Welcome to RuPaul’s Drag Race Power Rankings! Every Tuesday, we’ll debrief the week’s new episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 14 to determine which queens are riding high, and which need she-mergency care. With our queens merged into one full cast—and yes, that includes even the previously eliminated queens—it’s time to see who’s rising to the top of the pack.
14. June Jambalaya (last placement: 6) — ELIMINATED
Though I recognize that she wasn’t long for this competition based on her first two weeks’ worth of output, I really feel for June. Her being the technical “first out” queen of this season is a dubious title riddled with asterisks. Two queens went home before her—including one she beat fair and square in a lip sync!—only to be brought back in Art Simone-esque arbitrary fashion. I can’t fault her for being frustrated with Orion Story’s return, but I also can’t refute that her Hide and Chic Ball output was underwhelming—I’m still thinking about her hiding her torso with a leaf for her third look. And sure, she did lose her shoes (and much of her dress) during the lip sync. But I think even all that considered, hers was the superior performance, and I’d have sent her opponent home instead. All in all, this elimination stinks. Justice for June.
13. Maddy Morphosis (last placement: 5)
Even the most generous judge couldn’t find much nice to say about Maddy’s three Red, White and Blue Ball looks. The red resort jumpsuit was incredibly simple, and her celestial white look lacked the necessary sparkle. Nothing was worse than her wedding garment, however, considering she could barely move in it. She further demonstrated just how constricting it was during the lip sync, as she scooched around to Kylie Minogue’s “I Love It” with little enthusiasm. Maddy seems sweet—and she’s very funny online—but she’s clearly out of her league in this competition. I have to imagine we’ll be seeing her departure in the next couple of weeks.
12. Orion Story (last placement: 7) — RETURNED
When you come back to the competition only to be basically edited out of the first half of your return episode, you gotta know your prospects are grim. I actually liked Orion’s final look for the Hide and Chic Ball; the tribute to her mom was sweet, and you could tell she had a real idea of her character in the look. The first two, though, were big misses for me. Her supposed Heathers reference missed too many details (a golf putter instead of a croquet mallet?) to work, while her eleganza was way too basic. (A cute headpiece does not eleganza make.) I had some other queens earmarked for the bottom ahead of Orion while watching the episode for the first time, but in the light of day, I can’t deny that her placement was fair.
11. Daya Betty (last placement: 7) — RETURNED
Honestly, I think the returning queens should’ve had a condition placed on their arrival: show up hard in the next challenge, or get sent right back out. Daya’s work in the Red, White and Blue Ball ranged from the flawed (her too-small hair on her red resort look) to the unfinished (her blanket eleganza look, which was a more interesting idea than garment). And don’t get me started on her supposed wedding dress, which was in no way bridal, and demonstrated a serious taste level issue. It also did not achieve her stated goal of looking less Crystal Methyd; it was actually the most Crystal look of her trio. A rough return for, as Kornbread calls her, Daya Bettica.
10. DeJa Skye (last placement: 6)
Interesting to learn that DeJa is a seamstress for a lot of the other queens. The only other such queen I can recall from Drag Race’s herstory is Yuhua Hamasaki, who was a fan favourite early in Season 10 only to go home third. We’ll see whether DeJa can outlast that record, but if her Red, White and Blue Ball garments are any indication, I’m dubious. Her red gown was in no way resort, and she made the mistake of pairing it with a cute-but-mismatched purple wig. Her white pantsuit was okay, but she really suffered from following Angeria in the runway order. I actually liked a lot of the elements of her bridal look, but it didn’t work as a complete piece for me. Would I have put her in the bottom? Probably not, but she’s the last one I would consider for it. No one was an abject disaster this week, but there were plenty of contenders for who could’ve filled out the bottom three. Kudos to DeJa on her padding, though: her body looked amazing in all three looks.
9. Kerri Colby (last placement: 3)
Bosco had a laugh at Kerri walking around in what were effectively swatches of fabric, but she made a good point: Kerri still modeled the hell out of that fabric. I’ll give Kerri major credit for serving three different characters on the runway: her pink tights-and-zebra stripes look and purple leopard print Dynasty fantasy shared a sensibility, but gave entirely different moods. But there’s really no excuse for how bad that third look was. The choice to line her golden print fabric with a contrasting, ugly alternate pattern was baffling, and her styling was a mess. Kerri is very lucky this ball came along when it did, because she might’ve not skated to safety with tougher and tighter competition.
8. Kornbread “The Snack” Jeté (last placement: 1)
Okay, let’s start with positives: Kornbread got a significant amount of time in the edit this week in a balance of light-hearted moments (daring Daya to eat the dragonfly) and more serious ones (opening up about her family trauma). For her to get that when she was just scored safe in this challenge is a sign that the show is fully invested in her. Like, it’s hard to call it a winner’s edit just three episodes into the season, but how can you ignore the obvious? That said, Kornbread’s looks were pretty bad across the board this week, and it was only her modeling skills on the runway that saved her. Kornbread really knows how to perform just enough on the main stage that it’s endearing, while avoiding getting too cute. (We call that “the full Utica.”) One consistent problem with Kornbread’s looks: she often opts for flat wigs—or, in the case of her premiere runway, no wig—throwing her proportions out of whack. I’ll avoid talking about her final look, which I will generously call “rough,” and instead just breathe a sigh of relief that she made it through this challenge unscathed.
7. Bosco (last placement: 4)
Bosco’s looks frustrated me for their lack of range at the time, but upon a second watch of the episode, there’s just a polish and professionalism there that is lacking in half of the other queens’ looks. She returned to the horned headpiece well once again for her zebra print look (which is getting a little tiring), but the jumpsuit fit impeccably. Her bralette and wide-legged leopard print pants were fun (although the prints didn’t match), but the look was my least favorite of the trio. Her wedding look didn’t read “bridal” in silhouette, but she sold it to me as what Bosco would wear to her wedding. Overall a solid week, but I’m looking forward to seeing how far out of her own box Bosco is willing to go.
6. Jasmine Kennedie (last placement: 4)
I actually had Jasmine higher here until I saw Untucked, in which she threw out multiple complaints that she was just judged safe. The show is preparing us for something with Jasmine; multiple queens complained about her in Untucked, but we haven’t really seen any behaviour that would merit their issues yet. We know it’s coming, though, and I gotta rank her a bit lower until it’s clear exactly what the plan for Jasmine’s edit is. Overall, her looks were strong: the red resort outfit complete with lobster claws was my clear favourite. I liked her bridal dress before a friend pointed out that it reads much more beauty queen than wedding bells, which is absolutely correct. Same goes for her eleganza look, which is more ice skater (and actually not quite white). Still, she turned out consistently solid work, and that was more than most did this week.
5. Alyssa Hunter (last placement: 5)
Considering Alyssa turned out three really smart, well-made looks, including one of the only wedding looks that distinctly read bridal, you might’ve expected her to be in the top. Honestly, the middle look alone—a sculptural, unique take on the leopard print eleganza assignment—should’ve landed her a high score. But not only was she not in the top, she was also barely in the episode. I think she got maybe one confessional? That’s absolutely brutal for this early in the season, and shows that Drag Race is not that invested in her. I’m guessing she gets similarly low-key treatment for a couple more weeks until she suddenly takes a major role in the edit for her downfall around 11th place. A bummer; she was one of my favourites this go-around, but there’s no getting around her basically being invisible in this episode. That’s far more telling than anything else.
4. Lady Camden (last placement: 2)
Am I… becoming a Lady Standen? I think I might be! I loved all three of her looks this week, which were uniformly high-level drag and character work. Her red resort jumpsuit was my favourite look in that category, and while her white eleganza look was a bit strange, I admired her for doing something so unexpected. Her wedding gown edged right on the line of tacky, but ultimately worked for me. For two weeks in a row, my opinion of Camden’s work seems to be higher than the general reaction. If that doesn’t make me a Standen, then I don’t know what will. But I’m all in for now.
3. Jorgeous (last placement: 3)
I thought Willow was getting the full Krystal Versace treatment after Ru’s fawning praise in the premiere, but au contraire! It’s in fact Jorgeous who Ru says is “born to do drag,” echoing a phrase that seemingly sealed Krystal’s win in UK Season 3. Granted, that’s the U.K. version of the show, where Ru’s favourites consistently come out on top. Things are a bit different here on the flagship series, which is why I don’t think Jorgeous is going to get similar treatment. That said, it’s hard to argue that she didn’t get a bit pushed this week. Her resort look was really simple, and while I certainly got the Ariana Grande reference in her white eleganza look, I couldn’t agree with her that simpler was better in this case. I love a clean, edited outfit, but there’s still gotta be something. The judges at least couldn’t get through their critiques without rightfully knocking her third look for being deeply not bridal, which I think is what ultimately locked Jorgeous out of contention for the win. Still, very wild to me that she made the top three over Camden and Alyssa.
2. Angeria Paris VanMicheals (last placement: 1)
I get the arguments that Angeria should’ve won this week. She turned out three impeccable looks, and the fact that she constructed her astonishingly ornate bridal garment on the fly is nothing short of a marvel. But I ultimately preferred Willow, largely for how different each of her looks were. The baby doll dress was a cute idea for Angeria’s first look, but it didn’t read very “resort.” And while I did love her white eleganza garment, I can’t quite co-sign Carson Kressley’s belief that it’s one of the greatest Drag Race looks ever. If the challenge were just about the third look, I’d be fully Team Angeria for the win. As a ball, I think she got a very deserved runner-up spot.
1. Willow Pill (last placement: 2)
Willow smashed this challenge, and I’m delighted to see her with a maxi-challenge win so early in the competition. I loved how she went with coloured zebra prints for her first look so that she’d stand out from the pack of black-and-white looks. Her black leopard print dress was a stunner, and she styled it perfectly with gold chains and big hair. And in her wedding look, she found a way to make a jumpsuit still look distinctly bridal. I loved the little suggestion of a veil she gave herself over her eyes. The whole presentation was really impressive. A great win, and another step forward for the Willow Pill train. (And thank God Ru seems to be growing tired of the baby voice.)
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