RuPaul’s Drag Race UK: Week 5 Rucap

We said our farewells to Sumting Wong and said hello to shade with the return of the iconic mini challenge, ‘Reading is fundamental’. Past reads have been hit or miss, but the UK queens go full on in and dished insults aplenty resulting in Crystal being the grand winner. 

We see the girlband challenge return, which is so welcomed as the UK has had some of the most iconic girl groups. If all goes well, we’ll get to add more songs to the classic music catalogue of past pop bops such as Kitty Girl from AS3, something that has seen the most cosplayed character ie IQ Kitty and Goth Kitty. Fair to say this week’s episode has rocked the UK nation. 

The head to head girl band battle begins and with Crystal winning the mini challenge, she got the privilege of choosing her bandmates. Her choice was wise in The Vivienne and Cheryl Hole, Cheryl who recently toured the UK as the tribute act Gals Aloud, a five piece made up of my fave UK queens; Lydia L’scabies, Herrr, Ophelia Love and Kitty Claus-Scott. Highly recommend you give the girls a follow and see how fantastic they are as a group. As the episode progresses, Crystal seems to have slightly shot herself in the foot, teaming herself with two of the loudest queens in the competition, she was doomed to be overshadowed and lost in the numbers. I had a feeling this week’s episode would be focused on Crystal’s issues and we all know how that ends out…..

Divina, Baga Chipz and Blu Hydrangea although an unlikely trio, they differ with varying talents, however set up as underdogs which they played to their advantage. Both groups began brainstorming names, concepts and verses. Cheryl’s team went for Filth Harmony renamed after Fifth harmony, and Baga’s Frock Destroyers after the now iconic and wonderful Cock Destroyers. 

The modern girl band genre is without a doubt dominated by Little Mix due to their positive messages and body positivity and strong LGBTQ+ support. Jade Thirwall in particular is a strong advocate to the community, through rallies and by including many Rugirl alumni in music videos, perhaps most famously with the AAA girls.

Rehearsals consisted of pure comedy and one liners from The Frock Destroyers and of course Blu with her witty comedic audio snippets which were too blue for this review! Baga’s lyrics were the best, funniest and memorable… “Baga Chipz is sassy, Baga Chips is class, she takes it up the ahhhh“. I mean pure British humour there!

Mirror chat this week was once again dominated by the incredible Divina,. She really is a wise queen who is so important, not just as a queen but for encouraging young people. I feel each week she has provided some really wonderful advice and information to the show, perhaps educating older people in the process. Hopefully she’ll join the worthy hall of fame for Miss Congeniality.

Filth harmony started strong and Cheryl without a doubt stole the show, carrying what was a disappointing number from the trio. The Vivinene stumbled and it was refreshing to see a more softer side appear later in Untucked. The concept was strong however their nerves may have got the better of them after being incredibly confident after their successful rehearsal. Of course we know the narrative by now, the Frock Destroyers came out and literally destroyed the stage, with matching outfits, strong verses along with polished choreography. With Baga’s fantastic voice, Blu’s performance and Divina with that falsetto ,the clear winners were to be The Frock Destroyers. 

The song was such a success, it is now riding high the top 9 in the UK charts, it’s catchy, it’s fun and it’s pure camp!

Runway theme was a day at the races, Ascot is one of the most British summer days out, ladies day allows women to dress in their finest hats and dresses. The Queen annually attends with the day consisting of bets and champagne day drinking…..fabulous! Each queen bought something different to the table, I loved Baga’s outfit it truly is a British look, which I love seeing as it’s so different from the US drag we see, it’s not polished but its great. Jade Thirwall called her Peggy Mitchell’s sister, Peggy Mitchell is the ultimate loud mouth cockney in a soap called Eastenders, a pub landlord who wore fantastic outfits. 

Untucked saw a very emotional The Vivienne crying over her performance, showing that even the most confident people have off days. The girls had a heart to heart, relishing in being sisters and being the final six of the first season of Drag Race UK.

The Lip Sync song was “Power” by Little Mix, which in my opinion, is their best song and the perfect lip sync song.  It’s so uplifting for women and a pure pop hit. This is the first time I think the lip sync was difficult to judge, as both brought it in their own unique way. But ultimately, Crystal was sent home. I think from the moment she was in the group the narrative pointed towards her being in the bottom two.

Next week’s episode is all about marketing their brand! We’ve seen many queens from past seasons make themselves into a multi brand machines like Trixie Mattel and Alaska Thunderfuck. We also get the pleasure of having the weird, the wonderful and my fave woman Katya Zamolodikova making a guest appearance.

What was your fave song? Was it Frock Destroyers or Filth Harmony? Who will win? Leave your comments below! And don’t forget both Break up songs are available on Itunes and Spotify…..