RuPaul's Drag Race Holi-slay Spectacular

RuPaul's Drag Race Holi-slay Spectacular was a holiday television special, which aired on VH1 on December 7, 2018.[1] The hour-long RuPaul's Drag Race special, announced on November 1, had former Drag Race contestants Eureka O'Hara, Jasmine Masters, Kim Chi, Latrice Royale, Mayhem Miller, Shangela, Sonique, and Trixie Mattel compete to become "Drag Race Christmas Queen".

RuPaul's Drag Race Holi-slay Spectacular
Hosted byRuPaul
Judges
No. of contestants8
Winner
Release
Original networkVH1
Original releaseDecember 7, 2018 (2018-12-07)

The contestants had to lip-sync to holiday music by RuPaul, including tracks from Slay Belles (2015) and Christmas Party (2018), to choreography by Todrick Hall.[2]

Jasmine Masters and Latrice Royale later competed in fourth season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars, which was previewed during the programme's airing and premiered one-week after the Holi-slay Spectacular.

Contestants

The drag queens that appeared are:[1]

(Ages and names stated are at time of contest.)

Contestant Age Hometown Original season Original placement Outcome
Eureka[lower-alpha 1] 28 Johnson City, Tennessee Season 9 11th Place[lower-alpha 2] Winner
Season 10 Runner-Up
Jasmine Masters 42 Los Angeles County, California Season 7 12th Place
All Stars 4 10th Place
Kim Chi 30 Chicago, Illinois Season 8 Runner-Up
Latrice Royale 46 Hollywood, Florida Season 4 4th Place[lower-alpha 3]
All Stars 1 7th/8th Place
All Stars 4 5th Place
Mayhem Miller 36 Riverside, California Season 10 10th Place
All Stars 5 7th Place
Shangela[lower-alpha 4] 36 Los Angeles, California Season 2 12th Place
Season 3 6th Place
All Stars 3 3rd/4th Place
Sonique 35 Atlanta, Georgia Season 2 9th Place
Trixie Mattel 29 Los Angeles, California Season 7 6th Place
All Stars 3 Winner
  1. Eureka O'Hara is simply known as Eureka on the show.
  2. Eureka was eliminated from Season 9 due to injury.
  3. This contestant was voted as Miss Congeniality during her original season.
  4. Shangela was known as Shangela Laquifa Wadley during season 2 and as Shangela on subsequent seasons.

Challenges
Contestants performed choreography by Todrick Hall.

For the mini challenge, the queens were paired with a member of the pit crew to dance down the runway ("Christmas Cookies"). Mayhem Miller won the mini challenge. The contestants get ready for the main challenge ("My Favorite Holiday").

RuPaul performs "Hey Sis, It's Christmas" on the runway alongside the dancers. For the main challenge, the queens must lip sync to RuPaul's song "Get to You" in a 1980s-inspired costume to choreography by Todrick Hall. The runway theme is "Non-denominational Christmas Eleganza Extravaganza".

All the queens lip synched in pairs against one another: Mayhem Miller vs. Sonique ("Merry Christmas, Mary"); Jasmine Masters vs. Shangela ("Jingle Dem Bells"); Eureka vs. Trixie Mattel ("Deck the Halls"); Kim Chi vs. Latrice Royale ("Brand New Year"). RuPaul declared that they are all winners. At the end of the episode, Michelle Visage and RuPaul lip synced for their lives ("Christmas Party"); the judging panel, consisting of the queens along with Ross Matthews and Todrick Hall, declares a double save.

Lip syncs
Contestants Song
Mayhem Miller vs. Sonique "Merry Christmas, Mary"
(RuPaul)
Jasmine Masters vs. Shangela "Jingle Dem Bells"
(RuPaul feat. Big Freedia)
Eureka vs. Trixie Mattel "Deck the Halls"
(RuPaul feat. Todrick Hall)
Latrice Royale vs. Kim Chi "Brand New Year"
(RuPaul feat. Siedah Garrett)
Michelle Visage vs. RuPaul “Christmas Party”
(RuPaul feat. Michelle Visage)

Reception

The program received mixed reviews as many expected a typical episode, when it was actually a promo tool for RuPaul's new Christmas album, Christmas Party. Variety said "the special quickly pulls a bait and switch, becoming both much sneakier and way less interesting than its festive first impression", calling out RuPaul's promo plug for the album.[3] The A.V. Club gave it a C+ and stated that, despite the flaws, the episode was not without its charm, but still criticised the promotional aspect for RuPaul's Christmas album.[4] Bustle praised the program, saying "it took a turn for the delightfully cheesy, as most holiday specials are wont to do. Its aim quickly became not to pit queens against one another, but of course, to spread Christmas cheer, all while donning their gay apparel in its most literal form", noting it was a welcomed departure from the show's origins.[5] TV Line also praised it and highlighted the looks of Eureka, Mayhem, Trixie and Shangela.[6] In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Sonique also praised her fellow contestant, Mayhem.[7] USA Today concluded by saying "So if you want to see some spectacular holiday looks from your favorite queens mixed with some fun and festive beats, you don't want to Christ-miss this! Just don't expect to be on the edge of your seat."[8]

Ratings
Viewership and ratings per episode of RuPaul's Drag Race Holi-slay Spectacular
No. Title Air dateRating/share
(18–49)		Viewers
(millions)
1 "RuPaul's Drag Race Holi-slay Spectacular" December 7, 20180.18[9]0.44[9]
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gollark: Are there human languages which *do* require unreasonable amounts of working memory to parse?
gollark: Mostly in younger people.
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gollark: However, this makes verbs into operators.

References
  1. Sippell, Margeaux; Yang, Rachel (November 1, 2018). "TV Roundup: VH1 Announces 'RuPaul's Drag Race Holi-Slay Spectacular' Special". Variety. Retrieved November 2, 2018.
  2. Bote, Joshua (November 1, 2018). "Kim Chi, Shangela, Trixie Mattel & More to Compete in 'RuPaul's Drag Race Holi-Slay Spectacular'". Billboard. Retrieved November 2, 2018.
  3. Framke, Caroline (December 7, 2018). "TV Review: 'RuPaul's Drag Race Holi-Slay Spectacular'". Variety. Retrieved December 7, 2018.
  4. Shoemaker, Allison (December 7, 2018). "The Rupaul's Drag Race Holi-Slay Spectacular is really". The A.V. Club. Retrieved December 7, 2018.
  5. Blanton, Kayla (December 7, 2018). "'RuPaul's Holi-Slay Spectacular' Was Different Than Your Typical 'Drag Race,' But In The Best Way". Bustle. Retrieved December 7, 2018.
  6. Swift, Andy (December 7, 2018). "Drag Race Holi-Slay Spectacular Recap: RuPaul's First Christmas Queen Is..." TV Line. Retrieved December 7, 2018.
  7. Nolfi, Joey (December 7, 2018). "Sonique dishes on THAT RuPaul's Drag Race Holi-Slay Spectacular twist ending". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved December 7, 2018.
  8. Moniuszko, Sara M. (December 7, 2018). "Your (spoiler-free) guide to 'RuPaul's Drag Race Holi-Slay Spectacular'". USA Today. Retrieved December 7, 2018.
  9. Bunch, Rebecca. "Friday Cable Ratings 12/7/18: Drag Race Holi-Slay Special Does OK, Coop & Cami Ties Low". TheTVRatingsGuide. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
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