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 season’s first proper acting challenge produces some surprising results, with the two actresses of the competition edged out by someone the dolls never quite saw coming.
8. A’keria C. Davenport (last week: 5) — ELIMINATED
Honestly, once she could tell she would be in the bottom, A’keria pretty much checked out of the competition. I can only imagine how frustrating this season was for her, turning out stunning looks on the runway week after week, only to get repeatedly criticized for her performances in the challenges. (The one challenge she scored well in, Pink Table Talk, didn’t even get the benefit of positive critiques.) I’m glad she didn’t give up and vote herself out, but judging by how utterly disinterested A’keria looked after the announcement of a “game-within-a-game” twist, I’m guessing she’s okay with this being the end of her journey. Farewell, Miss Ass Almighty. You deserved better.
7. Ra’Jah O’Hara (last week: 4)
You know, I’m not sure if it was those three early strong performances that blinded me, but Ra’Jah’s recent track record hasn’t been the cutest. Her Diana Ross Rusical performance landed her in the safe group, but it was unimpressive in comparison to some of her competitors’ work. She did well last week in Pink Table Talk, but owing to the team judging, she still had to stay on stage for critiques. And this week, her inflexibility when it came to taking direction from Michelle Visage and Ross Mathews—no matter how misguided that direction was—landed her in the bottom two. She was at no real risk of going home, but it’s still a bummer to see her trending downwards after such a strong start.
Ra’Jah could use another look challenge to boost her spirits, or good critiques in the girl group challenge next week. She had some trouble with choreography in Season 11, which has me a bit worried, and the preview of next week’s episode didn’t look great for her. I’m still very much invested in Ra’Jah getting to the end of this season, but her path forward looks rougher than it did a couple of episodes ago.
6. Eureka! (last week: 2)
I literally cannot make heads or tails of Eureka!’s critiques this season. First, they were getting high-scoring placements for what should have been safe (or even low-placing) work. Then, they were shut out of what should’ve been an easy win for them last week. And now, they’re getting fairly critiqued for delivering the same tone over and over again in a performance, but not clearly being identified as a low-scorer this week.
The show seems to both be shielding Eureka! from the bottom two while also not allowing them to actually win anything. It’s strange. And the result is that, alongside Pandora Boxx, Eureka! is one of the only queens to have not won a challenge yet. Considering the fact she seemed like a frontrunner coming into this season, I’m not sure what’s happening—but judging by the preview, it does seem like we’ll be getting into just how much Eureka! is letting their lack of wins affect them.
5. Pandora Boxx (last week: 6)
I would’ve put Pandora in the bottom for her work as Frances Conroy and Joan Crawford this week. Her line readings as Frances were pretty consistently flat, which is out of character for a queen who is often one of the better actresses of the group. Her Joan Crawford was better, but not enough to keep her out of danger. While Ra’Jah committed the cardinal sin of not listening to direction, her performance was more interesting than Pandora’s.
I will give Pandora credit that her runway look was easily her best ever. She’s starting to see the runway as a space to still perform and tell a story, which is similar to how Jinkx Monsoon started to thrive. I’m not ready to count Pandora out, but the fact that she’s still such a non-factor in the edit makes me skeptical of her surviving next week’s girl group task.
4. Trinity K. Bonet (last week: 3)
Trinity didn’t exactly stand out in the acting challenge, but she listened to direction, and came across as more controlled in her performance than Ra’Jah, her conjoined twin partner. She also pulled out an absolutely stunning black gown that—while not exactly a fit for the Oh My Goth! runway prompt—was nonetheless too breathtaking to ignore. I’m eager to see how she does in the girl group challenge next week. As we saw in the Rusical, her dancing skills are unparalleled among this cast. If she can come up with a verse to match? This may be hers to lose.
3. Ginger Minj (last week: 1)
After struggling to stand out in the first few episodes, Ginger seems to have hit her stride. She did great as Emma in the acting challenge despite the character not being in her wheelhouse, and she was gorgeous in a Victorian goth girl look on the runway. She is much more present in confessionals now, and feels like a main character of the season in a way an All Stars winner must. Next week could be a curveball for her, since we’ve never seen her in a verse challenge. She’s got the pipes, but she’ll likely need to surprise as a dancer to wind up on top.
2. Jan (last week: 8)
I know I said I would have sent her home last week, but thank God Ginger won the lip sync, because I needed Jan’s take on Rachel Berry in my life. What a delight it was to see her finally lean into her persona, giving us a funny, high-strung, energetic performance. She’d have been my winner this week, especially after she came out in such a gorgeous Oh My Goth! runway look. You know, between this and her spooky look in Season 12, I actually think Jan might benefit from pivoting to dark drag more. It would be a funny contrast with her peppy persona, and it’s a lane that not a lot of Drag Race girls are quite as good in as she is.
I’m confident she will do well in the girl group challenge next week, but I do think she needs to turn it out lyrically. Her verse for “You Don’t Know Me” in Season 12 was okay—not great—and was very Jan. If she goes too far into her persona again, I’m worried she’ll get dinged by the judges for not serving something else.
1. Kylie Sonique Love (last week: 7)
While she wouldn’t have been my pick for the win in the acting challenge, I am nonetheless thrilled for Kylie to have finally gotten a victory. As she said in deliberations, she has never won anything on Drag Race—not a mini-challenge, not a maxi-challenge, not even a lip sync before this. (She did win the Holi-slay Spectacular, but so did literally everyone.) Just the fact of getting that win 11 years after her first season is such a validating moment. That she did it while looking absolutely incredible in her latex Oh My Goth! look was just the icing on the cake.
Kylie also becomes one of just three contestants to win their Lip Sync for Your Legacy this season, which can’t be understated. As LSFYL is a big part of the All Stars format, winning or tying at least one lip sync is vital in order to be a viable winner in the end. (Of the All Stars winners since LSFYL was introduced, only Trixie Mattel never won a lip sync.) With this pair of victories, all the attention Kylie had received in the edit feels purposeful: she is being set up as a new frontrunner. And I have every bit of faith in her to keep the momentum up as the competition goes on. All hail our new Supreme.
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