MovieChat Forums > RuPaul's Drag Race (2009) Discussion > 12 queens per season instead of 14.

12 queens per season instead of 14.

posted 8 years ago by Mr_Gordo
6 replies | jump to latest

It seems that season 8 and season 9 are having 12 queens instead of the regular 14. I noticed from season 8 that it drops the number of episodes from 14 to 10.

I was just watching season 8 and noticed that someone said they were over half way through and they were only 6 episodes in..

I guess if they are struggling to find decent contestants now. That is the best avenue to take. But it devalues the show compared to the previous seasons. Meaning it is easier to win with less competition, less challenges. 6 episodes in and they are half way. Even the most basic queen could go far...

Now is the best time to apply, they'd have a much better chance of winning.

Buffy Lives
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[–] A_Llama_Drama 8 years ago

I've heard on the subreddit group that there will be 14 contestants again. perhaps season 8 had less contestants due to Allstars and rounding up to 100 queens?

I don't think it makes it much easier to win: both Laila and Dax were sent home for being piss poor performers. The only person who was dragged through to the final and didn't deserve their spot in the top 5 was Derrick who should have been up for elimination in the girl band episode, the RuCo's Empire episode and finally kicked out in Oz. However, Season 8 had far worse contestants than even Season 7 so...

My teenage angst has a body count

[–] fiero-49251 8 years ago

No one seems to bring up the ease of cutting back with so many queens that shouldn't have been selected in the 1st place! Am I the only one who gets bent when someone with no make-up skills, wardrobe, or talent! Would it be rude to list a few? Pork Chop comes to mind! I loved Milk, but few people realized she must have arrived with just 1 bag! Multi-usage of an outfit; even the boots is a serious no-no! Poor Milk intro'd with one of his old figure skating costumes, then used it again on the runway as Geppeto "The Nose!" That costume should be thread-bare by now! I almost forgot Milk wore a suit to runway portray "workroom RU!"  He got away with it and didn't even have to Lip sync for her life! - I was the most embarrassed for Mystique Summers Madison & Stacy Layne Matthews! Joselyn Fox and her bikinis! They each had one "HOT" ensemble, then they were lost! 

I guess we're lucky this didn't seem to matter in Season 5 when Jinkx won with no make-up skills or wardrobe, but was as entertaining as any in 'DR' Herstory! They've done quite a nice job with the seasoned queens; even ones I don't particularly care for are true pros like Ginger! 

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[–] Mr_Gordo 8 years ago

Hi Fiero.. I agree with you... I do notice the queens that get through that really aren't up to standard. Like Chi Chi Devagne.. I see it as RuPaul just rigging the game. She already knows who is going to win, and has the elimination order set in a way to give some queens more exposure to propel their career. RuPaul didn't want Thorgy Thor in top 3 of season 8 cause she knows there would have been a huge uproar for Bob winning over her. So she was expandable.. That is one of the points I was initially trying to make. Watching season 8 is it so clear on how rigged it was. Basic bitches went much further than they should have...

I too loved Milk. And you have opened a new view of her for me... I would have liked to see more of Milk, but she was more of a club kid than a drag queen. And if she recycled the same outfit twice then it meant she would have struggled to go further. She probably didn't have many more looks to be a real contender. I've seen her on YouTube since and she is showing herself in full drag now, but even that is very substandard from what I'm seeing. So as much as I loved her looks, humour and attitude, I'm happy with how far she got. Season 6 was full of talented queens. April Carion, and Vivacious are 2 others I wold have loved to see more of also. But I also loved Gia Gunn, Laganga, Joslyn, Darienne, Ben Delacreme and the rest of them.. I think they should do a redo season of season 6 less Magnolia Crawford and Bianca Del Rio (cause she already won).

Buffy Lives
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[–] Mr_Gordo 8 years ago

Are you kidding, what part of the process don't you understand. Less contestants means less competition, less challenges and easier to win... How do you not understand that. From all the advertisements it seems like there is only 12 contestants again for season 9...

Also, season 8, Chi Chi Devagne went a lot further than she should have, Derick Barry was far more polished than her even.. But I agree both of them went much further than they should have, any other season they both wouldn't have made top 5. That is my point..

Also, if there were 2 more contestants than the really good ones that went home earlier than they should have would have had more of a chance of getting through. Thorgy Thor went home too early, she only lip synced once and she was a real contender for the crown...

If there is a return to 14 contestants I won't be so bothered. But if there is only 12 then the show is losing value in my consideration. The show has a clear and definite format. RuPaul already has a winner in mind from the first episode and the top 3 are the winner, a close competitor and an underdog, she uses to help get through only to boost their careers. Its been the same format since season 6. Before that it was a villain instead of the underdog in the top 3, i.e Phi Phi O'Hara season 4 and Roxxy Andrews season 5.

Buffy Lives
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[–] A_Llama_Drama 8 years ago

What do you mean, Thorgy Thor deserved to go further? The Lip Sync for your life is an important part of the show and Thorgy blew it. If Thorgy deserved it, she'd have whooped Chi Chi's ass OR the producers would have made them redo it so that Thorgy performed better.
Roxxxy was also deserving of her place in the top 3, I don't think the villain edit is what got her there. If they needed a good villain, they'd have put Coco or Detox there who were both underperforming in the latter half of the season.

And I don't think it makes it easier to win. Yes, you might have a better chance of getting to 5th or 4th but if the competition is strong (which season 8 wasn't) then you'll be put out on your ass if you aren't doing well. Bob had season 8 in the bag from the minute Kim Chi and Naomi Smalls showed that they were terrible performers and not all that interesting. Acid Betty and Thorgy both floundered because of their arrogance and Derrick Barry had no drag skills. Contrast 8 with 2 and see the difference between Raven, Juju and Tyra vs Bob, Naomi and Kim (both had 12 contestants). Kim was the only one out the runner ups that even stood a chance of beating Bob but she had failed so much in performance challenges that it would have been criminal to give it to her. Raven was a strong competitor and Juju was a deserving underdog that people would have loved to see win. Season 8 was a piss poor season. I guess production got in the way but overall it was a bad season. Fingers crossed 9 is better.

My teenage angst has a body count

[–] michaeledward1212 8 years ago

Season 9 will have 12 queens and I'm okay with them doing less queens per season. It (hopefully) means less filler queens, and a stronger overall cast. I think 13 would be a good number of queens, but would love a bigger cast again eventually. I'd love an all stars season with a large ensemble of like 15 queens.