By Jerome Stuart Nichols
Ginger Minj hosts Drag Queen Bingo
May 7-10
Five15
515 S. Washington, Royal Oak
http://www.five15.net
248-515-2551
Season seven of "RuPaul's Drag Race" has a while to go before crowning a new queen, but of all the remaining competitors, it's Ginger Minj who seems to be poised – and just drunk enough – to find herself in first place.
Much like previous winners Raja, Jinkx Monsoon and Bianca Del Rio, Minj's sharp humor has been a primary highlight of her run on "Drag Race." That humor, and her impression of Adele, tied her for first place in the Snatch Game challenge during episode seven.
"I went in knowing that I wanted to do Adele for Snatch Game," Minj says. "Anybody who's watched an interview with Adele knows that she's a chain-smoking, alcoholic, foul-mouthed bitch, and basically that's me in a nutshell."
Although Minj shined during Snatch Game, her performance in the very next episode put her in the bottom two and she had to lip sync for her life. While no one, not even Ginger herself, denies she should have been in the bottom, she wasn't exactly worried she'd be going home.
"By the middle of that challenge, I knew I was going to be lip syncing for my life – I just knew it, 'cause I was struggling," she admits. "It never crossed my mind that I could ever go home, because I knew I was going to fight."
Though that's definitely not to say she didn't feel the pressure.
"It took (fellow contestant) Mrs. Kasha Davis telling me, 'If you go home, you gave up the fight because you're acting a damn fool. Snap out of it,' for me to go 'Oh my god, you're right. I've worked too hard to go home.'"
Luckily, Minj survived. And soon, not only will we see if she makes it to the top three, we'll see her in Royal Oak, where she'll host Drag Queen Bingo May 7-10 at Five15.
Get ready for some shade, Detroit, because as Minj puts it, "I've had the actual carpet ripped up. It's just hardwood floors now. Careful – you might get splinters."
Though her watchful demeanor and sweet-as-peach-cobbler accent might paint Minj as a Southern belle, don't be fooled.
"I'm a good Southern Christian bitch," she says proudly. "I'm not really a Southern belle. A lot of people get the misconception that because of my accent and because I'm so short, tiny and round that I'm going to be the sweetest thing you've ever met. I try to be sweet, but it just doesn't always happen. I'm more of a Southern broad."
Still, she swears her faultless reading abilities and epic side-eye are meant with all the love in the world.
"I'm loud, and I can be blunt and abrasive, but it comes from a really good place; it's never malicious," she promises.
For her money, Ginger's hoping to see Katya, Kennedy Davenport and, of course, herself face off for the crown. Though it doesn't really matter who's in the final three – Minj is ready to wear that crown.
"Baby, I wouldn't have done the show if I wasn't ready to take it home," she says. "Other than one major slip up, I have been the most consistent this entire year."
If she does win, she's taking that $100,000 and buying some more fashionable clothing, "because Lord knows I don't have enough of it."
While we wait to see which queens will come out on top (of the competition), Ginger is still touring across the country.
"I go into every show, no matter where it is or what it is, with the full intention of having fun," she says. "I'll sing, shake around and wear bright shiny things to distract you from the fact that I can't really dance.
"You never know what's going to happen. I've been known to start with 'Talk to the Animals' from 'Doctor Dolittle' and end with 'Anaconda' by Nicki Minaj."
Hosting, she says, is her favorite part of drag because "it's always a surprise."
"You never know what the hell is going to come out of my mouth," Minj confesses "… or go into it."
