• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Manhattan Digest

All you need to know about Manhattan culture and so much more...

  • LIFESTYLE
  • ENTERTAINMENT
  • LGBT
  • OPINION
  • TECHNOLOGY

adore delano

RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 2 RuCap: Back With More Fillers

by David Baxter

reunion

Drag Race All Stars Season 2 is here!!! Everyone has been a twitter about who’s going to be cast since Season 1, and after each of the previous seasons, we’ve all been hoping our favorite will be on the next all stars!!! AND IT’S HERE!!!! So, let’s get out the Kryolan paint stick and get ready to sissy that walk!!!

[Read more…] about RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 2 RuCap: Back With More Fillers

Filed Under: TELEVISION Tagged With: adore delano, Alaska thunderfuck, alyssa edwards, coco montrese, detox, Ginger Minj, Katya, logotv, phi phi o'hara, Raven Simone, roxxxy andrews, rupaul, rupauls drag race all stars season 2, tatianna

The Top Ten Best Queens of All Time on RuPaul’s Drag Race

by Ryan Shea

Best Queens

Let’s face it- RuPaul’s Drag Race has been one of the best reality shows ever, if not the best when it comes to highlighting the LGBT community in a positive light for the most part (season 7 taken out of this), and also put Drag Queens in a mainstream light that no one really saw coming before.  The show has brought so many memorable phrases that straight culture has stolen because they can’t figure out their own shit, from “Hunty”, “All Tea All Shade”, and so much more that has practically become part of our everyday dialogue with each other.  With 7 seasons (plus All Stars) under its belt and being a couple episodes of what is shaping up to being a fantastic season 8, memorable queens have come and gone that we have come to worship for more reasons than one.  So question being, who has been the best of the best since the show premiered many years ago?  How do we define best, really?  For us, it is who did we come to love for many reasons on the show and their cultural impact post-race.  We have come up with our top ten of the Best Drag Race contestants of all time.  Do you agree?  Disagree?  Sound off. [Read more…] about The Top Ten Best Queens of All Time on RuPaul’s Drag Race

Filed Under: ENTERTAINMENT, LGBT, TELEVISION Tagged With: adore delano, barbara walters, bebe zahara benet, bianca del rio, drag queens, drag race, jiggly caliente, jinkx monsoon, Katya, latrice royale, manila luzon, Miss Fame, Mrs Kasha Davis, nina flowers, phi phi o'hara, raja, roxxxy andrews, rupaul, rupauls drag race, sharon needles, top 10, top ten, Trixie Mattel, willam

Jason J. Carter- On Drag Race, #SayWhat?! & More

by Ryan Shea

Reality TV is the mainstay of television today, albeit it everything from housewives to little people to little people who are housewives.  So what happens when luck and fate combine and you fall into being on the biggest reality show for four consecutive seasons- Rupaul’s Drag Race?  No hunties, we aren’t talking about Michelle Visage’s Lace Front (No T, No Shade Miss Visage).  We are talking about the uber handsome and insanely talented Jason J. Carter, who along with his equally stunning comrade Sean Morales has been part of the wildly successful show for four years in a row as the show’s Pit Crew.  Now if you aren’t familiar with the show (which if you aren’t, you are basic.  #sorryaboutit), Jason’s role on the show is to assist in many of the mini challenges and some of the main challenges for the drag queens competing to be America’s Next Drag Superstar.

As someone who has been a big fan of show since the get, I have also come to admire Jason for not only how handsome he is but how much he adds to the show as the “Pit Crew” themselves have really gone out and branded themselves in the process.  I did my research on him and found out there is much more to this man than just a pretty face.  Since his inception on RPDR, he has developed an award-winning TV mini-series called “#saywhat?!” which divulges into what is hot in pop culture currently,  as well as making his stance in the modeling and acting world.  I recently sat down with Jason to discuss his booming career, what his thoughts were of the most recent Drag Race season, and how he was able to find love in what some may think is a not so hopeless place.  Take a look.

So even though Drag Race has made you famous, you had to start somewhere to get to where you are now.  How did you get into the entertainment profession?

I used to host TV shows back from my hometown, Albequerque, NM and was also a Disc Jockey there.  I uprooted myself to Los Angeles and focused on becoming a dancer, which was what brought me there originally. From there, I got into doing a ton of music videos and dancing with artists from the likes of Lady Gaga to Eminem.  After that, I began teaching as a dancer in LA and progressed from there.

Besides Drag Race, you and a bunch of other extroverted folk developed a series called #SayWhat?!  Tell me a little more about this. 

#SayWhat?! (follow us on Facebook) is a bunch of different hosts (myself, Starr Session, Nicole Seidman and Jill Anenberg) coming together to talk about everything that is going on in pop culture. We all watch TV, see what is going on online and have a great knowledge of what is current in the world of entertainment. We say what people are thinking and take a a step further.  The show is currently being distributed as webisodes online. The studio we use to film is in my house, so all the content you see is done in my home.  Definitely something that all your readers should check out as we try to bring a different and unique take to each episode we develop.

Being a web series can have its perks as other one’s like Lisa Kudrow’s “Web Therapy” was picked up by a major network.  Do you hope for the same for #Saywhat?!

That would be fantastic, but the future of television and viewing stuff is no longer on TV. Online is the future of media. Being picked up would be exquisite but online has more interaction with fans and ultimately more views.  5 years ago 1 million plus viewership was a flop, now it’s a success because people aren’t watching TV anymore. I want to build my brand online first because I’ll be more successful that way, however the sky is the limit for me so anything is possible.

 

Jason J. Carter, Manhattan Digest
Credit to: Jason J. Carter

 

Let’s talk about how you got involved on RuPaul’s Drag Race.  What was the audition process like?

I jumped on for Season 3 of the show. I was a dancer, and was teaching a dance class in Hollywood and one of the producer’s friends was in my class. They approached me and said. “I have a friend who is looking for people for this reality show, are you interested?” I responded, “What show is it?”  They wouldn’t say what it was.  I gave her my info, emailed the pictures which they forwarded to the producer.  After that I didn’t hear anything. Then after a while they reached out and said they liked my look and wanted me to come in for an audition.  Thankfully I was off that day and went. They told me to bring some underwear, and I was like wait “Is this some gogo boy shit- casting couch?” I got over my initial hesitation, I went in, did my thing, and got cast.

There are a lot of people out there who really just see the Pit Crew as eye candy and don’t bring much to the show itself.  What do you say to those critics?

I tend to not agree with how people feel that way.  If you look at the show, there are so many people who have been able to brand themselves outside of RuPaul and the queens that compete on it.  People like Mike Ruiz, Michelle Visage and Santino have been able to brand their name heavily due to the show’s popularity.  The Pit Crew themselves have been able to make a name for themselves, especially this past season when two became four where Miles Davis Moody and Simon Sherry-Wood joined us.  It strengthened our presence both on and off the show, and even myself and Miles did the CoverGirl video for RuPaul in the past year just to name one thing.  At the end of the day, its all encompassing and benefiting the show and making it the success that it is today.

This past season saw New Orleans native and current New Yorker Bianca Del Rio snatch the Season 6 title.  Being around the girls all season, do you think she was the strongest competitor to win the show this time around?

Absolutely.  Bianca’s family is from my hometown of New Orleans and I couldn’t be happier that she won.  She is a true example that you don’t need to rely on editing for the show to make you a hero or villain.  If what you are giving them is naturally you then it makes for great television.  Willam from Season 4 did the exact same thing, same goes for Latrice Royale.  Adore would’ve been a fantastic winner as well, but she is a winner in her own right by breaking Billboard Records and becoming a huge star based off of that and many other things.  The great thing about Drag Race is that you don’t necessarily need to win the show in order to become a star.  I am a huge fan of Shangela and really admire how she has branded herself and in doing so has become one of the most successful queens to ever have been on it.  And she wasn’t even in the top three so that says a lot about her drive and ambition.

I know you have been in love for multiple years with this one wonderful guy.  That’s pretty impressive because even one year is 10 years in the gay world, so tell me a little bit about your relationship and how you guys met.

It’s funny, we actually met online.  No not on something like Grindr, it was more of a fitness website.  He reached out to me in their chat room, and after talking for a little while we ended up meeting for lunch.  From then on we became inseparable.  We have flaws just like any relationship, but I knew from the get go that he was a special guy and the way he has treated me has just been incredible.  We are committed to each other and have a deep appreciation and understanding for one another as well.  I just know that he is the one.

So it sounds like you have a lot going with the web series and Rupaul’s Drag Race.  Anything else you wanna add?

I’m just happy being where I am now and am happy with what I have accomplished so far.  The show has opened many doors for me but at the same time I am proud of how self sufficient in getting myself to where I am.  As I have said before, sky is the limit for me and I am just happy to see what is next.

Follow Jason on Twitter

#SayWhat?! Official Site

 

Filed Under: ENTERTAINMENT, LGBT, TELEVISION Tagged With: adore delano, bianca del rio, drag race, jason j. carter, rpdr, rupauls drag race, scruff

Rupauls Drag Race- Bianca Del Rio For The Win

by Ryan Shea

Bianca Del Rio, Manhattan Digest
Bianca Del Rio, Manhattan Digest
Credit to: Out.com

Bianca Del Rio should win more than any other queen… ever

So another season of RPDR is making it’s way to the finish line where one of the remaining 3 queens will snatch the title of America’s next drag superstar. In my opinion the show peaked in S4 with the best cast any season has had this far, and really hasn’t been as interesting as it used to be since then. This season’s queens for the most part were quite professional and even when they threw shade it looked forced and was just something for the camera (Minus Ms. Lake. Shady Elephant).

Now that we have the final 3 girls- Adore Delano, Courtney Act and Bianca Del Rio, it is semi up to the fans to pick who should win this season overall. Whereas I think Courtney should be switched out for Ben (stupid move on Ru’s part but I guess she will win Miss Congeniality so it’s all good) it is beyond clear cut to me who will and SHOULD win this season. And that is my New York City queen Bianca Del Rio. There are many facets & reasons as to why this is true, and here is why-

Best Of Both Worlds-

When it comes to the overall judging of style and personality, Bianca reigned supreme over the rest. Whereas she only had minor faults fashion wise this season (I didn’t think any of the outfits for the Glitter Ball were gag-worthy) she made up for it loud and proud with her fierce sense of humor, witty persona and the ability to read a bitch but back it up with factual info (Laganja anyone?).

Courtney Act, Manhattan Digest
Credit to: Drag Official

 

The other two really don’t live up to her-

I love Courtney and Adore, they are great on the show and I’ve met both in person and feel the same emotion there. But it’s apples and oranges in my opinion. Courtney is more of a female impersonator and not a drag queen. Nothing she did besides the Broadway challenge really impressed me, and she already is a known singer so that should’ve been an easy one in the first place. She’s this seasons Chad Michaels- great and seasoned but not unique enough to win something like this.

Adore Delano, Manhattan Digest
Credit to: Twitter

 

Adore really was a huge pain in the ass in the beginning that I thought would’ve went home early due to her immature attitude and inability to do the basics a drag queen is supposed to do like sow & work well in group challenges. Her smartest moves were distancing herself from Laganja and Gia and really excelling where she needed to to get her to the end. At the same time, we’ve seen the campy young queens win the last two years, and it’s getting redundant, so it’s time for a change.

On another level-

I don’t think there has ever been a queen that has had this much smooth sailing (Ben’s term but she had a point) since Raja in S3 or Tyra in S2.  There was never a point where she was at risk to lip sync, and even if she did they wouldn’t have sent her home as she is far superior overall than many of her competitors. The only queen this season that I felt was semi on par with her was Dela but she got stuck in this Minnie Mouse meets Dita Von Teese costumey thing that led to her demise. Darienne’s strong points was her humor, and Trinity was by far the best fashion wise this season but her excuses ruined her, just like Darienne’s inability to hear anything else besides her cockiness and next meal choices (hehe). Bianca never really got deep enough criticism to have to shift anything, and in a way didn’t even need this show to gain publicity as she was already pretty well known. Yet I’m glad she did and represented NYC to the fullest.

Tomorrow night we will see who will be crowned. Who is your choice to win S6? Check out the official site to vote and learn more about the queens. Oh and side note if Sean Morales is reading this- hit me up boo.

Filed Under: ENTERTAINMENT, TELEVISION Tagged With: adore delano, bianca del rio, courtney act, rupaul, rupauls drag race

RuPaul’s Drag Race: Walk Like a Queen

by David Baxter

rupaul's drag race season 6Previously on Drag Race, we had big glittery balls and acted like these were all new challenges when they weren’t. [Read more…] about RuPaul’s Drag Race: Walk Like a Queen

Filed Under: ENTERTAINMENT, TELEVISION Tagged With: adore delano, bianca del rio, courtney act, Darienne Lake, logotv, RuPaul's Drag Race Season Six

RuPaul’s Drag Race Recap: Silicon Valley of the Dolls

by David Baxter

Rupaul's drag racePreviously on Drag Race, some straight people got married and Joslyn did her man’s make up with tin foil, causing her to go home. Everyone grabs their fake boobs in solidarity. Bianca’s already writing her postcards from Hawaii. [Read more…] about RuPaul’s Drag Race Recap: Silicon Valley of the Dolls

Filed Under: ENTERTAINMENT, TELEVISION Tagged With: adore delano, Ben DeLaCreme, bianca del rio, courtney act, Darienne Lake, logotv, RuPaul's Drag Race Season Six

RuPaul’s Drag Race Recap: Say Yes Gurl!, to the Dress

by David Baxter

Rupaul's drag racePreviously on RuPaul’s Drag Race, we talked about Cher, Chaz, Chad, and Trinity took off. [Read more…] about RuPaul’s Drag Race Recap: Say Yes Gurl!, to the Dress

Filed Under: ENTERTAINMENT, TELEVISION Tagged With: adore delano, Ben DeLaCreme, bianca del rio, courtney act, Darienne Lake, Joslyn Fox, logotv, RuPaul's Drag Race Season Six

RuPaul’s Drag Race Recap: The One That’s Not About Cher

by David Baxter

rupaul's drag race season 6Last time on RuPaul’s Drag Race, Bianca won and Laganja completely broke down. The dolls come in and everyone feels like it has been a day. Laganja didn’t leave much on the mirror. [Read more…] about RuPaul’s Drag Race Recap: The One That’s Not About Cher

Filed Under: ENTERTAINMENT, TELEVISION Tagged With: adore delano, Ben DeLaCreme, bianca del rio, courtney act, Darienne Lake, Joslyn Fox, logotv, RuPaul's Drag Race Season Six, trinity k bonet

RuPaul’s Drag Race Recap: Double Features

by David Baxter

dragracePreviously on Drag Race, the queens did hip hop videos and Milk went home, but everyone felt it should have been Laganja. [Read more…] about RuPaul’s Drag Race Recap: Double Features

Filed Under: ENTERTAINMENT, TELEVISION Tagged With: adore delano, Ben DeLaCreme, bianca del rio, courtney act, Darienne Lake, Joslyn Fox, Laganja estranga, logotv, RuPaul's Drag Race Season Six, trinity k bonet

RuPaul’s Drag Race Recap: I Got The Flow, You all Gotta Go

by David Baxter

Rupaul's drag racePreviously, we had one of the best overall Snatch Games, Gia left, and Laganja reminded everyone of why she should have been the one to go. [Read more…] about RuPaul’s Drag Race Recap: I Got The Flow, You all Gotta Go

Filed Under: ENTERTAINMENT, TELEVISION Tagged With: adore delano, Ben DeLaCreme, bianca del rio, courtney act, Darienne Lake, Joslyn Fox, Laganja estranga, logotv, milk, rupauls drag race, trinity k bonet

  • Go to page 1
  • Go to page 2
  • Go to Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

Navigation

  • HOME
  • OPINION
    • REVIEWS
  • BUSINESS
  • LGBT
  • ENTERTAINMENT
    • ARTS
    • MOVIES
    • MUSIC
    • TELEVISION
    • THEATRE
  • LIFESTYLE
    • TRAVEL
    • FASHION
    • HEALTH
    • FOODIE
    • STYLE
  • POLITICS
  • SCIENCE
  • SPORTS
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • U.S.
    • NEW YORK

Footer

  • ADVERTISE
  • TERMS OF SERVICE
  • CAREERS
  • ENTERTAINMENT
  • Home
  • Contact
  • Legal

Copyright © 2023 · ManhattanDigest.com is run by Fun & Joy, LLC an Ohio company · Log in

 

Loading Comments...