Welcome to RuPaul’s Drag Race UK Power Rankings! Every Friday, we’ll debrief the week’s new episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK Season 3 to determine which queens are riding high, and which need she-mergency care. We’re down to our final three, but who will take the crown next week?
4. Vanity Milan (last week: 4) — ELIMINATED
Sadly, what seemed inevitable for weeks finally came to pass: Vanity just couldn’t shake her weak performance in the early part of the season, and as Ella Vaday and Kitty Scott-Claus rose, she increasingly looked like the odd woman out. I guess in theory Krystal Versace could’ve biffed the lip sync, allowing Vanity to skate into the final three on her superior performance ability. But I think that was unlikely, considering how much Ru has loved Krystal all season. (Not to mention that Krystal more than kept up in the lip sync.)
I appreciated the proper send-off Vanity got from the show. She may not have had a real shot at winning, but she demonstrated growth and gave us the U.K. series’ best lip sync yet with “Scandalous.” And, as she joked about in her roast this week, she made it all the way to the final four as the only Black queen this season. One hopes that the phrase “only Black queen this season” never needs to be written again but Vanity herself put up one hell of a fight, and more than deserves her semifinalist finish.
3. Krystal Versace (last week: 3)
Has Krystal’s stock fallen too low to win? For weeks, her crowning seemed like an inevitability, but it’s been quite a while since she has placed in the top. She does have two RuPeter Badges, but they were won at the very start of the season. And of the final three, she is the only one who has had to lip sync for her life; she’s also going into the finale on her backfoot, after she really faltered in the roast. Were this the American version of Drag Race, I would be counting Krystal out.
But this is not American Drag Race, and as we’ve seen twice before, it’s not necessarily about momentum, track record or even who’s had to lip sync that determines the winner. Chalk it up to a difference in reality TV production styles on both sides of the Atlantic or Ru picking his favourites or World of Wonder wanting someone who can produce a show for them. Whatever it is, it’s harder to predict how UK is going to end than any other iteration in the franchise. (Case in point: if it is based on the WOW Presents Plus show, I cannot see Krystal winning.) I’m sticking with my prediction that Krystal will win based on all of Ru’s gushing and the fact that Krystal actually has an underdog arc going, but unlike with Kylie Sonique Love or Symone, I can’t say I’m confident in this prediction.
2. Kitty Scott-Claus (last week: 1)
Despite her terrific performance this week, Kitty was outmatched by Ella. The judges mostly chalked it up to her relying on notes, but I think the issue was more of rhythm: she never quite settled into that easy, comfortable cadence that Ella did, and thus she was a pretty clear second place. I’m beginning to wonder if she’s heading for clear runner-up status, too. While she’s really come from behind in this competition after being the last of the final seven without a win—and even getting a sash in the process, as she loves to remind the other queens—she’s still two wins behind Ella. Again, hard to tell how much track record is going to matter, but it’s notable that while Ru seems to like Kitty a lot, he’s never given her the same kind of praise as he has Krystal.
Kitty would be my pick for the win at this point. Granted, I’m not heavily invested in any of these queens (this season lost me at the Choriza May/River Medway double sashay). But Kitty is an absolute joy as an entertainer and personality. She’s tackled different kinds of challenges full-force and has never fallen any lower than just safe (something that, notably, can also be said for Ella). She’s been consistent and enjoyable, and she’d make for a great representative for both this season and Drag Race UK as a whole.
1. Ella Vaday (last week: 2)
With the fan support on her side, a terrific win in the semifinals and the best track record of all the queens, I think Ella’s in the best spot to make her argument for the win. Again, it’s hard to predict with UK, which is why I’m not actually predicting Ella (I just see too many parallels with Bimini Bon Boulash). However, I do think the fact that Ella’s WOW Presents Plus show is so easy to imagine (I once again will pitch “Cooking With NigElla”) gives her a major advantage that Bimini did not have. Bimini is a well-rounded entertainer and fashion queen, but there wasn’t one single thing that would make her show easy to conceptualize. Ella has that.
That said, of the top three, it’s hardest for me to envision Ella as the winner. She’s well-rounded, no doubt, and getting to see her boyfriend in mini-Untucked and hear her talk about coming into her femininity with Vanity this week was the kind of personal spotlight she hasn’t gotten enough of this season. But she’s just been really backgrounded in the edit, and while that’s changed a bit in the last few episodes, that’s largely because there just aren’t other queens left to feature.
Kita Mean won with a similarly sparse edit in Drag Race Down Under, but those were extraordinary circumstances. That lack of narrative focus is a big reason why I’m ultimately predicting Krystal for the win. But if it’s Ella, I’ll totally get it and I think her amazing roast performance will be a big reason why. She’s got the momentum—now she just needs the crown.
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