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And this is it! The Semi-Finals and Grand Finale episodes of the second season of Legendary. I’m still unsure of why they did these episodes back-to-back instead of spreading them out, but let’s hope that’s not a bad sign for the future of the show because the talent this season has been through the roof.
[IMAGE: LEGENDARY-S02E09-01 Caption: HBO Max]
The Elektric Jungle Ball
The Top Three faced off in the Semi-Finals with FOUR challenges! The guest judge was Tiffany Haddish, and she told Dashaun that she will be reading auras to see who wants that money.
The first round was an all-House performance that was to feature Spins & Dips, Floor Performance and Hair Whips, with one member performing in a ‘bizarre effect’, which Leiomy helpful explained that the element of vogue they were assiged should be featured in a bizarre and effective way. Thanks for clearing that up, Lei. The House of Miyake-Mugler used their Superior House advantage to assign each element to their competitors.
First up was Mugler, giving themselves Hair Whips. Their jungle-set performance was meant to be a party in the jungle and an homage to Britney Spears’ VMA performance of ‘Slave 4 U’. The bizarre element was House Father Arturo dressed like a freaking tree! And he worked it as best as he could, but Jameela commented that the outfit was probably not really built for hair whips. There were some laughs as Megan continued her lust for Diego … and then the rest of the judges made it clear they were all in lust with him. But who wouldn’t be? The consensus among the panel was that the performance was incredible — it was — and they ended up with a score of 47.
The House of Balenciaga was up next with Spins & Dips as their element. And they had a giant slide on stage, which was pretty impressive as the children slid down to the runway. What this performance really showcased was that Mother Shannon doesn’t do a whole lot in the all-House performances except look pretty. Unfortunately, I saw one spin and a very mediocre dip. The judges were also in agreement with me. Leiomy said it was just too regular, Tiffany was confused, and Megan said it was not a memorable performance because if you’re not out of breath at the end, you didn’t do what you were supposed to do. Jameela also noted that the beautiful Mother costume was so different from the others that it was distracting. In the end, their efforts earned them a 35.
The House of Comme des Garçons was last in the first round with Floor Performance. Their theme was exotic birds with the floor performance coming from the baby who could not yet fly. It was a creative concept and it worked. Savion turned out a masterful floor performance, and Stasha had an amazing peacock dress that she was able to flip the tail feathers up for a breathtaking display. They even put Tonka to good use as an explorer in bland khakis but gave him a nice quick change mid-performance. I think it was his best performance all season. Not everyone agreed that the floor performance was amazing and unusual. Jameela noted Savion hasn’t smiled this much all season. Megan, Leiomy and Tiffany thought the floor performance was basic and they needed to push it more, but their look as birds was certainly bizarre. The final score was a 42, putting Mugler at the top at the end of Round One.
Round Two: Tag Team Virgin Vogue
For this round, two members from each house have to walk either Old Way or New Way vogue for the first time. Leiomy was a little more descriptive with her explanation stating that Old Way has more lines and sharpness (think Madonna’s ‘Vogue’ video) while New Way is more fluid with stretching. As usual, each team needed to score tens across the board to advance to the Battle Round. And as with a previous round, there was drama and controversy. The performers were:
- Kalik & Honey Balenciaga – chop from Tiffany
- Egypt and Milan Garçons – chop from Megan
- Malik & Prince Mugler – 10
That made Mugler the default winner with no Battle, bringing their score to 57. But this started the drama that would hang over the rest of the night as the judges pretty much ganged up on Tiffany for her chop, with Law asking her to explain herself. For her, she didn’t feel the Old Way was classic enough. I agree with her but it was a shame because Honey slayed the New Way, especially with her Duck Walk. But all the judges ganged up on Tiffany, yet no one had a thing to say about Megan being the lone chop for the Garçons. The heated argument very obviously carried over to the next round.
Round Three: Arms Control
One member from each House sat in a chair, dressed in black with Day-Glo gloves and did a hand performance, similar to the one where they did a hand performance in the box last time. And during the scoring, Tiffany looked pissed, appearing to just throw a 10 up because she didn’t want any more drama … until Jameela and Law threw a chop out.
- Cha Cha Balenciaga – 10
- Savion Garçons – 10
- Arturo Mugler – three chops from Tiffany, Jameela and Law
In the end, the winner was Cha Cha, earning Balenciaga an additional 10 points, bringing their score to 45.
Round Four: Shake That Sexy Duo
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This was a sex siren presentation and Leiomy wanted them to sell not just sex but confidence. Again, they needed tens to advance, and the Houses still standing would send a second member out to twerk in the Battle Round. Tiffany seems to have gotten some of her confidence back, delivering a chop right off the bat. And, come on, there was no way Diego wasn’t getting anything but tens
- Jupiter Balenciaga – chop from Tiffany
- Stasha Garçons – 10
- Diego Mugler – 10
The battle featured Tati Mugler vs … Tonka Garçons?! I like Tonka, but he’s not the most graceful on the floor, we’ve seen that already, and just because he’s a big guy doesn’t mean he has the ass to twerk. It was no contest as all the judges gave the W to Tati, which brings Mugler’s score to 67, making them the Superior House for the third week in a row.
That left Balenciaga (Honey) and Garçons (Savion) left to battle it out for second place and a spot in the finals. This vogue battle is supposed to be full of passion and artistry, and the judges were not feeling it. Law said there was nothing special about either performance so he just gave his vote to Garçons. Jameela also was not impressed but felt that the performance was in Honey’s soul. Megan said they were both good, but Honey was the better performer. Leiomy was disappointed, saying Honey allowed her ego to take away from the talent, and that ego will tarnish her career, so just let go of the bitchy attitude. Tiffany interrupted and said she didn’t understand what Leiomy was saying and Law jumped in and said the comments were not for her, it was ballroom to ballroom and he shushed her. I’m sorry but that was just rude. You do not treat a guest in your house that way. Law’s attitude with Tiffany was totally uncalled for. But back to Leiomy, she did admit that Honey out-performed Savion, so Balenciaga is moving to the finals while the House of Garçons has fallen
Earlier in the season it seemed it was either Tisci’s or Balenciaga’s season to lose, and now only one of them still stands while the underdog has become the Top Dog.
Ballroom 5000
The Season 2 finale opened up with a performance from the House of Basquiat, followed by Megan Thee Stallion performing her song ‘Body’ with members of Mugler and Balenciaga as her back-up dancers. Both performances were, as Law would say, FINE, but neither topped that breathtaking tango that opened the Season 1 finale. There’s no guest judge this week, and just two challenges.
Evolution of Vogue
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To fit with the name of the ball, these all-House performances had to showcase the future of vogue, so each House had to put a little sci-fi twist on their themes. And Mugler got to decide the order in which the Houses performed, sending out Balenciaga first. Also, the judges’ scores will not be revealed until after the second round scores are tallied.
Balenciaga turned out a solid performance with a lot of vogue elements, but the finish with two members being lifted by one foot into the air to do a spin and then dip to the floor was amazing. Leiomy said the 360 at the end was beautiful and the performance was sharp, showing that they are here for a reason. Law loved the look and said this time Shannon was doing what a Mother should do, presiding over her children. Everyone performed and they did what needed to be done. Jameela had high expectations for the House from the beginning, and they delivered. Megan says Shannon is a bad bitch who commands respect and she appreciates a confident woman, and they were meant to be here.
Miyake-Mugler’s performance didn’t feature all the tricks of Balenciaga’s but I thought it was a much cleaner presentation of the elements of vogue. Even the Balencis backstage thought it was sickening, and the judges — particularly Leimoy — were screaming. Law said they went ‘full the fuck out’ and this is ‘why we came to Legendary.’ He loved that Father Arturo came full out and vogued down and said it was the perfect performance. Jameela loved the story and said Arturo gives her life when he gives himself that moment to shine. She was worried they wouldn’t be able to deliver but they did and surprised her with new notes they brought to the performance. It was tight, in sync and nothing like she’d ever seen before. Megan said their outfits were giving her a Total Recall vibe, and the performance was very ‘ballroom Human Centipede‘ when they were all linked together. She said they started out as a House she liked but didn’t want to root for them but they wound up as a House she’s totally in love with. Leiomy was almost in tears, saying the performance got her emotional in so many ways. She’s happy to see them continue the legacy of ballroom, their performance was amazing, futuristic, clean, beautiful. It felt like home. It’s inspired her, it was groundbreaking and this is what the world needs to see, this is how ballroom needs to be viewed and taken, and this performance puts the bar very, very high.
There was a break in the action for Bebe Rexha to perform with members from Seasons 1 & 2: Becky Luxe, Milan Garçons, Shyanne Escada, Gia Tisci, Jaime Ninja, and Isla Ebony. The judges could not have cared less about Bebe, screaming at the dancers throughout the entire performance.
The final challenge of the season would be Head-to-Head Battles of the Vogue Elements, with both Houses sending one member to compete against the other in one of the elements: Hand Performance, Catwalk, Duck Walk, Floor Performance, Spins & Dips. Each element is worth five points, and the total points earned will be added to the scores of the first round to determine the winner.
- Hands: Kalik B vs Arturo M. – Balenciaga got the win because Arturo moved around too much, judging by the way Dashaun kept trying to remind him this was a Hands competition.
- Duck Walk: Shannon B vs Malik M. – Mugler easily took the win in this round, because Shannon thought doing the Duck Walk in a voluminous ball gown was a good idea. It wasn’t but at least she didn’t fall.
- Catwalk: Jupiter B. vs Diego M. – This one was very close but Jupiter decided to get sassy with the judges while they were contemplating their vote while Diego just kept on Catwalking. Mugler wins again.
- Floor Performance: Honey B. vs Prince M. – This one was a real battle but Honey put away the ego and performed, scoring Balenciaga a second win and tying up the round.
- Spins & Dips: Cha Cha B. vs Tati M. – There was no question her that Tati easily outdid Cha Cha, giving Mugler the final five points.
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And now two Houses stand on the runway awaiting their final fate. Balenciaga scored 10 points in the final round and 37 points in the first round, giving them a total of 47. Miyake-Mugler earned 15 points in the final round, and added to their 38 points in Round One (I am gagged they didn’t get tens across the board) for a total of 53, crowning the House of Miyake-Mugler the Ultimate Superior House for Legendary Season 2. It was a well-deserved win, and I think it showed that being humble really does win the day. Congratulations to all of the Houses, and here’s hoping HBO Max will bring the show back for a third season!
All episodes of Legendary stream on HBO Max.
What did you think of the finale? Tell us in the comments section below!
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