10 Changes I Think Could Drastically Improve Future Seasons of ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’
So RuPaul — or a bunch of eliminated queens, rather — just crowned the winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 3, and many aren’t too thrilled about it. Between the clear frontrunner quitting the competition early and way too much time spent hand-wringing over eliminations, this season wasn’t exactly fierce. (Then again, All Stars has never been about choosing the best competitor.) But to avoid lackluster seasons of All Stars and Drag Race in the future, we suggest RuPaul and her producers consider making some changes to new Drag Race seasons.
Here are 10 changes I think would improve new Drag Race seasons:
1. Let’s have fewer acting challenges.
Yeah, comedy clips are great for sharable videos and GIFs on social media, but they’re not really what drag queens do. One acting challenge is enough, but three? Stahhhhhp.
2. And let’s make sewing challenges a thing.
If the show is just gonna reward queens who spend bucks on pre-made costumes, then what’s the point? Yes, sewing challenges take more time, but so what? Let the girls sew and show us who’s really talented.
3. Can we kill the elimination drama?
We get it. Eliminations are stressful and hurt feelings — and American reality TV thrives on emotional drama. But spend more time showing the queens freaking out over preparation instead. Put simply, more workshop and less chop-shop.
4. Bring back regular mini-challenges that actually help the queens.
Not only are these funny AF, they give less polished queens a chance to shine. Just don’t punish the winners by making them team leaders. Give them more prep time or the first pick of roles and materials instead.
5. Try a point system instead of weekly eliminations to let weaker queens blossom
This might work better for All Stars, but instead of always eliminating a queen each episode, why not let all the queens stick around and just give them points based on a ranking? Then, at the middle of the season, give half of them the chop. A fun new format that everyone can gag on!
6. Have original MCing and web-show hosting challenges.
When was the last time you saw a drag queen at a comedy club or in a film? Yeah. Never. (Well, rarely.) When was the last time you saw a queen MC an event or host a web show? All. The. Fugging. Time. So let the queens do this to let their off-stage personality and style really shine.
7. Do a social media-related challenge.
Social media marketing is what the show is really about — it’s how the queens amass fans and make careers. So challenge the queens to slay their social media by making them take killer selfies, create shady tweets and make hilarious short videos. They’d be instant social media gold and show that the show is aware of what it (and professional drag) has become.
8. RuPaul needs to step up her drag.
Mama Ru’s look should be the representative winner of the runway challenge every damned time. When her girls show her up on the runway and she comes out looking slightly dusty, fans begin questioning what gives her the right to judge others. Hell, make her demonstrate her lip-sync, acting or dancing chops, too, while you’re at it. (Yeah, I said it.)
9. No more letting queens quit.
Don’t let BenDeLa shit on the crown again. Hide the White-Out and put in a no-quitting contract clause that financially punishes queens who quit. Seriously. How can the winner hold his or her head high when stronger competitors poop out mid-way?
10. Stop favoring comedy and fashion queens…
… over ball and pageant queens. Instead of all the acting and dancing, do a few pageant challenges. Teach the queens (and viewers) about the pageant system and put them through their paces. That shit is hard.
