I can’t believe it, guys. We just watched a whole season of RuPaul’s Drag Race in the midst of a global pandemic. This week, we watched the queens battle for a spot in the top four (err.. top 3) and a chance to win the crown on Zoom. What a wild season.
The queens returned to the workroom after the elimination of our sweet, sweet Heidi N Closet, or whatever her new name is. As the queens are mourning the loss of Heidi, the room goes dark. The power went out and the queens had to continue their mourning in the Untucked lounge. That’s showbiz, baby.
It was a new day in the workroom and RuPaul waltzed in to share the theme of this week’s challenges. As I’m sure you know from the commercials on each episode of Drag Race alone, Ru and the team launched a drag show on the Vegas Strip featuring several past contestants. For the mini-challenge, the queens would be playing off the Vegas theme and designing one of those infamous Vegas showgirl headdresses. This bit was fun and hilarious. I loved Jaida Essence Hall‘s call back to her “look over there” moment of episode’s past. Though one queen really stood out. It was Gigi Goode, of course, and she won the challenge.
The headdress mini-challenge gave way to the maxi-challenge. The queens would be writing their own lyrics to the songs in Ru’s Vegas show. I was a bit disappointed we didn’t get another Read U Wrote U type moment from this season, but in the end, the challenge ended up being pretty cute. I’m sure Ru was very excited about this episode’s promotion for the Vegas show. I’m sure several tickets would have been sold but uh.. life had other plans.
It was time for the queens to record their vocals and practice their choreography. If you guessed everyone would be bad at singing and dancing, you guessed correctly! It’s always so much fun to watch them attempt to sing or dance when it’s clearly not in their wheelhouse. I wouldn’t call Jaida’s voice beautiful or Crystal Methyd and Jackie’s dance moves majestic, but they all worked hard and pulled it off in the end.
As the queens prepped to hit the runway, we saw really sweet moments of support and love between the girls. Jackie Cox struggled with the fact that she never won a maxi-challenge and given how tight the competition was, she knew she was in trouble if it came down to report cards (spoiler alert!).
Then came the performance on the main stage in front of Ru, Michelle Visage, Carson Kressley, Ross Matthews, and Jamal Sims. Though it wasn’t a fun remix to a RuPaul song, it was cute. I didn’t think anyone did bad, but Sherry Pie stood out to me as the weakest, though the judges wouldn’t agree. Somehow, everyone’s vocals sounded great (thank you, technology!) and they ended up turning out the dance moves. Don’t forget you can buy the medley on iTunes *wink*.
It was time for the queens to hit the runway in their Eleganza Extravaganza looks. This is always my favorite runway because I love to see what each queen chooses to showcase on the last runway of the season. Gigi looked incredible, Jaida is flawless, Crystal’s look was a perfect representation of her, and Jackie looked great as always. I am very upset to tell you all that my favorite look on the runway was Sherry Pie’s. That Mae West inspired gown was perfection and her designer deserves all the praise for it.
The judges had almost exclusively positive critiques for the queens this week. It was clear the competition was tight. Poor Jackie Cox predicted the future. It came down to report cards, and like she said, she and Crystal were in trouble. They both found themselves in the bottom, while Gigi took home her fourth maxi-challenge win.
Crystal and Jackie battled to Jennifer Lopez‘s On The Floor. If the final four (err.. three) wasn’t at stake, I could have seen this being a double-save. Both Crystal and Jackie put on such a fun performance. Although I think she should be put in Sherry’s final four spot, it was Jackie’s time. We adore you, Jackie!
So, whose team are you on? Are you Team Gigi, Team Jaida, or Team Crystal? Sound off in the comments below! I’ll see you guys next week for a reunion, followed by a Zoom finale.
