Frock the Vote!
| "Frock the Vote!" | |
|---|---|
| RuPaul's Drag Race episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 4 Episode 9 |
| Directed by | Nick Murray |
| Presented by | RuPaul |
| Original air date | March 26, 2012 |
| Guest judges | |
| |
Search Frock the Vote! on Amazon.
"Frock the Vote!" is the ninth episode of the fourth season of RuPaul's Drag Race.[1][2][3] It originally aired on March 26, 2012. Sharon Needles wins the challenge. DiDa Ritz is eliminated from the competition after placing in the bottom two and losing a lip-sync contest against Latrice Royale to "I've Got to Use My Imagination" by Gladys Knight & the Pips.
Episode
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For the mini-challenge, the contestants design an Absolut Vodka-inspired shoe. Phi Phi O'Hara wins the mini-challenge. For the main challenge, the contestants are tasked with participating in a presidential debate as the 2012 Wig Party candidate.
Dan Savage[4][5] and Jeffrey Moran are guest judges. The runway category is 'Inaugural Drag'. Chad Michaels and Sharon Needles receive positive critiques, and Sharon Needles wins the challenge. DiDa Ritz, Latrice Royale, and Phi Phi O'Hara receive negative critiques, and Phi Phi O'Hara is deemed safe. DiDa Ritz and Latrice Royale face off in a lip-sync to "I've Got to Use My Imagination" (1973) by Gladys Knight & the Pips. Latrice Royale wins the lip-sync and DiDa Ritz is eliminated from the competition. At the end of the episode, RuPaul tells the other contestants that the judges will be voting one of the eliminated queens back into the competition.
Production
The episode originally aired on March 26, 2012. It was directed by Nick Murray.
Sharon Needles impersonated politician Michele Bachmann on the episode.[6] She also told Savage that she was bullied in her youth.[7] Winning the challenge was a Drag Race highlight for her.[8] According to The Standard, "Chad Michaels opts for an untraditional route, creating a pimp-inspired character with a double pink afro wig tied into a brown bob."[9] HuffPost suggested Phi Phi O'Hara made an offenseive remark on the episode,[10] but DiDa Ritz said she was not offended.[11]
Billboard said Latrice Royale delivers "a legendary read" about Phi Phi O'Hara to Savage.[12] Kevin O'Keeffe of Xtra Magazine wrote, "perhaps the single most memorable moment from [the episode] came from Latrice Royale, who got an incredible joke in at Phi Phi O’Hara’s expense... In the moment, it made fellow competitor Chad Michaels, as well as RuPaul and guest judge Dan Savage, break character to laugh, and it highlighted that Phi Phi’s choice to portray a racist caricature wasn’t paying off."[13]
Reception
The A.V. Club gave the episode a rating of 'A-'.[14] In Consequence's 2018 "essential guide to finally starting" RuPaul's Drag Race, Allison Shoemaker called the episode "a highlight of one of the show’s best seasons".[15]
In 2022, Min Ji Park included Savage in Screen Rant's overview of the show's worst judges, based on Reddit, writing: "Although Dan Savage is a gay icon, his appearance on a politically themed episode of Drag Race was met with a rather lukewarm response... Although the queens are meant to pretend to run for office in the challenge, the fact that the show is a drag queen reality show is meant to be acknowledged. Savage simply took the maxi challenge too seriously for what the environment of Drag Race called for."[16] In 2023, Kevin O'Keeffe of Xtra Magazine said the episode's main challenge "notoriously featured a wide range of performances, thanks to the vague and inconsistent criteria laid out for it."[13]
References
- ↑ "'RuPaul's Drag Race' recap, episode 9: Frock the vote!". Chicago Tribune. Tribune Publishing. 2012-03-28. OCLC 7960243. Retrieved 2024-06-29.
- ↑ Peikert, Mark. "RECAP: RuPaul's Drag Race Episode 9 | Out.com". Out. ISSN 1062-7928. Retrieved 2025-11-19.
- ↑ "The Drag Race RuCap: suck my caucus". Xtra Magazine. Pink Triangle Press. 2012-03-27. ISSN 0829-3384. Retrieved 2025-11-19.
- ↑ Nussbaum, Emily (2012-04-16). "Camptown Races". The New Yorker. Condé Nast. ISSN 0028-792X. OCLC 320541675. Retrieved 2025-11-19.
- ↑ Bryde, Lindsay; Mayberry, Tommy (2022-02-01). RuPedagogies of Realness: Essays on Teaching and Learning with RuPaul's Drag Race. McFarland. ISBN 978-1-4766-4606-0. Search this book on
- ↑ James, Diego. "It's 'Sharon Needles Day'—in Pittsburgh | Out.com". Out. Retrieved 2025-11-19.
- ↑ "Reality Realness: Paris is Burning and RuPaul's Drag Race". 2013-11-07. Retrieved 2025-11-19.
- ↑ Rule, Doug (2012-06-07). "Needles and Pins". Metro Weekly. Retrieved 2025-11-19.
- ↑ Travis, Ben (2015-06-29). "RuPaul's Drag Race, truTV: Queens prepare to 'frock the vote' in". The Standard. Retrieved 2025-11-19.
- ↑ "'RuPaul's Drag Race': Phi Phi O'Hara Makes Racist Joke". HuffPost. 2012-03-27. Archived from the original on December 22, 2024. Retrieved 2025-11-19. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Local 'Drag Race' Diva Dishes On Reality TV Success". HuffPost. 2012-04-05. Archived from the original on January 24, 2025. Retrieved 2025-11-19. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Daw, Stephen (2018-07-02). "10 of the Best Reads in 'RuPaul's Drag Race' Herstory". Billboard. Retrieved 2025-11-19.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 "'Canada's Drag Race' Season 4, Episode 4 recap: Sew emotional | Xtra Magazine". 2023-12-08. Retrieved 2025-11-19.
- ↑ "RuPaul's Drag Race: "Frock The Vote"". The A.V. Club. Paste Media Group. 2012-03-27. Retrieved 2024-06-29.
- ↑ Shoemaker, Allison (2018-03-30). "The Essential Guide to Finally Starting RuPaul's Drag Race". Consequence. Consequence Media. Retrieved 2025-11-19.
- ↑ Park, Min Ji (2022-09-10). "RuPaul's Drag Race: 10 Worst Judges, According To Reddit". Screen Rant. Valnet. Retrieved 2025-11-19.
External links
- Frock the Vote! at IMDb
- Frock the Vote! for the corresponding episode of Untucked
- 'An Erection for the Election: Presidential Debate' - S4 E9 - RuPaul's Drag Race on YouTube
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