Drag Race 3, how the third episode went

The third episode is crucial for understanding the direction a TV program intends to take. AND Drag Race Italy (on Paramount+ with season three) is no exception. You can no longer hide behind shyness in front of the cameras, the lack of familiarity between the competitors or the first steps in a new world.

The time has come for the jury (made up of Chiara Francini, Paolo Camilli and Paola Iezzi and led by the presenter Priscilla) to understand who the competing queens are (in this case with the guest judge Chiara Iezzi) and what they will do to earn the scepter, crown, 20 thousand euros and a year of cosmetics from Anastasia Beverly Hills, now the global beauty sponsor of the program.

Spill the tea

(SPOILER) Even those who have been writing about the Italian show for three years (and have followed every edition and declination around the world) have happened to secretly root for one queen or another, sometimes due to merit, sometimes out of pure sympathy or connection. But until now it had never happened in the Italian edition that the “favourite” or considered most deserving one did not reach the final. In other countries yes, for example with the sashay away of drag like Irene Dubois (RuPaul’s Drag Race 15) or Melusine Sparkle (Drag Race Brazil 1), performers of the highest level who were able to fully demonstrate their versatility.

The third episode of Drag Race Italia shows that some queens are explicitly granted this change: For the second time Lina Galore is told either that she could have done more or that she got the timing wrong to be the top queen of the week. Morgana Cosmica is asked to leave her comfort zone (but neither she nor the public understood what that was).

Melissa Bianchini’s “decorated” bodysuit earns her the top and the simple lace baby doll is worth Sissy Lea’s salvation. Vezirja, who from the first episode gave authenticity, freshness and a lot of humanity, is penalized because she is stuck in lip synch, after having deliberately put her in a position to fail. As? Entrusting her with the leading role. This time, in fact, for the Rusical it is not the queens who decide the parts but the jury directly. She said she was sure of coming out in the first episode, the writer is convinced that she deserved at least the top four of edition three.

Applauding every performance indiscriminately (such as the somewhat limp result of the Rusical) and praising every catwalk in front of the queens does not help them grow and improve. And if we don’t move forward we inevitably fall behind. No one telling La Prada to refine her make-up or Lina Galore to vary hers. Just one flag (the pride progress flag) is enough for Sypario to win the bet. Ah, if only it were so simple in the other, much more ruthless editions!

Encouragement is needed but rigor is also needed, in this the intellectual honesty of saying that a leotard is not enough, not even for someone with the physique of a model, to move forward in the race. But what exactly happened that was so shocking in this episode? Nothing, actually, because this time too it turned out to be rather “ok”, without any particular heartbeats.

No mini-challenges

Instead of the mini-challenge (so no RuPeter Badge!), there were auditions on the musical with related reactions, fears or exaltations of the queens.

The Rusical

It’s called Night of a 1000 Paola and Chiara, but we wanted to start – literally – from when they were in diapers, leaving out iconic songs and jokes that would make us understand the different characters of the duo. Even the hint of blasphemy with nuns and crucifixes (which abound in the Spanish version, which increasingly veers towards Carnival and a certain vulgarity) didn’t cause much laughter or emotion.

The runway

The catwalk, entitled “W l’amore” is more than decent for all but definitely wow for Silvana della Magliana, who also accompanies her wedding cake outfit with colored hearts with a private story. She will soon celebrate the civil union with her partner, to whom she gave her first kiss in the disco to the tune of a song by Paola and Chiara. Now yes, there would be some applause, not the kind that gives a medal to all the children who participate in the cross-country race. We need those who know how to distinguish the extra value in a context of entertainment, of course, but also of activism. And no, it’s not rhetoric: the camp look with the electrified wig on the contrary made a splash, unlike the two Cupids on the catwalk. There have been horns, feathers, swords and whips, but nothing made people jump up in their seats like her, so Hasta Magnana!

Top 3 and bottom 3

No, she didn’t win, but she ranked in the top 3 together with Sypario, who won 1000 euros with the look of incomplete poems and a flag train and Melissa, in her white bodysuit with bow and arrow.

Priscilla, in this episode in the guise of a fuchsia Glamazon, sent Sissy Lea and Vezirja to the bottom, saving (why? It’s not clear… it’s not a criticism, just a doubt) Morgana Cosmica.

The lip sync

On the notes of Sea chaos of Paola and Chiara Sissy Lea gives up the heart-shaped plush costume with sadomasochistic inserts and becomes agitated by changing her wig and taking out her aunt’s modest red lace baby doll. It doesn’t take much for her to overwhelm Vezirja, plastered in her tailcoat and probably already defeated by her performance in the Rusical which saw her at the center of the scene (why? Even here it’s not clear). In short, it is useless that Paola Iezzi said she loved her demeanor because she has now packed her suitcase to return to Albania. What a pity!

The other opinions, very short, almost monosyllabic, can also be overlooked because they lacked incisiveness or the so-called “shade” that those who make drag sentences usually like so much.