RECAP: Drag Race France Season 4, Episode 1
“Drag Race France” is back for Season 4 – although it’s actually its fifth season, after last year’s spectacular “All Stars” edition. The wonderful Nicky Doll is back as host (she gets better every year, and also stream Nicky Doll’s music, “Attention” is a bop), Daphne Burki returns as her reliable right-hand-woman, and joining the panel this season is singer and activist Anggun. And the guest for this season premiere? Legit French acting icon Isabelle Adjani. “Drag Race France” keeps bringing the big guns, you guys.
If you’ve been sleeping on “Drag Race France,” you should wake it up. It’s among the very best of the franchises and its casts have produced not just stars, but supernovas.
Overall I loved this first episode. It’s a great group of 10 contestants, with a fascinating mix of drag styles and, so far, plenty of personality. Read on for my take – SPOILERS AHEAD – but please know I am very much an American swine, and I only took one semester of French in college. Quelle dommage!
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I’ll go over each of the Season 4 queens in alphabetical order, giving my first impressions and commenting on their performance of the song “Belle et Fiere” and their Dress Excess runway. Before we get into that, I will say, I thought the song challenge was a flop. The song is catchy, but the verses were so short and the vocals mostly sounded so similar, I struggled to even tell when one ended and the next began. The group choreography was a complete mess. I just don’t think this was a good showcase of these queens, and the ones that ended up in the top weren’t dramatically better than the ones in the bottom. That could be a statement on the strength of this group, but realistically it’s more of a commentary on a poorly designed challenge.
Azemylia: Azemylia is giving us drag influencer, walking in with the largest Stanley cup ever created, festooned with rhinestones, and then serving up a Kim Kardashian-inspired dress on the runway that was, honestly, more interesting than anything Kim has done in her life. I said what I said. Azemylia sold herself as “the best dancer Drag Race France has ever seen,” and we got a taste of that in the song challenge when she threw herself around the stage. She won the challenge, but I don’t really have a sense of who she is yet.
Creatine Price: Creatine is actually an American who lives in France as an opera singer (her name is a take on Leontyne Price, a legendary opera singer who was also a person of color). Creatine’s entrance look was an opera reference – giving Brunhilde in Wagner’s Ring Cycle – but it did look off the rack. Her Excess look was a reference to Missy Elliott and her iconic puffy trash-bag look. There were elements of this I loved, and other elements that weren’t as successful – the tiny jeep was wholly unnecessary. I thought Creatine was a standout in the song challenge, but admittedly that might be because I could actually understand some of what she was saying (they don’t subtitle songs, which is irritating). The judges put her in the Bottom 2, because Creatine was shy and not owning her star power. Certainly they could see that more than we could, but I didn’t necessarily pick up on that this episode. She was in the Bottom 3.
Daisy Superbitch: Daisy made a big impression this episode, walking in as butch devil and then coming out on the runway as – I am not a subject-matter expert here, so please correct me if I’m wrong – a massive vulva. That is so cunty, literally. They would never allow this on U.S. “Drag Race.” She was safe, but for me she pulled more attention in the song performance than some of the queens in the top.
Fluffy Bidule: Ditto with Fluffy, who was a real standout this episode with her looks, personality, and vulnerability speaking about her gender expression. I was entranced by Fluffy in the song, where she was stiff, but still seductive. I find her incredibly alluring. I absolutely love her make-up, which is signature after just one episode – that’s impressive. Doing her runway look as a reference to her own mug was bold and maybe a bit delusional, but in the 2020s, you have to project icon status if you want to attain it. That’s what she did here. I would have put her in the top as well.
Holly White: Holly is our elder queen, clocking in at 40 with 20 years in the business. I love a seasoned queen, and I have high hopes for Holly here. I liked her bold zebra print entrance look, but I lost her in the song challenge. For her Excess runway, she gave a super femme reinvention of the tuxedo. I liked many of the elements of this look, although I found the material on the skirt distracting. She was safe, which I think is correct. I worry she is not “popping” among this cast.
La Harpie: I didn’t realize my mother had licensed her life rights to a drag queen. I kid. I loved Harpie’s entrance look, all 80s punk with elements of camp – that ashtray fascinator! I thought her Excess runway was so interesting, from the odd proportions of the anatomy on the top to the acid-yellow, pooling skirt. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like it on “Drag Race,” and that’s rare. I also don’t think she needed the gas-mask prop. I just love her aesthetic. She was put in the Bottom 3 because the judges didn’t get a sense of her. Again, I say: this challenge was not great as an introduction for any of them. I didn’t think La Harpie did noticeably worst than many of the other queens.
Lana Cotta: I’m intrigued by Lana. She is a burlesque entertainer, and she paints much older than she is. Her entrance look gave me slutty Ronald McDonald – I’m into it – and her Excess look was a partially destroyed wedding dress, burned after she fell asleep while smoking. I think this would have had more impact had it not been the second ashtray fascinator this episode, and I’m not sure it really fit the brief of the runway as well as others didI absolutely loved the make-up – she’s got a killer face. I’m going to be honest, Lana didn’t make an impression on me in the challenge. She was Safe.
Malawitte: One of the breakouts of this episode, Malawitte is a fashion designer, and a cis woman lesbian, a first for “Drag Race France.” I loved everything she wore this episode, and I found her incredibly endearing. Malawitte absolutely made an impression in the song challenge – she’s a star. So I was deeply sad to see her doubt herself so much throughout the episode. Malawitte said several times that she didn’t feel like she belonged. I can understand that. There is a lot of gatekeeping in drag, and cis women queens have had a complicated history on “Drag Race” (Victoria Scone probably would have gone deep on “UK” S3 had she not injured herself; Clover Bish was treated shamefully by the judges on “Espana” S3, Pandora Nox won “Drag Race Germany,” Velma Jones was a mid-out on “Canada’s Drag Race” S6). But Malawitte DOES belong here, and I hope she can find her footing. She’s wonderful. She was deservedly in the Top 3.
Margarette: Margarette is a clown queen, but not in the Bozo school – think Darlene Mitchell or Sami Landri. Her drag aesthetic is much more toned down than many of the other queens, and that could hurt her – it’s like mall drag with a sense of humor. We saw that in her Excess runway look, which was…not excessive. And not particularly pretty. Margarette ended up in the Bottom 2, although Nicky gave her good advice: fashion is something that can be bought, while sense of humor is something you either have or you don’t – and Margarette has it.
Sublyme: Sublyme walked in wearing a sexy, unclockable showgirl outfit, and concluded the episode wearing a massive piss-yellow tutu and a titanic mohawk. And she made it all herself. She showed us range, and she’s one to watch. She also grabbed attention during the song challenge. She ended up in the Top 3, and I agree.
Ultimately La Harpie was spared, and we had Margarette vs. Creatine Price in the Bottom 2 lipsyncing to “Golden” from K-Pop Demon Hunters. I’m unclear why that is being used as a lipsync song on “Drag Race France,” but OK. Creatine gave a fairly standard lipsync here – I do need to mention she has a stunning face, a real beauty – while Margarette took a much more humorous approach, giving the song personality and silliness that was hard to ignore.
In the end, Margarette was named winner, and Creatine was the first eliminee of the season. I’m devastated on her behalf. I think she’s so lovely, so beautiful, and I hated how hard on herself she seemed to be. I was willing it to be a non-elim first week, but it was not. I hope Creatine does not see this as a failure. I think she did well here, and I think she has much more to show – it’s a shame that we won’t get to see her do opera in next week’s Talent Show.
Finally, two shout-outs: I love the prize package now includes Kiehl’s skincare. I swear by Kiehl’s, I’ve used it for years, and no shit, I look younger than my youngest brother, who is 7 years my junior. Suck it, Chad! Also, use Kiehl’s.
And I would be remiss if I did not at least mention the tremendous shoulders of mini-challenge guest judge Jonathan Jevrin of “Star Academy.” What a blessing.
What do YOU think of “Drag Race France” Season 4? Which queens are you rooting for? Drop your comments below!
