Welcome to Canada’s Drag Race Power Rankings! Every week, we’ll debrief the week’s new episode of Canada’s Drag Race Season 5 to determine which queens are riding high, and which need she-mergency care. Rosebuds and thorns abound this week, but who gets our first impression rose—and first #1 spot on this season’s rankings?
11. Tara Nova
Poor Tara has first-out written all over her. Her fellow bottom three-dwellers either got some positive-slanting critiques (Perla) or are demonstrating themselves to be valuable characters for the story of the season (Tiffany Ann Co.). Tara got the first thorn for her entrance look, delivered an incredibly basic verse during the music video segment of the challenge and delivered an underwhelming nautical look for the You Oughta Know Me runway. What was that flat wig? I feel for her, but she also was talking a lot of shit in the werk room about her competitors. To quote Alicia Keys, “what goes around comes around, what goes up must come down.” And so here Tara is, down at the bottom of the power ranking.
10. Tiffany Ann Co.
There’s a certain thrill to Tiffany’s immediate willingness to be arch; when she declared in her entrance that she’s going to “bring a lot of bitch,” she wasn’t lying! Judging by how Brooke Lynn Hytes called the safe queens, it seems like Tiffany placed over Perla in the judges’ minds, but I’m actually going to place her lower. For one, Xana seems determined to own the villainous role, and there may not be enough space in the werk room—or the edit—for the both of them. For another, I think Tiffany’s pop star aesthetic is going to get boring for the judges very quickly. She already demonstrated the persona’s limits by wearing something very simple for her very best drag, which earned her a thorn and a spot in the bottom three. Unless she can vary things up fast, I think she’s an easy mark for an early elimination.
9. Perla
I went back and looked at my power rankings for the Canada’s Drag Race Season 4 premiere, and though Melinda Verga was in my #10 spot, I noted in the very first line that “we may actually see Melinda stick around for a while.” I based this on her unvarnished and real nature, and I feel the same now about Perla. That the judges seemed so interested in her personality on the main stage is a sign that her story isn’t going to be a short one. Her looks were actually pretty great—loved the pairing of the graffiti hair and dress for her Alexander McQueen tribute—but her verse was a real mess. Not only were the lyrics underwhelming, but her delivery was the most stilted. She best figure something out for the Rumix or Rusical, else she’s doomed.
8. Sanjina Dabish Queen
I like Sanjina a lot, which is why I’m very hopeful that she can work through these self-doubts she’s experiencing. Her body dysmorphia was very easily triggered by Xana’s comments about her entrance look, which I disagreed with—I thought all her looks were great, honestly! She also had one of the better verses of the group, and performed it quite well. I’d actually have her third-ranked for the music video portion, just behind Makayla and her drag mother, The Virgo Queen. I have her this far down the list simply because she burned through a lot of story in this first episode, which is not usually a sign of someone sticking around for the long haul. But I’d love to be wrong!
7. Helena Poison
Colour me quite intrigued by Helena Poison, a 10-year drag veteran who calls herself “Wednesday Addams turned to sex work.” She’s clearly got the goods as a designer, shown not just by her garments in this episode but in the mini-montage of her work for previous contestants. (Designing Bombae’s latex look alone earns her high marks from me.) She was just okay across the board in this premiere, with a decent-but-nothing-special verse and looks that were more notable for their construction than their aesthetic. I’d like to see how her poison theme evolves across her looks this season. If she brings out some real showstopper garments later on, she could become a true contender.
6. Uma Gahd
In an episode about first impressions, it was actually Uma’s third impression that got my attention. Her entrance look and general vibe in her first confessionals prompted me to write a simple judgment in my notes: “Not for me!” This wasn’t helped by her verse, which was at least unique in performance, but the lyrics got a little Nina West-ish for my taste. Positive messages can be great in verses, but it felt too sugary-sweet. But then she emerged on the runway in a celestial look, and I sat up. The garment was ethereal, unexpected and quite stunning. It demonstrated there’s more to Uma than just one angle, and I’m interested to see more from her.
5. Xana
Nearah Nuff’s run was recent e-nuff for me to recognize a long-term villain arc in the making. Xana may not be Plane Jane, as Sanjina pointed out, but her incredibly blunt way of evaluating her fellow contestants certainly recalls the Season 16 finalist. And like Plane before her, I imagine that if Xana can back up the bark with some bite in the challenges, the show will be incentivized to keep her around. I generally liked her output in this episode (her entrance line being “Hi slurs!” got a guffaw out of me), though I’ll note that her verse and dance in the music video portion felt like a mismatch. And I would’ve removed the pink fabric from her otherwise pretty dynamite runway look. I wouldn’t place any money on a Xana win right now, but you’d be foolish to bet on her going home any time soon—particularly if I’m right and her sister-in-bitchery Tiffany is an early eliminee.
4. Minhi Wang
I really like Minhi! I find her endearing personally and find her drag interesting. She may not be the first former Pit Crew member to become a contestant—as I mentioned in the recap, that’s Megui Yeillow on Drag Race España—but since that season is still airing, Minhi was flying blind into the experience when she filmed. It must be surreal to go from interacting with the queens on the set to being one, especially with a few years in between. Unfortunately, Minhi’s music video performance was not my favourite, though I liked her looks overall (especially her You Oughta Know Me dragon dress). But what has me this high on her is her interesting dynamic with Tiffany and Xana. Being the nice girl among the mean girls puts her in a unique story space, and I can imagine her sticking around for a while so the show can explore that.
3. Jaylene Tyme
I love this trend of older queens coming in and immediately impressing on Canada’s Drag Race! Kitten Kaboodle was a real threat last season—it was a bummer to see her go in the lip-sync smackdown—and I actually have even higher hopes for Jaylene. She got her rosebud for her entrance look, which was impressive, but she also looked gorgeous in her Old Hollywood glamour gown on the runway. Like guest judge Lu Kala, I was struck by how different Jaylene’s verse was, and how perfectly it suited her. The singing was great, yes, but it was also the way she leaned into a distinct vibe in her laid-back lyrics. Keep an eye on Jaylene: an older queen seems destined to win one of these days, and considering her legacy with her drag daughters and granddaughters on the show, it could very well be her.
2. Makayla Couture
The prom queen has returned! Makalya was one of the makeover participants in one of my favourite Drag Race episodes ever, and while her drag mother Icesis Couture’s makeover of her landed them in the bottom, it was solely because of a lack of family resemblance—Makayla looked just as gorgeous then as she does now. She’s done a stint on another Canadian drag program, Call Me Mother, in the years since, although she had a rough go of things by the looks of her track record. She’s off to a much better start already here, shining like a star throughout this premiere. She landed in the top for her verse, but all of her looks were also aces. She’d have likely won this premiere were it not for the top two lip sync for the win, which Virgo just outmatched her in. But overall, this is a very strong start for Makayla. You’d be silly not to pencil her in for top five at least.
1. The Virgo Queen
I am very impressed by Virgo. Her Y2K vibe in her entrance look was an instant hit for me, and the look itself was deceptively complex. Her runway look, which landed her a rosebud, was actually simpler, but the style of it and the way it fit her body were just irresistible. She also had a terrific flow and tone in her verse for the music video segment. Honestly, of anyone in this cast, she’s who I could see an argument for giving a rosebud in every single category. That she topped it off with a dynamite lip sync that got her the premiere win is just the cherry on top. Like another V-named queen, she’s made the best first impression—will she follow in Venus’ footsteps to eventually take the crown?
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