"RuPaul Book Ball" is the eighth episode of the eighth season of ''

RuPaul's Drag Race ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' is an American reality competition television series, the first in the Drag Race (franchise), ''Drag Race'' franchise, produced by World of Wonder (company), World of Wonder for Logo TV (season 1–8), WOW Presents Plus, ...

''. Amy and

David Sedaris David Raymond Sedaris ( ; born December 26, 1956) is an American humorist, comedian, author, and radio contributor. He was publicly recognized in 1992 when National Public Radio broadcast his essay " Santaland Diaries". He published his first col ...

are guest judges.

Episode

For the mini-challenge, contestants impersonate each other as part of a

puppet show Puppetry is a form of theatre or performance that involves the manipulation of puppets – inanimate objects, often resembling some type of human or animal figure, that are animated or manipulated by a human called a puppeteer. Such a performan ...

. Kim Chi impersonates

Chi Chi DeVayne Zavion Michael Davenport (September 24, 1985August 20, 2020), better known by the stage name Chi Chi DeVayne, was an American drag queen and reality television personality who came to international attention on the eighth season of ''RuPaul's ...

, who impersonated

Bob the Drag Queen Christopher Delmar Caldwell (born June 22, 1986), also known by his stage name Caldwell Tidicue and better known by his drag name Bob the Drag Queen, is an American drag queen, comedian, actor, activist, musician, author, and reality television ...

Derrick Barry Derrick Prentice Barry (born July 18, 1983) is an American drag performer, Britney Spears impersonator and reality television personality. He is best known for competing on the third season of ''America's Got Talent'' (2008), and later the eig ...

and

Naomi Smalls Naomi Smalls is the stage name of Davis M. Heppenstall (born September 8, 1993), an American drag queen and reality television personality, best known as one of the runners-up on the RuPaul's Drag Race (season 8), eighth season of ''RuPaul's Drag ...

impersonated each other, and Bob the Drag Queen impersonates Kim Chi. For the main challenge, contestants are tasked with presenting three looks. The categories are: Baby Drag Realness, That's My Mama Realness, and Autobiographical Eleganza Extravaganza, which requires contestants to designing outfits from book "that would tell their life stories". Contestants must also present a musical adaptation of

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American Cable television in the United States, cable television channel, channel owned by Paramount Global through its Paramount Media Networks, network division's Paramount Media Networks#MTV Entertainment Group, MTV Ente ...

's ''

Strangers with Candy ''Strangers with Candy'' is an American television sitcom created by Stephen Colbert, Paul Dinello, Amy Sedaris, and Mitch Rouse that originally aired on Comedy Central from April 7, 1999, to October 2, 2000. Its timeslot was Sundays at 10:00 ...

.'' Bob the Drag Queen and Derrick Barry place in the bottom and face off in a

lip-sync Lip sync or lip synch (pronounced , like the word ''sink'', despite the spelling of the participial forms ''synced'' and ''syncing''), short for lip synchronization, is a technical term for matching a speaking or singing person's lip movements ...

to "

You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real) "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)" is a song by American disco/ R&B singer Sylvester. It was written by James Wirrick and Sylvester, produced by Harvey Fuqua and Sylvester, and released by Fantasy Records as the second single from the singer's four ...

" by

Sylvester Sylvester or Silvester is a name derived from the Latin adjective ''silvestris'' meaning "wooded" or "wild", which derives from the noun ''silva'' meaning "woodland". Classical Latin spells this with ''i''. In Classical Latin, ''y'' represented a ...

. Derrick Barry is eliminated from the competition.

Reception

Oliver Sava of ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...

'' gave the episode a rating of 'A'. ''

Gay Times ''Gay Times'' (stylized in all caps), also known as ''GAY TIMES Magazine'' and as ''GT'', is a UK-based LGBTQ+ magazine established in 1984. Originally a magazine for gay and bisexual men, the company began including content for the LGBTQ+ comm ...

'' included Chi Chi DeVayne's runway presentation in the episode among her "most sickening moments" on the show. ''

Screen Rant ''Screen Rant'' is an entertainment website that offers news in the fields of television, films, video games, and comic books. It is owned by Valnet, parent of publications including Comic Book Resources, Collider, MovieWeb and XDA Developers. ...

'' included Kim Chi's book look in a 2021 overview of the show's best ball challenge outfits, and said: "Kim Chi's stunning flower headpiece and her accompanying gown were awe-inspiring, especially when considering the look is made out of pages from a book. With a beautiful silhouette and an appreciable construction, Kim Chi's Book Couture gown and headpiece were an amazing example of how unconventional materials can create a fantastic look."

References

External links

RuPaul Book Ball
at

IMDb IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...

“RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE: UNTUCKED” SEASON 8, EPISODE 8: “RUPAUL BOOK BALL”
Logo TV {{Portal bar, LGBTQ, Television, United States RuPaul's Drag Race season 8 episodes Works about ball culture