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For those of you eagerly awaiting the tenth season of RuPaul’s Drag Race, you may bee a teeny bit more eager when you find out who may be on tap to assess the charisma, uniqueness, nerve and talent of some of the nation’s top drag queens.
During an interview on the Emmy red carpet with TVLine’s Michael Ausiello on Sunday night, Ru (along with fellow Drag Race regulars Ross Matthews, Carson Kressley and Michelle Visage) was asked if he thought the show would ever be able to top having Lady Gaga at the judges’ table. He said “It is kinda tough to top her. But I think we’ve done it. I really do.” When asked if Madonna would be helping pick America’s Next Drag Superstar, Ru coyly demurred, “I can’t saaay.” Watching the clip, I can’t help but think Ru kind of did say already.
I don’t think that anyone could top Gaga on the show, from her entrance, where she pretended to be a contestant, to the inspiring talk she gave the queens in the workroom (and also during Untucked). That being said, Madonna is an icon, and her presence has already been felt on Drag Race in the infamous “Night of 1,000 Madonnas” runway challenge of season eight, also known as the “Night of 1,000 Kimonos,” with four queens recreating her look from her “Nothing Really Matters” video. The challenge was brought back for season nine, and come through, Sasha Velour with your Erotica-inspired look. Slay, qween.
It’s not like Ru hasn’t wanted to have Madonna on the show for a while. During a 2011 interview for Socialite Life (with yours truly), Mama Ru said of her judge “dream team” that she’d really love Cher to be a judge (wouldn’t we all). Madge did come up on the list, as Ru told me “A lot of the women who have inspired queens throughout the years I’d love to get on – Diana Ross, Deborah Harry, Madonna – all of the real girls queens who launched a thousand drag queens.” So, unless Ru’s idol, Judge Judy, or the Dark Lady herself show up, it’s got to be Madonna. right? At least in the artistic battle between Madonna and Gaga, there may now be something that Gaga did first.
Oh, and how about the fact that Drag Race lost out at the Emmys to The Voice for best reality show? I wasn’t happy, and Twitter lost it’s damn mind. But, you can look at it this way, even though Ru didn’t take home an Emmy, he WAS the Emmy (in what I thought was the highlight of the ceremony). That’s one for the win column in my book, and there’s always next year.
Photo note: When I was looking for photos of Ru for this post, I found some of him at the recent Fashion Does Drag ball in New York that have to be seen to be believed. That glamorous drag queen with Ru in, I guess, boy drag (?) is season three winner Raja. I want…no, I NEED to hang out with RuPaul.
Photos: Getty Images, WENN.com
