Welcome to RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars Power Rankings! Every Saturday, we’ll debrief the week’s new episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 7 to determine which queens are riding high, and which need she-mergency care. A design challenge produces familiar results this week, and that’s very good news for one queen who’s now riding high with three stars.
Monét X Change
Current Star Count: 1
Maxi-Challenges Won: 1
Lip Syncs Won: 0
Man, justice for Monét this week. Her facekini look was inspired, and such a level-up for her in a design challenge. To get close to the win, only to lose out to her twinner, is a major bummer. I’m starting to wonder if Monét has enough time to make up the deficit. She’s got a shot next week in the acting challenge—she was pretty great in Season 10’s “Breastworld” among very weak competition—but she’d need to surprise in some other challenge types. Still, she did surprise here; it’s just unfortunate Ru didn’t deem her efforts enough for a win.
Raja
Current Star Count: 1
Maxi-Challenges Won: 1
Lip Syncs Won: 0
A swing and a miss from the lady Gemini this week. She got stuck with the last pick in the order, and thus a look no one else wanted, but I still think she could’ve found another way through it than what she did. Raja’s major weakness this season has been interpreting high-concept ideas she comes up with in ways that read properly onstage. She managed her way through it during the commencement address challenge, but here, whatever she was going for with her deconstructed Season 7 promo look didn’t work. She, like Monét, is running out of time to close the gap between her and her competition.
Shea Couleé
Current Star Count: 1
Maxi-Challenges Won: 1
Lip Syncs Won: 1
At least with Shea, the editors are trying to put a storyline together. It’s nonsensical, since Shea keeps saying she’s fading into the background or missing out on the top while being a contender for the win nearly every week. But she doesn’t hear the deliberations, so I get that amid all the praise, she probably feels like one of many routinely safe queens. Still, it’s hard to say what she should be doing differently as a result, since she’s consistently scoring high. I do think the story is leading somewhere, I’m just not sure where yet.
The Vivienne
Current Star Count: 1
Maxi-Challenges Won: 2
Lip Syncs Won: 2
If Viv and Jinkx Monsoon can escape their revolving door of blockings, I think the British queen could wind up in the top four of the season. She’s shown she can excel in multiple kinds of challenges, and Ru seems even more into her than he was in her season. That all said, though, this was a pretty rough week for Viv. Of all the looks, even the ones I liked less (Raja’s, Yvie Oddly’s) I appreciated the imagination behind. Viv basically just recreated a look from the waist up and changed the skirt. That wasn’t the challenge, and it’s surprising to me that Viv went so literal. A speed bump in a journey that’s been otherwise pretty smooth for Viv.
Yvie Oddly
Current Star Count: 2
Maxi-Challenges Won: 1
Lip Syncs Won: 0
A blocking right before an acting challenge has gotta hurt for Yvie. The only challenge she won in her original season was an acting task, and she did great as the Big Bad Wolf in the improv challenge earlier this season. Unfortunately, even if she turns it out, she’ll be left without a star next time around. In terms of her output this week, I really did love the pants she made. Unfortunately, she didn’t leave herself enough time to render the top as exquisitely as she did her bottom half. A good effort, but not my favorite of the lot this week.
Trinity the Tuck
Current Star Count: 2
Maxi-Challenges Won: 3
Lip Syncs Won: 1
It’s wild to me that this is not only Trinity’s second Legendary Legend Star, but it’s also her first appearance in the higher-scoring half of the cast in weeks. I’ve always considered Trinity a Jacqueline of all trades when it comes to Drag Race, but her performance this season has been much more angled: design challenges and Snatch Game are her strengths; everything else is tougher. As I mentioned in my recap, I did like her runway garment this week, but it felt like something we’ve seen from Trinity before. Still, kudos to her: she’s very much in the mix to make it to the finale now.
Jinkx Monsoon
Current Star Count: 2
Maxi-Challenges Won: 3
Lip Syncs Won: 2
Trinity not wanting to block Jinkx this week is very good news for Jinkx’s overall performance in the competition. First, she’s got free rein in an acting challenge next week, which is right up her alley. She can get to three stars and catch up with Jaida if all goes well. But second and perhaps more important, it shakes the feeling among the cast that Jinkx is the one to block. Monét said she didn’t mind blocking Jinkx again in the workroom, but will she be feeling the same after Trinity has disrupted the order? What if Jinkx wins again next week and blocks Jaida? Or Raja pulls out a surprise win and blocks Trinity? There are more options on the field at this point, which means Jinkx has some room to manoeuvre. I feel pretty confident about her chances at the finale at this point.
Jaida Essence Hall
Current Star Count: 3
Maxi-Challenges Won: 2
Lip Syncs Won: 1
If you’d have asked me who would be the frontrunner halfway through the competition at the start of it, I don’t think I would’ve guessed Jaida. Not because I don’t believe in her talent—I adore her, and she’s one of my two favourites on this cast (next to Jinkx). No, I just figured that the recency of her win, plus the fact that many of her competitors have had more experience in Drag Race challenges (i.e., the All Stars champions) would’ve made it hard to stand out. But Jaida has benefited tremendously from the format of the season, cleaning up on both design challenges and earning one of the bonus Legendary Legend Stars from Jinkx last week. As a result, she is now far in the lead with three stars. However, as Jinkx can testify, being the frontrunner is a scary position—she’s likely in a block-or-be-blocked situation now. But I believe in Jaida to find her way to the end.
Why you can trust Xtra
