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. Bing bang bong, and break up (bye bye), we’re back to the girl group challenge! Which of our two teams made it out on the top of the charts?
8. Scarlett Harlett (last week: 1)
Yikes! Maybe my speculation that she could be heading for the top three was premature? This was a total crash and burn from Scarlett, with no redeeming quality to her performance. Her verse was just okay, and she’d have been better off going with a sung section instead of a rap. She utterly botched her own choreo, and made sure the judges knew it with eye rolls and an audible “fuck” at performance’s end. Her runway was supposed to be Scary Spice, but as Michelle Visage noted, it was more Dusty Springfield. Just a real strike-out from a former frontrunner, and Scarlett should count her blessings Ru decided to make this a double shantay week. She really should have gone home.
7. Charity Kase (last week: 7)
You know, I really feel for Charity. The judges—in particular Ru—just don’t seem to be engaged in what she’s doing, and she’s struggling to explain how her drag connects to the challenge prompts in a way that satisfies them. This happens occasionally: someone clearly talented at drag just doesn’t fit into the mold of Drag Race, and both contestant and judging panel spend a few weeks frustrated with each other before the queen is inevitably sent home. I’m glad she stuck around this week, since she was clearly better in the Spice Girls lip sync than Scarlett, but I do think it’s just a matter of time before Charity heads out the door.
6. Krystal Versace (last week: 2)
Imagine a pretty big gulf of space between sixth and seventh this week, and an even bigger gulf between fifth and sixth. Krystal was really on an island of her own this week among the losing team: she did well, and most of the judges were won over by her. But Michelle’s desire to see her open up a bit more continues to hinder Krystal’s momentum. I don’t think it will keep her from the top three—quite the contrary, I think Ru’s fully sold on her. However, it’ll be harder for her to pull out another win unless Michelle is satisfied with her versatility. Though Ru does ultimately make the final judgments, a strong objection from a judge is usually enough to change his mind. For my part, I thought she did pretty well, though I agree with Ru that the verse was not very deep. Loved her Baby Spice drag, though.
5. Kitty Scott-Claus (last week: 4)
Alas, Kitty fell into the same spot this week as her Girls Aloud tribute bandmate Cheryl Hole did in her season: she’d clearly have been the best if her team were the winning group, but she was let down by her teammates. I admire Kitty’s good attitude in highlighting how happy she was to be critiqued by Emma. That went a long way to boosting Scarlett’s spirits, and shows what a thoughtful person Kitty is in addition to being a dynamite queen. I remain completely won over by Kitty, although I didn’t love her Baby Spice drag as much as the judges did. If we hadn’t seen her microphone pulled out already for her ABBA look, I might have been more charmed. I do love a prop mic on Drag Race, after all.
4. Vanity Milan (last week: 8)
It was good to see Vanity get the win this episode after a couple of tough weeks for her in the competition. You could tell she was getting frustrated, so this should be a confidence boost. In truth, I didn’t love either Vanity’s Mel B runway or her performance, and were this not a group win, I don’t think she’d have been in real consideration for a RuPeter badge. But that’s what’s great about this challenge: it rewards every member of the team for their contributions, even if their performance wouldn’t be enough in a normal week. Now, hopefully, Vanity will take this momentum and run with it.
3. Ella Vaday (last week: 3)
Kind of reliant on her own name pun in her verse, no? This was probably Ella’s best week so far, but I’m still not quite seeing depth to her drag. I think Ella’s much more deserving of that particular critique than Krystal is, actually. However, what I found lacking in her verse I completely enjoyed about her Sporty Spice runway. It was so fun and energetic, and showed a side of her we haven’t seen in her drag yet. For that runway alone, Ella more than deserved her RuPeter badge.
2. Choriza May (last week: 5)
Guys, I just love Choriza. I’m obsessed. I’ve been walking around saying “What’s my story, you may ask” all week. She’s absolutely hilarious, but doesn’t deflect from being vulnerable by just being funny. She’s creative in her performance style, finding ways to stand out using her own talents even when something’s not in her lane. She has a signature drag style that she carries through every one of her looks. Does it all add up to the most polished package you’ve ever seen? Certainly not. But I don’t want a polished Choriza May. I love this Choriza May. I love this queen who rhymes “chance” with “U.K.,” instead of going with the obvious rhyme of “France.” I want this queen who is so damn proud to be a U.K. citizen that she’ll come out, as she noted, dressed like a RuPeter badge. I’m so happy she won this week and, God willing, I hope she can beat the odds and make it to the end. We deserve all the time with Choriza that we can get.
1. River Medway (last week: 6)
After languishing among the safe queens for the last couple of weeks, River had her big break this week. She got personal in her verse, opening up about how her mom’s death from COVID-19 affected her. She sounded gorgeous on the ballad version of “Big Drag Energy,” and looked beautiful in both her performance and runway outfits. She represented best the true spirit of the underdog among Pick’N’Mix, and earned herself a deserving win among her teammates. I do worry that we got a bit too much peaking from River this week and that it might foreshadow an earlier-than-desired departure. But fingers crossed that I’m wrong, and next week is just another round of excellence for River. She and Choriza have emerged as two major fan favourites, and it’d be delightful to see them dominate from here on out.
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