For those uninitiated, Star Search: All Stars is a live, weekly reality competition show in Iowa City’s Studio 13, that’s basically the region’s own RuPaul’s Drag Race. There’s been five previous seasons, but this one is special: it’s an all winners and almost-winners lineup. Each contestant has competed before and was a crowd favorite. Little Village covered the dramatic premiere episode from Sept. 1.
This past Sunday, All Stars had a lot to live up to.
Challenge one: The name of the game? Alliances.
The show opens, as always, with the challenge. Teams were assigned last week, and one by one they began their girl-group performances. The first group was comprised of Frisbee Jenkins, Ruth Lime and Erotica Divine-Belle as Janet Jackson. The judges are looking for a couple things: resemblance, choreography and performance. Immediately the Janet team made clear they were the ones to beat. Clear and concise choreography, a creative vision and amazing execution — this is what we come to expect from Ruth and Frisbee alike, and Erotica really stepped up from being in the bottom the week before.
Sonny Noble, Virgo Frost-Belle and Muuvi Premiere were called next to the stage for their Madonna number. The first thing I noticed was their costumes: high-waisted pants with a low-bodied corset and a classic buttoned undershirt. It was a great example of correlation, each of them having their own take on the outfit (Sonny having white pants and corset and a black shirt unlike the black corset and pants of the others). Each of the group members’ makeup was incredible, enough like each other to seem cohesive but still unique to their style. Their performance was synchronized, with some old-school vogueing thrown in, but lacked some of the greater creative world-building that Frisbee and Ruth bring to the table.
The last group is the one I’d been especially eager to watch: Valencia La Del Barrio, Kalliope Bell and Spooky Santos. After Spooky and Kalliope’s drama from last week, their pairing this week had viewers curious to see if they could put aside their differences. The answer: Sort of?
Valencia opens the number from the side of the stage as Kalliope enters stage right. They’re dressed almost completely opposite, Kalliope is in a sparkly disco-style cocktail dress with hanging strands, Valencia is in a black robe with red undergarments beneath. When Spooky eventually comes to the stage, after Kalliope and Valencia just kind of lip-sync around each other for awhile, he’s in a whole other color scheme — a bright blue suit coat. It becomes clear they’re trying to tell a story, specifically the story of their relationship, but even for me (someone who really wants to know) it was hard to follow. Most of the song was Spooky intensely grinding on Kalliope with Valencia stuck holding up signs. Yes, signs. Instead of trying to capitalize on their drama, I wish they would have worked through it.
In any case, the runway was easily the most memorable part of the night.
Challenge two: Runway highlights
Ruth Lime wore a huge stoned and glistening MAGA style hat with the words “Make America Ruth Again” that fit over her entire face like a gigantic helmet. How she saw enough to walk the runway and back I have no idea. The look was classic Ruth: campy, but chic and impeccably designed. The rest of the garment was a perfectly tailored Hillary Clinton-approved pantsuit. She carried a small American flag as she walked — which was the only part of the outfit I felt she could have lost.
Kalliope stood in the middle of a massively wide hat with beaded strands that came down, making her seem caught in a beautifully glimmering rain storm. She clutched her bare chest as she strutted, but as she swiftly turned at the end of the runway she dropped her hands and two pink cowboy hats appeared perfectly covering her nipples.
Virgo Frost also went campy, a tall magician’s hat perched on her head with white fluffy rabbit ears poking through each side. She wore a plain white velvet tank over her torso, but her skirt became a model of the hat with a large brim jutting out of her waistline and a sleek velvet black skirt framing her body.
Surprising tensions during critiques
This week’s critiques were pretty mild. The Janet group practically got away scot-free, their performance being far and away the best of the week. The Madonna group was praised for their cleanness but docked points for being, in the judges’ words, boring. The Cher group (unfortunately for Cher) took the brunt of the workshopping. They were docked for their lack of choreo and reminded that if people weren’t there last week (or didn’t read this juicy column) then they’d be in the dark.
Guest judge Myla Jade had a brief scuffle with Sonny Noble at the end of critiques. Sonny was offended that Myla Jade said Virgo, and more specifically Virgo’s runway, was the reason their group wasn’t in the bottom. To this writer, it seemed like minutiae, but clearly it was upsetting enough that Sonny brought it up to Myla Jade’s face. When judge Lil Kimmy Blaque made sure to tell the group that the judges were not discrediting the group’s work or efforts, a verbal tussle ensued between Myla Jade and Sonny and, surprisingly, Kimmy. Myla Jade grabbed the mic from Kimmy to defend her statement, with a fire that seemed wildly out of proportion. This hotheadedness from Myla Jade threw the crowd and the contestants off, only stopping with Kimmy saying, “That’s enough. We’re done. We’ll talk later.” It’s a surprising turn for Myla Jade, who was the voice of reason last week with the Barbara Busch Lite situation.
After Kimmy and Beep got things back on track, it was time to announce the winners and losers. The top two were named as Frisbee and Ruth. The bottom? The entire Cher team.
When given the opportunity to ask the bottom two questions, Frisbee wasted no time asking about a supposed alliance between everyone — against her.
Kalliope grabbed the mic to indict everyone in the alliance except herself, saying she originally was against Frisbee too, but after a “heart to heart” between the two of them, Kalliope switched sides. From the crowd, however, other contestants didn’t sympathize. “Not me!” Erotica Divine-Belle shouted, eager to take her name out of the anti-Frisbee commission.
After the final lip sync, however, Ruth Lime pulled through for her second victory. When the mic was given to her to announce who would be sent home, the crowd didn’t seem as anxious as the week prior: Spooky seemed like the obvious choice. His runway was immemorable.
Imagine the bar’s shock when Ruth quickly said Kalliope’s name. I’m not exaggerating when I say I’ve never heard Studio 13 so silent. Judge Beep Beep had to say “Give it up for Kalliope” for the crowd to come out of a frozen shock. Kalliope had one of the best runway looks tonight — out of the three bottom, surely Spooky did the worst. Or Valencia, even though it was her first time in the bottom… but Kalliope? Could it have something to do with the alliance?
So I leave it to you, dear reader. Does it seem like everyone is underestimating Ruth to you? What I can’t get straight is this: if the alliance against Frisbee is because of her being the front runner, why would a “heart to heart” with Kalliope make her switch sides? Could it be that maybe the alliance isn’t just about her competency — is it something personal? I thought I knew how this episode was going to go but was thrown yet again.
I’ll see you there next week. You’ll find me in the corner nervously biting my nails and relishing in the chaos. Keep checking LittleVillageMag.com for more updates.
