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. Time is running out for our former winners to qualify for the finale—who’s still a threat to make it to the end?
Shea Couleé
Current Star Count: 1
Maxi-Challenges Won: 1
Lip Syncs Won: 1
With Monét X Change’s win this week, Shea is officially the lowest-ranking queen remaining in the competition. Her dominant Episode 1 feels so long ago now, and she’s in a must-win situation going into next week (assuming no further bonus stars). Could Shea win a roast? Possibly! She did well in both her Season 9 roast and in the All Stars 5 comedy challenge, but didn’t outright win either. She’ll probably need some kind of special hook to stand out among a cast of comedy queens (Jinkx Monsoon, The Vivienne) and former roast winners (Monét). In terms of Shea’s performance this week, I appreciated her concept—high-level choreography, it’s your fault if you can’t keep up—but I was surprised she scored high over Jaida Essence Hall. Her runway was also not my favourite; every reveal felt heavily telegraphed. Not Shea’s best week, overall, but hopefully it’s a blip before a major comeback.
Yvie Oddly
Current Star Count: 2
Maxi-Challenges Won: 1
Lip Syncs Won: 0
I personally would’ve placed Yvie high based on the challenge alone, but her runway would’ve knocked her down a peg for me. The cocoon-into-insect look is something we’ve seen before on the runway, and done better. I liked her self-revealing mask, but that wasn’t enough to distract from the sloppy reveals otherwise. What I loved about Yvie’s dance challenge was that she made something that both felt like TikTok while also lampooning TikTok. “The OddBod” showed a lot of creativity, and expressed Yvie’s brand in a way that I wasn’t expecting. I do still think Yvie making it to the end of this season is a long shot—I can’t see her thriving in a roast challenge—but she’s done better this season on the whole than I expected coming into it.
Monét X Change
Current Star Count: 2
Maxi-Challenges Won: 2
Lip Syncs Won: 1
A terrific week for Monét launches her into a statistical tie for fifth with Raja on this power ranking—and, in the race for Legendary Legend Stars, a five-way tie for third. Monét very wisely picked up on the hints (and in some cases, literal choreographed steps) Ru was giving her, and turned it into the kind of dance that would very easily go viral on TikTok. Her runway was remarkable in how effortless the reveals were, but more importantly for how she used them to tell a story of the ongoing fight for Black liberation in America. And then, of course, her lip sync to the Designing Women monologue was just tremendous. Heading into a roast challenge when she won the previous incarnation of it in All Stars 4, I’d say Monét’s chances of getting into the finale are looking very bright indeed.
Raja
Current Star Count: 2
Maxi-Challenges Won: 2
Lip Syncs Won: 1
Raja was the last queen blocked in this cast, and unfortunately for her, the Platinum Plunger has put her in a do-or-die position worse than nearly anyone else in the cast. Since she cannot win a Legendary Legend Star this coming week, she must win the final challenge to make it into the finale. We don’t know what that is yet, so it’s hard to judge how Raja will do. But I do think it’s a tough break for her that the queen who so memorably won a public speaking challenge earlier this season will be blocked from winning another speaking-focused task. In terms of this week, Raja’s dance was by far the worst for me—and I think she knew it was a miss. Her psychedelic floral runway look was cool, though! I especially loved the makeup, which was one of her best mugs this season.
Trinity the Tuck
Current Star Count: 2
Maxi-Challenges Won: 3
Lip Syncs Won: 1
Colour me surprised that Trinity wasn’t shouted out during deliberations as a high scorer. Not because I particularly loved her video: I actually thought it was too repetitive from her tucking tutorial in the All Stars 4 talent show. But Ru and the judges laughed their asses off at it, only to forget about it moments later. (Granted, we only see an edited version of deliberations, so it’s entirely possible they did discuss it.) Her burlesque runway was full of reveals, but it’s also a very similar concept to other looks we’ve seen before—including Bosco’s burlesque look from Season 14, although that season hadn’t aired when this one filmed. There was nothing particularly wrong with what Trinity did this week, but I don’t think any of it was original enough to stand out. Then again, is “expected” actually the right way to go for a branding challenge? Perhaps! Anyway, Trinity still needs one more win to make it to the finale, but judging by her trajectory in the competition, I think she’ll get it.
The Vivienne
Current Star Count: 2
Maxi-Challenges Won: 3
Lip Syncs Won: 2
This week was an interesting test of how far Viv’s British-isms and humour can take her with Ru—and the answer was “not far enough”! Viv’s dance in her dance challenge was an utter afterthought, as she focused on her “Viveo” branding instead. If this were an ad for a streaming service, I think Viv would’ve won the week! But there was just no way Ru was going to give her a victory for basically ignoring the basis of the challenge. Her Into the Woods-esque witch reveal wasn’t that great, either; it was basically just one reveal with a skirt tear tacked on afterward. I’m conflicted on whether I think Viv can make the finale at this point. A roast challenge could be up her alley, but the narrative heat to get her to the end doesn’t seem there. A shame if she misses, but I think I’d bet on it at this point.
Jaida Essence Hall
Current Star Count: 3
Maxi-Challenges Won: 2
Lip Syncs Won: 1
Assuming no bonus star shenanigans, Jaida has mathematically solidified her place in the final four. (Which, the fact that I can currently call two members of the final four by Episode 9 makes me think there are shenanigans coming.) She would make for an interesting finalist, considering she only won stars for design challenges, but hey: Ru never said you had to be multifaceted to make it to the finale. Jaida has played this game remarkably well, scoring on the challenges to which she was best suited, and playing the social game to earn a bonus star from Jinkx. And along the way, she has done well—if not the absolute best—in other kinds of challenges. Take this viral video task: her Diva Essential Dance Challenge was on brand, easy to do and super fun. I can’t fawn enough about her seasonal runway, either; easily my favourite of the week. No, there’s no doubting that Jaida has been terrific this season, and I am very eager to see how she (hopefully!) does in the finale.
Jinkx Monsoon
Current Star Count: 3
Maxi-Challenges Won: 4
Lip Syncs Won: 2
With this victory, Jinkx has, like Jaida, presumably assured herself a spot in the finale. And if there were any doubt, next week’s roast challenge will give the comedy queen a chance to solidify it. While this outcome may have been expected—Jinkx has been edited as a main character all season long, and even before All Stars 7 was announced she was a heavy favourite to win a potential all-winners season—it’s nonetheless exciting! Jinkx was once the ultimate underdog on Drag Race, facing off against half a dozen queens who doubted her skills and beating them all. Now, she’s very much in contention to be the second queen ever with two crowns. Truth be told, I wouldn’t have ranked her in the top two this week (the dance felt a little arbitrary), but she was indeed hilarious in the challenge. And both her challenge and runway looks were among her best ever! Jinkx is keeping up her standard, and it looks like she’ll be doing so all the way to the finale.
Why you can trust Xtra
