Test Season 3

**Test Season 3** is the unofficial name for the initial principal filmography and test footage for the cast that would eventually mold into the third season Morgyn's Drag Race (Season 3) that we would come to know.

## Premise

Season 3 officially entered its nascent stage after the Season 2 two finale, and the casting process began with phone calls to the remaining cut queens from the original second season of Morgyn's Drag Race. Though no filming was done, test scenarios and lip-syncs were held between an initial cast of Queens, this included the original Season 2 Queens; Hera Tic, Ithaca, Mitzi Valens, Planchette, Retsu (originally going by the name "Tatami Angelfish") and Tara Ryzen. Further Queens were auditioned and cast including; Moxie Mathers, Kim Brûlée, Germaine Midnyte, Kyoot, Tamarind Rashad, Splattyr, Damiana, Tawny Breckenridge, Mint Cookie, and Voilà! as well as the presumed inclusion of Season 2 Queen Dinahmite.

## Contestants

The initial predicted cast for Season 3 had intended for 16 (**NOTE:** Tara Ryzen departed before the 'official' projected count of Sixteen was made) Queens to compete for the Crown; three whole more contestants than the previous year's season. The initial cast of Queens included;

1. Tara Ryzen - Departed
2. Dinahmite - Departed
3. Moxie Mathers
4. Kim Brûlée - Predicted placement advanced
5. Retsu - Predicted placement advanced
6. Pavo - Latent addition/High projected placement
7. Delilah Deveraux Duprix - Latent addition/High projected placement
8. Hera Tic - Incumbent
9. Ithaca
10. Tamarind Rashad
11. Kyoot
12. Splattyr
13. Tawny Breckenridge
14. Damiana
15. Voilà!
16. Mint Cookie - Incumbent
17. Germaine Midnyte - Cut
18. Mitzi Valens - Cut
19. Planchette - Cut

Initially Tara Ryzen, a previous contestant and fan-favorite from the first season and lost original Season 2, was projected to place very far into the competition. After filming a 'lip-sync super smackdown,' Tara lip-synced against and beat Retsu and Splattyr to Cyndi Lauper's *"I drove all night"*, securing her place in the top 5. However further filming into the week (over a course of a three-day test filming period), the chemistry between Tara and other Queens just "wasn't there," and as such her projected place in the final was dropped, prompting the Season 1 veteran to depart the competition before the season picked up for real.

Another issue occurred with the inclusion of Season 2 contestant Dinahmite, who was assumed to be competing this season. Again like with Tara, Dinah declined to seriously compete on Season 3 when she learned that with the inclusion of Pavo, and Delilah Deveraux Duprix that her projected placing in the competition had changed and was lower than what was originally expected. Instead of dropping out from Drag Race altogether though, Dinahmite accepted a spot on Morgyn's Drag Race: UK vs SimNation alongside fellow Season 2 contestants; Darren Leek, Ella Geeh, Ephedra, Oblivienne, and Orchid.

Mint Cookie was cast straight out from her audition tape, and was not required to participate in the lip-sync super smackdown, though her arrival would fill in only a small void left in Tara's wake, test filming showed that her expert knowledge of performance, makeup and drag history made her in asset to production as well as sparks of a burgeoning rivalry between herself and Kyoot, in a stereotypical styled feud that production often labeled "experienced older Queen vs younger inexperienced Queen". Mint's projected placing was quite high for the competition, which did not change with the inclusion of Pavo and Delilah Deveraux Duprix.

The arrival and inclusion of Drag Queens Pavo (a charismatic Queen from the island nation of Tartosa) and Delilah Deveraux Duprix (an experienced entertainer from Copperdale), the tone for the season changed dramatically and production projections had placed those two along with Moxie Mathers and Kim Brulee into the finale. In an ironic twist of fate, Kim Brulee was initially projected as making it to the **lip-sync super smackdown** event of the show before being eliminated in a double elimination alongside either Hera Tic or Retsu, however since the arrival of Pavo and Delilah Deveraux Duprix, Kim Brûlée's new projection placed her much higher than her initial two placements, this time production believed she could make the finale due to good chemistry with Pavo and Moxie and interesting and sometimes intense interactions with Delilah and Kyoot.

## Lip-Sync Super Smackdown

One of the core themes of the principal test footage was capturing the essence of "True Queendom" onstage, the essence which was broken down into four categories; Grace, Charm, Style, and Finesse, the latter being the focus of the Lip-Sync Super Smackdown.

Initially returning queens Tara Ryzen and Dinahmite were not required to participate, as they had "earned" their rightful places in the competition (note: that Dinah arrived onset exactly two days AFTER Tara Ryzen's departure from the pre-season). The Super Smackdown was devised by Morgyn Ember as a way to determine the strongest performers for that season and potential lip-sync assassins. While not obligated, Tara volunteered to take part in the super smackdown as a means of "showing her growth" since Season 1, and also to ingratiate herself amongst the new Queens. The Lip-Sync Super Smackdown was facilitated and hosted by Galaxia, with no other judges present.

The Super Smackdown was held over the course of the week and broken down into several brackets. The first match (Day One) was between Tara Ryzen, Retsu and Splattyr to Cyndi Lauper's "I Drove All Night". Tara reportedly did well in that lip-sync and decidedly beat out the other two, securing her place in the competition, also forcing the two to lip-sync against two other opponents.

The second lip-sync was between Moxie Mathers and Voilà! to The Cars' "You Might Think I'm Crazy", with Moxie having the decidedly better lip-sync. The third bracket in the super smackdown saw Planchette and Mitzi Valens lipsyncing to Ariana Grande's "Greedy", and the performance while entertaining, was reportedly not what Morgyn or the producers wanted and Galaxia assumed they would be eliminated or at the very least placed lower in the competition.

For the fourth lip-sync (Day Two), Hera Tic and Damiana and Germain Midnyte lipsynced to "3" by Britney Spears, with Damiana having decidedly the best performance head-and-shoulders over the other two. The fifth match saw Ithaca and Tamarind Rashad lipsyncing to "Case of the Ex" by Mya, with it being a close call but Galaxia choosing Ithaca as the "clear winner". The sixth and final match of Day Two saw Kim Brûlée and Kyoot lipsync to "Lovefool" by the Cardigans, with Galaxia deeming Kim Brûlée as the winner, making Kyoot to lipsync again on another day.

After this time, it was revealed to Tara Ryzen that her initial projected placement would be much lower than previously expected and rather than risk "tarnishing her reputation with the show", decided to bow out before the season began for real. Mint Cookie was cast not long after, and was pitted against Kyoot in the Seventh lip-sync match to "I Do both Jay and Jane" by LA RISSA, with Kyoot losing once again this time to Mint. By this time Dinahmite had arrived onset and was reportedly eager to begin her journey on a new season, however after three successive lipsync losses (one against Germaine Midnyte, one against Hera Tic and lastly against Kyoot), Dinah's projected placement plummeted, placing her as a mid-early out rather than the top 5 potential that production had initially predicted. With this new information (which the new Season 3 Queens were NOT privy to), Dinahmite made a decision similarly to Tara Ryzen and departed Season 3 amid the pre-season.

At this point more test footage was filmed, and production was sufficiently satisfied with the end result and declined to give Splattyr, Tamarind Rashad, Planchette, Mitzi Valens, (the latter three who were cut altogether due to lack of any chemistry or any usable story-lines) or Voilà! any sort of rematches. Soon after, Pavo and Delilah Deveraux Duprix were added to the cast, rounding out the number of Queens to the competition to 14.