Welcome to RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars Power Rankings! Every Saturday, we’ll debrief the week’s new episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 7 to determine which queens are riding high, and which need she-mergency care. With no eliminations happening this season, we’re doing things a little differently with the power rankings—and you just have to look to the stars to figure out how.
Jaida Essence Hall
Current Star Count: 0
Maxi-Challenges Won: 0
Lip Syncs Won: 0
This was a solid start for Jaida, considering the challenges presented to her. She did a great job with the Rumix, very much in the mix on my scorecard for a win—but, notably, the judges didn’t seem to consider her a contender. And then in Snatch Game, which is very much not Jaida’s signature challenge (her Cardi B in Season 12 was forgettable), she managed some very fun moments as an off-kilter Prince. Luckily for her, the ball is the next challenge up. And if her The Matrix/Aaliyah-inspired pleather look she wore in Episode 2 is any indication, her self-made fashion could be a major gag.
Raja
Current Star Count: 0
Maxi-Challenges Won: 0
Lip Syncs Won: 0
As I mentioned in my recap, I’d have had Raja in the top for Snatch Game over Trinity the Tuck, and I think she probably was very close. Raja’s Tyra Banks back in Season 3 has never been my favourite, mostly for how it didn’t feel like a reach for her. Diana Vreeland and Madame, two wildly disparate characters who required major transformations, were in a whole other league. For pure ambition alone, not to mention how funny she was as each, I’d have given her the honours. But I’m confident Raja’s time is coming; in the meantime, she’ll continue to slay the runway week in and week out.
The Vivienne
Current Star Count: 0
Maxi-Challenges Won: 0
Lip Syncs Won: 0
Of everyone’s, Viv’s journey feels like it’s the slowest to start. She’s clearly a bit nervous as the only Brit in the room, which perhaps affected how she did in Snatch Game. More could’ve been made of the significant step down her Joanna Lumley was from her Donald Trump—although she recovered nicely with a funny take on Catherine Tate. In terms of runways, Viv is keeping up with the class; she just needs to break out in a challenge. An acting task would be right up her alley.
Yvie Oddly
Current Star Count: 0
Maxi-Challenges Won: 0
Lip Syncs Won: 0
I’m really responding to Yvie’s energy this go-around. Coming into the season, I worried for her as the queen to have the fewest number of maxi-challenge wins previously (just one, shared with Scarlet Envy). I still don’t see her racking up a ton of victories this go-around—the competition is just sky-high—but I do see her finding ways to make an impact, regardless. Her verse and performance in the Rumix were both great, and she was pretty funny as her take on the bogeyman in the second half of Snatch Game. (Her Rico Nasty was not so great.) Moreover, on the runway, she’s really turning it; I loved her melting-crayons look for the I’m Crowning premiere category. She’s another I could see doing well in the ball challenge.
Trinity the Tuck
Current Star Count: 0
Maxi-Challenges Won: 1
Lip Syncs Won: 0
Trinity’s been very much in the mix so far, delivering a better-than-expected Rumix verse (that she nonetheless didn’t know the words to), stunning with her I’m Crowning runway and scoring in the top for Snatch Game. Her Leslie Jordan was terrific and her Satan was fun, but a bit overpraised, considering how often a fey take on the Devil has been done before. Most notable is that Trinity is seen as massive competition, hence why Shea (successfully!) blocked her at the end of the premiere. If there’s anything we know about Trinity from her two prior runs on Drag Race, it’s that she’s a fighter. My guess is, with this Monét alliance going, she’ll be a strategic force this season.
Monét X Change
Current Star Count: 1
Maxi-Challenges Won: 1
Lip Syncs Won: 0
A nice start for Monét, definitively winning the Rumix and pulling out an unexpectedly hilarious take on Mike Tyson in the Snatch Game. She lost her first Lip Sync for Your Legacy, adding to her mixed lip sync record (three wins, four losses, two ties), but as she noted, she didn’t have to deal with the burden of blocking someone. Interesting to consider who it would’ve been, since she and Trinity are allied: perhaps Jinkx? That would’ve made Snatch Game go very differently, to say the least. Lucky for Jinkx that Shea Couleé is better at lip syncing to “Old McDonald Had a Farm”!
Jinkx Monsoon
Current Star Count: 1
Maxi-Challenges Won: 1
Lip Syncs Won: 1
I mean, come on. Jinkx got a massive gift with an early Snatch Game, and absolutely ran with it by impersonating Judy Garland. Hers is one of the most definitive challenge victories we’ve ever seen, backed up by a very solid Natasha Lyonne impersonation and a “pleather Scarlett O’Hara” runway look, to quote Daphne Guinness. Her lip sync wasn’t the best, but hey, it was enough to secure the $10,000. I will say, though I’m a gigantic Jinkx fan (her and Jaida are my rooting interests this season), she was just okay in the Rumix. Better than I’d have expected, maybe, but you could tell it was her first time in that challenge category. On the other hand, her I’m Crowning runway was so goddamn stunning. As she said in a confessional, “Let’s face it: being successful begets better drag!”
Shea Couleé
Current Star Count: 1
Maxi-Challenges Won: 1
Lip Syncs Won: 1
Shea has a knack for making herself the star of a Drag Race season. Season 9 was very much filtered through her story, and in All Stars 5, she took the narrative early and ran with it all the way to the crown. You can feel her doing the same in the All Stars 7 premiere: she was first in the workroom, she had the biggest moment with Naomi Campbell, she had one of the best I’m Crowning runways and she got the lip sync win and the chance to block Trinity. In Episode 2, she faded a bit more—I actually thought she was the worst in Snatch Game when considering both performances—but came roaring back to the front of the storyline with Jinkx blocking her.
Narrative isn’t everything, and I do think as the most recent champion of this lot, Shea would make for an unusual winner. But I keep coming back to just how diverse in subject her previous six maxi-challenge wins were; she’s a Jacqueline of All Trades when it comes to Drag Race. And with the force of the story behind her, I think she could absolutely make a run for the crown this season. Never underestimate the power of Shea.
Why you can trust Xtra
