It has certainly been interesting watching our very own Jinkx Monsoon and her journey to stardom as she claws her way to the attention of America via her currently airing appearances on Logo’s “RuPaul’s Drag Race Season Five”. We’ve obviously been observing her progress and noting what’s being said about Ms Monsoon in the national media. In the first few episodes this year, Jinkx was relatively low key as louder and more obnoxious contestants took center stage and while our Jinkxy was getting positive mentions in comments and chat rooms, she hadn’t broke through.
That all changed this past Monday night as she grabbed the spotlight away from every other contestant during the annual “Snatch Game” challenge where her amazing interpretation of “Little Edie Beale” from the beloved cult documentary “Grey Gardens” won the admiration of thousands of new fans, and most importantly, RuPaul herself…Miss Monsoon won this week’s challenge and national media picked up on her performance with favorable mentions all over the place including Gawker. It also didn’t hurt her that a controversy erupted on social media sites as outraged fans of both Jinkx and Little Edie took up arms against the dumber queens on this season of “Drag Race” who apparently didn’t have a clue to who Little Edie was (despite the fact she’s an iconic figure in an iconic film and the subject of a recent Tony Award winning Broadway musical AND an Emmy Award winning HBO film starring Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange…)
This past episode was Jinkx’s breakthrough and her level of fame is quickly growing as the rest of the country/world’s drag fans begin to become aware of all things “Monsoon”. The favorable comments on posts about “Drag Race” are clearly indicating that she’s becoming a front runner in the competition…and, even if RuPaul doesn’t crown her the winner, it’s becoming increasingly clear that at the very least, Jinkx is now an almost sure shoo in for the “Miss Congeniality” title. And, in the last three days, the number of her Facebook fans have jumped from 12,000 to nearly 17,000…she’s third in Facebook likes after the more established Alaska and Detox.
It also doesn’t hurt when the celebrity judges rave about her on air…Kristin Johnson gushed over Jinkx a couple weeks ago; this week’s Julie Brown called her “the Meryl Streep of drag queens” and other celebrities, including Alec Mapa praised her via Twitter. Girlfriend is movin’ on UP!
It’s apparent that Logo and World of Wonder, the producer’s of “Drag Race” are aware they have a new star on their hands…Jinkx is being heavily featured in promo material and now Logo has given Miss Monsoon a guest column on their “NewNowNext” website where she gives fans a Jinkx eyed view of Seattle and gushes over a number of local performers, venues, events and sites including Ben DeLaCreme, Jackie Hell, Mama Tits, Robbie Turner and places like Pony, Pike Place Market and “Dickslap” at The Eagle.
You should go check it out…it’s funny and a lovely promotion for Seattle and its “Scene”.
Will Seattle suddenly pay host to a legion of crazed Jinkx Monsoon fans? She is becoming increasingly beloved…check out the love for her over at Tumblr…