15 unexpected Christmas specials you have to see to believe
RuPaul’s Christmas Ball
You may have recently watched RuPaul’s Drag Race Holi-Slay Spectacular (and I will definitely talk about that in a bit) but nothing can compare to Ru’s 1993 Christmas special, RuPaul’s Christmas Ball. Ru was just starting his ploy for world domination, with his single “Supermodel (You Better Work)”, and appearances on TV and in movies.
This variety special was meant to be a playoff of Saturday Night Live, with an opening skit by the “Downtown Dragtime Players” and the announcement that they are “live from New York!” (sound familiar?). Ru comes out looking fabulous as ever with a mountain of blonde hair, a pink feather boa, and a sparkly silver gown to do her opening monologue. Mama Ru even works in her trademark motto, “If you can’t love yourself, how in the hell are you gonna love somebody else?”
Aside from some of Ru’s skits, including a fake workout infomercial, there was also an impressive list of guests. Funny enough, this Christmas special could have featured the lineup from the Pee Wee special and nobody would bat an eye! The guests included Nirvana, Sir Elton John, Little Richard (who also appeared on Pee Wee’s special!), the legendary Eartha Kitt, Belinda Carlisle of The Go-Go’s, Boy George, LaToya Jackson (who impersonates Ru while she’s tied up) and more.
In case you couldn’t already tell from my description, this special was pure camp goodness. It was low-budget, the skits were cheesy and badly acted in the best way, and all the jokes were very queer and niche. Needless to say, it was all amazing.
RuPaul is no stranger to Christmas specials, obviously, so this year he was back for more with a very special episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race, titled “RuPaul’s Drag Race Holi-Slay Spectacular!.” Eight favorites from past seasons came back to compete for the crown of America’s first Drag Race Xmas Queen — and to promote Ru’s holiday albums, Slay Belles and the latest, Christmas Party.
Some of the queens that made their grand holiday return to the main stage were season 2’s Sonique, All-Stars 3 winner Trixie Mattel, Drag Race staple Shangela, and season 8’s Kim Chi. The queens all gather to discuss their favorite Christmas memories, dance to RuPaul’s single “Christmas Cookies” and of course, compete for the crown! On the main stage, the queens had to perform a musical number to RuPaul’s “Get to You” and for the runway, the theme was “Non-Denominational Christmas Eleganza”.
Since Christmas is about sharing with others, the winner of this very special episode was… everyone!