Divine Inspiration (RuPaul's Drag Race)

Last updated
"Divine Inspiration"
RuPaul's Drag Race episode
Episode no.Season 7
Episode 9
Directed byNick Murray
Original air dateApril 27, 2015 (2015-04-27)
Guest appearances
Episode chronology
 Previous
"Conjoined Queens"
Next 
"Prancing Queens"
List of episodes

"Divine Inspiration" is the ninth episode of the seventh season of RuPaul's Drag Race . [1] [2] Directed by Nick Murray, the episode originally aired on April 27, 2015. Demi Lovato and John Waters are guest judges. [3] Lucian Piane and Our Lady J also make guest appearances, helping the contestants during rehearsals.

Contents

The episode's main challenge has the contestants perform musical versions of scenes from two films by Waters: Pink Flamingos (1972) and Female Trouble (1974). Ginger Minj is the winner of the challenge, and Miss Fame is eliminated from the competition.

Episode

Screenshot from the original 1972 theatrical trailer for the film Pink Flamingos, starring Divine Pink Flamingos trailer screenshot (2).jpg
Screenshot from the original 1972 theatrical trailer for the film Pink Flamingos , starring Divine

Contestants "read" (playfully insult) each other for the mini-challenge. Trixie Mattel is declared the winner. For the main challenge, three teams perform musical versions of John Waters scenes made famous by Divine. [4] The teams are Ginger Minj and Trixie Mattel, Kennedy Davenport and Katya, and the trio of Miss Fame, Pearl, and Violet Chachki. Lucian Piane and Our Lady J help during rehearsals. [5]

The song for Ginger Minj and Trixie Mattel, is inspired by the "Eggman" scene from Pink Flamingos (1972). [6] The trio also perform a song based on the same film. [7] Kenndy Davenport and Katya perform in a scene inspired by Female Trouble (1974). [8] [9]

Demi Lovato and Waters are guest judges. [7] [10] The runway theme is ugly dresses. Kenny Davenport delivers a "church-lady" look. [11] According to Out , Pearl wears a Wednesday Addams- and "Japanese schoolgirl"-inspired outfit, and Violet Chachki's outfit "[serves] Phyllis Diller starring as Carol Channing in a late-70s South Beach revival of Hello, Dolly!" [12] Waters praises Ginger Minj for her performance and compares her "star power" to Divine's. [13] Ginger Minj earns her third win for the season. Miss Fame and Pearl place in the bottom two and face off to a lip-sync of "Really Don't Care" (2014) by Lovato featuring Cher Lloyd. [14] Miss Fame is eliminated from the competition.

Production

Demi Lovato Interview Feb 2020.png
John Waters 2014 (cropped).jpg
Demi Lovato (left) and John Waters (right) are guest judges on the episode.
LucianPiane-wiki.jpg
Our Lady J at TDoV SF - 2 (cropped).jpg
Lucian Piane (left) and Our Lady J (right) also make guest appearances.

The episode was directed by Nick Murray and originally aired on April 27, 2015. Piane had previously been a guest judge on the fourth season's "Frenemies" and appeared in the fifth season's "Can I Get an Amen?" He was also a guest judge on the sixth season's "Shade: The Rusical" and the seventh season's fourth episode "Spoof! (There It Is)". Piane would later serve as a guest judge on the eighth season's second ("Bitch Perfect") and fourth ("New Wave Queens") episodes.

Reception

Oliver Sava of The A.V. Club gave the episode a rating of 'B+'. [15] Stephen Daw ranked Ginger Minj's performance in the "eggs" song fourteenth in Billboard 's 2018 overview of the show's fifty best "musical moments". He wrote, "It took the show seven seasons to finally deliver a John Waters-inspired challenge, but when it did, the queens made sure they did it right... Ginger Minj stole the show as a nearly-insane singing adult baby with an insatiable craving for…well, eggs!" [16] In 2019, Sam Damshenas of Gay Times said Ginger Minj's performance demonstrated how she "embodies both camp and comedy." [6]

Writing for Screen Rant in 2020, Bernardo Sim pointed to the "eggs" number as evidence of Ginger Minj being among the show's best singers. [17] Sim also included the sketch in Out magazine's 2023 list of fifteen "moments that prove ... season 7 was actually iconic". [18] In 2022, British drag queen The Vivienne, who won the first series of RuPaul's Drag Race UK and competed in the seventh season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars , said the "eggs" sketch was among her favorite Drag Race moments. [19]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jujubee (drag queen)</span> American drag queen, reality television personality, and recording artist

Airline Inthyrath, known by her stage name Jujubee, is an American drag queen, reality television personality, and recording artist from Lowell, Massachusetts. She first rose to prominence in 2010 as a contestant on the second season of RuPaul's Drag Race, and later returned to compete on the first and fifth seasons of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars, and the first series of RuPaul's Drag Race: UK vs. the World (2022), becoming one of the most popular queens from the franchise. She has the unique distinction of being the only contestant to reach the finale of the competition four times. Additionally, she was a main cast member on the makeover television series RuPaul's Drag U (2010–2012), Dragnificent (2019–2020), and RuPaul's Secret Celebrity Drag Race (2022). In 2021, she competed in the first season of Paramount+ singing competition Queen of the Universe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jiggly Caliente</span> American drag performer, singer, model, actress, and transgender activist

Bianca Castro, commonly known as Jiggly Caliente, is a Filipino-American drag performer, singer, and actress best known for competing on the fourth season of RuPaul's Drag Race, the sixth season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars, for judging Drag Race Philippines, and for her recurring role as Veronica Ferocity on the FX series Pose. She released her debut album, T.H.O.T. Process on March 9, 2018. In 2020, she co-hosted Translation, the first talk show on a major network hosted by an all-trans cast.

<i>RuPauls Drag Race</i> season 7 Seventh season of RuPauls Drag Race

The seventh season of RuPaul's Drag Race began airing on March 2, 2015. RuPaul and Michelle Visage returned as judges, while the space previously occupied by Santino Rice was filled by new additions Ross Mathews and Carson Kressley. Matthews and Kressley were only both present for the season premiere and took turns sharing judging responsibilities. Shawn Morales, a member of the Pit Crew since the third season and Simon Sherry-Wood, a member in the sixth season, did not appear this season and were replaced by Bryce Eilenberg. Like the previous two seasons of RuPaul's Drag Race, the season featured 14 contestants competing for the title of "America's Next Drag Superstar", a one-year supply of Anastasia Beverly Hills cosmetics and a cash prize of 100,000 dollars. The season premiere debuted with a live and same-day viewership of 350,000, a 20% increase from the previous season. On March 20, 2015, it was announced that LogoTV had given the series an early renewal for an eighth season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ginger Minj</span> American drag performer

Joshua Allen Eads, better known by the stage name Ginger Minj, is an American drag queen, actor, singer-songwriter, and reality television personality. After achieving recognition for placing as the runner-up on the seventh season of the reality television competition series RuPaul's Drag Race, Minj returned to compete on the second and sixth seasons of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars. Minj has acted in three Netflix productions—the comedy feature film Dumplin' (2018), the animated series Super Drags, and RuPaul's fictional series AJ and the Queen, and has acted in numerous theatrical productions. Minj appeared in the 2022 film Hocus Pocus 2, the sequel to Hocus Pocus. Minj has released three studio albums—Sweet T (2016), Gummy Bear (2021), and Double Wide Diva (2021).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jasmine Masters</span> American drag queen

Martell Robinson, known by the stage name Jasmine Diane Masters, best known simply as Jasmine Masters, is an American drag queen, internet celebrity, YouTuber, and stand-up comedian. He is best known for competing on the seventh season of RuPaul's Drag Race and the fourth season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars. Robinson is responsible for several viral videos, many of which have become memes, most notably And I Oop! which was the most used gif of 2019.

<i>RuPauls Drag Race All Stars</i> American reality television series

RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars is an American reality competition spin off edition of the original RuPaul's Drag Race, which is produced by World of Wonder, for Logo TV and later VH1. The show premiered on October 22, 2012, on Logo TV, before relocating to VH1. However, it was announced on February 20, 2020, on the show's official Twitter account that the fifth season would premiere on June 5, 2020, on Showtime. Following the cast announcement on May 8, 2020, producers announced that the show would remain airing on VH1 instead of Showtime due to the COVID-19 pandemic which caused "various scheduling and programming adjustments". On February 24, 2021, Paramount+ announced via Twitter that the streaming service would be the new home to the series for the sixth season.

<i>RuPauls Drag Race</i> season 11 Eleventh season of RuPauls Drag Race

The eleventh season of RuPaul's Drag Race aired on VH1 from February 28, 2019, to May 30, 2019. The cast featured fourteen new queens and one returning queen, making it the largest cast of the series at the time; the contestants were announced in a live stream hosted by season 10 winner Aquaria and Adam Rippon on January 24, 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eureka O'Hara</span> American drag queen

Eureka, also known as Eureka O'Hara and Eureka!, is the stage name of Eureka D. Huggard, an American drag queen and reality television personality. Eureka rose to prominence competing on the ninth and tenth seasons of RuPaul's Drag Race. She was removed from the ninth season due to a knee injury, becoming the first contestant in the history of the show to be sent home due to injury; she was then given an automatic berth to season 10, where she placed as runner-up. In 2021, Eureka competed on the sixth season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars, where she once more placed as a runner-up. In 2024, she competed on the second season of Canada's Drag Race: Canada vs. the World.

"Trump: The Rusical" is the fourth episode of the eleventh season of the American reality competition television series RuPaul's Drag Race, which aired on VH1 on March 21, 2019. The episode has contestants deliver Rachel Maddow impressions for the mini challenge, and perform a musical parody of Grease about Donald Trump and the women in his life and cabinet for the main challenge. The musical features choreography by Yanis Marshall, and sees Donald Trump portrayed by former contestant Ginger Minj. Maddow appears as a special guest; Joel McHale and Tiffany Pollard serve as guest judges, alongside regular panelists RuPaul, Michelle Visage, and Ross Mathews.

"Born Naked" is the first episode of the seventh season of RuPaul's Drag Race. Directed by Nick Murray, the episode originally aired on March 2, 2015. Kathy Griffin is a guest judge. For the fashion show mini-challenge, Mathu Andersen and former contestant Alaska Thunderfuck make guest appearances, the latter impersonating Anna Wintour.

"Glamazonian Airways" is the second episode of the seventh season of RuPaul's Drag Race. The episode aired on March 9, 2015, and features a Rusical. Olivia Newton-John and Jordin Sparks serve as guest judges, alongside regular panelists RuPaul, Michelle Visage, and Carson Kressley. Moby and Jamal Sims also make guest appearances, the former to help judge the mini-challenge and the latter to offer choreography coaching to contestants for the main challenge.

"ShakesQueer" is the third episode of the seventh season of RuPaul's Drag Race. It originally aired on March 16, 2015. Kat Dennings are Mel B are guest judges. The episode earned Mathu Andersen a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Makeup for a Variety, Nonfiction or Reality Program.

"Spoof! " is the fourth episode of the seventh season of RuPaul's Drag Race. It originally aired on March 23, 2015. Jessica Alba and Lucian Piane are guest judges. Kennedy Davenport wins the episode's challenge, and Trixie Mattel is eliminated from the competition after placing in the bottom and losing a lip-sync against Pearl.

"Ru Hollywood Stories" is the sixth episode of the seventh season of RuPaul's Drag Race. It originally aired on April 6, 2015. Merle Ginsberg and Ariana Grande are guest judges.

"Conjoined Queens" is the eighth episode of the seventh season of RuPaul's Drag Race. It originally aired on April 20, 2015. Nelsan Ellis and LeAnn Rimes are guest judges, and former contestant Latrice Royale also makes a guest appearance for the episode's mini-challenge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">And the Rest Is Drag</span> 12th episode of the 7th season of RuPauls Drag Race

"And the Rest Is Drag" is the twelfth episode of the seventh season of the American television series RuPaul's Drag Race. The episode was directed by Nick Murray and first aired on Logo TV on May 18, 2015. It was followed by an episode of the companion series RuPaul's Drag Race: Untucked.

"The Bitchelor", stylized with the "i" as an eggplant emoji, is the third episode of the third season of the American drag queen-focused reality competition television series RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars, which aired on VH1 February 8, 2018. The season's eight remaining contestants impersonate stereotyped characters on a The Bachelor-style improvisation acting challenge. Constance Zimmer and Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman, both from Unreal, itself a parody of The Bachelor-type shows, serve as guest judges, alongside regular panelists RuPaul, Michelle Visage, and Ross Mathews. Like the rest of the season, the show has a themed fashion runway challenge, and the contestants get feedback on both challenges. The top two queens vie in a lip sync battle with the winner choosing which contestant is eliminated.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rusical</span> Musical production on the TV series RuPauls Drag Race

A Rusical is a musical theatre challenge recurring across the Drag Race television franchise. Rusical productions began in 2014 during the sixth season of the American series, and have subsequently become "a highly anticipated staple" of the reality competition, allowing contestants to showcase their talents.

"Halftime Headliners" is the fourth episode of the sixth season of the American reality competition television series RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars, which aired on online streaming service Paramount+ on July 8, 2021. The episode has contestants impersonate famous singers and musicians and lip sync to a medley of RuPaul songs, inspired by Super Bowl's Halftime Shows. Jamal Sims served as guest judges, alongside regular panelists RuPaul, Michelle Visage and Carson Kressley.

"Whatcha Unpackin?" is the first episode of the eleventh season of RuPaul's Drag Race. It originally aired on February 28, 2019. Miley Cyrus is a guest judge. Silky Nutmeg Ganache wins the episode's mini-challenge, and Brooke Lynn Hytes wins the main challenge. Soju is eliminated from the competition after placing in the bottom two and losing a lip-sync against Kahanna Montrese to Cyrus' "The Best of Both Worlds".

References

  1. Bates, Bryony (2015-05-01). "RuPaul's Drag Race S7 E9: Divine Inspiration". Archived from the original on 2024-02-28. Retrieved 2024-02-28.
  2. Ehrman-Dupre, Joe (2015-04-29). "'RuPaul's Drag Race' — Season 7, Episode 9: 'Divine Inspiration'". IndieWire . Retrieved 2024-03-04.
  3. Boulet, Ruth (2015-04-28). "RuPaul's Drag Race Season 7 episode 9 recap". Channel Guide Magazine. Archived from the original on 2020-12-02. Retrieved 2024-03-07.
  4. Libby, Katie. ""RuPaul's Drag Race" Season 7, Episode 9: Divine Inspiration". CITY Magazine. Archived from the original on 2024-02-25. Retrieved 2024-02-25.
  5. "Talking Drag Race With Chiffon Dior: Episode Nine "Divine Inspiration" - WERRRK.com". 2015-04-28. Retrieved 2024-03-07.
  6. 1 2 Damshenas, Sam (2019-07-23). "5 reasons why Drag Race star Ginger Minj should play Ursula in The Little Mermaid". GAY TIMES. Archived from the original on 2022-09-10. Retrieved 2024-03-07.
  7. 1 2 "'RuPaul's Drag Race' recap: 'Divine Inspiration'". Entertainment Weekly . Archived from the original on 2019-02-13. Retrieved 2024-02-01.
  8. "'RuPaul's Drag Race' Recap 7×9: Miss Fail". Observer. 2015-04-28. Archived from the original on 2022-11-29. Retrieved 2024-02-25.
  9. Mercer, John; Sarson, Charlie; Hakim, Jamie (2023-10-10). RuPaul's Drag Race and the Cultural Politics of Fame. Taylor & Francis. ISBN   978-1-000-96533-9. Archived from the original on 2024-02-28. Retrieved 2024-02-28.
  10. Brennan, Niall; Gudelunas, David (2017-08-25). RuPaul's Drag Race and the Shifting Visibility of Drag Culture: The Boundaries of Reality TV. Springer. ISBN   978-3-319-50618-0. Archived from the original on 2024-02-28. Retrieved 2024-02-28.
  11. "Dallas queen Kennedy Davenport's fiercest moments on 'RuPaul's Drag Race'". Dallas News. 2015-05-20. Archived from the original on 2024-02-28. Retrieved 2024-02-28.
  12. "The Drag Race GIF-Cap Extravaganza: 'Divine Inspiration'". www.out.com. Archived from the original on 2023-12-11. Retrieved 2024-02-28.
  13. Sim, Bernardo (2020-02-02). "RuPaul's Drag Race: 10 Best Singing Queens, Ranked". ScreenRant. Archived from the original on 2023-07-19. Retrieved 2024-03-07.
  14. Carpentier, Megan; Rushe, Dominic (2015-04-28). "RuPaul's Drag Race recap: season seven, episode nine - Divine Inspiration". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077. Archived from the original on 2023-03-21. Retrieved 2024-02-01.
  15. "RuPaul's Drag Race: "Divine Intervention"". The A.V. Club. 2015-04-28. Archived from the original on 2022-01-24. Retrieved 2024-02-01.
  16. Daw, Stephen (2018-08-14). "Decade Of 'Drag Race': The Show's 50 Best Musical Moments". Billboard. Archived from the original on 2023-03-24. Retrieved 2024-03-07.
  17. Sim, Bernardo (2020-02-02). "RuPaul's Drag Race: 10 Best Singing Queens, Ranked". ScreenRant. Archived from the original on 2023-07-19. Retrieved 2024-03-07.
  18. "15 Moments That Prove 'Drag Race' Season 7 Was Actually Iconic". www.out.com. Archived from the original on 2024-01-16. Retrieved 2024-03-07.
  19. Damshenas, Sam (2022-05-23). "All Stars 7's The Vivienne reveals her favourite Drag Race moments in herstory". GAY TIMES. Archived from the original on 2023-12-01. Retrieved 2024-03-07.
Related external media
Nuvola apps kaboodle.svg Reading is Fundamental on YouTube
Nuvola apps kaboodle.svg "Cha Cha Heels" with Katya and Kennedy Davenport on YouTube
Nuvola apps kaboodle.svg "Eggs" with Ginger Minj and Trixie Mattel on YouTube
Nuvola apps kaboodle.svg "Poo" with Pearl, Violet Chachki and Miss Fame on YouTube