So after what was perhaps one of the most emotionally beautiful Drag Race U.K. episodes, we’ve reached the semifinals already. After screaming out “Wasspppp” in tribute to Charra Tea, the queens are ready to fight for whatever challenge lies ahead and set to propel them to the finale next week!
Ru announces this week’s challenge: Send in the clowns. It’s a comedy roast. In past seasons we’ve had some standout moments, and we have two challenge winners returning to coach the queens: Michael Marouli from season 5 and Ella V’day from season 3. They joke that whoever does win the roast doesn’t go on to win the crown. As the survivor of the lip sync, it’s down to Rileasa to arrange the line-up for the roast.
After much deliberation, she decides to settle it through ancestry and drawing names randomly. Which does not go down well with La Voix. When Lill is assigned to after La Voix, she panics, to which Rileasa decides to switch the order again—another decision that does not go down well with La Voix. I love how all the queens can banter with one another, bickering around like siblings unsupervised..
Rileasa chooses to open the show, wanting to get it over and done with. Besides roasting the judges, the queens must also roast each other as well as the eliminated queens. The cast was back and sat glamorously in the audience, ready to be roasted. This week’s guest judge is Siobhán McSweeney, known for many shows, including the Derry Girls.
Rileasa fumbles her way through her set, landing a few jokes but ultimately veering off-topic, ending up discussing how the fellow queens pee. Which results in spewing water into cups. It leaves everyone confused, and mixed with Actavia’s bemused expression whispering, “What is going on?” is amusing. Next up is Kyran, and expectations are high for her as she tells the girls beforehand she actually did clown school. She decides to do her set in a raspy northern accent, which was a choice. Some of the jokes are funny, but quite a few do miss the mark and are greeted by silence.
Lill follows next, and I really enjoyed her routine. She leaned into her awkwardness, and when she stutters on her last jokes, she makes it work by acknowledging she can’t remember what she was talking about. This earns her one of Ru’s famous cackling howls of approval. La Voix follows and absolutely smashes it out of the park; you can tell she has plenty of mic experience at shows and is the kind of queen who can control any crowd. Talking to Saki Yew about being eliminated from the competition by a shower -“But at what age do we stop saying we slipped and blaming the shower and instead calling it a fall? There are so many packed jokes that we wouldn’t think anything else of her.
Closing out the show is Marmalade, who comes in swinging and does not hold back on anyone. Perhaps crossing a little over the line with even Michelle Visage biting back.
For the semi-final runway, the theme is Semi-final vinyl, and I am in love with all the interpretations. Lill comes out as a Marilyn Monroe dominatrix, and Rileasa is gorgeous in a pop art rendition of Barbie. These two looks were easily my favorite from the five on the runway.
The winner of this week’s Ru-peter badge is La Voix, earning her an impressive fourth badge. Marmalade and Kyran Thrax are through to the final, joining La Voix. That leaves Rileasa and Lill in the bottom, who both have a similar lip-sync track record. We see the pair dance it out to Crazy What Love Can Do by David Guetta, Becky Hill & Ella Henderson. It’s strange to hear a more modern club song featured on the main stage after the last two weeks have been more old-school classics. The lip-sync is a photo finish, with Lill unfortunately being sent home. There was no easy decision this week, but no doubt we’ll see her on an All-Stars season in the future. So we have our finalists are you team, #KyranThrax, #Lavoix, #RileasaSlaves, or #Marmlade? We’ll find out who will take the crown next Thursday!
