Tournament of All Stars Smackdown for the Crown

As a long time fan of Drag Race the complete lack of even attempting to make a convincingly fake "competition" really hindered this season. Obviously the show has always been RUPAUL'S Drag Race but the extremely obvious pre chosen winner and completely nonsensical judging to justify it was at it's absolute worst here. There was not even the illusion of fair competition that this show's best seasons feature and it made the last half of this season nearly impossible to care about. The favoritism was bad enough that even the queens in the process of filming it could tell, and it showed in later episodes how demoralized some of them became.

RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 10" starts strong but quickly slips into predictability. If the winner is already picked when the cast is announced, at least don't make it so obvious. It was painfully clear from episode one that a certain queen was being pushed to the crown, regardless of the competition. While the queens brought charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent, the heavy-handed production choices stripped away the suspense. Fans want fair competition, not a pre-written script. The lack of genuine stakes made this season feel more like a formality than a celebration of drag excellence. Sadly, it's more meh than magnificent.

Following a sharp decline in quality of the season as it reached its final chapter, it became very evident the direction that this competition was going with its clear "winner". The lack of surprise felt from audiences is due to production's choices in this empty feeling finale. With choppy lip sync editing, ditching the standard finale runway that stands as a celebration of the season and very little effort put in into concluding each of the finalists' storylines; it was almost as if the producers of the show just wanted to rush to the crowning instead of putting time and effort into the other aspects of the show that make it enjoyable and give it it's unique spark.

"hope you win the whole thing. You're amazing" she saw the riggory CLEAR AS DAY. Ginger minj winning a lipsync against BOSCO, KERRI AND JORGEOUS???? What a JOKE. This is why this show needs to retire for a while and then come back, four back to back seasons filled with RIGGORY is so annoying and such a waste of time for the talented queens that go to the show. Shame on rupaul and this shhhht ass production. Ginger minj doing the same dance moves on every lipsync was so annoying and very telling that it doesnt matter if youre actually talented and a good lip syncer, you only need production on your side CLEARLY.

An unsatisfying end to an unsatisfying season. And it's not for lack of talent. The lip syncs in this episode were entertaining, and exactly what viewers want to see. But the judging is so uneven, so unbalanced, it's jarring to the viewer. We can't celebrate Ginger's win because we don't feel as though she earned it within the parameters of the competition. Why bring Kerri back if it truly has no bearing on the competition? Why hype it up all season if you know you'll send her home immediately anyways? She won that lip sync. I'm feeling nervous for the future of this show, and I think the only way forward is to begin to judge fairly.