Last night, the queens acted in another RuPaul music video and Darienne Lake was sent home. Oh, sorry, spoiler alert. Except not really, because a/ the season always ends with a music video shoot, and b/ we all knew Darienne Lake was going home. Anyway, since that’s the basic gist of what happened last night, I instead decided to look at the final three and weigh their pros and cons against each other. And remember: a title doesn’t bring value to a titleholder. A titleholder brings value to a title.
Adore Delano
Wins – 3
High – 2
Safe – 1
Low – 2
Lip-syncs – 2
Strengths: Adore is the season’s scrappy underdog-done-good. She started off rough around the edges, but through pluck and a little help from some of the more seasoned queens, she turned herself around, overcame her own insecurities and even managed to win a sewing challenge. RuPaul loves herself a rags-to-riches story, and Adore has the talent and the charisma to pull off a win.
Weaknesses: Adore is talented, but she’s wildly uneven. She has a lack of preparation that makes it difficult to really fine-tune her gifts into a coherent package and some pretty heavy self-esteem issues. Ultimately, what this comes down to is that Adore hasn’t reached the point of maturity where she fully knows what she’s capable of or how to achieve it.
Bianca Del Rio
Wins – 3
High – 4
Safe – 3
Low – 0
Lip-syncs – 0
Strengths: In six seasons (and whatever All-Stars was) of Drag Race, Bianca is the only queen to never land in the bottom three. A big reason for this is that she’s this season’s most seasoned and versatile queen, someone who can effortlessly adapt to the challenge in front of her with absolute focus. Even more impressive is that, despite her insult-comedy credentials, she knows how to turn her character off when she needs to nurture a young up-and-comer. Bianca knows how to synthesize biting wit with her core humanity, and that combination makes for a clear winner.
Weaknesses: Despite her softened image, Bianca still has a habit of defaulting to insults when she feels attacked or threatened. Considering the amount of scrutiny she’ll inevitably face, she’ll need to understand how to take a breather before she breaks it down for a bitch.
Courtney Act
Wins – 2
High – 1
Safe – 5
Low – 2
Lip-syncs – 0
Strengths: Between Australian Idol and her time as a celebrity in her homeland, Courtney Act knows full well how to work the public eye. In the competition, Courtney has been consistent, performing competently in every challenge thrown her way. Courtney is essentially the mid-point between her two competitors, combining Adore’s talent with Bianca’s level of polish.
Weaknesses: Sad to say, but all Courtney’s strengths also double as colossal weaknesses. Courtney may have been a celebrity in Australia, but that translates to her being haughty and robotic. She’s consistent, but she was never really able to take the kind of risks to rise above the pack. And she may be the mid-point between Adore and Bianca, but that means she doesn’t have the clearly defined character that they do. Courtney would be a safe choice as winner, but as Ru said, safe is a word she’s come to loathe.
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