Welcome to RuPaul’s Drag Race Power Rankings! Every Friday, we’ll debrief the week’s new episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 6 to determine which queens are riding high, and which need she-mergency care. The Super Bowl halftime show-themed Rusical gave queens a pre-Snatch Game chance to get their celebrity impersonation on. Those who did the best made the most of it, but one otherwise strong queen suffered from failing to fight for herself.
10. Yara Sofia (last week: 3) — ELIMINATED
This sucks, although with some hindsight it felt kind of inevitable. Yara has been the major character of the first part of the season, either being in the top or the bottom two every episode so far. That level of focus this early usually means you’re not around later, and the producers and editors want to focus on you as much as possible while you’re still around. Yet I don’t get why, exactly, Yara was up for elimination this week: her lip-syncing may not have been the most expressive, but she didn’t miss words, and her dancing as Shakira was phenomenal. (Side note: whoever recorded “Cover Girl” for Yara does an amazing Shakira impersonation.)
For whatever reason, it feels like Yara was pinned as the big early-season character who flames out, and she didn’t help herself by refusing to campaign. Considering how A’keria has been doing so far, I think Yara would have the stronger shot of making it far in this season. But who knows? With this game-within-a-game thing still ongoing, Yara may be able to find her way back into the race.
9. A’keria C. Davenport (last week: 10)
Every week, A’keria looks absolutely stunning on the runway. And nearly every week, she’s underwhelmed in the challenge relative to her potential. It was strange to me to hear her say she worries about dancing challenges when she won hers in Season 11, and it feels like she got in her own head a bit. She’s in a rut with the judges, who aren’t getting excited about what she’s serving, and she was a Jan lip-sync win away from going home this week. To go home looking as flawless as she did, even after a just okay take on Prince, would be such a bummer. I’m glad she stayed, and while I’m not sure if there’s a way out of this for A’keria, I’m still rooting for her.
8. Ginger Minj (last week: 6)
This is not the trajectory I wanted for Ginger in this competition! Choosing to take on Fergie was a strange plan, since Fergie doesn’t have enough notable signatures to her performance style to stand out. She also got saddled with one of Ru’s worse songs (“Geronimo”), remixed in a non-distinctive way. On the runway, Ginger looked gorgeous, and it was likely her refined mug that saved her from the bottom. Still, she probably needs a win here soon (or even just a high placement!) to fix her trajectory in the competition. As it stands, she’s on a downward slide, and the other queens are too fierce to let them gain ground.
7. Pandora Boxx (last week: 4)
I personally would have put Pandora in the bottom for her Rusical performance. Sure, a “Click Clack (Make Dat Money)” cover as performed in the style of Carol Channing is a kick. But the vocal impersonation is all someone else, leaving Pandora just a bit of walking and shimmying to her name on stage. Compared to what some other queens did dancing-wise, Pandora’s act just felt modest. She looked okay on the runway, but nothing she’s worn all season has really set the world on fire. I appreciate Pandora’s sense of humour (upon being asked why she’s doing Carol Channing, she summarizes, “Because I’m old”), but that’s not quite enough to stay competitive. I’m predicting she gets the boot soon, though I do think the show will likely want her to get to Snatch Game first.
6. Ra’Jah O’Hara (last week: 2)
After three straight episodes of dominating, Ra’Jah slips a bit this week on a pretty standard Diana Ross impersonation. She does a fine job lip-syncing to the cover of “The Beginning,” but her take on Diana can’t help but pale in comparison to Bebe Zahara Benet’s. Like Bianca Del Rio taking on Judge Judy in Snatch Game, there’s inherent risk in tackling someone RuPaul loves, but the fact that Ra’Jah gets waved to safety means she at least didn’t make a mess of her impersonation. On the runway, Ra’Jah also turned out her least impressive look yet, a frilly gown that’s a bit stiff in the bodice. If this is an off week for Ra’Jah, though, she’s working off an incredibly high baseline. She just needs to keep the quality level up across the board.
5. Scarlet Envy (last week: 7)
It took me two viewings to really get into it, since I found the Left Shark costume a bit corny the first time around. But Scarlet was really good as Katy Perry, and paired with yet another stunning runway, she deserved a top spot this week. She benefitted from one of the best remixes (“Sissy That Walk”), but she had a difficult task with making Katy feel distinctive. From the costuming to the wig choice, she really got Katy right, and her performance was just as high-energy as you’d expect from the pop star. Scarlet’s been repeatedly ignored or dismissed by the judges, which has me worried about her longevity in the competition. Frontrunners for the title don’t get repeatedly called safe, but safe has unfortunately been Scarlet’s middle name this season.
4. Kylie Sonique Love (last week: 8)
I actually loved Kylie’s take on Steven Tyler. It was small, like Pandora’s Carol Channing, but she had a real idea of how to emulate Steven’s performance style and movements. She also paired it with a killer look. (I loved the Aerosmith-ified take on “If I Dream,” which is a bit too schmaltzy on its own for me.) Kylie also looked radiant on the runway, with one of my favourite wigs I’ve seen on the main stage in a long time. I placed her above Scarlet because Kylie’s gotten at least some praise before, but I think she just missed the top three for me.
3. Eureka! (last week: 5)
I’ve assured a couple of different people who have asked that I didn’t think this season would be a Eureka! coronation march. But after this week, I’m starting to get nervous. I thought for sure Eureka!’s Madonna was in the bottom when they got called out for critiques, and was shocked to see them instead in the top over Scarlet (or even Kylie). Combined with their suspiciously high placement in the Blue Ball, it feels like Eureka! is getting handed praise that their work doesn’t merit. Maybe I’m wrong and they’ll be in the bottom soon, but I’m getting Season 10 flashbacks at this point. Eureka! has been an enjoyable presence this season (I can’t stop saying “You better walk, bitch!”), but the judges’ favouritism has long been a sore spot with the fandom. I’d rather see them get praise when they really break out from the pack.
2. Trinity K. Bonet (last week: 1)
As I mentioned in the recap this week, I absolutely would have given Trinity the win. Her Beyoncé was fantastic, and Trinity proved herself once again a dynamite performer. She benefitted from some distinctive choreography (smart of Jamal Sims to recognize the “Bring Back My Girls”/“Run the World (Girls)” parallel happening and lean into it), but that choreography only worked because Trinity picked it up and executed it so effortlessly.
On the runway, Trinity’s frills look was less extravagant than others, but it looked beautiful on her, and she paired it with an absolutely radiant mug. Trinity seems to have found her groove in this competition, and I’m hopeful she can keep up the good work. She’s waited a long time to be on All Stars, and it’s great to see her relish every opportunity she has to prove herself.
1. Jan (last week: 9)
Big winner! Jan got her Rudemption on a Rusical, and didn’t even need to play Madonna to do it. Lady Gaga was exactly the right choice for her, and she smashed her choreo. She was a very solid second to Trinity for me, though I will say I give Jan the edge on the runway. Her saloon girl-inspired look was strong, but it was the rich, dark colour palette that really put it over the edge for me. I still have some questions about her aesthetic point of view—there’s not much connecting Jan’s looks thematically this season—but it was nice to see her go in a different direction this week.
The question now is where Jan’s arc goes from here. Even in this episode featuring her big victory, there were some signs of a villain edit peeking through, like her fixation on whether she and Ginger were “lipstick-eligible” last week. And the editing of her lip sync performance was pretty mean, including Pandora dragging her in a confessional. Like with Valentina in All Stars 4, it does feel like, now that Jan is redeemed, she may have run out of story. But for all those out there feeling the Jantasy, I’m hopeful that her Jandetta is not yet complete.
Why you can trust Xtra
