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Divine Inspiration (RuPaul's Drag Race)

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"Divine Inspiration"
RuPaul's Drag Race episode
Episode no.Season 7
Episode 9
Directed byNick Murray
Original air dateApril 27, 2015 (2015-04-27)
Guest appearances
Episode chronology
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"Divine Inspiration" is the ninth episode of the seventh season of RuPaul's Drag Race.[1][2] Directed by Nick Murray, the episode originally aired on April 27, 2015. Demi Lovato and John Waters are guest judges.[3] Lucian Piane and Our Lady J also make guest appearances, helping the contestants during rehearsals.

The episode's main challenge has the contestants perform musical versions of scenes from two films by Waters: Pink Flamingos (1972) and Female Trouble (1974). Ginger Minj is the winner of the challenge, and Miss Fame is eliminated from the competition.

Episode

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Screenshot from the original 1972 theatrical trailer for the film Pink Flamingos, starring Divine

Contestants "read" (playfully insult) each other for the mini-challenge. Trixie Mattel is declared the winner. For the main challenge, three teams perform musical versions of John Waters scenes made famous by Divine.[4] The teams are Ginger Minj and Trixie Mattel, Kennedy Davenport and Katya, and the trio of Miss Fame, Pearl, and Violet Chachki. Lucian Piane and Our Lady J help during rehearsals.[5]

The song for Ginger Minj and Trixie Mattel, is inspired by the "Eggman" scene from Pink Flamingos (1972).[6] The trio also perform a song based on the same film.[7] Kenndy Davenport and Katya perform in a scene inspired by Female Trouble (1974).[8][9]

Demi Lovato and Waters are guest judges.[7][10] The runway theme is ugly dresses. Kenny Davenport delivers a "church-lady" look.[11] According to Out, Pearl wears a Wednesday Addams- and "Japanese schoolgirl"-inspired outfit, and Violet Chachki's outfit "[serves] Phyllis Diller starring as Carol Channing in a late-70s South Beach revival of Hello, Dolly!"[12] Waters praises Ginger Minj for her performance and compares her "star power" to Divine's.[13] Ginger Minj earns her third win for the season. Miss Fame and Pearl place in the bottom two and face off to a lip-sync of "Really Don't Care" (2014) by Lovato featuring Cher Lloyd.[14] Miss Fame is eliminated from the competition.

Production

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Demi Lovato (left) and John Waters (right) are guest judges on the episode.
Lucian Piane (left) and Our Lady J (right) also make guest appearances.

The episode was directed by Nick Murray and originally aired on April 27, 2015. Piane had previously been a guest judge on the fourth season's "Frenemies" and appeared in the fifth season's "Can I Get an Amen?" He was also a guest judge on the sixth season's "Shade: The Rusical" and the seventh season's fourth episode "Spoof! (There It Is)". Piane would later serve as a guest judge on the eighth season's second ("Bitch Perfect") and fourth ("New Wave Queens") episodes.

Reception

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Oliver Sava of The A.V. Club gave the episode a rating of 'B+'.[15] Stephen Daw ranked Ginger Minj's performance in the "eggs" song fourteenth in Billboard's 2018 overview of the show's fifty best "musical moments". He wrote, "It took the show seven seasons to finally deliver a John Waters-inspired challenge, but when it did, the queens made sure they did it right... Ginger Minj stole the show as a nearly-insane singing adult baby with an insatiable craving for…well, eggs!"[16] In 2019, Sam Damshenas of Gay Times said Ginger Minj's performance demonstrated how she "embodies both camp and comedy."[6]

Writing for Screen Rant in 2020, Bernardo Sim pointed to the "eggs" number as evidence of Ginger Minj being among the show's best singers.[17] Sim also included the sketch in Out magazine's 2023 list of fifteen "moments that prove ... season 7 was actually iconic".[18] In 2022, British drag queen The Vivienne, who won the first series of RuPaul's Drag Race UK and competed in the seventh season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars, said the "eggs" sketch was among her favorite Drag Race moments.[19]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Bates, Bryony (2015-05-01). "RuPaul's Drag Race S7 E9: Divine Inspiration". Archived from the original on 2024-02-28. Retrieved 2024-02-28.
  2. ^ Ehrman-Dupre, Joe (2015-04-29). "'RuPaul's Drag Race' — Season 7, Episode 9: 'Divine Inspiration'". IndieWire. Retrieved 2024-03-04.
  3. ^ Boulet, Ruth (2015-04-28). "RuPaul's Drag Race Season 7 episode 9 recap". Channel Guide Magazine. Archived from the original on 2020-12-02. Retrieved 2024-03-07.
  4. ^ Libby, Katie. ""RuPaul's Drag Race" Season 7, Episode 9: Divine Inspiration". CITY Magazine. Archived from the original on 2024-02-25. Retrieved 2024-02-25.
  5. ^ "Talking Drag Race With Chiffon Dior: Episode Nine "Divine Inspiration" - WERRRK.com". 2015-04-28. Retrieved 2024-03-07.
  6. ^ a b Damshenas, Sam (2019-07-23). "5 reasons why Drag Race star Ginger Minj should play Ursula in The Little Mermaid". GAY TIMES. Archived from the original on 2022-09-10. Retrieved 2024-03-07.
  7. ^ a b "'RuPaul's Drag Race' recap: 'Divine Inspiration'". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 2019-02-13. Retrieved 2024-02-01.
  8. ^ "'RuPaul's Drag Race' Recap 7×9: Miss Fail". Observer. 2015-04-28. Archived from the original on 2022-11-29. Retrieved 2024-02-25.
  9. ^ Mercer, John; Sarson, Charlie; Hakim, Jamie (2023-10-10). RuPaul's Drag Race and the Cultural Politics of Fame. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-000-96533-9. Archived from the original on 2024-02-28. Retrieved 2024-02-28.
  10. ^ Brennan, Niall; Gudelunas, David (2017-08-25). RuPaul's Drag Race and the Shifting Visibility of Drag Culture: The Boundaries of Reality TV. Springer. ISBN 978-3-319-50618-0. Archived from the original on 2024-02-28. Retrieved 2024-02-28.
  11. ^ "Dallas queen Kennedy Davenport's fiercest moments on 'RuPaul's Drag Race'". Dallas News. 2015-05-20. Archived from the original on 2024-02-28. Retrieved 2024-02-28.
  12. ^ "The Drag Race GIF-Cap Extravaganza: 'Divine Inspiration'". www.out.com. Archived from the original on 2023-12-11. Retrieved 2024-02-28.
  13. ^ Sim, Bernardo (2020-02-02). "RuPaul's Drag Race: 10 Best Singing Queens, Ranked". ScreenRant. Archived from the original on 2023-07-19. Retrieved 2024-03-07.
  14. ^ Carpentier, Megan; Rushe, Dominic (2015-04-28). "RuPaul's Drag Race recap: season seven, episode nine - Divine Inspiration". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 2023-03-21. Retrieved 2024-02-01.
  15. ^ "RuPaul's Drag Race: "Divine Intervention"". The A.V. Club. 2015-04-28. Archived from the original on 2022-01-24. Retrieved 2024-02-01.
  16. ^ Daw, Stephen (2018-08-14). "Decade Of 'Drag Race': The Show's 50 Best Musical Moments". Billboard. Archived from the original on 2023-03-24. Retrieved 2024-03-07.
  17. ^ Sim, Bernardo (2020-02-02). "RuPaul's Drag Race: 10 Best Singing Queens, Ranked". ScreenRant. Archived from the original on 2023-07-19. Retrieved 2024-03-07.
  18. ^ "15 Moments That Prove 'Drag Race' Season 7 Was Actually Iconic". www.out.com. Archived from the original on 2024-01-16. Retrieved 2024-03-07.
  19. ^ Damshenas, Sam (2022-05-23). "All Stars 7's The Vivienne reveals her favourite Drag Race moments in herstory". GAY TIMES. Archived from the original on 2023-12-01. Retrieved 2024-03-07.
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Related external media
video icon Reading is Fundamental on YouTube
video icon "Cha Cha Heels" with Katya and Kennedy Davenport on YouTube
video icon "Eggs" with Ginger Minj and Trixie Mattel on YouTube
video icon "Poo" with Pearl, Violet Chachki and Miss Fame on YouTube
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