‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ Season 13, Episode 12 power ranking: Roasted queens

Welcome to RuPaul’s Drag Race Power Rankings! Every Saturday, we’ll debrief the week’s new episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race to determine which queens are riding high, and which need she-mergency care. The roast of three previous Miss Congenialities was a mixed affair. Those that shined were stars, but those who didn’t truly stunk.

6. Utica (last week: 6) — ELIMINATED

I cannot remember the last time a queen was this obviously on her way out the door. Utica has come back from setbacks a few times in this competition, and has proven herself to be a surprise Lip Sync Assassin. But her set during the Nice Girls Roast was just horrible. 

She was warned by coaches Michelle Visage and Loni Love that she was going too harsh, and instead of listening, she doubled down. We’ve heard in Untucked this season that Utica can be mean-spirited, but I didn’t expect anything like this. She was just brutal. Loni had the right response when Utica tried to make a joke about her comedy career: “You’re the one bombing!”

While I’m glad Ru could have fun with Utica’s bomb, flipping her off twice, there was clearly no other way out. Loni opened deliberations about Utica by booing her—that’s how bad it was! And putting Symone in the bottom with her was a guarantee that Utica would not be able to lip sync out of trouble again. Goodbye to the queen who once told us she would wiggle to the top. She wiggled as far as sixth place, and that ain’t half bad.

5. Olivia Lux (last week: 4)

I mean, what else is there left to say at this point? She’s done nothing but perform poorly since Snatch Game, and has been saved a few times purely by virtue of others bombing harder than her. That’s what happened this week, for certain: While Symone 100 percent deserved to be in the bottom two, there’s no question about who has the overall worse standing in the competition.

What’s frustrating about Olivia is that the judges keep handing her the blueprint for a win. Last week, Ross Mathews told her to use her smile to her advantage, keeping it hidden for most of her commercial and making the moment she does smile a big turning point. This week, Michelle and Loni told her to use her nice girl vibe in the roast as a weapon of sorts. 

That she ignored both pieces of advice strikes me as foolish, and reveals her weaknesses in this competition. She’s a beautiful queen, with truly one of the best smiles we’ve ever seen, but I’d be shocked if she can smile her way to the final four.

4. Symone (last week: 1)

I stand by what I wrote last week about Symone’s edit favouring her for the win. But I also stand by my worrying that her bottom two appearances could be a detriment to her chances. 

Of non-All Stars seasons, only two Drag Race winners have had to lip sync for their lives more than once: Angele Anang from Drag Race Thailand Season 2 and Priyanka from the first season of Canada’s Drag Race. Symone would be the first U.S. regular season winner to lip sync for her life twice if she does indeed win. Records are meant to be set and broken, of course. But still, it’s worth noting that she’d have to make herstory to win at this point.

Trying to draw a line between Symone’s various tumbles this season is difficult, because she’s such a well-rounded queen. She bombed the roast, but was excellent in both the improv challenge and Snatch Game. She was in the bottom two for the Rusical, but won the RuMix challenge in the Winners’ Circle premiere. She can’t sew, but she’s a fashion queen known for her stellar looks. 

If anything, it feels like she struggles most when she psyches herself out. If she can overcome that, it’s a compelling story—and Ru loves a queen who can defeat her inner saboteur, after all. But assuming she makes it to the finale (a wise bet at this point), she’ll need to make sure she doesn’t overthink things in her final performances. Symone is best when she’s natural, confident and uniquely herself.

3. Gottmik (last week: 5)

One thing about Gottmik that has really impressed me is her runway banter. She’s so good at riffing back and forth with Ru and the judges—and that’s no small feat. It has set her apart from queens like Rosé, who tends to be polite but not overly familiar during the critiques. 

Gottmik jokes with the panel like they’re all pals, and it’s clearly really endearing her to Ru. Those little bits can take a queen a long way, particularly when they’re also very strong in the challenges and on the runway (as Gottmik has been).

Gottmik was a clear third of the top three to me, but she was still head-and-shoulders above the queens who landed in the bottom three. Sure, picking up another win would’ve been nice for Gottmik, especially since there’s likely only one more maxi-challenge win up for grabs this season. But I actually think Gottmik got something more valuable out of this week: Once again, she showed that she can tackle something out of her comfort zone head-on and find her own way through it. She’s maybe the most adaptable queen of this bunch.

2. Rosé (last week: 2)

Until Loni made the note that Rosé did better in rehearsal, I thought she had things all wrapped up this week. She killed her set, closed the show with aplomb and looked amazing while doing it. But the perception that she wasn’t as good on the night as she was in preparation led to her getting the bridesmaid spot this week. Still, when Michelle is comparing you to Bianca Del Rio, you’ve gotta be pretty happy with your position. 

I would be absolutely floored if Rosé didn’t make the finale. Her challenge is going to be whatever Lip Sync for the Crown she has to perform at the end. She’s 0-and-2 in Drag Race lip syncs, so she faces the biggest uphill climb in the finale assuming no format change. She best prepare some gags!

1. Kandy Muse (last week: 3)

She did it! To the absolute joy of herself and her competitors, Kandy finally won a maxi-challenge. She was the last remaining of the top six not to do so, and secured her spot in the final five by acing the roast. I preferred Rosé’s set, but in the judges’ eyes, Kandy had two major advantages: One through circumstance, the other through strategy. 

Circumstantially, Rosé doing worse in the final performance than in rehearsal meant Michelle and Loni’s praise was destined to be muted. Strategically, Kandy’s choice to go first (and persuading Rosé to go last) allowed her to own all the most obvious material.

I feel confident predicting she will make the final four over Olivia now, but here’s a question for you all: Will she make the top three? Until Season 9, RuPaul’s Drag Race always had a top three in the finale (at least on the main show; All Stars is a different beast). 

The format switch to a Lip Sync for the Crown finale necessitated a top four instead, and so it stayed—until last season, when Sherry Pie’s disqualification left us with a top three. And that finale—a terrific one—still kept a variant of the Lip Sync for the Crown with those three. So is it possible that we’ll see a final three this season, instead of a final four?

If so, I think Kandy is the most likely to be booted. She has two Lip Syncs for Your Life under her belt—including one she technically lost—and only one maxi-challenge win. Gottmik, Rosé and Symone are all huge Ru and audience favourites with a stack of wins between them.

So whether Kandy makes the finale as a competitor will seemingly come down to the format. If it’s the Season 9 to 11 LSFTC format, she’s in! If they decide to modify the finale to be more like Season 12’s, I wouldn’t be shocked to see her just miss.

What’s on your mind, queen? Join the livestream Kiki with Kevin on Fridays at 4 p.m. EDT to talk about RuPaul’s Drag Race.