Welcome to RuPaul’s Drag Race Power Rankings! Every Tuesday, we’re debriefing the week’s new episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 15 to determine which queens are riding high, and which need she-mergency care. And my goodness, are there a lot of queens this season! Let’s meet them.
16. Irene Dubois—ELIMINATED
Genuinely a shocker to see Irene go first. She was one of the most significant story presences in this double premiere, and it felt like her alien drag would stand out among the other queens. Alas, her ice-water act was poorly planned, and failed to reach the absurd heights Willow Pill established last season. If Drag Race ever does get its act together and put forth the rumoured Early Outs season, pencil Irene in for a top four slot on that right away.
15. Amethyst
I respect Ru’s choice based on the lip sync, but based on everything else, I’d have sent Amethyst home this week. Her drag is simply not what Ru and the judges are going to respond to—the fact that we’re starting this season with a debate about padding is a bad sign—and she whiffed at the talent show by revealing her punchline too early. She’ll need to change course, and fast, to have a real shot of sticking around in this competition.
14. Loosey LaDuca
Loosey made the easily avoidable, but nonetheless frequently made, mistake of singing live on a song that didn’t require it. The reason we see queens lip syncing in the variety show instead of singing live is because there’s less margin for error, and when you’re moving around so much, it can be really difficult to stay on key. Luckily for Loosey, the judges clearly love her drag—her bodacious take on “Toxic” was a favourite of mine, too—but she needs to avoid making these kinds of mistakes in the future.
13. Aura Mayari
Aura avoided the bottom by simple virtue of there being three worse performances than hers. The Nashville queen is certainly a strong dancer—and fans seem quite infatuated with her out of drag—but she failed to pop personality-wise among much bigger characters. Her looks for both her entrance and runway were underwhelming, and her choice to dance to a BLACKPINK song, while fun, left her very little room to demonstrate who she is as a queen. Not a strong start for Aura.
12. Malaysia Babydoll Foxx
One of several queens who fell into the background as the episode progressed, Malaysia at least had the benefit of her terrific fox entrance look. Her rap performance in the maxi-challenge was okay, but I actually think she would’ve benefited tremendously from performing live. There wasn’t a lot of movement in her performance, so she could’ve kept up and made more of an impression rapping on the spot. Otherwise, the most notable thing about Malaysia story-wise this week is her seeming alignment with Mistress Isabelle Brooks against the social media queens. I’ll be interested to see how far that story goes.
11. Robin Fierce
God bless “The Robin Fierce,” as Ru calls her, but I really worry about her ability to stand out in this group. Her major story note so far is her former fling with Amethyst, another Connecticut queen, but considering how I’m projecting Amethyst will do, I’m not sure that’ll be enough to keep Robin around. Her drag is objectively good, but I’m not seeing what helps her stand out in this crowd yet. Her maxi-challenge performance was an extension of that: she danced and lip-synced ably, but the whole performance felt a little muted (especially coming after Luxx Noir London, who did a similar act). I’d like to see Robin stick around, but she’s gonna need to find a way to puncture the noise.
10. Princess Poppy
I did not expect a ventriloquist-esque act with a parasite on her arm to be what Poppy brought to the table. She’s an interesting one! I don’t quite get the “I’m homo … phobic” thing (it feels like an obvious and prevalent online joke, no?), and I thought her artsy entrance look was maybe the worst of the lot. But colour me intrigued by her act, and by some of the humour she’s bringing off the show. She could stick around longer than her edit in this episode indicates if she plugs into what Ru finds funny.
9. Sugar
Did anyone else hear the Kill Bill sirens when Spice talked in her confessional about how, despite her being the “older twin,” Sugar is actually the one who takes care of Spice? That is the editors practically screaming at us that when the twins are inevitably put in the bottom together, Sugar will be sent home so Spice can have a growth arc without her sister. I’d bet the farm on it. In terms of her output this episode, Sugar was enjoyable throughout—still deciding if I’m a porch or bike-ride person—but nothing really broke through the noise. Her survival in this competition is basically dependent on how long Ru lets both of the twins stick around.
8. Salina EsTitties
I really love Salina; other than Sasha Colby, she was my favourite coming into this competition (although after this premiere, I have a brand-new fave). And I loved her campy awards show intro to her maxi-challenge performance. I worry on some level that Salina isn’t quite right for this competition. Her humour is going to need to be contorted to work for what Drag Race asks for, and her drag, while so specific and perfectly calibrated in my eyes, isn’t at the level of glamour that the judges usually expect. Maybe I’ll be proven wrong, but I’m not feeling great about her chances just yet.
7. Spice
I will go against what seems to be the popular grain on this one and say I’m much more interested in Sugar’s drag than Spice’s. Punk, goth aesthetics are actually quite easy to stand out in, as long as you’re in a competition without many of them—and that’s certainly true this season. But it’s notable that on the first runway, in Belle- and Ariel-inspired looks, Sugar knocked her sister out of the park by serving pure glamour. Deprived of her signature colours, Spice just looked rougher in comparison. Ru loves that kind of thing, though: think Adore Delano being polished up throughout Season 6. The second Spice pulled out the shower cap during the photo shoot mini-challenge, I could just see Ru’s interest piqued. She’ll be around for a while.
6. Luxx Noir London
We got a lot of different dimensions from Luxx in just one episode, which along with her strong maxi-challenge performance has me confident about her chances. I was worried at first, especially when Luxx made a couple of comments that read as derogatory about Irene’s appearance (the “swamp witch” line was funny, but saying she’s not photogenic when Irene won was less so). But I appreciated her talk with the twins about their origins on social media, and her performance clearly demonstrated she can back up her smack talk with great drag.
I should take a moment to talk about her runway look, which many immediately compared to Aquaria’s good twin look from Season 10. Luxx herself has denied any intentional comparison, and I take her at her word (while noting the remarkable coincidence that photographer Tanner Abel shot both looks five years apart). What I think it really signifies is that, as a show 15 seasons into its original series run—not to mention dozens more All Stars and international editions—there are going to be comparable looks. That’s just a fact. There is no infinite mine of ideas out there. My hope is that, as we start to see more such comparable looks, the instinct is not to rush to call someone out for copying, but to acknowledge the similarities and appreciate each on their own merits. Otherwise, we’re gonna be spending a lot of time litigating these issues as the show continues.
5. Mistress Isabelle Brooks
Some queens win the challenge; other queens win the episode. Isabelle definitely won the episode, with the most command over the story and tremendous respect from the other queens. Her transformation in drag is incredible, and I hope the judges stand up and notice just how polished she is sooner versus later. She’s also incredibly quick-witted, which I expect Ru will love. That joke about being the Yolanda to Salina was hilarious and dark. May Isabelle be the beacon we need to bring back a more competitive, edgier Drag Race!
4. Sasha Colby
I can’t think of a queen who has gotten the same reception when she walked through the door as Sasha did. She was immediately recognized by everyone, and instead of them simply fearing her, they also immediately wanted to get close to her. Sasha is a titan who carries herself as regal, but does not condescend, and I think that’s going to do wonders for her in this competition. She was strong in all categories this week, but my personal favourite bit of her output was her wearing her Miss Continental crowning gown on the very first runway of the season. Way to let them know just how good you are from the get-go.
3. Marcia Marcia Marcia
Jokes abound about Marcia’s comparisons to Jan, but I think in this very first episode, the New York queen demonstrated why she’s not likely to fall into the same traps. While her ballet performance was gorgeous and elegant, she also made it quite funny in her costuming and in crushing on Ross Mathews. That kind of relaxed, funny performance is something that would likely be judged as try-hard from Jan. But where Marcia is going to run into issues is in her makeup: both the other queens and the judges noted that she was barely wearing any throughout the episode. She’s going to need to take that note, because the judges hate giving notes twice.
2. Jax
In literally any other week, Jax would’ve easily taken the win home this time around. Her performance, complete with jumping rope with her own wig, was dynamite. And in all three of her looks throughout the episode, she demonstrated a commitment to her fly girl aesthetic that avoided looking repetitive. I personally really respond to Jax: she’s got a laid-back attitude, but she’s still clearly coming full force in the competition. If she can keep that energy, I think she’ll be in this for the long haul.
1. Anetra
My personal experience with these premiere episodes was a gradual journey toward stanning Anetra. I enjoyed her Meet the Queens (“Have you heard the voice? She really is that girl!”), but I worried she’d be too low-key among this group. And indeed, though she threw out a couple of very funny lines throughout the episode (“I’m broke, so no”), she didn’t seem like a real threat to break out. But holy hell, did she prove me wrong. Anetra’s talent show performance was instantly legendary, the kind of thing you instantly want to rewatch. And indeed, now that it’s online, I cannot stop watching. “Six letters and three vowels!” “You better walk that fucking duck!” She gave us a performance for the ages, and more than deserved this maxi-challenge win. Welcome to the Age of Anetra, where all our ducks are walking.
Why you can trust Xtra
