Welcome to RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars Power Rankings! Every Saturday, we’ve debriefed the week’s new episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 7 to determine which queens were riding high, and which needed she-mergency care. But now, it’s time to say goodbye to our collection of champions, and celebrate the two queens with new titles.
The Vivienne—ELIMINATED
Final Star Count: 2
Maxi-Challenges Won: 3
Lip Syncs Won: 2
Viv at the bottom of the pack is absolutely not how this season should have ended. I know much digital ink has already been spilled mourning Jaida Essence Hall’s failure to qualify for the finale—and trust that I’m still pissed about that one, too—but Viv is the queen who most directly suffered from this season’s blocking twist. And unfortunately, she wound up in the She Done Already Done Had Herses bracket with three dynamic performers; though she’s been surprisingly great at lip syncing this season, she got blown out on an unfavourable song against a ferocious Yvie Oddly. I do hope Viv is basking in the positive response to her run this season, though, because she deserves it! She came back from her win in UK Season 1 and proved she was more than capable of keeping up with the American queens. She’s a proven legend.
Jaida Essence Hall—ELIMINATED
Final Star Count: 3
Maxi-Challenges Won: 2
Lip Syncs Won: 1
I’m admittedly surprised that Jaida didn’t even advance out of her first match in the She Done Already Done Had Herses bracket, considering what a consistent lip syncer she’s been throughout her Drag Race career. She was also just plain better on “Let’s Hear It for the Boy” against Raja. In general, it just feels like what was a remarkable run for Jaida petered out at the end, between her underwhelming roast performance, being cut by Monét X Change at the last second, and now this. I’d rather remember Jaida for all her jaw-dropping fashions this season, including both of her design challenge wins, and the ways in which she was able to demonstrate the quirky, creative side of her personality this season. No one could call her simply the queen who won on Zoom anymore; she’s the queen of our hearts.
Trinity the Tuck—ELIMINATED
Final Star Count: 3
Maxi-Challenges Won: 4
Lip Syncs Won: 1
Not that I think Trinity would’ve fared any better in the lower bracket, but it really is rough to consider that her role in this episode was to lose the twinner lip sync. She’ll always be one of the All Stars 4 victors, but a “tiebreaker” of sorts like this was seemingly inevitable. The fact that the edit of the “So What” lip sync had to be practically masticated to fit this result was unsatisfying, too. Overall, I don’t think it’ll come as a surprise to anyone who’s been reading these that Trinity was not my favourite part of this season. A couple of her wins were dubious (the roast victory perhaps the most so of all of All Stars 7), and her making the finale left a bitter taste in my mouth in a penultimate episode full of off-putting twists. But I do appreciate that in a season with little competitive fire, Trinity really brought an edge and a desire to strategize. If this is to be her final season, I thought it showed off what has made Trinity one of the biggest characters of modern Drag Race. She, more than most, has been a face of the VH1/Paramount era, and for that, I’m glad she was a part of this.
Shea Couleé—ELIMINATED
Final Star Count: 4
Maxi-Challenges Won: 2
Lip Syncs Won: 2
All the sturm und drang about Shea making the finale with just two challenge wins turned out to be over nothing, as she simply lost in the first round of the Lip Sync for the Crown tournament to Jinkx Monsoon. It’s honestly kind of a bummer that after All Stars 5, a season largely about Shea coming to terms with the trauma of losing to Sasha Velour and her rose petals in Season 9, Shea is back to her first-season placement. But I am thrilled for her that she made the final four, and had some truly terrific moments along the way. For those who think she wasn’t at her usual performance level this season, I would point you toward her “Legends” and “Titanic” verses, her surprisingly naturalistic performance in “Santa’s School for Girls,” her stunning runways, her “Old McDonald” and “Supernova” lip syncs, and her pro-level talent show performance. Shea more than delivered this season, and sealed her Drag Race career with a third terrific run.
Yvie Oddly—RUNNER-UP, SHE DONE ALREADY DONE HAD HERSES
Final Star Count: 2
Maxi-Challenges Won: 1
Lip Syncs Won: 1
If there’s one thing Yvie can do in a pinch, it’s tear up a lip sync. I’m really glad the Season 11 champion got the chance to perform twice more after she lost her Dolly Parton matchup earlier this season, because she’s too good at this art form for that to be her last Drag Race lip sync memory. She technically lost to Raja, but anyone watching could see just how much she ate her “Sisters Are Doing It for Themselves” lip sync. In both this finale and along the way, Yvie got to show that while she only won one challenge all season long, she’s as exciting a performer as ever. I know Yvie is coming to terms with her gravity-defying skills fading away, but I hope she still finds ways to exhibit her oddities even as her ability set changes. Drag Race is so much better off for having crowned Yvie, and I’m so glad she came back for a second round in the ring.
Raja—WINNER, SHE DONE ALREADY DONE HAD HERSES
Final Star Count: 2
Maxi-Challenges Won: 2
Lip Syncs Won: 3
As Mariah Paris Balenciaga once wrote in her lipstick mirror message, “Congratulations, Raja!” The Season 3 champion is also the Queen of She Done Already Done Had Herses, and is taking home an extra $50,000. Combined with her $10,000 for winning the “Super Freak” lip sync, that makes her the non-champion queen with the third-highest winnings from a single season of Drag Race. (The other two: Lady Camden with $65,000 on Season 14, and Ginger Minj with $61,000 on All Stars 6.) Imagine telling yourself directly after watching Raja’s sad Lizzo lip sync that she’d be one of the lip sync tournament champions of this episode! Hell, imagine telling yourself after watching Raja’s lip syncs that she’d be one of the champions! (I kid, I kid. Mostly.)
This result has got to be satisfying to Raja’s fans, many of whom felt the fashion legend was slept on this season. For me, her victory—plus that of our upper bracket champion—is a real statement on the show’s part that Logo-era queens are still valued in the modern era. Raja was a force this season, and reminded us all why she’s as renowned as she is. This marks a terrific end to her Drag Race run.
Monét X Change—RUNNER-UP, QUEEN OF ALL QUEENS
Final Star Count: 5
Maxi-Challenges Won: 3
Lip Syncs Won: 2
It’s funny: I came out of Season 10 a major Monét X Change stan, to the point that in my All Stars 4 premiere recap, I noted how I was pulling for the New York City queen above all others. But AS4 was a rollercoaster ride, and by the time it ended—with my eventual fave Mo Heart cut before the final lip sync and with the fan base smarting over Manila Luzon’s elimination—the tie between Monét and Trinity chafed. Then this season, I’ve had other favourites throughout, most notably Jaida and Jinkx at the outset, and Viv as a dark horse to win it all. But in this final week before All Stars 7 came to a close, with her absolutely flawless opera performance still ringing in my ears, I found myself returning to that post-Season 10 love I had for Monét. And I think, if I were being truly honest with myself, I actually wanted her to win it all.
But I understand why Jinkx won, and I’m ultimately happy with that pick for various reasons. And Monét still got the victory of beating Trinity, finally putting the twinner tie to rest. She should be incredibly proud of her run this season, as well as her entire career on this show. Through her three runs on Drag Race, Monét has shown off that she is a runway queen with a style all her own, a rapstress with some of the best verses we’ve heard on Drag Race, a lip syncer who, when given the right track, is a force, and an entertainer who we’ll never tire of. Can’t wait to see you on Secret Celebrity Drag Race, queen.
Jinkx Monsoon—WINNER, QUEEN OF ALL QUEENS
Final Star Count: 4
Maxi-Challenges Won: 5
Lip Syncs Won: 5
I’ve mentioned this before in these recaps and rankings, but long before an all-winners season of Drag Race was ever greenlit, I was firm in my answer as to who would win such a hypothetical bout: Jinkx Monsoon. Not Alaska? I would be asked. Not Bob the Drag Queen? Not Symone? Certainly, any of them could—but I knew that Jinkx’s depth of skills plus an elevated drag budget would prove a potent combination. Plus, as someone still beloved by fans, but not as prominent as other stars, there would be value in giving Jinkx the extra shine of another crown. So suffice it to say, Jinkx’s performance this season was exactly what I knew we would get. There weren’t a ton of surprises, to be honest—she did well in the challenges I knew she would, and faltered as could be predicted in design tasks. If anything, her higher budget led to a more limited range on the runway, although her polish was undeniable. The one clear surprise of her run was her Judy Garland Snatch Game, which was an absolute phenomenon … and perhaps set an impossible bar for Jinkx to ever surpass.
I don’t want it to sound like I’m unhappy with a Jinkx win; quite the contrary, I’m thrilled for her. And I don’t want to diminish her other performances this season, which ranged from the fun and funny (her TikTok dance, her improv performance) to the genuinely masterful (her roast, her commencement address). But I think, in a season that featured a lot of queens surprising me, Jinkx’s excellence felt like an expectation. There is no denying her victory, and I’m so pleased one of the two Logo-era queens won it all. As anyone could’ve predicted, she won, no matter how much editing it took of her final lip sync. It wasn’t the satisfying finish that her Season 5 crowning was, but regardless, she is the first queen in herstory with two crowns—and that is a feat no one will soon be able to replicate. Congratulations to Jinkx, the Queen of All Queens!
Why you can trust Xtra
