‘Ru Paul’s Drag Race All-Stars 6×07’ Review
I have to admit that last weeks episode of Ru Paul’s Drag Race All-Stars was not one of my favourites. The queens were instructed to over-act in an American Horror Story inspired sketch which to me came across as very slow and dragged out. I can’t comprehend how Kylie was declared the winner as Michelle had to physically get up and demonstrate exactly what sort of performance she expected, as Michelle was one of the producers working on this project. To me, this suggests that Kylie needed more help and support to get performance up to the standard that is expected from All-Stars but she was declared as the winner! However, I totally agree that she won the lip-sync against the secret assassin Manila. Kylie danced circles around Manila with her flips, tricks and gymnastics that were incredible to watch. This meant that Akeira C Davenport was sent home from the completion which was a shame but she hadn’t shown the development that the likes of Ra’jah were showcasing!
When I discovered that this weeks challenge was a musical inspired one I was over the moon, as these are always a highlight of the seasons for me! I instantly thought that this would be the week we can see Jan claim her second win as she is trained in singing and dancing and this is what she is known for but I could not have been more wrong! After the apparent scandal of Jan not singing live during her talent show performance, which was discussed by Silky after her elimination. I also remembered that Ginger is also a theatre/performance queen which is never been shown more than during her song “I Am What I Am” (which is one of my personal favourites) during the celebration of Harvey Fierstein which is available on YouTube. The Queens had to write, choreograph and perform an original verse to the uplifting new song “Show Up Queen.” They had to work in teams which, to me, made no sense at all as they were judged as individuals and so having the drama of them being split into teams was wasted TV time. The song itself had been hyped all episode – that it was going to be uplifting and high energy but took more of a rap vibe than I initially expected. I was instantly concerned for Trinity as she literally said the words “You can’t mess up what you do every day” which is the curse of Drag Race but she did very well. Trinity continued to show how much she had developed since her original season as she looked amazing during the performance, had created incredible lyrics but also choreographed her whole team’s dances! The other queen that continues to surprise me is Ra’jah, as the last time we saw her sing was during the diva worship challenge during season 11. However, she gave an incredibly high energy performance with amazing vocals but also looked fantastic while doing so! I was also really surprised by Eureka who gave an amazing performance with some of the most incredible lyrics I have heard. One of my personal favourites was “I’m more than my size or the standard of beauty, it took thirty ******* years to know that I am worthy!”
The runway theme of Ru Paul’s Drag Race All-Stars this week was “Hot Tropics” which was a bit disappointing in my opinion as it didn’t create any expectation of what the queens were going to wear in my head. I loved Ra’jah’s outfit this week, where she wore a boldly printed two pierce with dreadlocks that celebrated her heritage. Eureka showed off a bodysuit that was decorated to look like a beach ball, with a magnificent wig that had a wonderful splash of bright colour in front. Trinity looked amazing as she took the runway theme in a completely different direction. She walked the runway with a massively, over-the-top carnival outfit that was supposedly inspired by Brazil. She had a wonderful feather outfit and headpiece which was jewelled for the gods complete with massive wings! Due to her amazing performance during the musical challenge and her spectacular outfit on the runway Trinity was declared the winner this week and it was very obvious that Pandora and Jan were the bottom two.
As Trinity was at the top this means she must battle against the secret lip-sync assassin which is very exciting as her last one against Laganja was amazing. It was revealed that the assassin was Alexis Mateo, who wore a ball gown that was very similar to her “Love the Skin You’re In” ball gown from Ru Paul’s Drag Race All-Stars 5. My first thought was how on earth is she going to dance in the full-length dress but my concerns were but as ease as she peeled off the outfit to reveal a dance leotard underneath. This was pretty fun, a high-energy performance that ended with Alexis revealing that there was a tie to decide who would go home this week. A TIE!!! Think of how much drama this could create, are they going to make the two bottom queens lip-sync for their lives? Are they both going home? I have to admit the least exciting option was chosen where it was simply Trinity’s vote that would decide who would go home. There was no tip and Trinity’s vote was the sole decider, so really there was no point in the lip-sync but it was then revealed that Jan would be going home! I am devastated as Jan is one of my favourite queens from the entire season and I was excited for her to show off how much she has improved. However next week is the snatch game and so I look forward to that!
Overall this was a fun musical episode of Ru Paul’s Drag Race All-Stars that took a lean towards a rap-style number with some very powerful lyrics from the queens. The runway theme was fairly confusing due to how vague it was, which led to a very anti-climatic elimination of one of my personal favourites!
