What does Shangela have to do to get a couple of 10s up in this gig?
Shangela worked as a professional dancer for many years prior to making her Hollywood debut. Besides showing off those skills on seasons two and three of RuPaul’s Drag Race, as well as RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 3, Shangie also appeared on dance-based reality shows such as Dance Moms and Dancing Queen. Over the years, Shangela starred in several original music videos, toured around the world as a drag performer, and even performed a Beyoncé medley at the GLAAD Awards that had Queen Bey herself and Jay-Z giving Shangie a standing ovation.
Throughout season 31 of Dancing With the Stars, Shangela and her dancing partner Gleb Savchenko have been serving show-stopping performances week after week. And yet, the judges have been consistently sleeping on Shangie’s overall performance on the show, which has led to the Drag Race alum somehow landing in the middle of the pack on a weekly basis. Of note, she was severely slept on during her performances for “Elvis Night,” “60 Years of James Bond,” and “Disney+ Night.” Nonetheless, not a single score of 10 has been given to Shangie this season.
Shangela was then essentially put in the bottom two for the “Stars’ Stories Week” theme despite having a powerful and emotional performance about breaking her leg and relying on her mom. As she came back swinging for the “Prom Night” theme and delivered an iconic lip sync of “Waiting for Tonight” by Jennifer Lopez, she was finally given some roses – but once again, not a single 10 from the judging panel.
The cheek. The nerve. The audacity. The gall and the gumption. What in the rigga morris hell is happening over here for the Dancing With the Stars judges to not have given Shangela a score of 10 after six episodes of pure slayage? If nothing else, those 10s could – and should – have come for her latest performance for including a dazzling lip sync and showing Shangie living her full J-Lo fantasy.
It is clear that the DWTS judges are sleeping on Shangela this season, and it’s a huge shame. Not only is Shangie great reality TV, but she’s a fantastic dancer and performer who should be one of the frontrunners in the competition right now. As conservatives keep pushing back against the art form of drag and LGBTQ+ rights as a whole, Shangela is showing nothing but love, kindness, talent, and perseverance. She is also proving herself to be a fantastic dancer, unlike certain other newbies who are getting high scores for doing the bare minimum.
We want 10s across the board when Shangela slays the Dancing With the Stars ballroom as hard as she did in episode six. Wake up, judges!
Dancing With the Stars season 31 airs Mondays and Tuesdays on Disney+.
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