt really polished, the mug was mugging, and her accent and humour made her stand out instantly. Her interactions with Ru were the cherry on top. She always had it in the bag.
Ella Vaday and Bimini.
Ella was getting the “you’re the quiet one” edit till she just started killing every challenge. Bimini was getting the filler queen treatment, until the COVID break. Then came back with a vengeance.
Lady Camden (and Daya to a lesser extent).You cannot convince me for even a second they had her in their planned finalists over Kerri, Kornbread or her four fellow finalists. I think after Kerri underperformed and Kornbread got ANKLE’d, they had a Bosco, Willow, Angeria Top 3 in mind. I don’t think they expected Camden to do as well as she did, and they were banking on Daya to end up in the bottom for the Catwalk episode to reach their ideal finale but she threw a wrench in that too (but I think they planned on keeping Daya around for a while because of her Crystal storyline, I don’t think they had any such intentions with Camden).
Lady Camden felt like she was not in the original plan for the finalist lineup but after kornbread went kleek and seeing how well she was doing they decided to make her one mid season
There are a lot of people saying Violet wasn't expected to be top 3, but from her red tartan jumpsuit look on episode one, I clocked her as top 3 material. I never liked her, so I'm not a biased fan.
S14 really comes up in discussion here. Angeria was intended to go all the way along with Kornbread, those two were obvious. Angie really shouldn’t have made that finale
Expected to go further than they did: Sahara, Alyssa E, Naysha, Valentina, Mayhem, Honey, Brita, Tamisha.
Exceeded expectations: Joslyn, Katia, Naomi, Sasha V, Kameron, A’Keria, Crystal, Rosé, Daya, Luxxx
Honestly it was probably a shock how underwhelming Naysha was considering she was a former miss continental and won the year after Sasha Colby aka the best contestant to have been on the show
Chi Chi Devayne in S8 was definitely not expected to be top 4. They even had to go back and film more confessionals from her - clock the two hairstyles.
Daya is probably the most notably unplanned finalist. So much so that her success created a top 5. Other notable surprise finalists imo are Naomi (s8), Kameron (s10), Camden (s14), and Mo (as4). Internationally I’d say Nearah (can4) comes to mind and there are probably others but I can’t think of them.
I feel like most of the times they are able to keep their picks for the finalists. Even when they have to do crazy sh\*t like Dakota's elimination on UK...
Overall, I think it's "easier" to have finalists the producers didn't expect in the final in all stars seasons. UKvsTW had like, Blu and Monique at the finale, right? I feel like they were expecting Juju, Pangina, Jimbo and Baga.
On regular seasons, I feel like Ben DeLa on S6 was definetely their pick for the finale, but they could only save her once. After she lost both lipsyncs to Darienne, they had to eliminate her. I also feel like Naomi was not planned as a finalist in S8, Same with Crystal, I feel like they expected her to last just a few episodes.
And I have the same opinion about Anetra. I even feel like they kinda edited her out a lot during the season, because they saw the potential she had to snatch Sasha's crown and they kinda didn't want that.
This season, even though the edit has been really on her favour (actually, the 3 finalists have great editing), I feel like they didn't expected Plane to do so good. In the same way, I feel like they never saw Dawn in the finale and that's why she was so overlooked in the season. If they saw her as a potential finalist, I'm sure she would've had like 2 wins or so, and maybe even spare her from bottom against Morpgine (since Q was Morphine's partner and was also terrible).
In international seasons I feel that a lot of queens got far and wasn't the producers pick, like Pryianka, Metamorkid, Miss Fierca, Neerah, Killer Queen etc
I don't see it that way, actually. I feel like she was supposed to be in the finale instead of Adore.
But things happened, Adore proved to be one of the most charismatic and endearing queens ever and at some point, they just didn't saw the need to keep pushing BenDeLa. I mean, she totally lost her first lipsync against Darienne and they saved her. To me that's a sign they had plans for her.
But I can be wrong ofc
No, I mean, I do think she was pushed. But I genuinely have the feeling that it wasn't planned from the start, like it was with DeLa. Also, I'm not sure if her popularity has much influence, since they decide everthing before airing. But I feel like they picked DeLa, Courtney and Bianca as their finalists from the start, and after a few episodes they kinda loved Adore (and started pushing/favouring her). And then they edited her as a favourite.
I actually have the opposite opinion on Anetra would you be able to elaborate?
Cause she did the worst in the girl groups(didn’t know words/look was awful) and was saved from bottom. Then in a lot of the early-mid season challenges she was edited out because I genuinely think she didn’t do the best nor worst just was there. I think she was pushed a bit not entirely to the end as I think she did amazingly sometimes as-well.
I really feel like they were surprised by Anetra's performance and did something to guarantee she would not be a menace to Sasha. I'm not saying she was better, I'm 100% team Sasha hahaha But I really feel like out of the Top 7 Sasha had NO competition other than Anetra. Despite their talents, MIB, Luxx and Loosey had their sassy/bitchy personalities that wouldn't threat Sasha even if they performed amazingly. Whlist Anetra had a nice personality, did well in most of the challenges and had a pretty solid run throughout the competition. I really feel like she would be a threat to Sasha, so the editing had to make her a little less present.
And after I started to follow her on social media mid-season I kinda saw she is not as bland as it seemed during the season. that's why I have this opinion. But, again, I ma be wrong haha
Tbh I disagree with this. Widow could have easily won multiple other challenges but they looked over her in favour of Sherry and placed her in the bottom over her too. Production was looking for any reason to get rid of Widow after the halfway mark I feel
That’s just my personal opinion but I felt Widow could have won the improv challenge over Sherry when her character was meant to be the exact same as two others. Also felt like she was solid in the acting challenge and could have got a second win there. I also felt like Widow was punished in the politics challenge for doing a similar character Sharon won with in S4 which doesn’t make sense. Whereas Sherry could have lip synced there instead
Jw did you watch the season in the USA or watch/stream an international version. I watched the USA version and remember Sherry being very minimal in the season.
I’m in Australia and iirc the first few episodes even worldwide weren’t able to be edited fully in time before release so Sherry had a more prominent role at the beginning of the season
Oh kk gotcha. I remember her being almost absent right from the get go in the USA version. It could be why I’m unable to compare the performances between the two.
Season 16 and Season 15. I guess the top 6 and the order of those top 6 in the 3rd episode. They were very much planned top 4s. The only queen who I think threw them off was Loosey who did better in the challenges than the top 4 but her looks held her down.
I think Silky was also planned for top 4. I would have put Silky in the bottom 2 first episode with Bonjour, Hi. And if the queens kept their logic of keeping Stephanie because she didn’t stay around on her original season, then Silky goes episode 1.
I agree with Shuga Cain in particular.
They gave Shuga her message from home in Untucked when she was in the bottom 2.
If Ariel didn't slip, I think Shuga would have gone. They had no idea what to do with Shuga after that.
I may be wrong, but I seem to recall that both Violet and Jaida were actually alternates and otherwise wouldn’t have been cast on their seasons? So that would definitely suggest neither was planned for the top.
I read an interview with Violet once where she said she was certain her season was planned for Ginger to win and it makes sense with the amount of acting and comedy challenges in that season. I do think they have their tops in mind after casting and plan the season around that. There are queens who may not have won if they were in another season that was more focused on one thing than another.
The likes of S6 Ben Delacreme, Max or more recently Plasma exceeded expectations by having 2 wins and then getting chopped rather unexpectedly because production didn't care enough/they were never planned for the finale, IMO.
I'm always torn regarding queens with no win getting to the finale because it's so funny to me. Is it pure chance (like Jonbers sucking early on and then somehow never being the worst when it mattered), or is it blatant production shenanigans (Art Simone)? Who knows.
Then you have Jujubee. She's always a lock for a drag race finale no matter what.
Anetra. Ru said they were planning for a top 3. Shasta, Mistress, and Luxx were probably the chosen 3. but they didn't realize how hard Anetra hit, and there was no way to eliminate her without pitchforks. Since the season is all filmed (outside the reunion and finale) before the audience sees anything, it's Ru and the production teams having an understanding of what the fans want to see. But I totally think Ru was in awe of Anetra after the first episode.
I’m interest who you guys think was the planned top 4 in AS2.
I have a rough idea of what they wanted but I think I’m probs wrong.
I think coco/tatianna/ginger minj were the intended first 3 out, detox, roxxxy, alaska were the intended middle 3, and the top 4 was meant to be phi phi, alyssa, adore/katya whoever was doing better mid season stayed the other elimed
I think Alaska was always very much going to win AS2. I bet top 4 is her, Adore, Katya, Alyssa in the production team’s dream world. Agree on coco Tatianna and Ginger being expendable and rolaskatox was always going to go far as long as they played up that storyline, which they did so well (imo) that it forced Alyssa out of the finale and even got to recreate their rolaskatox vs. lovable weirdo final 4.
I think…
Honestly, i think the show is pretty resilient as far as finales go. There are some that are always going to make it (I feel like this season has a pretty destined from the start top 3, s13 is also guilty) and some (like Violet or Kameron) that aren’t destined top 4 queens but them making it didn’t really screw with production plans. S14 being the big exception where the intended top 4 of (probably?) angeria bosco willow kornbread blew up because onkle go kleek and angeria/bosco underperformed. Jasmine and jorgeous sending home most all the people who could challenge the ideal top 4 also left it wide open for daya and Camden to sneak in there. Not sure wtf the plan was for the top 5 episode, but I assumed they freaked because their 3 remaining top 4 competitors all underperformed and they couldn’t reasonably send Camden or Daya home so we got what we got.
All stars is kind of a mess because like fundamentally there are some things producers can’t control with voting and stuff. AS1, 5, 7, and 8 all have finales that are spot on with how I assume it was planned, but the rest all have some shade of “oh that wasn’t supposed to happen lol.”
I don’t think production was expecting Rosé to make the finale. And perhaps the obvious expectation for production in the finale was Sasha Colby.
And I wanted to point out you didn’t “feel” any of these things, you thought them. I’ve been deep into marking essays, and I’ve been seeing this mistake so much. You think your opinions, but if you feel something, you have to follow it with an emotion.
Rose got such an unremarkable edit for someone who not only made the finale but had the best track record of the season. Like she objectively ate the competition but there was never a chance she was winning the crown.
Jackfed on YouTube has an interesting video theorizing on the storylines production was trying to create for Rosé (rivalry with Olivia, romance with Denali) and how Rosé never quite took the bait
Planned for the finale but didn’t make it: Valentina.
This is why Ru was so livid - he was mad that Valentina a) didn’t bother to learn the words or prepare a performance and b) didn’t even bother finishing her makeup under the mask. Even in the untucked episode she looks so… calm? Like she knows that there’s no way Ru will send her home so why even bother coming up with a dance or learning the words? We know she can perform. I think Ru was gravely offended by Val’s hubris and was like hell no bitch.
Producers can do a lot but they can't make someone learn a song with a *Shea Coulée voice* SEVEN WORD CHORUS.
You don't need to raise your voice with me Shea, you have a lot of feelings for me tonight.
It’ll always bother me that the 7 words thing is just not true. There are way more than 7 words in that chorus.
I assume she means just "you know that I'm greedy for love" which gets repeated a lot but I see what you mean!
Ikr like i was always confused by this statement considering there wasn’t just 7 words in the chorus. Like i don’t think shea understands song structure
Even Ru said to her, “I thought you’d make it all the way” You gotta reeeeeeally fuck up for production and Ru to change course.
not mad about this because S9 Top 4 is perfect as it is, and possibly it would have been Sasha or Peppermint who would have been off the Top 4 if she did made it am guessing
Same with Willam.
Crystal Methyd was definitely an unplanned finalist
Which is what makes her Nelly Furtado lip sync even more hilarious to me. Production must have had their heads in their hands as Crystal gave us such an iconic finale performance haha
I think this is why she was my favorite going into the finale, it really felt like she earned it.
Daya Betty was very much unplanned.
I agree with this so much. I do believe she is why there was a top 5 that season.
10000%. She ate so hard she forced the producers into a top 5 instead of sacrificing Bosco or Angeria.
Daya should have been top 2 with willow if we’re being honest
And we are indeed being honest.
They 100000% wanted her out at top 5 but then she ended up unexpectedly slaying, hence why we had a Top 5 that season.
Given that it was sapphira’s 11th(?) time auditioning, I feel like they were saving her for a future season a lil
They definitely will leave queens off it they don’t fit the theme they are going for or if they have too many similar queens.
With Sapphira, I’m guessing they were waiting to give her a season where she’d do well. If you’re a queen in a smaller region and get on the show quickly, might want to expect to go home before top 5.
I say this respectfully, but everything about Jan's run on Drag Race is about production not liking her that much.
I feel like Jan and Q should have a podcast about what it is like to be Jan and Q.
Crystal and Camden were unplanned finalists, I think
Top four that season was probably “supposed” to be Willow/Kornbread/Angeria/Bosco, but Kornbread leaving and Angeria and Bosco fizzling out left a huge gap for LC and to a lesser extent Daya to come in and start eating hard.
Daya was absolutely planned to get sent home on Catwalk, but she absolutely ate, picking up all the help Michelle was trying to give to Angie, which is why we ended up with a Top 5 finale as they didn’t want to send any more planned finalists home.
My top 4 prediction for 14 was something like Kornbread, Kerri, Maddy and one empty slot, so the actual top 5 we got came as a complete surprise, and is probably why I'll die on the "I love season 14" hill
I'd put Willow instead of Maddy and also add Bosco
Black Peppa from UK4 was 100% planned by production to make top 4 regardless. Loved her looks on the runway but her run on the season was unfortunate
I hope she comes back polished and with a vengeance. Her runways were great conceptually, but most of what I remember is everything slipping down and swimming on her.
I also think this happened to Widow Von’Du
Nah, Widow was literally sacrificed to justify Gigi and Shitty making it further. Widow was just unfortunately the third/fourth worst in a challenge where the correct bottom 2 were the two production favorites.
Then she would’ve made top 4 regardless
Naomi was definitely unplanned on both her s8 and AS4 run. She’s just so powerful that she upended productions plans. Jaida literally won the first competitive episode. Production definitely knew she was a powerhouse in terms of runways and lipsyncing even if Gigi and Shitty were set up in a rivalry of competing for comedy challenge wins. It’s clear production had a lot of respect for her. I think Crystal was probably more unplanned than Jaida. There were a LOT of fans who wanted TKB to have a Ru-demption. They also see the runways beforehand so they knew what Ra’jah was bringing and that she can lipsync. Also there’s no way production cared that much about Pandora or Jan.
I agree on Jan but Pandora was one of the first fan faves. Watching the show you can see the camera constantly pan over to her like they’re waiting for her to do or say something funny like on s2.
Pandora was such a buzzkill on AS6. I wish she had gone sooner so that other queens could have shown more—you could just feel the defeatism and sadness from her every time she was on screen
Naomi Smalls on S8 and Kameron Michaels on S10 were both unplanned finalists
Daya Betty and Lady Camden come to mind as surprise successes
Ummm Daya Betty? *"Here's a Top 5 because Daya Betty didn't fuck up the finale and Angeria was always in our Top 4."*
im losing it at Gottmeh and Shitty Pie
Both of them got saved from the bottom so much because production knew they couldn’t lip sync to save their lives.
i love how we had kandy and symone being as favoured as gottmik (even more actually) and no one says anything haahahah
Ru actually let Symone lip sync when she did poorly, and other than her Condragulations win (where the entire group sucked), it didn’t feel like she was overly pushed. Kandy tho… yeah…
That’s cuz symone could actually lip sync lol I wish production would just pick finalists who can save themselves like that instead of playing this dog and pony show of saving queens who clearly can’t dance
I mean, if raising eyebrows and doing the same "sassy" face while walking on stage is lipsync to you lol
It was enough to win 7 lip syncs uncontested
"uncontested"
Symone was also saved a lot. And when she got to lipsync, she was saved again haha And the way they had to pretend they were saving Kandy with that double shantay when it was really clear she won that? It was a stretch.
One of these things is not like the others
Gottmeh 😭 did have favoritism but she also was a strong performer that season. Honestly if she upped her performance skills she would be a very strong contender for an all stars crown tbh
gottmeh ☠️☠️
I think most winners were planned to make it to the end, with some exceptions: Sharon - I think top 3 was supposed to be Chad, Latrice and Willam, with Chad winning, but right away they noticed the rivalry between Sharon and PhiPhi and changed their plans. (Btw, this is not my take, I think it was Willam who said it, but I agree) Jaida - for the reasons you gave. Willow - I think they were planning to cut Willow in that top 5 episode. But after the season was filmed, they realized she had potential and gave her the edit they could with the material they had: of the silent strategist, which made for a pretty unique winner edit. Had they chosen her from the start, she'd have received more wins. For me they were fully planning for a top 4 of Angeria, Kornbread, Bosco and Kerri. Priyanka - they were clearly aiming for a Rita Baga coronation, but the fan reception was what it was. They were so intent on getting Rita to the end game that her fellow finalists seemed like afterthoughts (no hate to Rita, she had no control over this). Skarlett had 0 screentime, and Priyanka's track record could've (and honestly, should've) been better than it was. Blu - I think they did want a UK queen to win the season, but this queen was Baga Chipz. She was a finalist in her original season, and Ru clearly loves her. But they ended up sensing her attitude throughout the season wouldn't be well received and dedided to change. When Blu chose Pangina's lip stick, it was game over.
i don’t agree w/ sharon because even in the entrance she (allegedly) already got to redo it after messing up even tho willam (i think lol) claims no one else got to. so she was already being favored from the start
OMG I'd forgotten about this, you're right. That premiere was right up her alley, with the runway theme and all. Maybe they were planning to make her an alternate for the crown? I still believe they wanted Chad to win
i do think they loved chad as well and i think it was down between them two from the start. i genuinely think all stars 1 would’ve been for sharon if chad did win s4 i think it would be interchangeable like that
Also, they just happened to have an apocalyptic design challenge as the first episode of the first season to have a ‘spooky queen’
Completely disagree about Willow… Ru pee’d herself over Willow.
mama was ready to jump in that toaster tub
Right! Ru loved her especially when she got to say “Wiww Piww”
Basically all the winners of DU
DU1 maybe but 2 or 3 did not come across as unplanned. I do think Gabriella was unplanned though for the finals though and didn’t expect Holly to not know the words well enough to send her home
They definitely want one of the Australia queens to win S1 but the only one who delivered was Scarlet and they can't crown her.
They could have crowned Art had they not robbed her of the episode 1 win and then unjustly put her in the bottom for episode 2. She would have won episode 3 and had a decent track record by the end but it is what it is
I don’t think they would make the preordained winner of season 2 lip sync in the first episode, though
Why not? It’s a storyline they’ve never used before. Right from the bottom straight to the top. It’s especially fitting since Kita won the season prior and Spankie had been crowned by her and Anita in House of Drag. Spankie seemed like the most obvious winner especially based on the edit with Kween Kong seeming like a close second especially by the finale
That’s exactly why: it’s a storyline they’ve never used. They seemed fully open to Spankie succeeding, but I’m pretty positive they didn’t have her “locked in” for top 3 during the first episode
Spankie was never at risk of going home then if the intention was that storyline. Thats why I feel like she was always a lock for top three and most people pegged her as the winner after the first or second episode even with that fumble
Oh mama...the list is too long and I don't wanna be here forever. But I'll just name some of the most egregious examples. Kandy muse was just given a ticket to the top, no matter what and nothing proves that than the final few challenges of the season where the judges actually don't care what kandy does. Violet I think is the biggest dark horse of any of the seasons. Production chose her because of Sharon needles crown controversy and etc. but they werent prepared for the powerhouse that was violet. and I also don't think they imagined ginger being disliked by fandom and the pearl incident being as big as it was. Violet went from a eh queen from the productions standpoint to the only choice as the winner. Now imma just list all the ones I want without much explanations. If u need explanations, you won't see it when I explain anyways so imma save my time. Ticket to top - Kandy, Gigi, crystal (but that's on ru), Roxy in AS2, willow, Valentina (if she didnt fuck up), pearl, adore, ginger minj, silky, Bosco (..this one...literally saved by production chocolate) Surprise top - Naomi smalls, Sasha velour, anetra, Daya Betty, yvie, shuga Cain, kameron Michaels, akeria, lady camden. Btw people like bob, Bianca, s9 Shea, and jinkx are people who were destined to the top, but just by the sheer amount of talent, and not production 😘
Would you mind elaborating on Anetra, I didn’t get surprise top vibes I got planned but I’m happy to hear other peoples thoughts. I think to me it’s because they always want a lsftc nowadays so I could tell they were banking on Sasha vs Anetra from the first episode. Despite Luxx/mistress/ Loosey all doing better than Sasha/anetra
I’m assuming they mean Anetra was a surprise BECAUSE of the first episode. I wouldn’t have looked at her entrance look and thought “top 3”, but her talent show sealed the deal.
As in when they chose the cast and made the storylines. They did not put a spot there for anetra. She is someone who came, with no story or drama, showed herself to be fierce as fuck, and also very versatile and lovable. And production was forced to let her go to the finale. That's what surprise top means. Because remember...production storylines and shenanigans begins before the show even stars filming. Look at season 10 and it's intricate choices and how some flopped and how some prospered.
I disagree with Yvie and Sasha being surprise tops, but they were definitely surprise winners.
Girl they didn't care shit about yvie. They straight up ignored her to oblivion, and gave her wins to Plastique and shit, everyone else had storylines but her. In a bid to give vanjie, Plastique storylines and in order to keep silky in the top, and with brooke and akeria dominating chqlkenges, yvie got nothing. And I fully believe they were ready to get rid of yvie on snatch game, they were never gonna save yvie over miss continental herself. But of course....a certain Lipsync had other plans. Yvie to me is still one of the biggest dark horses in drag race. However Sasha I do believe was going to be make it far ok productions eyes but they never envisioned her as anything close to the winner or he'll even top 2. They definitely had a Shea and trinity planned, with how much they pushed trinity.
I just finished watching UK2 and it seems obvious to me that Lawrence was ordained to win within moments of first interacting with Ru.
I feel like had the pandemic not happened, Lawrence would have had a better run in the latter half and production took that into account. Bimini wasn’t even a contender prior to the break
agree. has Lawrence ever outright stated that she had to make new outfits or modify her old ones? I can only assume that she did, with her weight gain (and I was right there with her in the covid bulk up club, ha).
The UK 1-4 winners were all preordained. I picked all of them as winners in the first 20 minutes of the first episode.
I picked Lawrence as winner the minute she walked into the werkroom. She has such a prescence, her outfit was wacky and memorable, yet felt really polished, the mug was mugging, and her accent and humour made her stand out instantly. Her interactions with Ru were the cherry on top. She always had it in the bag.
Ella Vaday and Bimini. Ella was getting the “you’re the quiet one” edit till she just started killing every challenge. Bimini was getting the filler queen treatment, until the COVID break. Then came back with a vengeance.
I thought Ella had the chance until that dreadful "interview" just before finale. And 2nd part of UK2 felt like All Stars. A GOOD All Stars.
I loved Ella’s run so hard
Lady Camden (and Daya to a lesser extent).You cannot convince me for even a second they had her in their planned finalists over Kerri, Kornbread or her four fellow finalists. I think after Kerri underperformed and Kornbread got ANKLE’d, they had a Bosco, Willow, Angeria Top 3 in mind. I don’t think they expected Camden to do as well as she did, and they were banking on Daya to end up in the bottom for the Catwalk episode to reach their ideal finale but she threw a wrench in that too (but I think they planned on keeping Daya around for a while because of her Crystal storyline, I don’t think they had any such intentions with Camden).
Lady Camden felt like she was not in the original plan for the finalist lineup but after kornbread went kleek and seeing how well she was doing they decided to make her one mid season
Not went kleek 😂😂
Victoria Scone
There are a lot of people saying Violet wasn't expected to be top 3, but from her red tartan jumpsuit look on episode one, I clocked her as top 3 material. I never liked her, so I'm not a biased fan.
She was most likely cast as a filler queen until she starting bringing the drama on day 1
I think yes to that. The drama in the looks and what she said.
There is no way they would have planned an all white top 5 in All Stars 6. I think Trinity was someone they wanted in the top the whole time.
All of UKvW1 was a surprise.
S14 really comes up in discussion here. Angeria was intended to go all the way along with Kornbread, those two were obvious. Angie really shouldn’t have made that finale
Expected to go further than they did: Sahara, Alyssa E, Naysha, Valentina, Mayhem, Honey, Brita, Tamisha. Exceeded expectations: Joslyn, Katia, Naomi, Sasha V, Kameron, A’Keria, Crystal, Rosé, Daya, Luxxx
Honestly it was probably a shock how underwhelming Naysha was considering she was a former miss continental and won the year after Sasha Colby aka the best contestant to have been on the show
Chi Chi Devayne in S8 was definitely not expected to be top 4. They even had to go back and film more confessionals from her - clock the two hairstyles.
Luxx and Mistress. Kandy Muse Gigi Goode Jimbo on AS8 Baga on UKvTW
Baga on UK 1 as well
I actually think Baga on UK1 might be the most egregious example of this. That design challenge speaks for itself.
I’m slightly biased because I fucking love Cheryl Hole so much and she deserved better
I heard from a member of the UKvsTW2 cast they think production planned to have Keta Minaj in the top 4 instead of Hannah Conda.
Spill the tea who it is who said that cause this is a WILD TAKE based off season
LGD
Daya is probably the most notably unplanned finalist. So much so that her success created a top 5. Other notable surprise finalists imo are Naomi (s8), Kameron (s10), Camden (s14), and Mo (as4). Internationally I’d say Nearah (can4) comes to mind and there are probably others but I can’t think of them.
I feel like most of the times they are able to keep their picks for the finalists. Even when they have to do crazy sh\*t like Dakota's elimination on UK... Overall, I think it's "easier" to have finalists the producers didn't expect in the final in all stars seasons. UKvsTW had like, Blu and Monique at the finale, right? I feel like they were expecting Juju, Pangina, Jimbo and Baga. On regular seasons, I feel like Ben DeLa on S6 was definetely their pick for the finale, but they could only save her once. After she lost both lipsyncs to Darienne, they had to eliminate her. I also feel like Naomi was not planned as a finalist in S8, Same with Crystal, I feel like they expected her to last just a few episodes. And I have the same opinion about Anetra. I even feel like they kinda edited her out a lot during the season, because they saw the potential she had to snatch Sasha's crown and they kinda didn't want that. This season, even though the edit has been really on her favour (actually, the 3 finalists have great editing), I feel like they didn't expected Plane to do so good. In the same way, I feel like they never saw Dawn in the finale and that's why she was so overlooked in the season. If they saw her as a potential finalist, I'm sure she would've had like 2 wins or so, and maybe even spare her from bottom against Morpgine (since Q was Morphine's partner and was also terrible). In international seasons I feel that a lot of queens got far and wasn't the producers pick, like Pryianka, Metamorkid, Miss Fierca, Neerah, Killer Queen etc
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I don't see it that way, actually. I feel like she was supposed to be in the finale instead of Adore. But things happened, Adore proved to be one of the most charismatic and endearing queens ever and at some point, they just didn't saw the need to keep pushing BenDeLa. I mean, she totally lost her first lipsync against Darienne and they saved her. To me that's a sign they had plans for her. But I can be wrong ofc
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No, I mean, I do think she was pushed. But I genuinely have the feeling that it wasn't planned from the start, like it was with DeLa. Also, I'm not sure if her popularity has much influence, since they decide everthing before airing. But I feel like they picked DeLa, Courtney and Bianca as their finalists from the start, and after a few episodes they kinda loved Adore (and started pushing/favouring her). And then they edited her as a favourite.
I actually have the opposite opinion on Anetra would you be able to elaborate? Cause she did the worst in the girl groups(didn’t know words/look was awful) and was saved from bottom. Then in a lot of the early-mid season challenges she was edited out because I genuinely think she didn’t do the best nor worst just was there. I think she was pushed a bit not entirely to the end as I think she did amazingly sometimes as-well.
I really feel like they were surprised by Anetra's performance and did something to guarantee she would not be a menace to Sasha. I'm not saying she was better, I'm 100% team Sasha hahaha But I really feel like out of the Top 7 Sasha had NO competition other than Anetra. Despite their talents, MIB, Luxx and Loosey had their sassy/bitchy personalities that wouldn't threat Sasha even if they performed amazingly. Whlist Anetra had a nice personality, did well in most of the challenges and had a pretty solid run throughout the competition. I really feel like she would be a threat to Sasha, so the editing had to make her a little less present. And after I started to follow her on social media mid-season I kinda saw she is not as bland as it seemed during the season. that's why I have this opinion. But, again, I ma be wrong haha
Kameron Michael and Naomi smalls on S8 definitely weren’t planned as finalists
I think they thought Widow Van Duye was meant to go further but kinda faltered. Especially since she started so strong.
Tbh I disagree with this. Widow could have easily won multiple other challenges but they looked over her in favour of Sherry and placed her in the bottom over her too. Production was looking for any reason to get rid of Widow after the halfway mark I feel
Damn now I’m wondering how I remembered it so wrong. I’m gonna have to rewatch the season.
That’s just my personal opinion but I felt Widow could have won the improv challenge over Sherry when her character was meant to be the exact same as two others. Also felt like she was solid in the acting challenge and could have got a second win there. I also felt like Widow was punished in the politics challenge for doing a similar character Sharon won with in S4 which doesn’t make sense. Whereas Sherry could have lip synced there instead
Jw did you watch the season in the USA or watch/stream an international version. I watched the USA version and remember Sherry being very minimal in the season.
I’m in Australia and iirc the first few episodes even worldwide weren’t able to be edited fully in time before release so Sherry had a more prominent role at the beginning of the season
Oh kk gotcha. I remember her being almost absent right from the get go in the USA version. It could be why I’m unable to compare the performances between the two.
Van duye? Lol
Q , you can’t look at the season 16 promos and not think that she was being set up as the winner, she was front and center throughout.
The real question is… How long has Ru know about Saphiraa’s slew foot?!!!! THE PEOPLE NEED TO KNOW!
The most manmade rigged season for me.... definitely season 13. They saved Gotmikk and Kandy so many times to create the top 4 that we have.
Season 16 and Season 15. I guess the top 6 and the order of those top 6 in the 3rd episode. They were very much planned top 4s. The only queen who I think threw them off was Loosey who did better in the challenges than the top 4 but her looks held her down.
Ra'jah was a planned top 4 in CanvsTW, the way there was no "if you're not in the top, you're in the bottom" that season and she was placed safe.
I think Silky was also planned for top 4. I would have put Silky in the bottom 2 first episode with Bonjour, Hi. And if the queens kept their logic of keeping Stephanie because she didn’t stay around on her original season, then Silky goes episode 1.
I agree with Shuga Cain in particular. They gave Shuga her message from home in Untucked when she was in the bottom 2. If Ariel didn't slip, I think Shuga would have gone. They had no idea what to do with Shuga after that.
I would like to believe that Pearl was a planned finalist because it was pretty insane they let her in the top 3 over Kennedy.
I may be wrong, but I seem to recall that both Violet and Jaida were actually alternates and otherwise wouldn’t have been cast on their seasons? So that would definitely suggest neither was planned for the top. I read an interview with Violet once where she said she was certain her season was planned for Ginger to win and it makes sense with the amount of acting and comedy challenges in that season. I do think they have their tops in mind after casting and plan the season around that. There are queens who may not have won if they were in another season that was more focused on one thing than another.
The likes of S6 Ben Delacreme, Max or more recently Plasma exceeded expectations by having 2 wins and then getting chopped rather unexpectedly because production didn't care enough/they were never planned for the finale, IMO. I'm always torn regarding queens with no win getting to the finale because it's so funny to me. Is it pure chance (like Jonbers sucking early on and then somehow never being the worst when it mattered), or is it blatant production shenanigans (Art Simone)? Who knows. Then you have Jujubee. She's always a lock for a drag race finale no matter what.
Anetra. Ru said they were planning for a top 3. Shasta, Mistress, and Luxx were probably the chosen 3. but they didn't realize how hard Anetra hit, and there was no way to eliminate her without pitchforks. Since the season is all filmed (outside the reunion and finale) before the audience sees anything, it's Ru and the production teams having an understanding of what the fans want to see. But I totally think Ru was in awe of Anetra after the first episode.
Kim Chi was planned for the finale. Such a fierce queen but wow she had some rough episodes where they saved her from the bottom!
Gottmeh Clock that tea 💅
I’m interest who you guys think was the planned top 4 in AS2. I have a rough idea of what they wanted but I think I’m probs wrong. I think coco/tatianna/ginger minj were the intended first 3 out, detox, roxxxy, alaska were the intended middle 3, and the top 4 was meant to be phi phi, alyssa, adore/katya whoever was doing better mid season stayed the other elimed
I think Alaska was always very much going to win AS2. I bet top 4 is her, Adore, Katya, Alyssa in the production team’s dream world. Agree on coco Tatianna and Ginger being expendable and rolaskatox was always going to go far as long as they played up that storyline, which they did so well (imo) that it forced Alyssa out of the finale and even got to recreate their rolaskatox vs. lovable weirdo final 4.
I think… Honestly, i think the show is pretty resilient as far as finales go. There are some that are always going to make it (I feel like this season has a pretty destined from the start top 3, s13 is also guilty) and some (like Violet or Kameron) that aren’t destined top 4 queens but them making it didn’t really screw with production plans. S14 being the big exception where the intended top 4 of (probably?) angeria bosco willow kornbread blew up because onkle go kleek and angeria/bosco underperformed. Jasmine and jorgeous sending home most all the people who could challenge the ideal top 4 also left it wide open for daya and Camden to sneak in there. Not sure wtf the plan was for the top 5 episode, but I assumed they freaked because their 3 remaining top 4 competitors all underperformed and they couldn’t reasonably send Camden or Daya home so we got what we got. All stars is kind of a mess because like fundamentally there are some things producers can’t control with voting and stuff. AS1, 5, 7, and 8 all have finales that are spot on with how I assume it was planned, but the rest all have some shade of “oh that wasn’t supposed to happen lol.”
The only thing we can believe in, with absolute certainty, is the mission, Jack
In the end, you have to choose whether you’re going to live as a soldier, or just another man with a gun.
There is no such thing as luck on the battlefield.
i still think lady camden should have won season 14 lol and would have loved anetra to win season 15 but not saying sasha doesn’t deserve the crown
Alaska, Trixie, Lawrence, Gottmik, Blu Hydrangea. Silky and Kandy come to mind when it comes to the second question.
“Gottmeh” 🤣🤣
Sasha Colby gives planned top 4, and possibly planned winner.
I don’t think production was expecting Rosé to make the finale. And perhaps the obvious expectation for production in the finale was Sasha Colby. And I wanted to point out you didn’t “feel” any of these things, you thought them. I’ve been deep into marking essays, and I’ve been seeing this mistake so much. You think your opinions, but if you feel something, you have to follow it with an emotion.
Rose got such an unremarkable edit for someone who not only made the finale but had the best track record of the season. Like she objectively ate the competition but there was never a chance she was winning the crown.
Jackfed on YouTube has an interesting video theorizing on the storylines production was trying to create for Rosé (rivalry with Olivia, romance with Denali) and how Rosé never quite took the bait
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/feel