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Now this is where the real competition starts. Episode 3 gives us the first proper category of the competition, bringing in themes, costumes and choreography. The eight remaining Houses are working with two sets of choreographers divided between them. One group of four Houses will work separately with Latrina Bolger-Washington, and Season 1 winner Jamari Balmain. The other Houses will work with Tanisha Scott and Season 1 runner-up Carlos Lanvin. Each house will also meet with costume designer Johnny Wujek, who has racks of items ready to go, be customized or will whip up something specific. (The one thing here that still bugs me is we have no idea what kind of time frame in which this is happening. Is it a week-to-week thing? How does Wujek and his team create five outfits per house between each episode in less than seven days … and that’s assuming there are seven days between the filming of each episode. I’m sure he knows in advance what the themes are but he won’t know what the Houses want until they meet face-to-face.)
Now that we’re into the competition proper, the guest judges will start flowing in. This week’s guest is actor Nicco Annan who plays Uncle Clifford on the TV series P-Valley. Unlike some of last season’s guest judges, Annan really seems to know his stuff so his critiques of the performances carry a little more weight than someone who is just there as a bit of star-power. And using the show’s new location of Hollywood, the competition is The Tinseltown Ball. Category is: Best Dressed as a House. Each House must have sharp outfits with one superstar ‘selling face’ (framing the face, showing structure, confidence and beauty). The top six scoring Houses will be safe to move on to the next ball, and the bottom two will have to battle it out. The Superior House will earn power at the next function … but what that power is, we don’t yet know. On to the ball!
Comme des Garçons
Their theme is 1920s glamour, expensive looking, with a touch of burlesque. Mother Stasha will be serving face. Their performance really kicked the night off in high gear with fabulous costumes and Stasha doing the one thing RuPaul always advises — if you’re going to take off your wig, make sure there’s another wig under that wig. Stasha wowed the judges with her quick change, and the camerawork even allowed us to see what the judges couldn’t. Good job! With teh judges floored right from the start, Jameela scored them a 10, Megan gave them a 10 and said that’s how you start the night, Leiomy said they were best dressed and sickening, awsrding them a 10 as well, Nicco also handed them a 10 … and then there was Law, how really liked the performance but didn’t like Stasha’s gown (I kind of agree, it looked a little cheap), so he took off a point and gave them a 9. Final score: 49
Nina Oricci
Oricci’s theme was 1920s-1930s juke joint, a Cotton Club vibe with jazz and jive. Gillette will be serving face for Oricci for the very first time, a potentially risky move in a competition for $100,000. But let me tell you, their choreography was amazing and it really helped sell their story, putting you right in that era they were emulating. Megan said they looked like they were having fun, and was completely amazed by Gillette. Her score was a 9. Leiomy had to hand Oricci the best dressed House this time and also gave them a 9. Nicco loved the choreography and scored a 10. Law surprised everyone and handed out his first ‘they did what needed to be done’ of the night, saying he felt that he was transported back in time to Harlem watching the people that shaped their culture. He couldn’t give them anything less than a 10. Jameela felt like she was watching something on the big screen and was wowed by the stunning performance but … she also felt like there was just too much going on so she gave them a 9. Final score: 47
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Milan
The House of Milan went with a 1970s Soul Train theme with House Mother Jocelyn walking face, something she’d only done once before in drag, but never did it again after she began her transition. This was the time for her to beat that mug and serve face to the judges. Unfortunately, the performance was a bit bland, more walking back and forth than any real choreography. It started out exciting with Malik doing some moves but quickly got boring. And the judges noticed. Jameela said the House was lacking synergy, they weren’t in sync and it was messy. Her score was a 6. Megan said she was only digging Malik, and she gave them a 5. Leiomy didn’t love the performance or the look, scoring a 6. Nicco said the performance was average and gave them an average 5. Law took a nap. Dashaun had to yell at him to wake him up. Law said he was let down and the performance wasn’t there, but he still scored them a 6. Final score: 28
Luxe
The House of Luxe was having a difficult time coming up with a concept. Not only were they in the bottom two on the first episode, but they are also down a member, competing as four instead of five, so they are having trouble coming together to collaborate creatively. They did decide that Father Nemo would serve face, but we didn’t find out until they hit the floor what the theme was: Hollywood 2117. Out of all the Houses to perform so far, Luxe was the first one that actually served up the most vogue content, but they really failed to sell Nemo’s face to the point the judges didn’t really know if Nemo or Becky was the face of the House. Megan was confused as to who the star was so she could only score a 7. Leiomy said she expected Nemo to get a moment but wasn’t really highlighted, and she saw Becky more. Her score was a 5. Nicco liked Ashaka’s performance and can see that they really love each other, but they need to share some of that love with the judges. His score was a 6. Laaw said they missed the mark, they were not best dressed, they were not exciting, and it was depressing. His score was a 4. Jameela put a more positive spin on the performance noting they showed great improvement over their first performance, but she shouldn’t have been able to tell this was Nemo’s first time walking face. Her score was a 7, giving them a final score of 29.
Icon
The House of Icon went with the Psychedelic 60s for their theme with Kylie Kat walking face. I thought they had some terrific of the era costumes and I liked the two different dance styles of the 60s they incorporated into the performance. There was, however, a lot of walking back and forth and Leiomy found that confusing. She also thought the execution could have been cleaner so she gave them a 7. Nicco was here for the fun of it all, but he found it difficult to pick out who was the ‘face’ of the group because they’re all pretty. His score was an 8. Law disagreed whole-heartedly with the first two judges, saying they served a drag ball from the 60s, the hair, make-up and historical references were good and … they did what needed to be done. Period. 10. Jameela said it was a winning performance and she can’t get over Kylie’s face but it was still only worth a 9. Megan said everyone was beautiful and gave them a beautiful 10. Final score: 44
Balenciaga
Balenciaga decided to go with a My Fair Lady theme, with Mother Shannon serving face (and hopefully not falling down this time … noting that She. Does. Not. Dance.). They also had a bit of an obstacle during rehearsals as Honey had to take some time off to deal with a personal loss, but would return for the ball. But Honey did return and didn’t miss a beat. This performance looked like something choreographed for Pose. It was fantastic, and Mother even did a Duck Walk, which Leiomy loved, calling Shannon an icon, scoring a 10. Nicco also scored a 10, while Law called them the House to beat … and then gave them a 9 (make them work for it, Law). Jameela loved the My Fair Lady reference and liked the risk they took, and that was worth a 10. Megan said the costumes and moves were perfect, also scoring a 10. Final score: 49.
Miyake-Mugler
Mugler’s theme was an homage to the 1940s-set films like L.A. Confidential and Who Framed Roger Rabbit, with Tati walking face, something she’s been doing since 2013. She also had the benefit of coming out in a gown obviously inspired by Jessica Rabbit. Law said the look was sickening, they worked hard and they were also the House to beat, but he only scored them an 8 (really wants to make them work for it). Jameela was super impressed by the performance but wanted them to spend a little more time on the face, scoring a 9. Megan said everyone was amazing, but Malik killed it. Her score was a 10. Leiomy loved the performance, but told them to take more time selling the face because the mug is there. Her score was a 9. Nicco said it turned out nice and liked the choreography, scoring a 9. Final score: 45
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Tisci
House of Tisci wanted to sell their ‘dynasty’ with an 80s theme of big hair and big shoulders, totally over-the-top, with Simone selling face. Right off the bat, the costumes were on point and Simone’s entrance, carried over the heads of her House members, couldn’t have been more of a showstopper, putting her down on the runway, hands covering her face then slowing pulling away for the reveal. Breathtaking! Law agreed, saying ‘let the church say amen for Simone!’ He loved how they gave her a moment to really sell the face, he loved the costumes and the performance, scoring a 10. Jameela loved it, saying they looked amazing with great fashion and runway, calling Tisci the House to beat with a score of 10. Megan said the attitude was there and she was hooked immediately, scoring a 10. Leiomy talked about how Houses have Mothers who are ‘Trophy Mothers’ who are there but don’t put in the work. Tisci’s Mother Gia, however, is a Trophy Mother who does the work, scoring a 10. Nicco said he was transported back to the 80s and they gave him everything, so he gave them a 10. Making Tisci’s score 10, 10, 10, 10, 10 across the board, ending the night with the first perfect score of 50, and crowning them the Superior House of the Tinseltown Ball, winning the Legendary Trophy … but not getting a hint as to what their power will be in the next event.
That left the Houses of Luxe and Milan in the bottom, the second time Luxe has been in this position. Luxe chose Becky to vogue against Malik for Milan, both favorites of the judges so this was going to be a tough battle. In my opinion they both went for it, but Becky went hard, like her life depended on it. The judges saw that too, but they also saw little emotion in Becky’s face. They saw more emotion from Malik but the performance wasn’t as strong. In the end, it only took three votes for Malik (Law, Megan and Leiomy) to save the House of Milan.
Now we’re already down to seven remaining Houses heading into the next event: The Seven Deadly Sins Ball.
New episodes of Legendary stream Thursdays on HBO Max.
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