Welcome to RuPaul’s Drag Race UK Power Rankings! Every Friday, we’ll debrief the week’s new episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK Season 3 to determine which queens are riding high, and which need she-mergency care. The momentum of the season may be unsalvageable, but at least it looks like we’ve got a new threat for the crown. Unfortunately for two queens, their time in the competition has ended.
7. Choriza May (last week: 4) — ELIMINATED
Well, this sucks. But it’s understandable. Much as I love Choriza, and I did not see her going home on Snatch Game, there was no way back for her after that lip sync. If you’re going to change from a headpiece into a wig, you better make sure that wig is on right, and that it is worth the change. Choriza’s wig just kept shifting up, down, and all around, and you can tell the distraction never let her settle into the performance.
I can quibble with whether Choriza should’ve been lip-syncing at all. I agree with the judges that her Margarita Pracatan lost steam, but I thought there was more character there than with Vanity Milan or Krystal Versace. Her frustrations over being told her runway was just okay were valid as well. But after she landed in the bottom, Choriza was stuck. Goodbye to my favourite queen of the season. I knew this day would come, and I knew it would sting when it arrived. At least she got to win the reading mini-challenge on her way out the door.
6. River Medway (last week: 1) — ELIMINATED
Well, this also sucks. And unlike with Choriza, I don’t think River’s elimination is understandable at all. She wasn’t the best in the “Shout” lip sync, but we’ve seen far worse survive. (I still think about the fact that Pearl survived her lip sync to “Really Don’t Care” against Miss Fame.) River did enough to stick around. And I actually didn’t hate her Amy Childs impersonation in Snatch Game, though as someone who is bingeing The Only Way Is Essex for the first time right now, those early series references are fresher for me than they would be for fans of the show. Where River really fouled up was on the runway—that fruit basket look was sad. Still, I’d have kept her around for another week, particularly since she’s done so well the last two. I feel like it robs us of an exciting potential endgame competitor to eliminate her now.
5. Vanity Milan (last week: 6)
It’s truly shocking that Vanity is in the top five. Not because she’s not a talented queen—she is, and she’s only been improving with her makeup. But her critiques from the judges have been so mediocre that her continued presence is a wild twist. Considering next week is the ball, and she’s shown the ability to turn a high-concept look, I don’t think she’s going home next week, either! (I think Scarlett Harlett’s time is probably up, but we’ll talk about that more in a minute.) If Vanity is in the top four of this season, I’ll be impressed with her—but unfortunately, unless the edit radically shifts in the next week, I don’t see her being able to snag a spot in the finale.
4. Scarlett Harlett (last week: 7)
My theory is that Scarlett bought herself a week of safety by capitulating to what Ru wanted her to do in Snatch Game. By listening to Ru and doing Macaulay Culkin, she was able to slide through to safety. It helped that she realized what was working about the character quickly and stuck with it: the scream joke was repetitive but it was enough to make it through. Considering how she did in the previous look challenges, I could see Scarlett surviving next week, but it feels like her time in this competition might be ticking to a close. There’s just not much more story for her to give us, especially after she resolved her conflicts with the other queens this week. Glad she got to vent her frustrations in the reading challenge, though—that was a show.
3. Krystal Versace (last week: 5)
Yes, Krystal was technically called safe just before the bottom two this week, which would grant her a lovely pink “LOW” placement on the old Drag Race Wikipedia charts. (A redesign after All Stars 6 removed all “subjective” placements, meaning “LOW” is a thing of the past. May she rest.) However, this was about the most generous low-scoring placement I’ve ever seen. Ru literally said she was “born” to be a drag queen in her critiques. And Lulu, who benefitted from having not seen Krystal’s repeated silhouettes on the runway, was pretty in awe of her fruit look. (That said, I stand with Michelle Visage and Graham Norton, who seem pretty over Krystal’s runway output.)
Krystal’s Charity Shop Sue was pretty much a miss, and I do think it’s funny that the real character is making an appearance on the show next week. (What fateful timing!) But I think she ended the game on the best note she could have, and more to the point, she got credit for pushing herself out of the box. I may not be the biggest Krystal fan, but I can’t deny that nearly all signs point to her win right now.
2. Kitty Scott-Claus (last week: 2)
I really liked Kitty’s dig on the runway this week, ribbing Ru that while he liked her outfit, he’d have preferred it on Krystal. It’s the kind of joke that’s as funny as it is because it hits so close to the truth: Ru’s so enthralled with Krystal that he probably would want to see the other queens’ outfits on her. I feel for Kitty that she’s getting a bit of the also-ran treatment this season, but I appreciate that she’s aware of what’s going on. That awareness gives her more of a shot at turning things around—and considering she’s still never lip-synced and hasn’t gotten a win, she’s still got some room to change her trajectory.
That said, while I thought she had the best shot at Snatch Game going into it, I ultimately do think it was correct that she lost out. She did a great job at embodying a lot of Gemma Collins’ mannerisms—it’s understandable why Ru pushed her in that direction. But for all that River got dragged for just quoting Amy Childs’ TOWIE lines, Kitty mostly stuck to Gemma’s most popular Celebrity Big Brother quotes. She just fit her character better than River did Amy. A solid showing, but a distant second place.
1. Ella Vaday (last week: 3)
In a week that felt like it had few winners, Ella really knocked Snatch Game out of the park. Her Nigella Lawson was a bit obvious with the overly loquacious, alliterative answers and the winkingly bawdy humour. But who cares? It’s a benefit in Snatch Game to go for big, meaty punchlines and bits, and milking them for all they’re worth. Chad Michaels’ Cher was all about how she was a legend who couldn’t believe she’d been booked for this “chickenshit gig.” A great Snatch Game is great because of the energy and enthusiasm that you bring to it—and Ella had that in droves. I’ve been chuckling about her mispronunciations for days.
More crucially, Ella got the kind of praise from RuPaul that had largely evaded her. Ru cited her as an example of what to do if you want to win Snatch Game, and said he had a lot of fun with her during the challenge. That kind of praise is a major sign of good things in a queen’s edit. I’m not sure if she’s quite at the level of a frontrunner like Krystal, but I do think Ella’s ramping up at exactly the right time. And as I mentioned in the recap, she handed World of Wonder a viable web series in “Cooking With NigElla.” Drag Race can be a game of momentum, and at this point, Ella has it.
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