If you've been breathlessly following Rupaul's Drag Race in its fourth season, then you already know by now that last night's finale wasn't the finale. It was a non-finale. And kind of frustrating at that, but as Gawker puts it, delaying the announcement of the winner to draw more viewers for the reunion episode is "perfectly characteristic of Drag Race to bait so openly." Now Ru is asking fans to comment on this Facebook post to let their opinion be heard about who should win (even though local queen Heklina says the winners are always chosen in advance). And so far, the voice of San Francisco, and pretty much everyone we can see, is calling it for edgy Pittsburgh queen Sharon Needles.
The Castro, especially the Midnight Sun and Toad Hall where they were showing the "finale" last night, were pretty hopping for a Monday, with lines down the block and capacity crowds.
There are 52,000 comments on the Facebook post so far (they're also taking "votes" by text, but Ru has made it clear we're not voting, we're just letting our voices be heard, the same way she makes decisions, like a monarch, without letting the other judges on the show actually vote). And in a completely unscientific scan, we see a significant majority of people (and not just our San Francisco friends) typing SHARON NEEDLES in all caps, or something similar Sharon being the most S.F.-like in her style, but also kind of Lady Gaga-esque with all spook-couture, as Rupaul pointed out last night. Chad Michaels comes in as a strong second, because everyone respects a hard-working Cher impersonator who never has a hair out of place.
Gawker defends Ru's blatant baiting for more viewers as being a kind of meta comment on reality TV in general. "This show can get away with things others can't because it's so honest about them: RuPaul shilling his book Workin' It or cramming his music into every available second becomes not just product placement but a commentary on product placement with the addition of a knowing wink."
This follows on the bombshell of a few weeks ago when when one of the top contenders, Willam Belli, got kicked off the show for an unknown violation of the competition rules and rumor has it the reasons for his being booted would be revealed during the finale, but obviously that won't come until next week's reunion episode either. (Also rumor has it it's just something boring like he broke confidentiality and Twittered while shooting the show.)
That, ladies and gentlemen, is your update from the drag mines for the week.
