‘RuPaul’s Drag Race UK’ Episode 6 power ranking: Wet queens

Welcome to Drag Race UK Power Rankings! Every Saturday, we’ll debrief this week’s new episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK to determine which queens are riding high and which need she-mergency care. A frontrunner rebounds, while a previously flawless queen has her worst week yet. Who will be in our top three? (And is it as obvious as it seems?)

5. Blu Hydrangea (last week: 3) — ELIMINATED

This one hurts. She clearly was one of the worst in the challenge this week, and I didn’t much like her runway. And her lip-sync was a mess, so even Cheryl Hole’s slightly underwhelming performance couldn’t possibly lose. But it still feels strange for her to be lower-placing than Cheryl, after a dynamite underdog growth arc and a well-earned win in the challenge last week.

Still, Blu represented for the twinks of the season, and more importantly, she represented Northern Ireland. I hope she’s mighty proud of herself.

4. Cheryl Hole (last week: 4)

I’ll say this: In the contest for most overhyped lip syncer compared to her actual skills, Cheryl is at least better than Silky Nutmeg Ganache. But that’s about all I’d say—her lip sync to Cheryl Cole’s “Call My Name” was messy and included a couple of legitimately dangerous failed death drops. It’s increasingly clear that, while Cheryl can move, her dancing does not correlate to strong lip syncing.

Honestly, considering her record, it’s pretty embarrassing Cheryl is in the final four. Personality-wise, she’s probably my second-favourite left in the competition, but this is not RuPaul’s Best Personality Race. Miss Congeniality she may be, but worthy of the top three she is not.

3. Baga Chipz (last week: 1)

See, I knew this had to happen. Watching Baga coast to the finale without any issue would just be boring. But if you look at her record, I don’t think it quite holds up to this smooth-sailing narrative. In fact, I think she deserved one less high placement than she got (on the first challenge), and deserved at least bottom three for the design challenge. Based on that, even with her three wins, I might’ve put her in the bottom two over Cheryl this week. But I think she ironically saved herself by saying she didn’t know the lip sync song. Production wasn’t going to risk sending her home over Blu in a lip sync.

That said, she best not pull that shit again. It’s unlikely Baga will get to the finale without lip syncing, considering next week’s makeover challenge is another design task. She needs to be properly prepared next time. It’d be a shame to see a strong competitor like her go home because Cheryl managed to outperform her.

2. Divina de Campo (last week: 2)

In a surprise even to me, I came out on Team The Vivienne in her fight with Divina this week. While I certainly agree with Divina that The Vivienne doesn’t really respect her drag, I also don’t get why it matters to Divina. Who cares if The Vivienne doesn’t respect you? Beat her! That’s the only way a tough broad like her is going to give anyone respect. It was ironic that Divina got time with Katya this week, because like one of the most lovable US Drag Race queens, Divina tends to get in her own head.

Additionally, while I did like her advertisement, I didn’t think it was quite as strong as the judges did. The wordiness that Graham Norton noted in the production still came across at parts to me. And her runway presentation was the kind that needs a really strong reveal if you’re going to pull it off, but what she had underneath her raincoat was just not that interesting. An off week for my favourite, but I’m confident she can bounce back.

1. The Vivienne (last week: 5)

Fun fact: This is The Vivienne’s first number one placement on the power rankings! I’ve been harsh on her in the past, but she genuinely smashed it this week. Her runway was head-and-shoulders above everything else presented this week, and is one of my favourite looks of the season. Her advertisement was also very good, but I think the runway is what firmly pushed her over the edge against Divina.

Funny, too, since those two seem to be steering the narrative going into the finale. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say one of them is winning the season. I obviously have my personal preference, but even a bitter Betty like me can admit The Vivienne would make for a fine first representative of Drag Race UK.